Rave reviews for our Late Summer Triathlon Racing Camp held on August 14th and 15th at the Fernwood Resort in Bushkill, PA.
First off, this by far blew away any expectations I had for the camp. The weekend was AWESOME! Super organized and well planned.
Day OneThe swimming clinic was good. Definitely a good way to ease into the camp. The drafting stuff helped big time, as did the rollover turn for the buoys.
The bike skills were great. I think having good balance on the bike is incredibly helpful. Doing those track stands and stuff before the TT intervals is almost like skulling before a swim meet. Good warmup to get a feel for position.
The TT intervals were good. I think I took the first one too hard, but I was able to increase the speed and output on the second one. I think that I should have challenged myself and gone with the first 3 on the first one. Although, having greg ride along side me for a little on the first interval was good. He just kind of stuck with me and gave slight encouragement. Riding with them on the second one was awesome. It definitely encouraged me to keep driving the pedals. This was a great workout and definitely taught me that I can push a little bit more on the bike, I don't need to be so conservative.
The running drills at the end of the day were very informative. I do some of them before every track workout but I found that I was doing them incorrectly, or not as well as I could be. Good to see how to do them properly. They definitely help define the range of motion for my body.
Day one was very informative. Not just in the information provided in the clinics but also in just witnessing others train. Seeing others train is helpful for me. Especially athletes that are above me. Whether I adopt some of the commonalities or not, seeing them work definitely helps. I was sore at the end of the day. Pushing the TTs was definitely the culprit!
Day TwoThe long ride went extremely well. I talked to Brian for a little. I wanted some help in properly cresting climbs, keeping my momentum through it, rather than spiking and having the recover, then find my momentum again. Something that I have found to be common in my races. He paced me up the bigger climb of the day and was showing me the proper way to do it. Watching him in front of me was incredibly helpful. Crazy part was that I could feel the difference. The biggest thing that I picked up was to not really "load" the legs, but to just get through it. Not to make it heavy, so that when we come over, I can keep the pressure on the pedals and ease back to the pace on the flats. Once we got to the top, we turned around and went right back to the bottom, picked up Joe and Jon and were instructed to "buckle up". He got on the front and slowly just kept upping the pace until the final uphill stretch where he just cranked it. He and Joe put a tiny gap on Jon and I and I almost like went dark on the that climb trying to hang. My eyes got so squinted from the effort I could barely see!!! The last bit of the ride, Joe and Jon and I tried a paceline for the last 6ish miles. We really got it cranking. It was really fun to work together like that and keep the speed up. On my third or fourth pull I definitely stayed on for a little too long and just cooked myself and wasn't able to hang back on and rode the last 2mi back to the hotel by myself. Riding with those two for the day and hanging on (for dear life) was awesome!
The run was great! I think that everyone was feeling good and/or not wanting to back off! doing the drills before was good too i think. i was secretly hoping that someone would take off on an effort because I felt so great but, it was definitely better to keep it controlled though.
Into the river. these intervals were harder than I expected they would be to be honest. The first interval was fine, but the second one which I lead out was harder as I found the current that almost swept us away! This workout here definitely showed me that I need to wear the wetsuit more and figure out how to properly spin the arms. The arm cadence needs some work, and I intend to really drill it in the pool during the distance intervals you give me. I will get it.
This camp was spectacular and really has helped me I think. Being able to train with Joe and Jon was awesome. Seeing that I hang in with them was great for me. There was so much information being exchanged over the weekend that I haven't even been able to process all of it yet. Slowly it will seep in. But this was an incredible camp, short in duration but definitely huge in quality. Great bunch of people, all with awesome attitudes on everything, not just triathlon. Thanks for putting this weekend together!
—Adam
Thank you for arranging a great camp. It was definitely one the best weekends I've had this summer. What I've learned, witnessed and shared during the past 2 days reaffirms how fortunate I am to be training with such a great class of coaches/athletes.
Saturday, Day 1:Bike: The technical exercises were fun and I didn't even mind falling. On Sunday, I hit your rear wheel...funny thing, I didn't fall and by that time I was physically exhausted. I remembered you saying that the key is to stay calm...it obviously worked. The time trials were helpful. The highlight you provided regarding power output reopened my eyes to the importance of consistency and efficiency. I reassessed how I did the time trials and realized that I was just trying to go fast most of the time without the conscientious effort to pay more attention to effective power output.
Swim: I never knew about drafting 2 swimmers. It makes sense based on the pure physics but I never put 2 and 2 together. Also, I never knew that it really helps to swim closer to the edge of a river when going against the current. The strategic lessons in regards to being faster while simultaneously conserving energy for the rest of the race was very helpful.
Run: Although my background is running, I've never thought of turning my muscles "on and off". The few drills that we did felt awkward at first but after doing them a few times I actually felt a difference in my legs. I haven't thought of doing the drills on a treadmill in the past but after this weekend I am definitely going to put them to the test at the gym.
Sunday, Day 2:Bike: Holy Hills! I'd like to say more than that but I'd have to clean my mouth out with soap. Regardless of the discomfort of my chain jumping gears, I really learned more from this ride than from any other ride I've done in the past. All the advice that I received from you, Brian and Joe really "stuck". Despite the nice surprise at the end of the ride, I can already tell you that I want to do more. It reminds me of rock climbing. At one point, you either do it or you don't and if you choose do it, there's no second-guessing your final decision. Thanks for the push...figuratively and literally!
Run: Although I knew that my legs were shot, I had made the decision to attend the camp for a reason. To learn and to work. Pace is one of the saving graces during a long run. The last push towards catching up with the guys was just the right amount of push I needed to get past the cramp in my left calf. I was hurting (knees were ok) but kept the pace that I knew was between "pushing" and "detrimental". So, your advice in regards to properly executing an endurance run (7:30-8:00min/mi) will help me to keep within my goal which is to maintain a 7:30min/mi for a 13mi run.
Swim: It felt nice after a long day of "pounding". Since you are my first-ever swim coach, everything is new to me. The learning process while being in open-water makes such a huge difference. Thanks for convincing me to not where my wetsuit.You were right, I didn't need it and the comfort of depending on the ropes of a safe pool and the buoyancy of the wetsuit put me in a position where I had to pay really close attention to what I was doing in the water.
In addition to the actual training, it was great talking with everyone. Jon and Joe really gave a lot of insight into their own experience. It was nice to see how willing they were to answer questions so openly and freely from myself and everyone who wanted to "pick their brains". Everyone at the camp had a story and a different purpose. Listening inspired me to strive even harder...nonetheless, smarter.
Ultimately, the experience had a lot to do with your efforts. Everyone there really spoke highly of your coaching ability. Someone even mentioned how he could've listened to your advice for hours. Not to mention, you have a great sense of humor.
So, I hope this feedback helps. I can't think of anything else other than I do hope you have more training camps like this with different "concentrations". It's made a huge positive impact.
—Dianne
Thanks for the great weekend. I really enjoyed and got a lot out of the camp. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive going into the camp not knowing what to expect or the level of the other participants. But once at camp I quickly realized that although everyone was at a different level at each event, the group did a good job of not making anyone feel that they were out of their league.
Needless to say, I was impressed with many of the aspects of the camp, it was definitely something I needed and hope to do again in the future.
Saturday:Swim: The swim location was great. I've had a chance to work on drafting drills before at other clinics but the size of the group and the pairing up added an aspect that is hard to get in a big group. I always pick up little tips from you along the way, which I always hope I can remember the next day.
Bike: The bike skills portion of the camp was very unexpected. In my 12 years of cycling, I've never really ridden with other people, so the bumping drills were definitely new to me. It was very weird doing some of the drills on my tri-bike. Even with all the miles I put on it last year, my handling skills are still much better on my road bike. I think this is a great element to the camp, and talking to others, they also seemed to appreciate the drills.
The time trial fit in really well. I felt that the road we were on was a great place for that effort and actually feels like some of the course I race. I haven't been riding much this year, and at this point I don't know what my zones are. I think I got some really good numbers out of the time trial drills.
Run: The golf course was probably not the best location, but the content was also really good. Again, having no formal run training, any type of skill drill I pick up is really beneficial. I need to write down what we did and try to incorporate it into my schedule over the next few weeks.
Sunday:Bike: The course is impressive. I'm probably going to try to get up a few times next year to get in some rides. I thought your plan of splitting the group and offering different mileage options was a good idea, but I think things worked well the way they happened. Hopefully we didn't slow down the group too much. I know some people were able to do some or parts of the climbs twice so I'm guessing that worked out for them. Sorry I kind of did my own thing at the end. I got to a point where I just wanted to finish. When I get to that point I really just need to zone out and do my own thing and ride to how I feel. Everyone on the ride was really friendly, helpful and encouraging. I didn't get a chance to get any feedback from Brain, but I did talk to Joe a lot. He was a great addition to have at the camp, both his race stories and insights are fun to hear.
Run: 8 minute mile…That is a fast pace for me when I'm in good shape and fresh. But I have something to think about and work toward. When I told Sue what you told me about my arms, she was like "of course you don't move your arms, all your years skiing was practicing to not move them". I think I have the one sport background that doesn't translate at all to swimming or running. I think going back to the swim start for the run was a good idea.
Swim: I really didn't think I was gong to have anything left for the last swim, but the 3x8 minute drill with the 5 minute recovery was really good at that point in time. I was actually surprised at how I felt.
Overall: I think the locations you chose worked really well. I wasn't super impressed with the hotel, the rooms and accommodations were fine (clean, spacious, refrigerator); but the staff, both when I called to book and while I was there didn't come across as the friendliest group of employees.
Coming out of the weekend I think there were two things I wish I had known more about and done differently. I wish I brought my road bike, especially for the group ride on Sunday. With my inexperience riding in a group, the tri-bike didn't help (shifting and breaking). The only other thing was eating. I prepared to eat during the training (bars, gels, fluid), but I didn't plan well enough to pack fruit, sandwiches, etc. to eat between sessions. With the heavy traffic it was a bit difficult to squeeze in a meal with enough time to not be sick for the workouts.
—Mike S.