LPC Triathlon Camp - Day 6: All good things...

Today was the last day of the LPC Triathlon Camp in Kissimee Florida.

Wow. It has been one heck of a week. And today was pretty much a capstone of it all in terms of what I did. It was the longest training day I've ever had, both in terms of miles and in terms of duration.

And yet, the miles didn't feel hard. In fact, they felt a little triumphant...because I knew I made it through the entire week. I finished every single workout. I went as far as I could possibly go. Really, I am leaving with not a single regret but the fact it was so short. Although going home and making money so I can come back next year would be a good plan. I now know why there are so many returning campers - it really is an incredible time filled with great learning opportunities.

So, on to the day's festivities.

We all woke up well before sunrise so we could head to the Orange Grove Trail. I have no idea if that is the real name for the place, or if it's just called that because there are orange trees. But it was beautiful...a dirt road through the country, complete with mist, cows, and orange trees.

Picture 1: The Orange Grove Trail

 

The loop was 10 miles. We were pretty much given free reign to run as much or as little of it as we wanted, so I of course decided to do it all (I needed a long run this week after all). I knew we were going for a pretty long bike ride in the afternoon, so I held my pace to as slow as I could go. It wasn't a bad plan either since there were a few rolling hills there that made the later half of the trail a bit challenging.

 

But overall, it was really nice. I loved how the mist just rose from the grass...although the fact there was frost on the ground was annoying. This is Florida!

 

When I was about a half a mile from the end of the trail, I noticed a group of folks coming toward me...turned out the handful of guys (and Flora who can kick all their butts I think) who made it in well before me decided to do a bit of an extra run. So they came out to meet me and we all finished (Them for the second time) together. I loved that. It was fun!

 

I actually finished pretty quickly, so spent the rest of the time cheering people in as they finished. We all did. It was quite motivating. I couldn't believe how many people did it - and all in great time! Kudos to everyone for a fantastic run.

 

Here is everyone in my House of Secrets group - at the end of 10 miles...Janice, Coach Nissim, me, Paula, Kelly and Ian. What a great and supportive group!

 

Picture 2: Team House of Secrets

 

 

After running 10 miles, we hit the pool at the Lazy River...or in reality, we hit the hot tub. :) A 30 minute leisurely swim means hot tub to you too, doesn't it? We all thought so. The hot water felt wonderful.

 

My fellow housemates and I returned home for a quick lunch and a bit of recovery time before we all met up for the bike ride in the early afternoon.

 

Now what I hadn't really paid attention to was the length of today's ride. Apparently it was set as an easy "40 miles"....if you recall I did just a touch more than that yesterday. So the thought of doing 40 miles on top of a 10 mile run was somewhat daunting. Fortunately, I didn't really think about it until it was too late to change my mind. Not that I would've of course. :)

 

The ride was amazing. The weather was spectacular, which meant I could ride in short sleeves. I also was able to stay with the group pretty well and even had a short stint in the lead of our small group (Which I found terrifying because the road was quite busy at that time).

 

We stopped at the 20 mile marker at an ice cream store called Allen's. Now, there is apparently an LPC camp tradition to have some of the guys try the Allen's Challenge...which is to eat 11 scoops of ice cream with all the fixings in 15 minutes. Today, four of the young guys faced off in pairs....3 of them actually did it. I will admit, it was definitely something to watch. Although I think I'd have been sick as anything if I'd tried to eat that much. I stuck to two scoops - toasted coconut and chocolate peanut butter.

 

The ride home was a lot faster, apparently because on the way out we had a headwind (that I apparently didn't notice). Although when I reached the house, I was pretty tired. Up until today, yesterday had been my biggest mileage day yet - with the 40 miles including some good rollers. Well, today blew that out of the water by adding a 10 mile run ahead of the bike.

 

Much to my great surprise and thrill, I didn't have any aches and pains, just general tiredness at the end of the training. I also managed for the third day in a row not to have any incidents on the bike...I think that's enough to call it a trend, don't you?

 

Back home, we dropped our bikes off for transport back to Canada (Thank goodness I didn't need to manage that part!) and got ready for dinner - which was a lot of fun. It was great to celebrate a great week at camp with everyone - or almost everyone since a few folks had to leave early.

 

Some more ice cream (yes, I had a lot of ice cream today) with my housemates ended the day - along with general discussions as to what to do with all the extra food. Note for next year...don't buy nearly as much.

 

Although our house did go through a ton of bananas...I'd say at least 30....which is kind of impressive for 6 people in 6 days!

 

Tomorrow, it is back home - or at least to my parents', and then back to Toronto on Sunday.

 

It's so hard to believe it's all over - when a few days ago, time was just flying. But all I need to do is look at what I've accomplished over the past six days to know that it was worth it to come here. I think going to triathlon camp - and the LPC triathlon camp in particular - has been priceless. Truly, truly priceless.

 

 Thanks to Coaches James Loaring, Mark Linsman, Jeff Cowan and Nissim Abergel for an incredible week.