Camping - EN Style

We all often see the camps that @Coach Patrick runs as a part of EN as well as some of the member led camps that others have put on in Aspen, Moab, Bend, Vermont and other locales. I thought I’d take some time to reflect on what I love about the camps and how I work them into my training schedule.

First I need to tie this into my former life. I used to race sailboats, large boats, where aside from local regattas, we’d do destination regattas and distance races of a hundred miles to 600+ to Bermuda. I am actually writing this entry onboard a 55’ sailboat where I am helping a friend and his family with a leg of their global one-year cruise. I am reminded of the friends, and laughs shared during these events.

I’ve found that going to EN camps has developed similar friendships, the sense of adventure in exploring new places and re-visiting some of the same awesome training locales year after year, this probably explains why I never missed the sailing!

My first camp was back in 2011. @Al Truscott had invited anyone from EN doing IMAZ to come to his home in Snowmass to train for a week in September. I can remember feeling a sense of perhaps overstepping a boundary, after all, who was I? I had only joined EN a year earlier, done two ironmans, was overweight and hardly the image of a triathlete… The week was filled with just great riding, great food and great stories (or were they tall tales?) During this week I had the good fortune of befriending not only Al, but a number of other EN members who I have been fortunate to continue doing camps, Ironmans, ironman houses and ski trips with.

Al Camp – Officially known at the Snowmass Al-t-tude camp. Al Truscott has graciously hosted a camp at his family home in Snowmass Colorado for a few years. The tradition has been to time this camp to end with the weekend of the Ragnar Trail Relay at Snowmass. Campers sprinkle in from the Friday before until Monday typically. Rides are few in Snowmass, but beautiful, names like Maroon Creek road up to the most picturesque spot in the Rocky Mountains viewing Maroon Bells. Frying pan road, a round trip ride of 100 miles. BBQ to BBQ where we ride 56 miles to the town of Marble stopping for Cornbread and Coke at the acclaimed slow Groovin BBQ joint, ride 56 miles back to Al’s house and have dinner at SGBs Snowmass location. For the hearty there is the annual #stupidwithrow ride. This entails starting out just before sunrise on a circular route over Independence pass (12,100’) through Leadville to Vail, Glenwood Springs and finally back to Al’s house to cap off a double century at altitude. At the end of the week we do the ultimate brick workout week, running a Ragnar trail relay where is team-member runs each of the 3 trail loops of 3 ½ - 6ish miles.

Tour of California Camp – this is currently defunct, but I expect this year’s French Alps camp to be similar. This camp followed the Tour of California for a week. We would set out each morning two hours ahead of the Peleton and try to reach our scheduled exit point before we were rolled up by the Peleton. Our SAG van would pick us up, drive us to the next starting point where we’d have dinner, check into our hotel get some rack time and repeat. This trip included a deviation for a day to ride down the Pacific Coast Highway which is something every cyclist should do once!

Blue Ridge Camp – This is Coach P's annual pilgrimage to the Blue Ridge mountains around Boone NC which is entering it’s tenth year. The rides range from 50-100 miles and are both on and off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Sometimes the routes accidentally include gravel! The country this takes place in is the Appalachians that were difficult for early settlers to navigate and include many infamous climbs that US tour riders have often used as a top training ground. Every day we return to the same hotel and explore the BBQ and microbreweries of Boone.

Camp Hoff – This past year I ran a tri camp out of my Lake house in Central Vermont. Each day we rode 60 -135 miles exploring some of the great climbs of the Green Mountain State. Aside from daily runs on paved and dirt roads, we had the ability to jump into the lake and get in some quality swim training in all weather. On one of the days we piggy backed on a large charity ride that started a few miles from the house to enjoy the camaraderie of other cyclists as we drove the Red EN train around a catered Century ride followed by an epic party at one of Vermont’s biggest microbreweries.

Race Specific camps – whether you do this as part of EN, on your own with friends or teammates, going to the site of you’re a race and training on the course has a value that is hard to measure. This past year, I planned a mini camp in Lake Placid for 3 days. Arriving the night before camp I swam in the evening on the cable in mirror lake. For the next two days I did two full 112 mile rides of the course followed by short brick runs. Sunday Morning I ran 17 miles of the LP run course. During these sessions I targeted different goals. I rode the course slightly differently both days to see how the results affected my time and fatigue, in doing this, I learned where on the course to push and where to hold back. While I was already familiar with the LP course, I had a new sense of confidence that enabled me to give it my all on race day, the value of this is extraordinary. 

Integration with training. Camps function in two ways for me as an athlete. By scheduling Camps in the mid Springtime, I am forced to get in shape to be able to complete the camp in something better than survival condition. After the camp, one has to focus on a lighter week to absorb all of the fitness concentration. During a training buildup, doing a camp 5-7 weeks before a target race can serve as providing a significant fitness boost as you enter your final training block before taper. I’ve now scheduled myself to do a number of camps this coming year that the camps are effectively becoming the peak of mesocycles in my training block. By scheduling these as 3-4 weeks apart, I am planning on using the week after a camp as an active recovery/swim focus week with the next weeks as a build up to the eventual high training load of a camp.

Tri-learning – perhaps the best aspect of camps for triathletes of all ages is the transference of accumulated learning. We all talk about how to train in Les Forums and Groupme, when you sit and talk with more experienced members of the team, you get personalized instruction on concepts from how to use TrainingPeaks, to best training concepts and best recovery foods methods. One of the reasons I think we are all members of Endurance Nation is not just for the great training plans and coaching we receive from Patrick, but for the value that various members of the community add to our personal experiences and learning needs. Doing a camp and learning these first hand, greatly increases our tri-speak as individuals.

For Newer members my advice is not to be shy, and add a training camp to your calendar, meet new people, learn how to execute better and likely make new friends that share your passion for the sport. This past year I encountered an IM first timer who, after Camp Hoff, told me they were going to bail on their first IM attempt forthcoming in a few weeks. I quickly grounded them by showing what they’ve accomplished: For many people a century ride was a bucket list event, this athlete had no issues getting on a bike and doing back to back century rides. In fact, he more than once asked me if doing a certain century ride so close to his event was a bad idea. The same illustrations were shown with his swim and run. All proven by his training events at camps. We basically surmised that he could easily do the swim and bike leaving himself over 7 hours to complete the marathon… Needless to say, the camp rides gave him the confidence to get out there, and blow away his projected times finishing his first ironman!

So, don’t be shy, when you see a posting for a member-led or official EN camp, jump on board, get some awesome training in a great location and build friendships out of the names you see in the forums and groupmes.