Training Camp

Deanne and I set off at the crack of dawn Friday morning for our training camp weekend in Lake Placid. The plan was to run one 13.1 mile loop of the course that afternoon, do the entire bike course plus a 6-mile run Saturday morning, and then do one 1.2 mile loop of the swim course Sunday morning before we left.

The training camp is run by Deanne's coach Jeff from Breakthrough Performance. There were about 20 of us all together, and Deanne and I shared a condo with the only 2 other women at the camp. It was a beautiful place and I got my own room in a queen-sized bed! That in itself was worth all of the anxiety this weekend caused, but I digress....

On the Lake Placid run course.

Once we got there, we had time to eat lunch, check in at the condo, stake our claim on sleeping arrangements, and then we set out to see where each of us will be staying during race week. Once we got back, we got ready for our run, which didn't end up starting till almost 4pm. I really liked the run course. The best part is that it's an out and back that will go by one section of the lake 4 times, so it's a great route for spectators. There is one nasty hill that I managed to run up during this one loop, but I can imagine there will be quite a bit of walking on race-day.

After we got back, we quickly showered and headed over to Coach Jeff's condo for a catered dinner with the rest of the campers and a seminar on the race course. By the time it was over, it was 10pm and I was TOAST. I had some trouble getting to sleep that night thinking about the monster day we were going to have, but once I was asleep, I slept like a rock. It's amazing how well you can sleep without 2 small feet in your face or someone peeing in your bed.

The alarm went off at 5am the next morning and we quickly ate, got all of our water bottles, Gu's, tubes and all of the other gazillion things we needed for the bike ride. I was so nervous I could barely get down my bagel. It seemed like forever before we finally set off, and almost immediately we were greeted with a gigantic uphill. I wasn't bothered by going up so much as I was fretting about the descent to Keene, which has kept me up at night for months. Coach Jeff had said in his seminar the night before that it was totally doable to descend that hill in aero-position without ever hitting the brakes. Ha! I'm surprised my brakes didn't melt before I got to the bottom of that thing. It was one scary-ass hill. I did what Marty at Fitwerx told me to do and feathered the brakes, sat up nice and tall to make myself into a human parachute, and I still was going over 30 mph. But I did it. Once. Now I had to finish the loop and do it again.

There was a good stretch of the route after getting into Keene that was just super-fast and fun. I was going 20 mph without even trying and it felt great! But that feeling was short-lived once we took the turn onto rte 86 towards Wilmington. There we were greeted with an uphill that just seemed to go on for miles. I dropped my chain on this hill which wasn't such a big deal, just annoying. And from then on it was just hill after hill and it seemed like I was never going over 10 mph. At one point the clouds started rolling in and we got a little bit of rain, but it cleared up pretty quickly before I hit the last few hills: Baby Bear (piece of cake), Mama Bear (eh, could be worse), and Papa Bear (holy shit!!). And then the loop was done and I quickly stopped at the condo to use the bathroom and refill my bottles before heading back out.

Deanne was at the condo already and waited for me so we could start out together. She was having some gearing problems and she also dropped her chain on the hill heading out of town, but once she was back in the groove, she hit the turbo button and was gone. I was definitely the slowest biker of the bunch, but I was more concerned about survival than worrying about trying to keep up with anyone.

Once we got to the Keene descent again I realized one of my worst nightmares had come true. It had just rained and we would be descending on wet roads. I wouldn't let myself go over 20 mph and I was so terrified every time I hit the brakes thinking I might skid out and end up on the pavement. My hands were both cramping from the death-grip I had on my brakes. I was SO relieved once I made it to the bottom. But relief soon turned to dismay when I noticed the black clouds and heard the rumbles of thunder.

By the time I got back to that turn towards Wilmington, the skies had opened up, and I was slogging up that giant hill in a heavy downpour, wind and lightning. I was convinced the wind was going to blow me into the ditch on the side of the road. I couldn't see anything. I was freezing, and why in God's name did the rain HURT so much??? I found out afterwards that it was actually hail. Of course it was. The rain let up for just long enough to dry off a little before the next downpours started, and then a third thunderstorm hit. It was ridiculous. Between the wind and the rain, I was at one point pedaling downhill and only going 10 mph.

But I finished! It took me 7 1/2 hours, but I finished. And despite the misery of the last loop, I'm kind of glad it happened. Now I know I can do that bike route in any kind of weather. I just hope I don't have to do that again!

Deanne was back at the condo getting ready to run by the time I got back. I quickly dried off and changed so I could go with her. Now Deanne is one strong runner, and has more than enough endurance for the both of us, but she was having a bad running week. I think she was just tired after a killer training week, but she was having her doubts when we set off for this 6 mile run and I persuaded her to set out with me and just see how she felt.

The thing that's great about having Deanne for a training partner is that we've been doing this together for SO long and we're both fully aware of what the other is capable of. She's dragged me through workouts probably more than I've dragged her. But we both know that when the other says "You can DO this!", that we really mean it. I knew she could, and she did. Sometimes you just need that other person to drown out the little voice in your head.

Getting our wetsuits on takes longer than the actual swim.

So on to Sunday, which I thought would be such a nice, relaxing swim, until for whatever reason I totally panicked and hyperventilated for the first 10 minutes. No idea why. There were a bunch of us in the water at once, and even though it wasn't a race, it kind of felt like the start of a triathlon, and it just triggered something. I hate that feeling. Even though I know it's going to go away, at the time you get so caught up in it and start wondering if you'll even get through it, and then all of a sudden something clicks, you catch your breath, and you just SWIM. And then all is ok. But those first few minutes are a doozy. And I know it's not just me, but I'm hoping I can keep myself relaxed enough on race day to head off that panic before it starts. But otherwise the swim was great.

And so ends our adventure at training camp. It was definitely a confidence-builder, and I feel like I learned a lot about the course.