My first triathlon training camp was a success! As part of Team Dynamo, the coaches put together a camp at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA. Even though I am a remotely coached athlete (of the legendary Brent Pease, seriously look him up), I was highly encouraged to attend. This required packing my bike and flying down from Moline Thursday night and returning home Monday afternoon. Luckily my teammate Nick let me crash at his place and shuttled me around all weekend.
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| Fueling Stop |
I’ll go into a
fair amount of detail farther down, but I wanted to put my “Cliff Notes” up
here to share the highlights for a quick read.
First off, Team
Dynamo is an incredible community. Other than Nick (who I only met once for
beer after IM Tulsa), I didn’t know any else. After that first 80-mile ride, I felt
right at home. Even though I wasn’t the strongest rider, they let me pull and made
sure I had a wheel to hang on if needed. Racing with them on Saturday, I’ve
never felt more relaxed (other than coach Rebecca yelling at me in T1). We all
wanted to win, but at the same time were looking to bring the best out of each
other. Robert, Nick and myself ended up sweeping the podium in that order, and
I was actually “somewhat” content with 3rd. Then if it weren’t for the team, I
wouldn’t have gotten back on my bike to knock out another 80-mile ride after
destroying myself that morning. And to cap off the week, we all got up early on
Sunday to close out camp with a 120-mile ride. Just shy of 300 miles in 3 days.
What made this camp
special was the community and coaches. Lain (under no obligation) showed up
with all sorts of food so we could cook a giant dinner to fuel up. Coaches Alec
and Rebecca provided the best SAG during those 80 and 120 mile rides. They
literally bent over backwards to ensure our success out there. Knowing they
were waiting up the road kept me going. Then my teammate themselves took me
under their wing to teach me about proper nutrition and fueling. I’m hoping to
make some adjustments there, and they will be game changers for me in Kona.
Long Winded version:
The weekend started
out with a 5:45AM swim with the Dynamo Master’s group. A humbling experience to
be the slowest swimmer in the largest lap pool I’ve ever seen. I was literally
thrown into the deep end and tried to keep up during a fast-paced 5K workout. By
the end of the session, I understood why Dynamo athletes are the best swimmers
in triathlon (I’m working on it!) I also received some on deck feedback from
coach Rebecca to apply to my training back home.
After the swim, we
all drove down to Pine Mountain for our first of 3 long rides. Day 1 was an 80-mile
self-supported ride that let us scout the Olympic triathlon bike course before riding
up and down Pine Mountain. Being new to the group, I hung back for most of the
ride and let my teammates set the tone and effort. It wasn’t until the way back
that we started a pace line and I took a few short pulls. During that portion
of the ride, we had two wheels touch and a rider go down at 24mph. It was scary,
and we immediately thought the worst. Luckily it ended up being road rash and a
few bruises (bike was nicked, but no fatal damage). We got him in a truck and
finished a fairly quiet ride back up Pine Mountain to get home.
The next morning,
the team geared up for an Olympic triathlon in the area. I knew I was going to
be playing catch-up after both the swim and the bike, but I ended up being 6th
out the water and had less ground to make up than I had thought. The bike
course was very technical with some cross traffic, and I was quickly gapped by
my teammate Nick. After passing 1 other rider, I found myself in 3rd,
but was losing ground to him, Robert and Ben. I started the run hard, but couldn’t
see anyone for ½ mile up the road. It wasn’t until the 2-mile turnaround that I
saw Robert leading the race with Nick 1 minute back. I was about 3.5 and 2.5
minutes behind, respectively. We ended up sweeping the podium in that order
with 1 minute between the 3 of us. After the race, I received some critical feedback
from both a coach and my teammate Juan (all to make me a better athlete). One
critical point that was made is how much hip and upper body movement I have on
the bike. This is no doubt something that I will need to address through bike-fit
and strength. We believe I am losing both aerodynamics and efficient power transfer.
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| Callaway Olympic Overall Podium |
After the race, we
refueled and hopped on the bikes again for another 80-mile ride. This time in the
heat of the day. We climbed Pine Mountain for the 2nd time, and this
one stung a bit. Out on the route our coaches Alec and Rebecca were already
parked and ready with cold Gatorade and assortment of nutrition for us. After a
quick refuel, we road to the turnaround and back for 1 last stop before heading
home. I have never had such incredible support on a training ride, and it
helped me realize the importance of a support system. And to make it even
better, Juan (who crashed the day before) road the full 80 miles with us and
did most of the pulling! That’s a tough and dedicated teammate.
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| Juan and Nick leading the way |
The last day of
camp we got up early to start our 120-mile ride with the last 40-50 miles at
Ironman Effort. It was very foggy so we made sure someone with a light was always
in back to keep the group safe. Thanks again to our incredibly SAG support, I
was topped off on nutrition and actually felt stronger during this ride than the
previous 2. So many times, I just wanted to stop riding, but I had the
accountability of my teammates and coaches to keep me going. After that last
push at Ironman effort, we all averaged over 21mph for that ride (Ironman
efforts were all individual without drafting). Nick and I capped off the
weekend with a hard 3-mile brick.
Walking away from this massive weekend prep for Kona, I am ready to make the final push in September. Many Dynamo athletes will be racing Kona, so I’m excited for that reunion on Kailua.
If you’ve thought
about joining a team or are looking for a top coach, Dynamo is the place to go.
https://www.dynamomultisport.com/
