Every Mile A Memory: TRIATHLON CAMP 2018

Triathlon Camp 2018

I was fortunate enough to join a local multi-sport club, Rocky Top Multi-Sport. I first found these folks at the Knoxville Marathon Expo booth and knew this is what I needed to help me accomplish my Triathlon Goals and dreams. As it would turn out, they put together a really nice spring training camp for us before the season started that would conclude with a duathlon on Sunday. To say I was super excited for this would be an understatement.

On Friday, we had a get together at cyclebar for a private spin class. Knowing how much I love spin, I was all up for this. This was a top notch facility that even provided shoes for us. However, due to comfort and knowing how mine fit, I went ahead and took mine as I use the same clips that most spin bikes do.

After class was over, and we had our butts thoroughly kicked, we all hung out for a informal party. I mixed and mingled with folks and was one of the last to head out just taking time to get to know people. I was really ready for this weekend and was looking forward to it.

Saturday Morning I got up and drove up to the YMCA in north Knoxville. We started the morning off with an hour swim. We drilled and drilled and drilled. We had a couple coaches from the Knoxville Masters swim class come and teach us. I personally discovered that my big issue is breathing. So, coming out of the pool I knew I had to get better at breathing. I was given some drills to help me work on that , which I greatly appreciated.

Once we were through the swim, we took time to change and then moved into a classroom setting for the next while for class. The first thing we talked about was cycling. Of course , I really got into this. We went through the gearing, and do's and don'ts. Talked about the importance of using the bike as a tool. I had a couple big realizations about this. #1 was I was a king at cross chaining. Understanding the bike gearing now, I really understood how bad cross chaining was and what it was. Immediatley I knew how to fix that. The other part of my realization was that I needed to RELAX on the bike. I had a bad habbit of tensing on the bike when I get tired to gain more control. Actually , its doing me the opposite and wearing me down faster. So, I realized that I needed to RELAX yo! Bike class was REALLY informative . I learned so much.

After Bike Class, we had lunch, and had a nutritionist come in and talk to us. I found this information REALLY USEFUL ! I had some light bulbs go off as well about why I would crave this or that and really understood some nutrition things even better than I did before.

After Lunch, we had an informal chat with the RD , Muna , who was in charge of tomorrow dua. It was nice to get to hear things from a rd point of view. Very eye opening.

Then, it was time to head outside and discuss the 4th discipline of triathlons, the transition. Where you can make up time or loose time. I again found this EXTREMELY helpful. I had done some research before my first TRI, but really found some nice takeaways about organization and such. So, again, really beneficial for me.

The last activity of the day was Running. So , naturally we all suited up in our running gear not knowing what to expect. This was probably the most benifical thing in terms of running for me. We went over injury prevention and then went through some stretches and drills for warmups, and discussed about form and doing self checks during runs. I realized right then why I have had some of the best runs of my life and some that I couldn't get anything to go right for me. Its all about the form. When you get tired, your body starts to slip. You have to pay attention and check these things periodically. When you do that, you have great days. When you don't you don't. That's just the facts of it all.

After the day had concluded, I was talking bikes and the N+1 rule with some friends from the club and about the race. I curiously asked Muna how many people would be there tomorrow . She said maybe 30. Almost immediatley my eyes lit up . I knew right then, that the plan had just changed.

See, the plan was to NOT race this as this was after my first tri and treat it as a recovery brick. But, when the moment presents itself, you have to go. I called coach on the road. Appologized in advance but said, the time is right , I gotta race this here is the situation. She was like YES you do ! GO!

Once I got home, I got out the bike and then rode down through town. Immediatley, the things that I learned in class were put to use, and I was over in the BCR steaming along with ease. It was then I for sure knew, I was set on kill. It was time to shine .

After I got home and got the bike cleaned up , I packed up the gear and relaxed. Because , tomorrow ...... ITS SHOWTIME!!!