2015 Canmore Spring Training Camp – Lessons Learned

This past weekend I was in Canmore, Alberta for Team Tri Life‘s spring training camp.  I committed to camp back in October or November and March seemed awfully far away at the time.  As camp drew closer I became nervous.  I didn’t feel prepared for a weekend of big volume training or even a 90 min spin or swim.  Oh well…I was committed and wasn’t going to back out!

Day 1 – 90 min spin

We met at Elevation Place on Friday night for a spin to kick off camp.  We had a view of the mountains from our bikes and Coach Sarah Van Tine was full of energy.  Our spin was scheduled from 7:30 – 9:00 pm.  I hurriedly scarfed down a sandwich before spin that wound up feeling heavy in my stomach while I was on the bike.  Despite my fuelling misstep the spin was a lot of fun and I felt good on the bike.

Lesson Learned: Do not eat a big meal right before a workout.  I should have had something smaller before spin and perhaps followed up with some Honey Stinger chews on the bike in case I needed extra fuel.

Day 2 – 60 min long run, 60 min swim, hike, 60 min yoga session

We met back at Elevation Place bright and early for run drills and a long run on Saturday morning.  Coach Sharon Styles took us through several of her favourite drills that she uses to warm up before a race.

Once we were nice and warmed up it was time to head out for our long run.  Everyone had different times and paces that they planned on running at.  I wound up running with my teammate Nola, who also happens to be Peat’s vet!  It was overcast and a little drizzly but the temperature was perfect for a run.  We ran along the Legacy Pathway in Canmore and before I knew it, it was time to turn around.  

It was such a great 60 minute run!  Once I got back I quickly drank a Cru Stone Cold Rosso – made of almonds, cashews, dates and cold brew coffee it was a great early morning recovery beverage.

After a swim we were able to grab a quick bite to eat, but then it was on to the next activity…a hike up Sulphur Mountain!  I’ll share more about the hike in another post but this hike straight up a mountain was just the thing to make sure our legs and bodies were completely tuckered out.

Just when I questioned what else I could put my body through on this day it was back to Elevation Place for an hour of yoga.  Erin Evans led us through one of the best yoga sessions I’ve ever done.  She understood that we were tired, tight and running a little low on energy.  She took us through just the poses we need to loosen up and to help us recover from a big day of training.

Lessons Learned: Running with friends in new places is good for the heart and mind and I need to make more of a conscious effort to incorporate warm up drills before my run.  I’ve also forgotten how good yoga can feel.

Day 3 – 90 min swim, 75 min spin, 10 min brick

By the time Sunday morning dawned I will admit to feeling tired and cranky.  My body was exhausted!  I especially struggled during the swim.  I started off feeling really good, but my swim endurance is still not quite there.  I tired early on and my form began to fall apart.  Trying to pull through and finish my stroke felt like it took so much effort.  I also began to stress out that I was slowing my lane mates down.  Mentally it wasn’t my morning.

When I got on my bike for a spin I was drained and still feeling incredibly cranky.  I quickly scarfed down some Honey Stinger chews and pounded back almost a full bottle of Skratch.  My legs were heavy on the bike.  I took extra time to go at my own pace to warm up and get the legs moving.  Once the nutrition hit and I had done some light spinning things started to come around.

We ran through a 75 minute workout with lots of high cadence workout, then it was time to head out for a brick run.  The weather was starting to turn on us and it was cold and windy out, but my ten minute run off the bike felt really good.

Once I was done though…I was done!  I was exhausted from a massive week of training!

Lessons Learned: Stay in your box.  Just because I didn’t feel positive about my swim didn’t mean that I had to let it affect what else I was doing on that day.  And if you feel cranky you may need to eat something!

Phew…12 hours of workouts last week including almost 8 hours of training at camp.  It was definitely a big volume week but I survived.  Thanks to Sarah and Sharon for being such enthusiastic coaches who put so much heart and effort into our training camp.  It was a good kick off for my triathlon training season!

Have you done a spring training camp before?  What were some of your takeaways from camp?