So Sunday was camp day with Ken and Aaron.
Ken and I drove up to meet Aaron at the Deep Eddy Pool just outside downtown for our swim. Deep Eddy Pool is fed by Barton Springs, and is a great place to swim - a little chilly, but you don't notice it after the first few laps! Aaron, after I got warmed up, basically just spent the hour pushing me as hard as he possibly could up until the end. He worked a lot with Ken on his technique, so all in all it was a good session for both of us. The set I did throughout the workout was 25m hard, 100m at 90%, 25m hard, 50m at 90%. Um... ouch. I almost yakked at least twice.
After the swim we headed back south to my folks' neck of the woods, and after grabbing biking gear and running shoes we headed to the intersection of Bee Creek and Thurman Bend for what I will forever more affectionately refer to as The Brick Workout from Hell. To set the stage, it was about 95 degrees and humid outside, with high winds gusting up to and over 40 mph. Our bike/run course made an L shape comprised of the shorter portion being simply a massive hill (Loop 1), and the longer portion (Loop 2) being smooth with easy rollers until ending in a less massive hill than the other section. Aaron's strategy was essentially to send us cycling and running the parts of this course as much as possible for two hours. So we might do Loop 2 twice on the bike, building power throughout, then walking down Loop 1 and running back up, then running Loop 2 training pace out and race pace back before getting back on the bike. I don't know if I have ever sweated that much in my entire life. The heat kept my heart rate high throughout, and by the end we were both just destroyed. Then we all three went to the house and Gail had chicken salad sandwiches and watermelon for us. I love parents.
After our post-camp snack and quick showers, all three of us headed to the Cap Tex expo downtown so Aaron and I could pick up our packets and check in our bike. After a long search for parking, we finally got in, got our packets (which contained the most ridiculous amount of race stickers ever in the history of triathlon), and got our bikes checked in (after fastening the aforementioned stickers to everything in our possession, including ourselves).
Ken and I shot out of the expo pretty quick, because we were heading to Wimberly to join his buddy Cameron at his family's river house for some barbeque. It was the perfect way to end the day - we sat on the deck in rocking chairs overlooking the river, drinking beer and eating barbeque while the sun set. We left fairly early and headed home so that I could write training schedules for the coming week before we hit the hay.
Monday morning dawned hot and windy (shocker), and we got everything packed up to take to the race. We got there around 7:30, and I got my transition set up, checked out the swim course, went to the bathroom, etc., and then we went to catch the pros coming into T2 before I had to start my swim. Got to see Andy Potts (my tri crush) come in off the bike, and saw lots of other familiar faces as well. Anyways, my swim wave started around 9:00, and we hopped in to start right as Dad and Gail were arriving. The swim went pretty well (especially considering the previous day's workout), and I managed to draft for most of it. Final time was about 15 minutes for 750m - that is very solid for me. I was in and out of T1 quickly, and started the bike by getting nearly knocked off my bike by a giant gust of wind while I was crossing the bridge over Town Lake. The bike course was PACKED, and passing was difficult and dangerous in many situations - the gusting wind that kept blowing through the downtown buildings didn't make anything less complicated. I passed a few girls from my AG during the ride, and one girl from my AG passed me - I stuck onto her like a burr and legal drafted the rest of the way into T2. She and I came out of T2 at the same time even though she was slightly ahead of me at the end of the bike. I thought we were the first in our AG (found out later we weren't, but oh well), so I was ready to push it, since my race strategy for the run was HARD. She started off with a fast kick, hoping to drop me at the start, but she wore herself out and after pacing off of her for a slow half mile I decided to go ahead and take off after any other sprint participants. Ran about a 22-and-change 5K despite the heat, and got to see Aaron starting his second lap of the Oly as I was running into the finishers' shoot. Dad and Gail and Ken were all there cheering for me, and it was a great feeling as I wrapped up yet another awesome race. While they weren't able to give out awards (I ended up getting 3rd in my AG out of 50) due to a snafu in the timing, we still hung around for a while and had some pizza and coconut water, and eventually we all headed out - Dad and Gail to go back to the house, and Ken and I to head back to Dallas.
Ken and I stopped at Whole Foods on the way out of a town for a quick lunch before hitting the road. We got back to Dallas in the early evening.
All in all it was an incredible trip that benefitted me greatly physically (due to the camp and race) and mentally (due to the vacation!!!!), and I can't wait for my next one-on-one camp! Hopefully it is coming soon...
Happy training everybody!
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