Midwest Winter Triathlon Camp!

Nice to be inside at a WINTER tri camp!

 Quick link to first blog:  In the Beginning . . .  

I recently attended the Midwest Winter Triathlon Camp in Bloomington, Indiana.  Wow!  What an amazing experience!  I learned lots and gained a TON of experience.

I wanted to share this experience in hopes of helping others decide whether or not a tri camp is a good fit.

I have to admit that attending this camp is among the scariest things I've done during my triathlon journey - almost as scary as riding my bike underground during the ITU World Open Sprint in Chicago!  The biggest part of my fear was just a fear of the unknown.  I had no idea what to expect.  Would I be able to keep up?  Would I  inconvenience people?  Would the camp coaches be able to individualize training for people they had never met?  Would I feel like an moron (go away pride!).  Would people wonder what in the world a 60-year-old sprint triathlete is doing at a tri camp mainly attended by people who raced at the Ironman distance?   Quite frankly, I wondered that too!  

Fun group!

I think my biggest hesitation, however, was wondering if the work that I did at camp would interfere with my coach's training.  My annual plan is periodized, meaning that I do  certain types of workouts in different periods and I didn't want to mess that up.  I wondered if camps were more for people who didn't have an annual plan.  I talked to my coach at length about this and we decided I should attend.  We also knew that the camp's lead coach, Marilyn Chychota, had been a pro cyclist in addition to a pro triathlete so we talked about the questions that I might ask Marilyn about draft-legal sprint triathlon at Worlds.  

My fears were unfounded.  I was happy to discover that I could keep up with the group in terms of work load.  I was also happy to find that I understood what we were being asked to do.  Because I was slower than the others, there were times that I had to make adjustments.  For example, during a few of the 100m swim intervals on one minute, I was keeping up but getting virtually no rest between intervals so I swam 75's for a few intervals to give me a little rest.  On another set of intervals, I swam with fins so I could match the pace of the young, fast athletes.  During a track workout, where we were doing 200m intervals, I was again getting almost no rest between intervals, so I sat one out.  And on a prowler relay (pushing a weight across the room), I was super slow and "cheated" by turning around before the turnaround point so I finished at the same time as the young, fast athletes.  But for the most part, I kept up and did not slow anyone down.

If you're hesitant about doing a camp, don't be!  If a 62-year-old woman can do camp, you can too!

PREPARING FOR CAMP:  I tried to prepare for camp the same way I prepare for a big race, lots of rest, pre-race nutrition, etc.  I was so nervous!  Luckily my coach assured me that everything would be fine.

Here's an overview of the camp's content:

FRIDAY:

Deep respect for Tom Morris!

Tom Morris!   When I arrived I was met my Tom Morris, one of the camp organizers.  To me, Tom Morris is a rock star.  Several years ago, I read a newspaper article about Tom after seeing something my coach posted on Facebook about the respect he had for Tom.  Tom was paralyzed in a bike crash and the article described his journey as he worked his way back to being the strength coach at Indiana University. His attitude and grit are absolutely awe inspiring.  Over the past several years, when my workouts or a race gets tough and I don't think I can do more, I focus on Tom's grit and keep going.  It was so cool to meet him.  I think I babbled like a school girl as I explained how inspired I was by his story.  What absolutely amazed me was that within two minutes, the wheelchair in which he was sitting was invisible.  Prior to camp, I knew Tom, the legend.  During camp, I got a glimpse of Tom, the person.  What a nice (and funny) guy.  Tom immediately calmed my fears about coming to camp.  If you want a HUGE dose of inspiration, read about Tom here.

Amazing coaches!

Coaches:  The ratio of camp staff to camper was impressive.  I think there were nine campers present and five staff members.  They worked as a team to support us.  In addition to Tom Morris who served as our strength coach, we were blessed to work with two coaches from Endurance Corner:  Sue Aqulia (three-time Kona qualifier) and and Marilyn Chychota (former pro triathlete and pro cyclist).  Kate Fesenko (Olympic swimmer), Brittney Bearden (I.U. Sports Performance Dietitian), and David Fletcher (physician and triathlete) rounded out the team.  Not only is each of these people accomplished in his or her field(s), each is incredibly kind and brought a considerable amount of laughing to the camp.  Lots of fun.

First Workout:  After introductions, we traveled by car to the I.U. pool where Mark Spitz trained under Doc Councilman.  Councilman is another hero of mine, and I spent a little time envisioning Councilman walking the deck and Spitz swimming laps.  Kate Fesenko (Olympic simmer) directed our swim warm-up, and then our camp's head coach, Marily Chychota, instructed us to pick a lane.  I picked the slowest lane.  But during the first set, I thought that I might be able to handle a faster lane so I switched lanes.  The new lane was challenging but doable.  I was the slowest and as a result, didn't get much rest during intervals, but I was proud to be able to keep up for the most part and was relieved that I didn't feel like a total slug!  The funniest part of the swim was after the workout was over.  I grabbed my towel and walked right into the men's locker room.  Luckily, I heard deep voices before I saw anyone and turned around!

Feed Table:  It was kind of fun to be going to a "feed table."  The entire weekend seemed to be train, eat, train, eat, train, eat, with a few presentations tossed in.  The eating time was a good time to recover, not only nutritionally, but also physically and mentally.  By the end of each "feeding period," I felt ready to go for the next workout.  I should mention that the food was amazing and specifically designed to support the next workout.  Some items were always present, like yogurt, almond butter, and fresh fruit.  Other items were specific to the meal, like the most amazing quinoa dish that I have ever tasted!  The camp's manager, Sue Aquila, runs a catering business in addition to several bagel shops.  Scrumptious!

SATURDAY:  Saturday consisted of three workouts (bike with a brick run, strength and swim).  I was pleased (and relieved) that I had already done everything that they were asking us to do:  high watts / low rpm intervals on the bike, pick-ups on the run, and a variety of technique drills in the swim.  I was the slowest, but I wasn't so slow that I was inconveniencing the group so I didn't care.  

Brick:  For the brick, we ran in the football stadium.  It was so cool to be surrounded by stands that must have been six stories high.  I imagined that I was 18 years old playing football with all those people watching me.  During our brick run, I also noticed that my "easy" speed seemed to be a lot quicker than the younger, faster athlete's "easy" speed.  That was interesting.  I remembered reading that "easy is easy."  I just never had a perspective for that until seeing the other athletes at camp.  Very interesting.

Running the Stands:  I.U. athletes always talk about "running the stands" at the football field as part of their workouts.  On the first day of camp, everyone was talking about running the stands and I thought that was going to be part of our weekend.  I freaked out.  I wasn't sure I could run up stand after stand, but I was more concerned that I'd fall on the way down.  I contacted my coach that evening to get advice on how to "run the stands."  We decided that I would either jog part way up each isle - or walk to the top of each isle.  Either would be a good workout for me.  I set my resolve and was mentally ready for the challenge.  When I found out that we weren't going to run the stands, I was hugely disappointed.  I decided that I was going to add a jog up one isle to my work for the day.  After the brick,  I was about to start on this extracurricular activity, but when I mentioned it to Sue, she told me not to do it.  Since she was my coach for the weekend and I am committed to be coachable, I said ok.  I may need to go to a football game (which I'd love to do anyway) so I can "run the stands."  :-)   

On this day, I think people saw my commitment and eagerness to learn.  Coaches and other campers started encouraging me as I worked to complete each task with the group.  I greatly appreciated their kind words.  I also became less shy and started asking a ton of questions.  Each of my questions was answered with care.  

Strength:  I love strength work and was thrilled to see that the agenda included a strength workout with Tom.  We did a lot of functional strength.  In the beginning we walked and then "danced" over hurdles.  I did not think I was going to be able to get my feet over those hurdles, but I did it!  I kicked a few of them, but so did most everyone else.  I do hurdles during my run warm-ups and have now learned that hurdles are might higher than I thought.  My warm-up is now a little more robust.  Tom had us do a lot of functional strength and then asked us to do one machine (lat pull down).

  
Tom is Sue Aquila's strength coach so he asked Sue to demonstrate.  She's impressive.  But what made the biggest impression on me was Tom's insistence that Sue's do one more lift and watching Sue struggle to get the last one in.  I suspect I'd fall apart emotionally if Tom did that to me.  However, during everyone one of my strength workouts since, I've envisioned Tom in my face yelling me to do one more lift.  Maybe I need to toughen up so my coach can yell at me to do one more. . .  Afterwards, I had an opportunity to ask Tom some individual questions.  Great to have that brief one-to-one time.

Talk with Marilyn:  In the afternoon, we had a short break.  I was able to spend a little one-to-one time with Marilyn which was probably my favorite part of camp.  We talked about the degree to which data should be used in training (varies from coach to coach) and how to train for draft-legal triathlons.  It was great to be able to pick her brain.  I was also fortunate to be able to ride to and from the pool with Marilyn.  She is friends with Chrissie Wellington and roomed with her while they were both being coached by Brett Sutton during the time period described in Chrissie's book.  Very interesting.  We also had a chat about the challenges that pro women athletes have.  I feel so blessed for having met Marilyn and truly appreciated her sensitivity and kindness. 

Exhaustion:  At the end of the day, I was totally beat.  None of the workouts were more than workouts that I had completed before, but while I've done double workouts, I've never done a triple workout.  However, due to the carefully placed meals / snacks and time to recover during presentations, I felt physically and mentally ready to tackle each workout throughout the weekend.  The design of the agenda was perfect for me.

SUNDAY

Two workouts were scheduled for Sunday including the track workout that scared me the most.  

Track Workout:  We were supposed to run on the track inside the football field, but it had snowed 4 inches overnight so we ended up running at the track at the I.U. Fieldhouse.  That was SOOOOO cool.  My coach pole vaulted for I.U. and it was awesome to imagine him in that impressive building and see the place where he vaulted.  The track was incredible.  The surface was slightly springy and the curves on the end were banked.  Of course, I didn't run fast enough to warrant the bank, but it was fun to see what it was like.

Marilyn gave us instructions about "track etiquette."  I now understand why my coach yells, "TRACK!" when he's timing me at the YMCA's track and someone gets in my way!   We started out with a warm-up jog and then did a dynamic warm-up.  We did some 400's and then ran some 200 intervals at 80% together.  

I was the last one to finish on the 200's which was a little problematic because there wasn't enough rest interval before the next one started.  I'd cross the line, jog back to the start, and go again.  I had virtually no break.  Marilyn told me to sit out the fifth 200.  There was something about her tone when she told me to sit out that I really liked.  It was an authoritative, "do-not-argue-with-me," coach's tone.  Her tone said, "This is business.  I am watching you.  It is in your best interest right now to take a break.  Sit out."  It's really hard to explain, but her tone made me feel very respected.

Final Workout - Bike:  Our final workout was a recovery workout on the bike.  Lots of spin-ups!

PRESENTATIONS:

Throughout the camp, there were classroom presentations on topics like Nutrition in the Off Season, Medical Review in the Off Season, Strength Training in the Office Season, Recovery, and my favorite, High Performance Mental Skill Training.  I greatly enjoyed the presentations.  They were not only highly informative, but they also provided time for recovery.  

CLOSING

On the last day, we all shared a meal for the final time.  Sue brought 5Q sugar cookies from her shop.  I split one with another camper.  Oh my gosh!  I don't know if it was that I haven't eaten sweets in such a long time, or that I had just completed three days of workouts, but that was the BEST cookie I have ever eaten.  Seriously.  After splitting the first one, we split another!  As we listened to Marilyn's advice about recovering from camp, and asked all of our final questions, it occurred to me that we all shared special memories.  It was kind of sad to say goodbye to everyone.  But within a few hours of camp, several campers sent me friend requests on Facebook and we were all sharing photos.  I'm hoping to see these folks and others next year.


LESSONS LEARNED

Technique:

While my coach does a great of instructing me on technique, it was so helpful to hear the same thing in different words from other couches.  Several times, I found myself saying to myself, "Oh!  That's what my coach means!"

I asked for Marilyn's appraisal in each event.  What I learned, to my utter amazement, is that I'm doing some things right!  I think in training that I am so focused on where I need to improve that I fail to consider that I might actually be doing some things well.  

Bike:  I was dumbfounded when Marilyn told me that my posture on the bike was good, better than some pros.  I told her that my flat back must be due to the arthritis that comes with old age.  Ha!  The angle of my feet as I pedal is also ok.  In fact, Marilyn told me she wouldn't change a thing.  Holy cow!   

Run:  On the run, I learned that my form isn't nearly as bad as I thought it was.  Marilyn and Sue gave me things to work on (yea!).  I was told to hold my hands like I was holding raw eggs (gentle, open fist), to keep my elbows in, and to bend at the elbow 90 degrees or even more.  My sense was that really helped with my lean.

At one point when Marilyn was telling me that some aspect of my technique was ok, I asked her to please not be kind to the "old lady."  I told her that I was there to learn.  Sue Aquila overhead me and jumped in to assure me with a laugh that Marilyn (who is her coach) tells it like is. Good.

I also had an opportunity to talk with both Marilyn and Sue about my run cadence (high) and stride length (short).  They said to 1) not try to increase my stride, 2) work on my hip flexors, and 3) work on my posterior core strength.  Marilyn explained that as I get stronger, my stride length will naturally increase and my cadence would probably decrease a tad.  

Swim:   Kate immediately saw the arm problem that I've been working on.  She got me out of the pool and physically positioned my arm the way it should be in the water, and gave me references to make sure it was in the right position.

I think I was able to immediately improve several aspects of my technique.  It was very nice to know that I wasn't as uncoordinated as I thought I was. 

Confidence:  I think the most helpful thing about camp was that I learned 1) how much I already know, and 2) that my training is on track.  Sue told me that I underestimate myself.  Other people said that as well.  I told Sue that as someone who has never done athletics, I truly have no idea what I am capable of doing.  And with no one to compete against in most of my races, it's hard to know if I have any speed.  The USAT rankings and my placement at Nationals have helped with my perspective on that.  But still, I really don't know how to estimate myself.  The good thing is that even if I underestimate my ability to do things, I don't let that keep me from trying.  I not only went to camp, I did everything that I was asked to do.  And now, I know that I can handle a camp alongside triathletes who podium at Ironman events.

DEBRIEF WITH MY COACH:

Since my coach was not at camp, we scheduled a "sit down" so I could debrief with him.  One thing that I think is important is to not have multiple coaches.  That would be confusing and it wouldn't be fair to my coach.  So whenever I talk to a different coach, I think of that person as a consultant to my coach.  I share what the other coach said, but then it is my coach who directs me.  So when we met, I shared what I did at camp and what was said to me.  My coach then told me what he wanted me to do.  His plan.  My execution.  It was a very productive discussion.  I love how my coach is willing to listen and consider my input before deciding what he wants me to do.

Very pleased with camp.  Highly recommend the Midwest Winter Triathlon Camp.