I never got around to recapping Panama 70.3 from the first weekend in February. It had less to do with having a subpar race; I was just hammered with a lot to do immediately after the race when I got home; and then I got sick; and I then I drove to Tucson; and then I started up with Cliff's training camp; and then I had to make unexpected trip to Houston for personal reasons; and then I had to direct+coach the Endurance Corner Tucson camp; and then I drove back to Boulder. And finally things started to calm down a little bit before I head off to San Juan this weekend.
So....
Panama: I decided to do this race for a couple reasons:
1. I wanted to have extra motivation to get the training done in January (which can be difficult in Boulder).
2. I have a friend who lives in Panama City and I wanted to travel somewhere new and different.
The race itself proved to be more than I could really handle at that time of year. I do think I was in better shape than I normally am in late January, but this race is challenging: both in terrain and weather (Hot!), and its not a race you want to float through. I did enjoy the trip and the experience, but the race was more of brutal awakening instead of a pleasant experience!
At any rate, I came home and headed to Tucson for a two-week training camp with my coach, Cliff English, followed by hosting my own training camp for Endurance Corner.
I enjoy the training camps that Cliff puts on for his pro athletes. Its nice to catch up with some of the athletes that I only see for a couple weeks/year and the training is solid. Training camps are always more directed, and more challenging, than normal training blocks and they should be. Getting together with others and getting that extra 2-3% out of one another is what its all about. Its even more paramount with age group athletes that travel to training camps and its why Endurance Corner puts them on. We believe in them.
If you want to read about the details of each day at Cliff's camp, I suggest you check out Chris Bagg's blog:
http://chrisbagg.com/news/
He does a great job of recapping all the details and his skill as a writer makes it all the more enjoyable to hear his perspective.
Following the Cliff Camp, I put on the sixth annual Endurance Corner Tucson camp. We had a solid 6 days of desert training and it was great to see the progression of some of our repeat campers. The great thing about seeing these athletes improve is that I know how much work they must have put in from last year to this year. It never gets old seeing other improve because of their drive and work ethic.
After the camp ended, I headed back to Boulder and had to pleasure of navigating through a blizzard in the final hours of the trip. Fortunately, while long, the trip was uneventful.
I have only been home for a week, but its about time to hit the road again. I'll be heading to Puerto Rico to race San Juan 70.3 for the second time. I raced there in 2011 and decided to have another go at it this year. I decided to opt out of racing Galveston in favor of this race and as I prefer the SJ course over Gtown's.
I'll be back quickly after SJ with a report so check back in around Tuesday next week.
-j