Chi-Town Camp

I spent the last five or so days in the Chicago burbs training with some of the nicest people in the sport! Back in March, Elizabeth invited me, Danni and Cat out for an informal tri-training camp and I had been looking forward to it ever since!!

I'll just share the highlights of this camper's experience - if you are interested in the full details, Liz has drafted a comprehensive report on her blog chalk-full of her traditional wit.

Wednesday - Left the house at 6:00 am and arrived in Lisle, IL at 3:15pm. Met the girls, hauled in my stuff (two bags, a bike and a queen sized air mattress) and then piled in the Odd S C and headed north for a two mile lake swim! I got to meet the ever-spunky Jen Harrison (thanks for the recovery socks Jen!! They are the most comfy recovery socks ever!) and ate at Beth Shutt's favorite restaurant, Noodles. Nothing terribly exciting about the swim - lot of sighting practice since there were no real buoys to speak of - just sight off of trees, boats, houses, etc. Back to the house and CRASH!

Me, Cat, Jen Harrison, Danni and Liz

Thursday - Short track workout and running analysis. My cadence is too slow, my stride is too wide, too much heel strike, I reach too far forward with my arms and I push UP instead of forward. Track hurts!! Then pool/swim analysis at the Naperville Quarry - blast from the 50's!! Liz told me that I am actually a really good swimmer, I just need more strength - here come the paddles and Masters TWO times a week instead of just one. Lastly, an easy spin around the Morton Arboretum. LOVED IT! Lots of tight corners to practice my crit skills (or lack thereof). Dinner, jokes with the girls, snuggle time with Liz's dog, Boss, and then bed.

Friday - HARDEST day all week. Two hour ride with 45 min. tempo interval and then a 20 minute run off the bike. The bike was fine - in fact, I really surprised myself by staying on Liz's wheel the entire time - she is an awesome cyclist!! Who knew such a little person could provide so much draft? Run was a disaster. Not sure if I was dehydrated, under-fueled, it was hot, the Accelerade, or the fact that I just started back on The Pill this week (after being off for two years) but I got SICK! So sick that after we ate at Whole Foods for lunch, I had to go straight to bed for an hour. Lots of fun at the mall later that night, dinner out, and then GELATO!

Saturday - BEST day all week despite waking up at 5:45 am in order to leave the house at 6:30! Caffeinated up at Dunkin' Donuts then headed downtown to the Ohio Street Beach for a swim in Lake Michigan!! The water was crystal clear and I could see the bottom the whole time - couple of beer bottles and some fish. Perfect water temp and perfect weather - TONS of runners on the lake shore path. I was happy and at peace - even more happy when Liz confirmed once again how good my swim form looked even with my wetsuit on.

Back to the house, little nap, then CRIT TIME! Downer's Grove National Championship. No, I don't belong in a National Championship but they let me race anyway. ;) Women's Cat 3-4, 25 min + 1 lap, two hills - one was a MONSTER (and the place where Chris, Liz's husband, kept yelling at me to "pop a wheelie"), field of 30+ ended with 25. I miscounted my laps and sprinted hard on the second to last lap - which I thought was the LAST one. Died after that and placed 23 out of 25. Ha ha! Need more confidence when doing these. I get a little intimidated by all the chaos that is the start - just like the swim in a triathlon, but now I swim OVER people and have no problem positioning myself at the front of the swim pack. It will come in time. Congrats to Aubree - she placed 2nd!!

I made this poor girl do all the work!!!

Saturday night ended with dinner and wine tasting in Wheaton. Lots of "getting to know you" time with the girls and coach. Danni surprised me the most - Liz got it right when she coined her "the underdog". Cat is so comfortable with herself, funny and determined. Was somewhat shocked to find out she made out with Steve Martin back in the day! Liz is everything I thought she would be - witty, funny, smart, sassy, pretty and an accomplished athlete.

Sunday - Long ride up north. 48 miles into the WIND! It must have been 20 mph and kept changing directions on us!!! Cat and I bonked around mile 40 while Danni got her second wind right about then and actually went out longer for 54 miles! Lunch at Jimmy Johns, back home, cleaned up, then off to the airport to drop off Cat and Danni. It rained HARD on Sunday and almost put a damper on the Pro Mens Crit (100K!!!). It was fun to watch that race for sure!!! Had a good time chatting with Chris while Liz worked, watched some TV and then time for bed - at 9 pm!

Last day of camp! (I look like such a goon with those braces!)

Monday - It's about 8.5 - 9 hours to KC from Chicago. Driving home I became a little melancholy about the experience. Happy to have had it but sad that it had to end. Sad that I now had to return to the same boring routine. I REALLY enjoyed un-plugging from my life for a few days and having a great group of people to PUSH me to the breaking point.

What did I learn from FIVE days of hard ass training? I learned a lot about what I need to do to improve my running - A LOT! I learned that even when I think I can't do something, I usually can rise to the challenge when called upon. I learned/came to the realization that crit racing has a place in my TRAINING but will probably not become my focus for racing. And finally, I learned that when you get Cat and Liz together, they will giggle about the silliest things and that it only takes one glass of wine to get Danni to really open up.

I will miss my camp pals but hope that we can do it again next year!