I spent 6 days swimming, biking and running in and around beautiful San Diego, CA. That’s my idea of a vacation! But I also spent those 6 days hanging with new friends, learning new things, doing more volume in 6 days than ever before, fueling my body with high quality foods, and pushing past mental barriers I didn’t even know were there.
Yes, I’m a performance mindset coach. And yes, I too experience the same barriers as everyone else. I consider it all raw material for growth. We can’t expect to challenge the want to quit or slow down in a race if we’ve never felt that in a training session.
And I’ll tell you what...I wanted to quit or slow down at least 15 times during camp. 10 of those may or may not have been in the same session :)
Those are the moments I love the most because they remind of how hard I’m working my body and mind.
Camp totals:
Swim: 11 miles
Bike: 210 miles (with over 20k feet of elevation gain!)
Run: 36 miles
Total hours: 28
This was my first experience with a team who favors very high volume training and the challenge was real! But what I learned quickly (like on the first day!) is that it’s best if I just stay open minded, roll with it and do my absolute best. So that was my goal: day after day, session after session. Of course there were plenty of times when I hit low points, but my teammates were always there to share their energy and help me finish the session strong. That was probably my favorite part: when I was feeling strong, I made sure to cheer on my teammates knowing I would most definitely need their support when I was feeling low. So that’s how it went everyday: give love away when you had it, take it in when you needed it. And as a team we made it through some grueling workouts.
Instead of listing every session, here’s a breakdown of which sessions were hardest for me:
Day 1. Session two: open water swim in 58 degree water, waves were rough and I was freezing! Ocean swimming is no joke.
The team learning the open water swim plan of attack
Day 2. Session two: 5hr ride to the top of Mt Palomar, a steep unrelenting climb that literally felt like it may never end and then a very cold descent!
Summit smiles!
Day 3. Session one: swim/run madness, a totally new experience for me, the challenge was the repetition...I just wanted to be done! Oh and I got some random chafing from running in a wetsuit!
To quote my swim/run partner, Taryn, “file that under what I will likely never do again.” :)
Day 4. The only session: 120mile ride with 11k feet of elevation gain, I went from feeling amazing to terrible and back again a lot. So many miles and so many climbs!
The road bike gang
Day 5. Session two: 100x100s in the pool, I was feeling relatively good until 8,300 yards in and then I seemed to run out of steam. This team is full of mermaids and mermen, I want to be like them when I grow up.
My biggest takeaway from camp was this:
Regardless of if it’s in sport or life, I am 100% responsible for how I show up in the world. Every single experience in life is worthwhile. And those experiences in life are happening for me, not against me (note to self: wind on the bike is happening for me, not against me!) Camp reminded me that I am wildly capable of doing things I’ve never done before and it doesn’t matter if I finish first or last…it just matters that I finish with my head held high because how you finish something says a lot.
When we start to take responsibility, we pave the way for what we want and not what we think we’re settling for.
If the challenge and lessons of this camp are an indication of what’s in store in 2020, I’m here for it.
Thank you, San Diego
