Camping Training

As I noted in my Watercade 4 Mile race report, I’ve spent 4 out of the last 5 weekends camping. But my training hasn’t really suffered at all.

(First of all, you can’t have great family time and “complain” about training “suffering.” I’m not going to be that jerk. I’m just using this post to show that I was able to still fit in workouts while out with my family.)

When we camped in Wisconsin for 3 days and 2 nights, I swam before going out there, ran out there the 2nd morning, and then hit the trainer for a quick workout on day 3 once we got home.

Then when the boys and I camped at Fort Ridgely, I swam that morning, and then took the boys to the track the evening we got home for a good interval workout.

The only missed workout in these last 5 weeks came when Charlie was in my cousin’s wedding and then we camped afterwards. (It’s also the only time I had to change up my normal routine of what workouts I do on what days.) I biked on Saturday before leaving for the wedding (when I usually run on Saturday), because I knew that the day after the wedding, I could wake up and go for an early morning run. (Obviously easier to fit in a run while on the road than a bike ride.) Then we camped on Sunday afternoon through Monday morning, and we got home later on Monday. So I skipped my Monday swim. I’ve been swimming real consistently, so I had no issue skipping that. That ended up being my only unexplained hole in my training in the last few months - I think back through finals in mid-May 9 weeks ago.

Finally, the boys and I camped with my in-laws this past weekend, and I actually fit in a race while out there. And because it was more of a “use this race for a good tempo effort workout,” I didn’t even skip my workouts before and after it in the name of rest. So I swam on Friday morning before we left, then raced on Saturday morning as my boys were with my in-laws at our campsite. Then biked a bit (not much - heavy legs) on Sunday morning.

We’ll see how this training holds up this weekend at my first triathlon of 2019!

Related: I posted this on Facebook yesterday about our most recent trip: