Run with Eric [Search results for training camp] 

I was in Tuscon last week for the Gorilla Multisport Winter Training Camp. My original intention was to blog every day while at camp to give the daily update on the experience. But, frankly, I was too tired to manage it. So, now I am typing this from home in San Diego after a few days of recovery and decompression.

I had been looking forward to this for a while... five days of nothing but training, learning and hanging out with some other like-minded triathletes.

We arrived on Tuesday, I'll call it Day 0. After the long drive I was pretty wired, so I went for a quick run before some grub and bed. Our hotel was about 2 miles from the Kino Sports Complex, which is where the Arizona Diamondbacks do their spring training... made for a nice turnaround for the out and back route. Workout #1 in the books.

Day 1 - Wednesday
The other campers were not due to arrive until mid-day, but since we were in town and had some free time, my friend and Gorilla Multisport Coach DeeAnn and I went to a Masters workout at the University of Arizona. They run a nice program over there and the pool is amazing. With the week of heavy training ahead, I was glad to find out that the workout was an easy one. Lots of fast 100's and 50's with lots of rest, along with some technique work. I ended up with just over 3000 yards for the workout. After some coffee, breakfast and a short rest, I headed out for a run out to the Kino Sports Complex again. One of the campers from Florida, Joseph, had arrived, so he joined me. We ended up with just over 4.5 miles of easy jogging. After lunch and "registration", the entire crew convened for the first ride of the camp, Gates Pass. The ride began with a flat stretch through urban Tucson, which was not great due to all the stoplights. But once we were out of town, the scenery was amazing... spectacular views of the desert and endless miles of cactus and beautiful landscapes. The highlight of the ride was the climb up and over Gates Pass, which has a section at the top that rivals some of the steepest roads I've ever climbed on a bike. Out of the saddle in the 39x26, just trying to keep the pedals turning over. After a photo opp at the top, we bombed down the backside and back into town. Total ride was 38 miles. After getting back to the hotel and cleaning up, we were treated to a nutrition presentation from Bob Seebohar (www.fuel4mance.com), elite coach and sports nutritionist for the 2008 US Olympic Triathlon Team. I learned a lot about metabolic efficiency and picked up some tips that I will definitely incorporate into my own training.

Day 2 - Thursday
AM - 50 mile ride out to Colossal Cave Mountain Park. Coach Bob and Seton Claggett from TriSports.com joined us for the ride. Both are great guys and strong athletes. Overall, an moderate ride with lots of false flats and gentle inclines. The best part was that all the climbing was in the first 30 miles and the entire 20 mile return trip was a gentle descent. Immediately upon returning, our group headed out for a quick 20 minute transition run. Coach Bob rode and ran with us and gave us some great tips on run cadence. After a quick bite to eat, I put my legs up for an hour to rest up for the afternoon ride.
PM - 38 mile ride, the bottom half of the El Tour de Tucson route. By this time, the day had turned hot and windy... so we were treated to a pretty tough ride, starting out in urban Tucson, than out to some less-traveled roads in the north part of town. As soon as we could get our bikes in the hotel rooms and showered up, we headed over to a strength workout with Coach Bob. We focused on a concept he calls neuromuscular activation... essentially a series of pre and post-workout movements that activate the key muscle groups. Again, I learned a lot... great stuff.

Day 3 - Friday
AM - The Shootout is a regular Saturday hammerfeest that has been taking place in Tucson for over 30 years... its a fairly challenging route famous for attracting the most competitive cyclists and is typically full of attacks and counterattacks. We choose to do The Shootout ride on Friday on our own to get a sample of the route without the blistering pace and a big peleton. Seton Claggett from TriSports.com rode with us again. It started out with an easy 15 miles in town than a long 15 miles of false flat... nearly dead straight... before it finally kicks up with a final short steep climb. I was feeling pretty strong so I kept the pace high on the false flat, but once the hill came Seton dropped me like a rock as he disappeared up the steep incline. The local knowledge proved to be pretty handy! After regrouping, we headed back into town at a pretty good clip (22-24 mph) thanks to the mostly flat and gently descending route.
PM - Late Friday afternoon, I had a swim analysis and video scheduled... but beforehand, for the first time in three days, I had a couple hours to relax. So I napped by the pool. After my nap and a shower, I headed over to TriSports for my swim video. They have a sweet two-lane Endless Pool set-up with underwater and above water cameras. The instructor told me that my stroke was pretty solid (I hope so!), but gave me a few suggestions that I think will be helpful. In particular, one thing that I discovered is that I tend to pull up short with my right arm on the pull. So I need to concentrate on finishing my stroke on that side. Good feedback and something I probably would have never figured out on my own without the video feedback.

Saturday - Day 4
AM - This was the big day. Mt. Lemmon. A 26 mile climb rising from 2500 ft to a peak over 8200 ft. I've ridden San Diego's big climb, Palomar Mountain... which is tough. But the top of Palomar is at just over 5000 ft. When climbing Mt. Lemmon, the 5000 ft mark is not even halfway up the climb. Palomar is steeper, but it is the length of Mt. Lemmon that is killer... over 2 hrs of consistent work going up the mountain. We started the ride with an easy 15 miles of riding through Tucson and regrouped at a coffee shop about 2 miles from the Mile 0 marker at the base of the climb. After some pics and a double shot of espresso, we started up. There were 5 of us (myself, Norm, Manny, Joseph, and Greg) in the group that agreed to ride the whole mountain... the rest of the campers would climb for 90 minutes as far as they could go and then turn around. The summit team (sounds cool, eh?) all exchanged numbers and arranged to text or call each other if for some reason we needed to turn around. Otherwise, we would all meet up at the top. We got going and could see the road twisting up the mountain ahead of us... it was pretty intimidating. About 50 yards past the Mile 0 sign, Norm informed me that my rear tire was flat. Crap. He stayed back to help me get it changed while the rest of the group proceeded ahead. Once I fixed the tire, we proceeded again. The first 5 miles of the climb were tough, there were some killer headwinds that made it tough just to stay upright on the bike. I thought to myself that if the entire climb was this windy, it was going to be a very, very difficult day. Fortunately, as the road twisted and turned up the mountain there was some shelter from the wind and it got easier. I made a concerted effort to keep my HR in high Zone 2 (130-140) and just stayed on my 39x26 gear keeping the cadence high. This netted me a blistering pace of about 10-11 mph. Ha. Every few minutes, I shifted up to my 25 or 23 and climbed out of the saddle to give my hamstrings and lower back a rest. At Mile 7, I caught Manny and Joseph and we all took some pictures from the Seven Cataracts viewpoint. Spectacular. After the short break, I continued up the climb and quickly separated from the other guys. The views up the mountain were simply unbelievable, incredible rock formations and of course, the view of the valley falling further and further away... the closest thing I can relate them to is the Grand Canyon. It's hard to do them justice with words or even pictures. The rest of the climb went pretty well. Every time my legs were screaming for a break, the slope softened a bit and I was able to recover just enough for the next tough stretch ahead. Finally, I got to the first peak at Mile 21 and was treated to a descent. A descent? Wait, I'm not at the top yet! The final few miles of the "climb" were a bowl that drops about 400 ft before re-ascending to 8200 ft at the village of Mt. Lemmon. At the base of the final climb, I caught Greg whom I hadn't seen since I flatted two hours before. We laughed about how tough the climb was, and rolled into town together. A great sense of accomplishment that we indulged by getting some hot chocolate (it was cold!) and huge pieces of banana cream pie. About 10 minutes later, Norm rolled in and about 30 minutes later, Manny arrived. Shortly thereafter, we got a text that Joseph had turned around. So we finished up our good, got some pics and then headed back down the mountain. It was about 30 degrees cooler at the top, so I put on my arm warmers and shoved some loose paper (the cafe to-go menus!) in my jersey front to block the wind. It took about 25 minutes of work to get back out to the first peak, which after the long break and food was tough. But once back to Mile 21, it was literally all downhill from there. The descent is somewhat technical and super-fast. By the time I got to the bottom, my hands were cramping from constantly being the brakes trying to moderate my speed. On several occasions I was touching 40 mph and that was trying to be conservative. Finally, after regrouping again at the bottom, we headed back for the final 15 miles toward home. The full day was 85 miles, about 8000 ft of climbing. A great day on the bike and one that I will remember forever.
PM - Once we rolled back into the hotel at about 3pm, we slammed our (late) lunches and got ready to head over to the University of Arizona pool for a swim workout. I was tempted to bail and just relax, but the idea of splashing around the pool for a drill workout sounded good. Finally at 5pm the tough day was over and we all gathered around the hotel pool for pizza and beer. Good times.

Sunday - Day 5
Final day of camp... no cycling. After four tough days of riding, it was nice not to be getting on the bike first thing in the morning. Besides I was running out of clean cycling clothes. Actually, I ran out of clean stuff on Friday... but was able to make do with some Woolite and the hotel room sink. Anyway, I digress. After a quick breakfast, we piled into the cars and headed out to Saguero National Park for an amazing trail run. There is a 8 mile loop that is simply spectacular. Everyone was on their own to decide how far they wanted to run, we simply had a two hour time limit. Most choose to do one loop. My legs were pretty toasted from the riding, but I wanted a little more than 8 miles. My lower threshold for a "long" run is 12 miles, so I ran one loop and did a 2 mile out and back to bring it up to the requisite dozen. The quads were not happy with me as I climbed back into the van for the 20 minute drive home. After some more breakfast and a shower, we packed up the gear, said our goodbyes and got on the road back to San Diego.

Overall, it was a tremendous few days. Training wise, it was my biggest week ever... with over 270 miles on the bike, 30 miles of running and about 7k of swimming. To think that pros do that every week!! Aside from the training, the other campers were awesome... good people all of them. It was great to spend some time hanging out, we had a blast.

Here are some pics from the rides.

Entrance to Colossal Cave Mountain Park

Joseph, Manny and Me - The Shootout Loop

Heading toward Colossal Cave Mountain Park

The Mt. Lemmon Summit Crew - Manny, Norm, Me, Greg, Joseph... before the climb

At the base of Mt. Lemmon, right before I flatted.

Somewhere near Mile 10 of the Mt. Lemmon climb

Mt. Lemmon - Looking down, around Mile 14.

Banana Cream Pie and Hot Chocolate at the top of Mt. Lemmon - delicious.

Taken while descending at 35+mph. Not recommended.

Things seem to be rolling once again.

I had a bit of a scare last week with some hip/groin muscle 'tweak' thing going on, the result of a inadvertant misstep on the track. But it seems to be better and this week turned out great with some excellent training and even better, an unexpectedly good race result. All of this is an indication to me that I'm doing something right. Whether that 'something' is on purpose or merely accidental, I honestly don't know... but I'll accept it gladly.

Before I get on to the race report, let me take a moment to touch on last week's training.

• 6 runs. 50.3 miles. 5 hrs, 55 minutes including a race on Saturday. New volume high for the year.

On to the race report.

If you aren't familiar with this event, the Heartbreak Ridge Half Marathon is a race put on by the Camp Pendleton Marines. San Diego has a lot of options for great half-marathon races, including La Jolla, Carlsbad, AFC, and San Dieguito. Heartbreak Ridge stands out as both the hilliest course and the only one that is 90% off-road. It's also the smallest with only about 800 competitors. If you like the half-marathon distance, this is a great race to put on the calendar as it provides a challenge that is a nice change of pace from the 'typical' road course. The out and back route meanders through the foothills. No buildings, no cars... just a nice trail run through the wilderness. With aid stations every mile! The only downside is that there is no spectator access on most of the course... but there are plentiful words of encouragement coming from the Marines working the aid stations.
On Saturday, my day began with typical race morning stuff to get ready for the 8:00 am start. This is a 'training' race, my primary focus is Long Beach in a month. So, the plan is to simply run a conservative race... I've heard that this is not a PR course. Here's the mile-by-mile report.

• mile 1 - 5:58. Typical quick start... settle into a spot somewhere in the top 20.
  
• mile 2 - 6:45. Move from the pavement onto the dirt path... and head up. And up.
  
• mile 3 - 6:50. Very steep climb, but its short... appropriately there is a aid station and an ambulance waiting at the top. I briefly consider climbing inside. My HR must have been 250 at this point... ouch.
  
• mile 4 - 6:08. Short downhill, then flat. Catch a few people on this stretch.
  
• mile 5 - 6:16. Rolling terrain. Feeling pretty good.
  
• mile 6 - 6:14. Very slight descent. I count runners ahead of me coming back from the turn-around. I'm in 10th. Time to the turn-around is 41:56.
  
• mile 7 - 6:22. False flat stings a bit... but still feeling ok.
  
• mile 8 - 6:29. Finally a little descent to catch a bit of breath!
  
• mile 9 - 6:56. More climbing. I see 2 guys in the distance that I seem to be gaining ground on.
  
• mile 10 - 6:42. Flat than another climb. Move past one guy on the climb.
  
• mile 11 - 6:41. Final climb than downhill.
  
• mile 12 - 6:08. All downhill, do my best to let gravity do the work. Catch another runner just before the #13 mile marker.
  
• mile 13.1 - 6:59. Back on pavement again... just try to hold it together for the final stretch.

My first AG win... and the time is a PR for me.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the result. The increased mileage combined with the speedwork seems to be working out. My recovery seems to be fine... I was a little stiff after the race, but had a comfortable 1 hour run on Sunday with very little residual soreness. That, to me, is an indication that I ran within my ability and didn't negatively impact my ability to continue with my current training cycle.

This was my first Olympic distance race in over a year, since Wildflower last year. I'd been focused on 70.3 racing lately, so I was looking forward to a shorter race day.
Based on last year's results and some back of the napkin math with my expected splits, I realized that a AG podium spot might be in the cards... so that was in the back of my mind as I prepped my gear on Friday night. Other than that, my pre-race goals were to break 2:15 overall and get under 40 minutes for the run, both of which would be lifetime bests for me.

Regardless, my plan as always is to take what the day gives me and make the best of it. Doesn't always happen, but that's the plan anyways!



Pre-race: Typical stuff... 5am wake-up, coffee, english muffin, drive to race start, ride to transition area, get my gear ready. The usual drill.


Swim: The swim was in the Camp Del Mar boat basin at Camp Pendleton. At Oh-Eight-Hundred on the dot, they played the National Anthem... Very cool moment. The announcer was great, very enthusiastic and was getting everyone pumped up!
I was in Wave #4, Civilian Men 35-39, green caps, and went off at 8:20. Lined up front and center. It was my first time using my blueseventy Element googles in a open water swim (I usually use the Aqua Sphere Seal Masks), breaking the cardinal rule of trying something new in a race. But they worked great. Clear, good visibility, no leaking. Excellent goggles. Overall, the swim was uneventful, got into a good rhythm pretty quick and didn't have any issues with crowding or sighting. A nice change as I usually find myself going off course at least once every race. Glanced at my watch as I exited the water, 21:10, a Oly swim PR for me. My wife yelled at me that I was 2nd in my wave out of the water... I passed a guy carrying a green cap during the the long run in the sand to T1. So, I was leading my AG at this point. Cool! A nice touch was a Marine with a hose to rinse sand off the athlete's feet. My official swim time was 24:07, which I think included the run to transition.

Bike: Pretty quick transition, then off on the bike. Was riding a set of Blackwell 100's, these are very nice wheels... I felt strong as I exited Camp Del Mar and headed out on the course. I've ridden this route many, many times in training. Its mostly rolling with one minor climb. Just as I went over the 5 Fwy bridge, I was passed by a guy in red tri suit from my wave... he went by me like I was standing still. Ouch. No issues up the first and only climb on the course, stayed in the big ring and just stood up and cranked it out over the top. All the turns were very well marked by lots of cones and had Marines yelling encouragement. They really do a great job! My plan was to ride pretty hard all the turn-around and back to the Stuart Mesa descent, then relax and refresh for the last couple miles into T2. Stuck to the plan, and was not passed by anyone else until about 1/2 mile from transition... by a guy with an 'M' on his calf. Not in my AG, so I should still be in 2nd in my wave at this point. Rolled into T2, 1:04 and change based on my bike computer. About 4 minutes better than my best case scenario so I am pumped!! Official bike split, 1:09:33, which I believe included T1 and T2.

Run: total race time is around 1:33 at this point... need to run under 42 to get under 2:15. I'd better hustle!! Once out on the run course, the cloud cover has cleared and its hot... I dump water on my head every chance I get. There are no mile markers, so I just try to focus on keeping the pace high and keying off the guys in front of me. About a 1/4 mile from the end of the first loop, a guy with C-37 on his calf flies by me. I try to hang with him for about 100 yards, but the pace is too hot and I fall off... Hit the first loop in just under 20 minutes... ok, I'm on pace to break 40. Now its very hot out, so I get lots of water and gatorade from the aid stations. Catch the red tri suit guy about 1/2 mile from the finish... back in second and hold that all the way to the finish.

Final time of 2:12:40, run split 39 flat.

I'm stoked! Hang around to see the official results posted... 2nd in my AG, 6th Overall. My first top 10 ever! It was very cool to hear my name announced during the awards ceremony.

Lots of high fives all around... one of my friends takes the overall Military win as well. All in all a great day. The Marines do a great job in putting on a well-organized, top notch event.

I'm writing this in the car as we make the drive home from Wildflower. My wife is driving...

Thoughts of the past few days at Wildflower are still fresh, so I figure now is a good time to write my race report.

The Wildflower Long Course is a widely considered to be one of the toughest half-ironman distance events in the world. Two years ago, I did the Olympic distance race and this time around I decided to give the 'big' race a shot, half to take on the challenge and half to enjoy some post-race beers on Saturday night instead of going to bed early to prepare for a Sunday race.

We arrived at Lake San Antonio mid-day Thursday and were able to get a good camp spot in Harris Creek, right next to a playground for our kids, and strategically positioned close to the bathrooms and the showers. Score! Once we got our tents set up, I did a short 1 hr bike ride to make sure the bike was functioning well and to loosen up the legs after the long drive. I noticed my rear derailleur needed an adjustment. Friday morning, we drove the bike course... I've heard horror stories about tough 56 mile route and wanted to get a sense of what to expect. I'm glad I did. Then we hit the festival and race expo, got some lunch, picked up my race packet and I went for a short swim. I also got my bike checked out. Aside from the long walk back to our campsite, it was a pretty relaxing, restful day.

Race morning. Despite the difficulty of the day ahead, I felt pretty calm. Breakfast consisted of cereal with milk, two bananas with coffee and a bottle of water. I took the boat shuttle over to the transition area and was ready to go about 30 minutes before my start time of 8:35. Saw the pro men and women exit the water. This year had a pretty stellar field so as a fan of the sport, it was cool to see some of the big names like Macca, Llanos, Lieto, McGlone and Gallo up close and personal.

Swim: I positioned myself one row back near the center... I would have liked to be in the front row but there were some guys that refused to concede their spots. No big deal, I'm confident in my swimming ability and a little contact doesn't bother me. Once the gun went off, I swam pretty hard the first 200 or 300 yards, than got in a nice little group and found my rhythm. The water was perfect, 65 degrees or so... very comfortable to swim in. Lost the pack at some point, ended up swimming solo on the way back. Swim time was 28:12, about what I expected.

Had some trouble in transition area, for some reason I couldn't get my bike shoes on. T1 time of 3:51. ouch!

Bike: the bike course starts out along the lake front for a mile, than goes straight up the infamous Beach Hill. I set up my bike with a 12-27 cassette and I was glad to have a extra gear to spin up the climb. I saw plenty of guys over-geared out of the saddle struggling to get the pedals over. I slid back on my saddle, put my hands on the arm rests of the aero bars and tried to keep my HR steady. Once over Beach, I relaxed, kept my effort steady and controlled as I left the park and headed out onto Interlake Road. After driving the course on Friday, I knew that the hardest part of the bike course was in the last 15 miles. Very different than Oceanside where the last 15 miles are pretty much entirely flat. I drank only water for the first 30 minutes and after than began taking on nutrition, three Thermolytes an hour, and 1 Gu (Tri-Berry w/caffeine) every 20 minutes. I alternated between drinking GuH20 from my aerobottle and water. Up to mile 40, I just concentrated on keeping it steady. No big efforts, no hard accelerations, just an intensity level slightly above what I would do on a steady effort training ride. Not easy, but steady. Mile 42 marks the left turn up Nasty Grade. Once again, I just alternated between my 25 and 27 cog keeping a high cadence up the climb. Only got out of the saddle once to stretch my back a bit. I said hello to the Energizer bunny as I crested the top. He pounded his drum in return.

The last 10 miles or so are up and down... but I felt pretty good as I rolled back into the park. 2:56:59 bike split. Under my sub 3hr goal. No cramps and no stomach issues. Another slow transition, my stuff got scattered a bit so I had to hunt down my visor and one of my socks. 3:01 T2 time.

Run: Heading out onto the run, I felt pretty fresh... Ran 7 min miles through the first 4 miles, which meanders along the lakefront. The first section was on a freshly paved with pitch black asphalt... it was getting hot out. I poured water on my head at every aid station. I briefly thought a sub 1:35 half might be in the cards, but Miles 4-6 were crazy hilly... I had to walk up a couple of the steep inclines... running up would not have been any faster. A 9 minute mile up the big hill. Once over the firebreak, the course mellows out a bit through Mile 9 as it goes through the massive Redondo Vista camping area. The crowd support was awesome, there were hundreds of people providing support and encouragement. I got into a small group and just hung on, but I really started to feel the day's effort and was fatiguing quickly. I developed a side stitch that wouldn't go away, so I just took sips of water. I couldn't stomach any more gels or Gatorade, which I probably needed. After leaving Redondo Vista, there is a short climb, than a long descent into The Pit. I mentally cracked here... running down a long hill only to turn-around and run right back out. I was toasted and had to walk for a couple hundred yards through the aid station. Once back on the flat I started running again and just tried to get to the finish line in one piece. The course ends with a long descent down Lynch Hill.

Running into the finish chute was awesome... it was a great sense of accomplishment to finish this very difficult course. My run split was 1:45:05, just over 8 min/mile pace and my final time was 5:17:10. 41st in my AG, 176th OA.

All in all, I was very happy with the day. Even though it was my slowest half-ironman ever and my slowest run split... it's really impossible to compare this course with any of the others I've done like Oceanside, Baja or Eagleman. This course is far, far more difficult. The hills keep coming and coming. It was a mistake not to do a full preview of the run course... mentally I was well-prepared to handle the bike, but the really difficult part of this race is the run and that took me by surprise a bit. All that said, its a fantastic challenge and I am really looking forward to giving it another shot now that I know what to expect.

I can't wait until next year...

Oh, and the post-race beers I mentioned earlier? They tasted damn good.