Train To Endure

2008 Winter Training Camp

presented by:

Here we go again! Preparations are in full swing for the Train To Endure Winter Training Camp, this year presented by the great folks at Fuel Belt! The title photo is one of my favorites from last years camp. It shows what Northern California can look like in the middle of February, but not always, and it looks like we will be blessed with good weather again this year.

Our camp here in Sonoma County, California contains about fifteen athletes with almost all of them being triathletes. (past and present) Here are the stats:

* 4 women

* 2 athletes over 60 ... and they will be two of THE STRONGEST in the camp. These guys are Ironman World Championship type! Our eldest, John "Last Out of The Water" Lander, finished the Ironman World Championship 12th in his age group in 2007 and his bike does not shift into the small chain ring ;) There will be some guys and gals that will be happy just to hang with these studs ... no kidding!

* Only 2 in the group under 35 years of age.

* One athlete training for the 'California Triple Crown" ... a series of three Double Centuries here in NorCal.

* A couple will be doing their first Ironman race this year, a couple others are looking to get an edge to qualify for the Ironman World Championships, and a few others searching for ways to just be faster across all distances.

Make no mistake this is no "epic camp", but the three days will significantly challenge EVERYBODY and each person will walk away from it with new physical and psychological limits reached. For those that are more advanced there are opportunities every day to stretch oneself if so desired. What we have are bunch of regular people with an extraordinary desire to go train, learn, and enjoy stretching their bodies and mind a little.

We'll do our best with updates daily over the next 6 days to show you a little about what goes on during and behind the scenes here at our "little" training camp. We hope you enjoy the updates!

Before wrapping up I'd like to leave you with an excerpt from an article on my belief of how athletes with real lives, jobs, families and limited time can use these three day training camps to their advantage. Next week I'll post the entire article that illustrates some other training camp options.

Build Your Own Training Camp

by Dave Latourette

One of the more popular activities in endurance sports lately are training camps. At first glance they seem glamorous, attractive and fun. The reality is they can be all of those things, but some of the packaged and organized camps can get very pricey. When looking for a camp you may need to decide: are you looking for a high profile “camp with the stars”, an education camp with lots of technical teaching, or a camp where you can go push yourself physically to prepare for a particular race or bolster your fitness for an upcoming race season.

If you decide you don’t want to dish out the big dollars for a packaged training camp I’d like to share with you an option for building your own “training camp”. Therefore, the focus here will be on building a camp that is specific to stretching yourself physically and mentally to help build raw fitness. I will discuss this in broad terms so that athletes across all distances might be able to apply some of these details to their own camp.

Here are the first things to consider if you decide to build your own training camp.

1) Whatever the duration of your camp, it’s best to eliminate distractions and anything that does not relate to training and recovering. For example; consider traveling away from home, staying in a place that has a full kitchen, and ideally have someone come that may do a portion of the training but will help prepare meals and organize the logistics! (Or stay near an all you can eat buffet)

2) Bring at least one training buddy along. Better yet, bring more than one buddy along in case you get sick of one another! I think having a trusted training partner to push you and motivate you a little is a key factor to the getting the most from your camp. There are only a small handful of people that can do an effective training camp solo.

3) Prepare your equipment, food, and supplements in advance. Have your schedule and details prepared before you head off to the camp. Bottom line, do your homework before leaving home or before starting your camp.

3 Day “Volume Camp” – This is a great option when you have a long weekend or three days in a row off from work to focus on training. I especially like this option as it seems quite reasonable for working folks and can provide a nice training stimulus without an overly long recovery period. This is more applicable to long course athletes and experienced short course athletes.

Day 1: Run :45 aerobic, Ride 3:00 - 4:00 Aerobic. Be sure to re-fuel and relax after the morning run.
Day 2: Swim 1:00 aerobic, Ride 3:00-4:00. Be sure to re-fuel and relax after the morning swim
Day 3: (usually a tough mental day for many people) Ride 3:00–4:00 aerobic / Run :45 aerobic. Be sure to re-fuel and relax after the ride.

NOTE: As a guide for setting up the volume of the 3 day camp, use the total of your average training week for starters. For example; if your average training week is 14 hours, your total hours for the camp could be about 14 hours. Of those 14 hours in 3 days you should shoot for 75% of the volume to be on the bike. That is generally how the example above is structured.

Until Next Time ...