I’ve made a healthy dent in a tube of Neosporin to heal numerous streaks of chafing, the front wheel of “Big Red” is still sitting beside her bold and strong frame beyond my desk, and my taste buds are holding on tight to their fading memories of sipping on Mexican Coke in the middle of nowhere, yep, all of that means I am a few days removed from surviving another Biscay Coaching triathlon training camp.
The memories made from this camp are engraved in my heart and muscles forever, and although it is an impossible task to capture every magical nuance of the action-packed five days I spent with a handful of lucky triathletes in North County San Diego swimming, biking, and running our guts out, I am still going to try.
“I’m really nervous about camp. Every single one of them kicks the shit out of me, and this time there will be sharks, so… A lot to think about.”
I texted that blubbering, yet honest note to my coach, head coach at Biscay Coaching, and training camp host, Hillary Biscay, after she reached out to see why I was feeling such anxiety the week before camp. As I have reported on my blog recently, I’ve had more “off” energy days than usual the past couple of months, and I was anxious that although my fitness is coming along, I might not be able to handle five back to back hard training days. AND the activity planned for Saturday was a 30K+ Swim/Run adventure from La Jolla to Carlsbad, legit shark infested waters, so although I’ve been anxious before every previous training camp, the anxiety level before this one was ratcheted up a few notches.
Honesty equals freedom.
The act of just telling Hillary the truth took a huge load off of my shoulders, because I instantly shifted my focus to tangible ways I could cure my waning energy ASAP. I set out to track and consume more protein and carbs throughout the next three massive training days, and surprise, surprise, I nailed every one of those workouts. So with the low-energy mystery solved, the only camp item left to worry about was the sharks.
Day One Run: From Screen left - Julie Dunkle, Amy Hite, Cameron Hawkins, Hillary Biscay, TPS. PC: Hillary Biscay.
The camp itinerary kicked off with a mellow hour long run on Thursday afternoon, followed by a swim in the Carlsbad Lagoon. Thankfully, my friend, north County local, and NYX Endurance co-founder and coach, Julie Dunkle, invited me to stay with her, so not only did I have stellar accommodations, but also constant inspiration and support throughout the entire weekend as Julie is an elite age group athlete, and an even more amazing human being.
The run was nice, and the swim was fun. Remember when I mentioned how I wasn't too excited about wearing my wetsuit again a few weeks ago? Well, I practically lived in my wetsuit all weekend, and Friday night was our first of the many fun and comfy splashes we shared together all weekend.
That's me screen left, you know, just preparing to jump in with my buds. PC: Hillary Biscay
We eased into Friday with a one-on-one stroke analysis with Hillary, a priceless exercise because I swim 99.9% of my workouts alone, and although I can swim forever, there is A LOT of room for improvement. Unsurprisingly, she noted quite a few hiccups with my stroke. I will spare you the details, but it looks like this will be the “Summer of the Snorkel.”
Arriving at the top of Mt. Palomar. PC: Hillary Biscay.
Next up on the agenda, riding up and down Mt. Palomar.
We rode this 62+ mile/ 5-6,000ft. of elevation route at the previous camp in January, 2020, so I knew what to expect, a very steep, twisty, and relentless climb followed by a treacherous descent. However, this time of year we would be contending with heat versus frigid temperatures, a welcomed change in conditions since I find dexterity a valuable asset while riding.
I kept my effort steady the entire ride, and then grinded my way up the 11-mile gnarly part of the climb. I actually felt pretty good, but similar to the Tucson camps when we climbed Mt. Lemmon, what I was really looking forward to was the transition run after we finished the ride.
From screen Left: Our Amazing SAG Captain, Mike Plumb, Alex Watt, Amy Hite, Moi, Cameron Hawkins, and coach, Maik Twelsiek.
The run after the Mt. Palomar ride was a new camp feature, and I was PUMPED!
I rolled into the Kitt Carson Park parking lot along with fellow campers and Biscay Coaching athletes, Cameron Hawkins and Amy Hite, changed into my running gear as quickly as possible, and waited not-so patiently for Hillary’s husband, and former pro-triathlete, Maik Tweliesik, to lead us out to the trail we were meant to be running on. We were assigned to run 5 miles and make it a progressive run if we wanted to. Well, I wanted to.
PC: Still from moving footage from Hillary Biscay.
I took off with Maik and we cruised the bumpy, but gorgeous trail at a comfortable, but quickening pace, and while chatting I asked him, “Have you ever raced Ironman Coeur D’Alene?” I knew Hillary did, but I wasn’t positive if Maik ever raced there when he was a pro? “Yeah, I hold the old bike course record.” Classic.
Maik and a very happy runner post 5-mile progressive run.
That was a run I will never forget.
The upside to an awesome day of training like that is an incredible high of emotions, but the downside is that peak in energy makes sleep elusive, an annoying occurrence in any other scenario, but devastating on the second night of a LONG training weekend. Truthfully, it wasn’t just the solid ride and run that kept my heart dancing past curfew, it was also the promise of swimming hours in the roiling ocean that awaited me on Saturday morning.
Before leaping into Saturday's Swim/Run excursion.
We met at 6A near the Lagoon to then carpool down to the swim/run start at the La Jolla Cove. The sky was grey, cloudy, and drizzly on our never-ending drive south on the 5 freeway. Honestly, I wasn’t scared of the sharks anymore, I just wasn’t what sure was ahead of us? I’d only had one experience in the Swim/Run realm, (last year at camp), and it could’ve had easily been my “one and done” dalliance in the increasingly popular sport, but here I was again, except this time around we weren’t swimming in the safe Lagoon, but out in the ocean. ALL day.
Our Swim/Run map. Please don't call Jenny.
At our previous camp, the Swim/Run was a competition, but this time around it was an experience meant to be shared together. Therefore, Hillary broke us up in mini-teams to stay together throughout each swim segment, and for the first 3.5KM jaunt from La Jolla Cove to the Pier, I was paired with Hillary and Amy. We stayed close the entire swim, although we didn’t stay as close to shore as we should’ve, so our volunteer paddle-boarder had to hustle out and steer us back on course a couple of times. The water was not rough, but wavy, and although we started the swim surrounded by seals, I never saw any sharks, and never thought about them the rest of the day. Soon enough we had the pier in our sights, and just needed to navigate around some early morning surfers and ride the waves safely to shore.
La Jolla Cove. PC: Hillary Biscay. Also, the Swim/Run attire calls for shoes and paddles. ALL-DAY.
The first run portion had us running through Blacks Beach, the famous nude beach near Torrey Pines. Sadly, it was too early in the day to see any birthday-suit beachgoers, instead it we trotted along in our wetsuits, running shoes, and paddles watching fully-clothed people stare at us in wonder.
The key to surviving the day appeared very early on, intaking constant food and hydration.
Our SAG driver, Mike Plumb, met us after every segment, so I made sure to take in calories before and after every swim and every run.
The surf at the second segment was too rough for most of us to swim beyond, so we followed Maik’s lead and swam back to shore, walked us to our next run segment, ran, and then started our swim from Tower to Dog Beach. This leg of the swim felt long, and our our mini-team broke up slightly because Hillary swam back to shore with my friend and teammate, Jess Zaiss, a charger who hasn’t been swimming much at all this whole year, but wanted to take a stab this Swim/Run adventure. She decided wisely to call it early rather than be stuck in a dangerous situation she wasn’t prepared for, always a smart call when dealing with the ocean. Meanwhile, Amy and I swam together toward Dog Beach.
Finishing a swim, and about to start a run with Cameron, YT with a mouth full of calories, Maik, Jess Zaiss, and Sue Lau.
Once we hit the beach, the clouds had melted and the sun was out. It was glorious, but it also made running in a full wetsuit hot and uncomfortable. I didn’t want to switch to wetsuit sim/cheater shorts yet, because the full wetsuit felt great in the cold water, but something definitely needed to change. So after a quick bathroom stop, I kept the top section of my wetsuit down, (I wore a full swimsuit underneath), and although my legs were still hot, my neck and arms were free and cool, marvelous!
Julie and I running to our next swim segment. PC:?
The next swim segment tossed me around more than any other, my left paddle nearly ripped off, but I made it to the beach safely, and quickly shot back into the rhythm of eating, drinking, taking the top of my wetsuit down, grabbing my hat and sunglasses and then take off running again. A few campers had switched to run only, and a handful of use were still swimming and running, but we were all together, cheering each other to keep moving toward the finish line in the Carlsbad Lagoon.
Maik, Hillary, Julie, and YT setting out on our final ocean swim of the day. PC: Jess Zaiss.
The last ocean swim segment was one of the most emotional moments in my endurance life. I had no idea what time of day it was, I didn’t wear a watch all day because I just wanted to immerse myself in the experience, and since we had plenty of daylight, we were never in a hurry. When I finally bodysurfed my last wave to shore and walked up the final steps, I let go of my even-keeled demeanor, absorbed the massive out of my comfort zone challenge I had just achieved, swimming 11+KM in the open ocean and running 32+K on land from La Jolla to Carlsbad.
Whoa.
The final run was a jaunt to the Carlsbad Lagoon where we jumped in for a quick splash to honor the memory of our friend, teammate, and fellow coach, Mary Knott. Mary swam thousands of yards in the lagoon preparing for her open water swims before she passed away in February.
Mary's swim leg in the Lagoon. I wanted to stay true to the day, so instead of shedding my wetsuit, I kept on my super-hero outfit.:)
I believe a big reason why I wasn’t scared after we started swimming, and absolutely determined to swim as long as I could the whole day, was because Mary would have LOVED an adventure like that, and I had faith she was watching over all of us ensuring we had a safe and awesome day together.
Next up was a tasty Chipotle-fueled dinner at Hillary and Maik’s new house with her entire family in tow that was capped off by the most delicious peanut butter and chocolate vegan cupcake I have ever eaten. It was a warm and wonderful way to end one of the most amazing days of my life.
Hillary and Maik's gorgeous family. Where are the cupcakes?
Unfortunately, sleep was once again minimal at best because I still felt like I was rocking in the wavy ocean all night long. Nevertheless, Julie and I were out the door at 6:15A en route to El Cajon to start our ALL day, 120 mile/11,000+ elevation bike ride up Mt. Laguna out to Julian and back.
Proudly playing the role of the The Caboose!!
It is a beautiful and difficult ride that I was familiar with because we did it at our January, 2020 camp, however this time around I felt a little hitch in my giddy up. It took about four hours to warm up my legs and fully engage in the long and challenging ride. That meant at about our half-way point I started to feel okay, but I never felt great, so I just aimed to stay positive, hydrated, and well-fed in order to keep my energy high enough to not hang too far behind my fellow campers, and enjoy some of the most gorgeous scenery California has to offer.
Miraculously, I managed some quality zzz’s on Sunday night.
We only had one day of camp left, but in classic Hillary Biscay fashion, it would end with a bang. We had a track workout followed by a grand finale recovery swim in the lagoon on the schedule, but we wouldn’t know what interval workout she had planned until we were standing on the track Monday morning.
Hillary explaining our workout. PC: Dave Lundberg.
During our warm-up miles running around a cool trail on the UCSD campus, I wasn’t sure if my throbbing head and exhausted body could handle the interval workout looming ahead, but just before we started the set my legs gave me a wink and a nudge that promised, “Don’t worry, T, this is what we do. We got you.”
A tall, tired triathlete giving it everything she has left. PC: Alex Watt.
Thankfully, I was familiar with the workout Hillary revealed, (I ran it about a month ago), and although my body was in much rougher shape than it was when I last ran it, I felt confident to pace it with those same splits in mind.
The workout was two times through: 1-mile at half-marathon pace, 800M faster, 400M faster, and then 200M ALL-OUT, with a 400M lap of recovery in between sets. I started off with a 7-min. pace for the mile, and dropped it from there. I ran every split how I wanted to, but I surprised myself with the 200’s. Thanks to my speedster and former gymnast teammate, Amy, who I eagerly chased down the track with every ounce of “Vista” speed I could scrape,
I ran them faster than I have in months, 0:37, but in addition to my reignited spiffy speed, we ALL smoked the 200’s!! In fact, we ran the entire workout with more gusto than I bet we believed we would be able to Sunday night, proving again that our bodies can push beyond the limits our minds try to set for us.
Done, cooked, and grateful.
The last workout of camp was a swim in the Lagoon, (header photo), and although pleasant, I felt a little rushed to reunite with salt water, (Saturday’s Swim/Run left an impression), so I kept my pace at a leisurely level, and followed behind my badass fellow campers until our 3,000 yards were up and it was time to go... home
This particular camp tested and rewarded me in ways I wasn't expecting. I walked away proud of my grit and fitness, grateful for new and deepening friendships, and relieved and invigorated to keep pursuing a passionate endurance driven lifestyle.
The song and video choice this week is a new tune from OneRepublic, Run.