One time at Triathlon Camp....

In a sea of Smashfest there is a Betty Designs in the back

I got smashed....and not in an alcoholic way, in a Hillary Biscay aka Smashqueen kind of way.

It was awesome!  

This was the 6th "camp" of my triathlon career.  You've come along way baby.....I know a Virginia Slims Ad but thinking back to my first camp, I have progressed IMHO.

Camp 1- I was 4 months into the sport, rocking a road bike with clip on aero bars, was totally star struck by Paula Newby-Frasier and Heather Fuhr as well as Paul Huddle (who called me DunkleDonut) and Roch Frey.  Not to mention our guest speaker Michellie Jones.  The camp was all levels but as we went around the room expressing our goals and I heard things like "top off my fitness for O'side in hopes of Kona Qualifying" " Train 20 hours over the next 5 days"  "dial in my power (I had no idea what that meant"....meanwhile my goals were survive the workouts and not fall over on my bike.  I was in over my head. That was 2007.   I spent 4 days soaking up everything I heard, taking notes to google later as some of it most of it was foreign to me.  The camp was not an ironman camp and was likely not that hard, but for me it was epic.  When I heard most of the campers were climbing Palomar on the last day after our run, I was gobsmacked, I could hardly make it back home let alone ride to a coffee shop.  I left camp wondering how I  would EVER complete at 70.3.  Ironman was not on the horizon...

Fast forward 8 years to Camp 6- Smashfest Camp - this was a camp for athletes who have gone sub 12 hours in an Ironman.  Although the truth of it is many were sub 10 hour athletes.  #outofmyleague . The idea was a group of more experienced athletes who would push each other and leave some of us in the dust.  Stacked with a a few female pro's, ex pro's and top 30ish age groupers this group was bad ass.   

Thur- Mon went down like this..

Thur- shake out 7 mile run - 88 degrees, hilly, hot and I was dying.  Oh boy camp is going to be tough...We had a nice group dinner, good fun and everyone is relaxed and fresh. 

really like this- if you are a heavy
sweater..check it out

Fri am- started  with 100 mile ride including Madera Canyon - fighting a head wind back and a long day on the bike.   I paced it well and was really happy to be feeling strong in the final hours.  Hydrated well with The Right Stuff and a plenty of calories.   Food/rest and hit the pool at 5:15 pm- who swims at 5pm after 100 mile ride ?  Hillary does-  Not to mention 16x25- 3 all out/1 ez with band only followed by 200 all out with paddles/band/buoy. Not so bad ? Try it 4 times.... I was drowning at the end.  Dragging myself out of the pool I could tell I was cutting new muscles trying to stay afloat. 

Sat AM - 100x100 - I was mistakenly not worried as I have done this a few times.  BUT when I did it,  it was aerobic and chill.  Again not with Hillary in the lead.  We had butterfly mixed in, 18x100 with band only and my goal was to not get lapped, but I did,  and soon my goal was to stay afloat, which I did not.   Then we did 40x100 on 1:25/1:20/1:15/1:10- WTF - I would have started crying but I was too tired.  I wanted to quit but did not have the energy to quit.  ALL the team HPB'rs swim with bands 3x week.  So they rocked it..... and I drowned.  

Can you feel the pity party....it was huge! 

 We finished the swim and I dragged myself into the shower, drove to Whole Foods not really able to speak.  Purchased a fresh guacamole tub for a party of 10  with salty chips, triple latte and XoXo chocolate bar. I sat in my car shaking  and consumed inhaled most of it.  Once I could see again I drove back to Marilyns for a nap. 

 As we had a nice "recovery" ride up Gates Pass- who recovers up PASS? Hillary does.   The ride was actually pretty chill- 2 hours and I felt pretty good. 


 Post ride 4 mile run 2 miles up hill were not fun, but the last 2 miles were awesome- I was crusing thinking about avocados, sweet potatoes, cheese and all of I sudden a freaking Javelina is right in front of me. Holy scary pig or whatever...HR spiked and I sprinted home.  

I had to google it- seems it is a peccary/skunk pig - hoofed mammal.   Once I learned it was an Omnivore I did not freak out as much

Tired, sore and famished.  I dumped roasted sweet potatoes, spinach and eggs in the pan, grated copious amounts of cheese and ate almond butter out of the jar while it cooked.  I inhaled dinner, crawled in my recovery boots and crashed.   

Sunday I woke up feeling totally hung over...although I had not had any alcohol.  I even looked in the kitchen in case I blindly drank a bottle of wine- nope.  Ugh..... this was going to be a tough day. 7am Technique swim to start. So I guzzled coffee, NUUN and AA and started to feel human.  Had a few t of Almond Butter as it was an ez swim.

Guess what it was an easy swim for 20 of the 23 campers, but special 3 of us did 25 sprints, kicking and than we did 30 second bursts tied to the swim ladder - that was  "fun".

LOVE this- I added mashed banana
and it was ideal!!  

Fueled up with protein pancakes and drove to ride Mt Lemmon.  5 mile warm up and go 25 mile climb to 8000+ feet!  Yowza.  It was actually a lot better than last year when I did it.  Why? Pacing.  10 miles I held back and than slowly built into the climb and it was great.  Riding Palomor a few week prior surely helped too.  All in all I felt great!

Final dinner at Hillary's house and in bed!  The other campers.... knocked out a 2-3 hour knarly trail run.  No trails for my foot so I nailed a 1:45 hilly run on the roads, negative split and hilly!  Finished run, ate copious amounts of food and re hydrated and started the drive home.  The drive home was a continuous buffet.

Camp was great
- I never overdid it so was able to finish each day strong, even after my near drowning experience

- new environment is always fun

- camp allows you to focus on training, recovery and take a break from life

- I recall Gordo Byrn telling me at his camp - NEVER try to lose weight at camp.  To get the most out of a big camp you should gain a lb or 2. Not my goal, but I ate NON stop and really think that helped recovery and gave me the ability to keep at it.

- New friends.... so fun meeting new peeps

- Where's Waldo- in a sea of Smashfest Kits I was the lone Betty Designs.  Talk about odd one out, but I am true to my sponsor Kristin Mayer.   It was comical tho.... 

The other key to a successful camp is letting it soak in.  Tue-Thur are big recovery days- no biking, ez runs and swims and back in the gym.  Friday starts a 7 day block and after that "we" will make the call on O'side.  If I had to make the call today- it would be no, but lets see how the next 7 days go.