Triathlon Research Boulder Camp Day #5

It is currently 1 pm on Sunday, May 10th and I am sad to say that all we have left is a flight home.  It has been an amazing week here learning from and training with the great athletes and coaches/professionals that are here.  This will be an experience to remember for many many many years.

But before I get all sappy, I've got Day #4 to recap.  Let's get to it!

I was up at even a later time in the morning thanks to my body shifting to the time zone and activity.  One great thing about this camp is the behind the scenes people and the reason we look so good in the pictures we're seeing is due to this amazing guy; Paul Phillips!  He has seen so many amazing races, the pros know him by name like they were drinking buddies, and he fit right in here in Boulder with us.

Paul Phillips & me

The green squad made a pit stop on our way to Rally Sport.  Some of us needed a boost. 

The weather called for rain most of the day, which was hindering our plans for outdoor activities, but it wasn't raining yet, so I took advantage of it to capture another 100 photos of the mountains.

Once we got to Rally Sport, we grabbed some squad photos and hung out with the camp staff and members.

Charlotte Saunders & me

Mirinda and the group

After photographic proof of our presence was established, we headed over to the bike storage area.  We had planned on heading out to do a race preparation talk, some transition work, and an open water swim.  Unfortunately, the weather was not going to cooperate (plus the water temp was 58 degrees), so we stayed in and made the most of what we had.  Honestly, you could have told us that this was what we had planned and it would have been fine!

Me & Mirinda

Siri and Rinny did a talk as well as Q&A about preparing for a race.  We got some great advice and some even better stories!  Remember that even the pros are just as much human as we are.  They have those "DUH!" moments too. 

Transition time!  We went over some basics on how to set up, go through, and think about your transitions, both T1 and T2.  Then we had four of the athletes go through their transitions for time, alter some things, and give it another try.  Not only was it informative, but it was just plain FUN!

The Transition Games with Siri & Rinny

Ready!!

Transition Run #1

After some discussion of each of our approaches, the benefits/downsides, and suggestions, we set things back up and went again!

At this point, it was around 9 am and due to the rain, we weren't getting out for our bike ride.  Therefore, we had two options.  Siri was going to write up a bike workout and have us workout in the spin studio.  Rinny was going to take people out for a run.  It was a hard choice, but I went for the run.

We also chatted about Bobby McGee's drills and warm ups.  We put some of them to use to get ready for our run.  There's no time like the present to put the information to use.

Rinny giving us general directions/instructions

Headed off on the beautiful and rainy bike trail

The rain had overflowed the streams and covered the bike trail. 

It got so bad eventually, that we bailed on the bike trail and took the roads.  

Rerouting our run away from overflowing streams

We did end up back on the trail down the road.

Along the way, I couldn't help but stop to take in the beauty!  I could never again go to the beach and be perfectly happy here with the mountains. 

 

Ben running around Boulder

My GOD this state is beautiful!!

Ben and I got back after getting only slightly lost and found that the group had taken a picture.  Maybe we can get photoshopped in.  Is anyone a photo editor?

We made up for it by heading back out with one of the Triathlon Research staff members for another run.  In total, we got 11 to 12 miles in.  The effort perception was off due to the difficulty breathing contrasted to how good my legs felt.  I couldn't tell which to follow.  I felt like we were doing 7:30s and up comes Rinny saying that she had to really push to catch us.  REALLY?!  And then Ben told me we were at just over 6/mile.  Haha 

Just go run.  Figure it out later.

For those who did not go for a run, they could relax or head to the spin studio and go through a workout thanks to Siri.  From what I heard, she kicked their BUTT!

 
And again, GU was EVERYWHERE!! 

Before we hit up lunch, we took part of the strength work from Erin Carson and put it to work by testing out how tight our frontal plane was and attempting to open it up. 

There were also some shenanigans!

Great friends were made by all!

Lunch was great because we (or at least I) was/were starving!  Unfortunately, lunch came right before we headed to the pool for our final workout.  We ate, took some more squad photos and a large group photo, and Eney Jones put us to work.  We had some help as well from some ladies you might know.  ...Wendy Ingram and Julie Dibens?  Do those names ring a bell? 

We did a set of 25s with quick sprints, settling into a strong speed.  Then we did a steady 1300, tested out a retention cable which was awesome, and finally worked on some drafting.

Swimming like a Flying V; on the hip to catch a draft

With that, the physical part of camp was over.  We headed back to the hotel pretty tired, rested up, cleaned up, and headed back out a few hours later for the celebration dinner at Spyder. 

In pure rockstar style, the Green Squad, also known as Sexy Squad, also known as Spreadsheet Squad got to ride in....

A School Bus!

It's like the first day of school!

The celebration was great!  All the athletes, the Triathlon Research staff, and most of the camp coaches came over to hang out, eat, and be merry one last evening before we headed home.   There were snacks and food while we hung out and caught up with everyone. 

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Then we had a talk with Siri Lindley and Mirinda Carfrae which was broadcast live by Triathlon Research.  They talked about what happened at the camp, what Mirinda & Siri thought of the camp and the athletes, and the potential that camps like it offer to athletes.  I won't lie.  It was a bit emotional. 

Whenever Siri goes into one of her meaningful and empowering talks, it is quite hard to hold back a tear of agreement due to the emotional connection we all have with our goals and passion for the sport.

After the talk, they put up a slideshow of the photos from Paul Phillips up on the screen to watch.  This guy really knows how to take a photo! 

During that time, Mirinda was signing photos for athletes.  You can bet that I got one myself and had everyone sign it.  I'll show you what it looks like once I get it up on my wall.  There was also a bit of entertainment from various pros and coaches signing a few people's heads.  Hilarious!

 

Now the fun part of the evening.  The raffle!!  They gave away a pair of Normatec boots, three pairs of Oakleys, Yurbuds, GU packages, poster photos from Paul Phillips, and plenty of other things. 

After another hour or so of hanging out, it was time to head out.  As we walked out, it turned out that the weather forecast was correct.  She got SNOW!!

Snow in Colorado on May 9th, 2015

It felt like December had only just arrived!  Crazy weather.  All this coming week will be warm and sunny as well.  Of course!!

On the way back, contact info was exchanged, memories were shared, and life long friendships were solidified.  Just like summer camp when you were a kid, it felt like we had all just arrived yesterday, like we had only been there for a single day, but like we had known each other for years.  These people will remain friends for a LONG time and I am super excited to share in their future careers.

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Questions
1.  Did you ever go to summer camp?

2.  Does thinking about your dreams make you shed a tear?
EVERY SINGLE TIME!

3.  Who wants to move to Colorado with me??


DREAM.  BELIEVE.  ACHIEVE.