Before we went to dinner last night, Coach Troy gave us our itinerary for today. Meeting at 6:40 a.m. for a 7:00 swim. Back to the hotel to change and have breakfast, then in the lobby by 8:15 for an 8:30 run start time. I was up again at 5:30 a.m. I had my husband to do the breakfast run for me, so I started gathering some of my belongings to expedite check-out after the run. Coach had negotiated a noon check-out for us, instead of the hotel's 11:00 time. I had coffee, yogurt and a banana for breakfast. I pulled my wetsuit on up to my waist and joined my friends in the lobby. When I got to the lobby, I realized I'd left my Garmin 910XT watch in the room, so I hustled back to pick it up. I returned to the lobby just as the group was headed out the door, and I quickly slid in the end of the line like I'd been there all along, avoiding the dreaded iso squat punishment. We walked to the beach and finished getting ready to get in the water. I always wear my full wetsuit because I want every bit of buoyancy I can get, but I didn't bother with the neoprene booties. Two of our coaches, Ryan and Brian, wore Speedos for the swim. I admired their, um, bravery, and appreciated the extra incentive to get in the water :) Coach took the group shot on the beach this time, and as we waded in, we all commented on how cold the water felt. It WAS warmer than the first day, so I attribute this to how tired we all were. Our swim instructions were to, again, swim out 15 minutes, then return, but to swim farther than we did the other day. Not a problem for me, because I didn't get very far on that first swim. This time, I started swimming right away, no humming, no breathlessness. The water felt fantastic! I got on someone's feet, someone was on my feet, and we
swam. Back at the hotel after, I inhaled a convenience store crumb cake thing that my husband had left in the room for me. I will say, dinners were great and mostly healthy, but the rest of my nutrition left a lot to be desired. There were refrigerators in the rooms; I should have taken the time the first night to buy some decent food to have on hand. Changed into running clothes and back to the lobby for the run. Troy had advised that we carry fluids. Dan and Dave would be on the course with the sag wagon, but it was forecast to be a hot and muggy day. I brought my handheld bottle that holds about 8 ounces of water. Coach talked strategy for the run. Since we'd all be running at our own pace, this would be the last time I'd see some of my fellow campers. My thought was to run around 9:30 miles. That seemed reasonable after two hard days of riding. And as Coach Troy reminded us, this was training camp, not a race. Too bad I didn't stick with that plan. We all started out fast. It's an easy thing to do on that course, because the first two miles are downhill. I ran 8:35 miles for the first three. I was mostly running alone. The fasties went out hard, a few others were behind them. Jerre went out strong. Christina and Mike were just in front of me, and I used them to pace me for about 10 miles of the run. Miles 4 and 5 were 8:57 and 8:59, and mile 6 was 9:15. I had drained my water bottle by the turn-around on River Road. It was getting hot, so I guzzled about a cup of Gatorade and refilled my bottle with water. Miles 7 and 8 were exactly 9:00 miles, then the slow-down hit. A 9:24 and 9:51 and I was at the sag wagon refilling my bottle again. This time I grabbed a cup of water and doused myself. I perked up a bit, and had a 9:27 mile up the shorter hill after the bridge, past the horse show grounds and towards town. Then came the dreaded in-your-face hill back into town. I had run with Lola a while going into town, but she dropped me on that hill. I refused to walk, and just did what Coach had advised--kept moving forward and had my slowest mile at 10:55. I had the out-and-back left to make it a complete 13.1, and despite the temptation to skip it, I eased my pace and just ran it easy.
Finished in 2:02 running time--happy and sorry it was over, at the same time. Back at the hotel, we were waist deep in the lake once again, comparing notes and congratulating each other on a job well done.
It was a transformative weekend for me. I started out feeling like I didn't belong there, and I left knowing that I did, that I could do things I never thought possible before this weekend. I made some good friends--people I will be supporting when I volunteer at IMLP in a few weeks, and people who are now real to me when we're "talking" in our
Spinervals group on Facebook: Jerre and Christina, Merle, Lola, Christian and Leigh Ann, David, Ginny, Alan, Rob, Charlie, George, Mary, Chrissy, Raquel, and Mark. Thank you to Coach Troy, Dan and Dave, and Ryan and Brian for putting on such a great camp. I highly recommend it to anyone doing IMLP, or anyone who wants to experience a fun and challenging weekend in one of the most beautiful places on earth. (Stats for the three days: Swim-1.4 miles, Bike-168 miles, Run-18.3 miles)
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