What I learned in Tucson…

Yesterday, I summarized what we did each day in Tucson. Today is what I learned from the experience. Here goes:

Climbing for 25 miles straight is amazing, and humbling, and I’m looking forward to trying it again someday. I learned that the next time I should start out a little more conservatively, and finish stronger. You have to ride your own ride. It’s good to push yourself with stronger riders, but you also have to learn your own limit. It’s inspiring to ride with other amazingly strong age group athletes, who have families and jobs and lives and still find time to train hard and have amazing results.

Descending for 25 miles is AWESOME! Mountain biking has really helped me to have less fear on descents. I just loved letting loose and bombing down the mountain as fast as I could.

Cacti don’t compare to evergreen and deciduous trees. The desert was a nice change of pace for a few days, but I could not live there. I need my trees, grass, flowers. Green is good!

Tucson is the most cycling friendly city I’ve ever been to. Bike lanes everywhere, and when the road narrows too much you immediately see ‘Share the Road with cyclists’ signs. Drivers are very tolerant of bike riders out there. Drivers elsewhere should take notice. Also, the range of cyclists out there is incredible. Pros and your average Joe. And I mean average. Nearing the bottom of the Mt Lemmon descent I passed a guy who was going up, he was on a hybrid, with a basket on front, wearing a button down shirt that was unbuttoned and flapping in the wind.

Good recovery habits can get you through more training than you thought you could do – compression, recovery drink (chocolate milk is my recovery drink choice), ice baths, stretching. I did a pretty good job on this front after each day.

Sunshine and bright blue skies do wonders for your attitude. You just feel positive and happy and energized.

What I learned from the other campers…
Mary… little Mary is a tiny powerhouse! Damn, that girl can swim and ride and run. She packs a wallop in her tiny frame, and can put the hurts to you. She is the epitome of the saying ‘big things can come in tiny packages’. She is completely motivated and committed to get the absolute most out of her body, and I think Kona is in her future this year. Mary, Coeur d’Alene is yours!

Ange… the other powerhouse from the Northeast. Mary and Ange grew up together in Maine. I guess Maine breeds tough chicks! When you look at Ange, you just see strength eeking out of every muscle, and that smile too. Ange showed me that even swimmers can be super runners and cyclists. Thanks Ange – I’ll be thinking of that whenever I run.

Melissa… the third tough Northeasterner. She is from Boston, loved her accent. She is 46 (I think) and runs like she is half her age. I know Mel will never forget her cycling shoes again ;-) And she proves that age is no limit!

Kari… is from the southeast. Another super runner. Kari facebooked me this morning and said she is going to think ‘swim like Cheryl’ in the future. And I am going to think ‘run like Kari’. Kari also faced her fear of descending. She was so nervous, but she went down Lemmon confidently, and I know she will be screaming down descents in the near future. Her training partners will be shocked when they see her new found skill. She made me realize that I should take my biggest fear and face it. And what is my biggest fear? Pain on the run. Pain in my legs, pain in my lungs, pain in my heart. These swimmer legs can run, I have to face the fear and the pain.

Kate… the kindest person ever. She brought gourmet cupcakes from an awesome bakery in Richmond all the way to camp! And hit the grocery for everyone since she arrived early. Always positive and supportive. She kicked her last years time up Mt Lemmon by a mile. What an improvement! It’s awesome to see how the hard work makes the athlete.

Other than me, everyone else was from Chicagoland area.

Well, except Julia... Julia is from Minnesota. Shit, when I think I have it rough training in the winter, I just look to Julia’s blog for a little motivation. She is a tall wisp of a girl, but don’t let that fool you. She is tough as nails. She rode Mt Lemmon like I should have. Conservatively at the start, and she crushed everyone by the top. She knows how to ride a bike. And she rides outside in Minnesota winters. She is a hard core, no excuses girl. Just like I want to be.

Tracy… picked me up at the airport. I was waiting for my bags and saw this attractive woman running around in work clothes, iphone hanging out of her ear, only to find out we were talking to each other on our phones, standing 10 feet apart. Her physical appearance is deceiving. She is strong, physically, and even more so mentally. She knows what she wants, and she dials in her effort and just keeps on hitting it. Tracy is a never-give-up kind of girl, and she helped me get to the top of Mt Lemmon. Consistency is the name of her game, and I will take that lesson home with me.

Jon… had not been outside on his bike for over a year, but he did the maximum length and number of rides the whole weekend. No matter how much he hurt, he pushed through it. And if anyone ever needed anything, Jon was the one to stop and help. A very upstanding guy! We should all be that way.

Sharon…ever smiling and positive. Sharon is a nurse, mother of 4 , and how she fits all that in, and trains like she does is amazing. She helped me through the run up Sabino Canyon, I am ever grateful. Hopefully someday I can return that kind of favor to a friend or training partner, being the strength to get someone through a rough patch. Thanks Sharon!

Rich… the other guy on the trip. Wow, he can run! Oh yeah, and swim and ride! I love seeing the speedy runners do their thing. So damn impressive.

Jen.. married to Rich, and Jen is one of the nicest gals around. Positive and hard working. She was nervous for the long ride, as we all were, but she put her head down, got it done, and was doing some amazing pulls the last hour. I’ll remember that. At the end of the long ride, just put the head down, and get it done! Jen and Rich spent their anniversary riding 120miles around Tucson. That is impressive! I’m sure I’d have knocked my hubby off his bike a few times after that many hours in the saddle with him nearby.


Last, but not least is my coach, Jen, and her hubby Jerome. They are like Yin and Yang. So opposite, but both so strong and confident, as athletes and people. Jen challenges me day in and day out to give my best, and she puts herself out there as the model of hard work, grit and determination. I hope I can bring the best out in myself this summer the way she does when she trains and races. This weekend was the first time I met Jerome. He was a bike racer at Valpo in college, so I was psyched to ride with a good roadie (even though now he is a triathlete), once a roadie, always a roadie. I learned a lot from him on that 120mile ride. A laid back attitude and sunny disposition , and some food, can keep you going for a long time. The pace was easy for him, but he totally dragged our asses around Tucson and helped us all get in our longest ride of 2010 – and its only March! He totally saved my ride when I crashed, and he fixed my bike (I learned some spoke/wheel truing maintenance out there on the road from him) and he got me going again.

So, Tucson was a challenging 4 days for me. I learned a lot. I’ll try to keep all these lessons in the back of my mind and pull them out when I need them. Someday I’ll go back there and tackle those challenges again!

Thanks Jen and Jerome for a great training camp! and thanks to my fellow campers for a fun 4 days. Hope to see you all again some day.