Tucson Training Camp

After an incredible weekend racing regionals at Lake Havasu, about 20 members of our team headed to Tucson, AZ for four days of intense training. Coach Mike scared us with what was ahead: "the hardest training week of your life," "I'm not going to stop my 80-mile ride to fix your flat tire, so you better learn how," etc. I envisioned a week filled with throwing up, passing out, crying, the works. But I also hoped that it would be an amazing team bonding experience.

Well, it turns out I was wrong about the first part. I didn't realize how in shape we had gotten, so that five-hour training days and 80 mile rides were actually bearable. I was definitely working hard, and it was the biggest training week I've ever had, but I never felt like crying or giving up. I can thank Mike and his smart coaching for that. Realizing what we were capable of as a team gave me a big confidence boost going into Nationals.

The team bonding part, though, was right on. Coming home from Tucson, I felt like I knew several of my teammates much better than before. By road tripping hours in a car with them, I got to know Laura, Sean, Leigh, and Rob especially well. I also loved riding with Bryn, Maggie, and Molly, pushing through some quality sufferfests with my fellow Nats team members.

Day 1&2: Tempe. My car left a day early from Havasu so Laura could get to an interview in Tempe. We took a much-needed day off and enjoyed an amazing dinner at Sean's grandma's house-- steak, green beans, potatoes, and warm brownies. Lucky us. :) The next morning, we woke up at 6 am to run so Laura could get a workout in before her 8 am interview. Even though it was dark when we started, it was comfortably warm. We ran easy, taking in the beautiful sunrise and the ASU campus. When we got back to our hotel, we had run 5 miles, but felt like we had barely worked. Since when did a 5 mile run feel so easy? Laura left for her interview, and Sean, Rob, and I headed to Tucson.

When we met back up with the team, we went straight to the University of Arizona pool and swam over 5000 yards. Again, while it was definitely a long workout, it didn't feel that hard. The sea level oxygen was nice on our lungs, and the outdoor pool was definitely more enjoyable than Clare Small. A short run from the hotel afterwards, dinner, and a good night's sleep got us ready for the craziness that was Tuesday.

Day 3: Run, swim, bike. We started the morning off with an insanely long race-pace track workout. That's all the detail I'm allowed to give (coach's orders-- we want to keep the competition guessing!) I can say, though, that my race-pace on the track felt much faster than it did at Havasu. I guess adrenaline really does work wonders! After the track, we had a big breakfast and headed to the pool for an easy swim in sunny weather: relays for our Tri Team "Olympics" and a short set.

We had lunch, relaxed for awhile, and then did our first Tucson ride: about 30 miles up and over Gates Pass. I did most of the ride with Bryn, Maggie, and Molly-- we were all exhausted, but we got a paceline going and worked our way through. We met up with Tess, Nate, Will, and Rob on the way home and headed back to the hotel together after a very long day. Bianchi's pizza and Ben and Jerry's pints were just what we needed to refuel. At Bianchi's, I witnessed a miracle when Ryan Bice ate more pasta, pizza, and garlic bread than could possibly fit in his stomach. We may be mediocre at three sports, but we are pros at eating.

Day 4: MOUNT LEMMON! This was the epic day we had all been anticipating / dreading / havingnightmaresabout. 80-miles round trip, including 23 miles of climbing. I think the only thing that stopped us from running away as fast as possible was Mike's promise of famous cookies at the summit. It took us about an hour to get to the base of the mountain from our hotel. At that point the fast group took off, and Bryn, Maggie and I set up our paceline again. It was the longest ride any of us had ever done (my longest by 25 miles), so we decided to start off easy and not kill ourselves. 2 and a half hours of painful pedaling later, we reached mile 23, only to find no sign of cookies anywhere. We got a little discouraged, a little frustrated, and a little confused-- where was our team? Turns out we had a mile or so left to go-- but hey, we'd already made it this far, and we weren't about to give up now.

When we asked someone in a car for directions and finally made it to Cookie Land, we were not disappointed. After waiting in a forever-long line, we received cookies the size of dinner plates. I ate as much as I could, but Bryn outdid me by finishing the whole thing (hardcore.) We hung out at the top for a little while, then started making our way back down. The descent was the most fun part of the whole day. Bryn, Maggie, Ryan, Bobka, Alex Kehr and I took the descent easy-- no need for broken bones. We stopped pretty often to check out the incredible views and take pictures. I would've wanted it to go on forever, but my butt was starting to hurt... and when we made it down to the base, the fun was over. The ride back to the hotel was excruciatingly hot and filled with rush hour traffic. I lost a cleat, and my legs felt like Jell-O. When we finally made it home, I gave it one final push for a 20 minute brick run, and then it was hot tub time. We chilled for awhile at the hotel, ate a big team dinner of burritos (what else?), and slept like rocks. One more day to go.

Day 5: Easy trail run at the bottom of Gates Pass. All our legs were pretty much fried, so we took it slow and enjoyed the scenery. Just a nice recovery run to get moving before another all-day car ride. The rest of the day was spent traveling back to Boulder, where real life would resume again.

What we accomplished at Tucson made me so proud of our team. There were definitely hard moments-- frustration, pain, fear, and even a few tears. But we were more prepared for those workouts than we ever thought we would be, and we had each other to lean on. Every single one of us made it to the top of Mount Lemmon-- that's impressive. Suffering together definitely makes you stronger as a team, and our team did that really well over spring break. I think that's made obvious by the fact that after not seeing each other all day on Friday, we were ready for another team dance party on Saturday night.

Going into Nationals, I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I love each and every one of my teammates, and I know they all helped me through Havasu and training camp in one way or another. Now it's time to take all that training and channel it into race day. We race for each other. B3.

Give and take,
Caryn