Triathlon Boot Camp

This past weekend I went to Pennsylvania for a beginner boot camp run by Mid Atlantic MultiSport. My mother couldn’t quite understand why I would pay money to be tortured, but I assured her it wasn’t due to any latent masochistic tendencies. Seriously, it was a fabulous experience and I highly recommend Bill Hauser’s clinic for anyone interested doing triathlons or upping their training level. My first two years doing sprints, I was happy just to finish. And if I finished strong, I was ecstatic. But this year, I wanted to increase my competitiveness. For a classic Type A personality, it’s a bummer to rank 3,639 out of 4,115 women in my age group. I set a goal of ranking in the bottom 20 percent this year (as opposed to the bottom 11 percent), so I signed up for boot camp. Bill waived the registration fee for my friend Rhea, who interpreted for me during the weekend. Without her, I wouldn’t have even bothered going. Waving hands for Bill!!

Despite some trepidation at getting pre-camp emails about the “short” run options (five miles is short?!?!), I arrived at camp excited and ready to have my swim stroke analyzed. If you’ve never had that done, let me tell you that seeing your fleshy thighs rippling in a mirror on the bottom of a pool is NOT fun. And a Jack Sprat Ironman pro videotaping me, too? How am I supposed to concentrate on my technique with that kind of distraction? Fortunately for my self-esteem, I had a female fitness coach analyze my swim stroke. Pamela Morris gave excellent feedback and worked with me in the in the pool a little bit while I practiced implementing her suggestions.

After swimming, we had dinner and met the other campers. The majority of us were women and I was secretly relieved to see I was not alone in being a few pounds over the typical endurance athlete weight. There was a wide range of age groups, with most people in their thirties and forties. Never too late to start! Everyone seemed warm, friendly and relaxed. A couple of people knew fingerspelling and some signs, so they introduced themselves. Bill kicked off the presentations with a talk about training programs and then we heard from USAT official Bob Wendling about race rules, safety and legal shortcuts. It seems that if you wear hearing aids during an event, it’s a good idea to let the race director and head official know, so they don’t disqualify thinking you’re wearing some fancy schmancy MP3 player (I personally have not mastered the art of toweling my hair, shaking water out of my ears, and putting in hearing aids while making the swim-bike transition in less than 2 minutes, so I just leave them off).

The next morning, I skipped the optional group run and went straight to breakfast.  Triathlon training nutrition is not for the carbophobic and one could make a case for eating as the fourth sport.  After breakfast, we heard tips from professional Ironman Ken Glah, who could go into stand-up comedy if he ever tires of running his EnduranceSports Travel company.  Then we headed off on the group ride.  I started out with the 20 mile group, but somehow along the way ended up on the 30 mile route.  I guess I should stop smiling and saying ‘ok!’ when the ride guides say something unintelligible to me.  It all turned out fine in the end, though, and I was pleasantly surprised to finish feeling pretty good.  I hadn’t been on my bike since last October!

After lunch (more carbs), we broke into small groups to do swim, bike and run clinics.  Swimming was up first for my group, so we got changed and hopped in the pool.  I have to say, I wasn’t expecting more exercise at that point and was dreading the session.  But Pamela and Villanova University swim coach Rick Simpson put us through an easy workout.  They showed us some drills to improve our technique and demonstrated the benefits of drafting while swimming.  Then, we practiced sighting and group starts.  Having done triathlons before, I had no qualms about clawing and plowing my way through the other swimmers.  But those who hadn’t experienced group starts appreciated the opportunity to see what it’s like.  Then it was back to the locker room where an impromtu jacuzzi party broke out.  I didn’t join because I knew if I got in the hot tub, I wouldn’t be getting out any time soon. 

The next workshop focused on bike safety and maintenance, and participants learned how to change a tire.  I engaged in the Deaf sport of text messaging, since I already knew how to fix a flat. We finished the day by learning stretching and strengthening exercises for triathletes.  Professional coach Todd Wiley also gave us some tips on making quick transitions.  The most important thing I learned from the day was that if you have a long workout, you’ll feel better if you have another light workout later in the day and end with a good stretching session.  I used to come home from a 20-30 mile ride and not move the rest of the day.  I didn’t realize that this was making me more stiff and sore because all the lactic acid sits around in my muscles.  Active rest is my new buzzword!

Of course, this doesn’t mean that I woke up the next morning feeling like a spring chicken. I hobbled my way to the Bryn Mawr Running Company for our group run.  Luckily, Bill set up a short “short” run of 3 miles and about 8 of us did that.  Again, I was happily surprised to find that I was actually able to complete the run.  The coaches were great about making sure no one got left behind and everyone felt supported no matter how long it took to finish the route.  Then we had breakfast (the fourth sport) and shopping (the fifth sport) in the running store.  My fiance is teasing me about how I managed to fit shopping into a boot camp weekend.  But hey, my credit card needs exercise too!  Later, the Bryn Mawr Running Company owner and employees talked to us about selecting gear and accessories like heart rate monitors.  Lots of cool goodies out there. I’m going to have to start my Christmas wish list early this year.

Boot camp finished up with a presentation by a sports medicine doctor and a q&a session with the coaches and staff.  The presentation focused on common injuries and their treatments.  I found it interesting that the male doctor went into detail about men’s groin injuries, but euphemistically referred to women-specific issues.  If you can say “third testicle,” why can’t you say “clitoral numbness”?  Especially when your audience is 83 percent women? The q&a session was a great opportunity to ask questions that arose over the weekend and hear other people’s issues. A final group ride was scheduled for the end, but only one woman signed up to do it. You go, girl!  As for me, I got in the car and went home.