IM WI Camp

I am have been meaning to post about this, but have opted for naps and sleep instead!

The IM WI camp was last Friday to Monday. There was about 12 people who went along with 3 coaches. It was a lot of hard work. I got there early Friday afternoon, and immediately had a short 1 hr 30 min bike. It is amazing that this amount of time seems like nothing to me anymore. We had a 30 minute run following the bike and I immediately learned my first lesson from one of the coaches. He said, "Keep your pride at the door". As many of you know I am not the best runner in the world. I was one of the slowest at this camp. I had to remember I am not competing against these people for this race, I am competing against myself. So, another girl and I went at our pace for the run. We had a little time off after the run and went for an hour swim. The water was pretty bad, it has the blue green algae stuff. The coaches even called the health department to make sure it was safe to swim in. A website states the water temp to be 79 degrees, one degree over the limit for wetsuits to be allowed. The pros are definitely not going to be able to use one. For supper we went to my all time favorite restaurant in Madison - Tutto Pasta. Mike and I went here all the time in college and it is exactly the same. The same great bread and most of the same great entrees. All of us carbo loaded for the next day's workout.


I woke up at 5am on Saturday to eat and get some coffee. We rode the whole 112 mile bike course starting at 7am. HOLY CRAP is the course hard. It is rolling hill after rolling hill with some monster hills scattered in between. The good and bad part of the bike course is that it is 2 loops. You get a preview and then, when you are getting a little tired, you get to do it again. SCS did an awesome job of supporting it, with plenty of aid stations and cars driving the course with us. It was worth all the money for the bike alone. It takes about 15 miles to get out to the first loop, which means there are 15 miles back after the end of the second loop. On Sunday we did one loop of the run course. Other than one big hill, the course is manageable. I get to run by all the places I went to in Madison and got to relive the memories. I already know I will cry when I am done. It was emotional being out there on a non-race weekend.

The SCS coaches (www.scsmultisport.com) also did a good job with their non-training agenda. There is so much to consider for a race like this from nutrition to dry socks on your run. I also met a lot of cool people like me. Before starting this season, I had been hanging out with a lot of typical moms. I am not saying that is bad, it just did not fulfill something that was missing. All of these people had families and kids and significant others that fully supported them. Rather than having to justify time away from the kids, we all just talked about how training was going and fears for this race. It was such a breath of fresh air in the midst of a long season.

My roomie was also awesome. I have been swimming with her in Masters since May and we did not talk all that much. It is amazing what type of doors open when you stop being shy and just start talking to people!

I am so grateful to have such supportive family and now new friends to share this experience with.