The staredown before the beatdown.  Claire's job was intimidation and mine was annihilation.


Claire decided to throw a killer party to celebrate our KOM victory in the mountains.  She invited all of her best friends including Teddy and Dolly.


The party went on till the break of dawn and the bubbly was flowing like a fountain.


At 6am they all finally passed out and we were able to get some solid sleep.  A good time was had by all!!


Claire took Dave to the cleaners in a game of quarters at her party and the result was him in his "sick jammies" the next morning.

My pal Watty hosts a tough training camp in the North Carolina mountains every year and the past couple of years Jen and I have been helping him as coaches.  This year the camp consisted of 17 athletes and 4 coaches/staff.  The camp began on Thursday evening and ended on Sunday afternoon with lots of miles and instruction mixed in between.  Amanda & Jen took the lead roles with providing SAG support as well as preparing meals.  Steve & I were team leaders for each of the training sessions which included swim video analysis, keeping the ride groups together, on the course instruction, and after dinner seminars and Q&A sessions.  To ensure that the campers were well fueled and properly recovered our friends at First Endurance sent us a package full of EFS Drink, EFS Liquid Shots, Ultragen recovery drink, First Endurance water bottles and visors.  At the end of the weekend it looked like the campers got exactly what they came for and had a great time in the process.  Below is the camp itinerary to paint a better picture of what the campers accomplished:

THURSDAY:

* Check In Begins
* Mandatory Dinner followed by discussion of expectations and Q&A

FRIDAY:
* Swim session including video analysis
* 100/80/60 mile bike ride on "The Real BSG" course
* Transition Run

* Dinner followed by a self myofascial release & recovery clinic, discussion, and practice

SATURDAY:
* 100/80/60 mile bike ride on The Loop of Truth course
* Transition Run
* Dinner followed by a race day nutrition clinic and discussion

SUNDAY:
* 100/80/60 mile bike ride on Blood, Sweat & Gears course
* Transition Run
* Campers make their way back home

KOM Competition.....the winner is......ME!!
Watty and I have been having a great time running our mouths at each other about this camp since the beginning of March.  Over the winter I spent most of my time playing racquetball, basketball, and hanging out with Jen and Claire and when March rolled around I was in no kind of aerobic shape to attack this mountain camp.  On March 1st I decided to get myself back into shape.  My plan was to use a very low volume and very high intensity approach and hope that my endurance and fat utilization capabilities would still be in tact from all of my previous years of training.  I planned out my workouts with specific purposes and did half of my hard efforts seated and half standing because that's how I climb in the mountains.  My plan included two weekly bike workouts on the trainer plus a hard mountain bike session on Saturdays ranging from 1:15 hrs to 3:15 hrs at 160 bpm (LT minus 10 bpms or half Ironman effort).

Watty took a completely different approach focusing on high volume and averaging 303 miles on the bike for the 8 weeks with two weeks over 30 hours of triathlon training.  He picked up his intensity over the last few weeks before the camp and trained in the mountains twice before camp.

At the end of the 8 week period we both ended up being in great cycling shape coming from two completely different strategies and we were both eager to see who would be King of the Mountain.  Our plan was to take the cumulative time over 3 climbs.  Since I didn't have much endurance in my legs I decided it would be wise for me to shadow Watty throughout the days until it was time to make one strong attack and have two solid time trials.  Friday was the first test.  On the back side of Snake Mountain we looked at each other and knew it was going to be the first test.  I got the effort level up from a ways out and when we hit the beef of the climb I stood up and got a little gap.  I was breathing fire and looked down at 178 bpm so eased up a bit and noticed that I had a small gap so I decided to attack to get more separation.  Typically it's hard to come back from a big gap on steep climbs unless the other dude completely falls apart.  At the end of the climb I ended up with a 50 second lead.  This didn't really excite me because I knew that I completely emptied my tank and had no idea if I could ride another climb like that.

The next climb was Big Hill.  Watty attacked HARD at the base of the climb and I could barely hold on.  When he let up to sit down I counter attacked and he was stuck in the wrong gear to go with.  I got some separation and held it to the top adding another 15 seconds to the lead.  We both felt good about that effort and were happy to be dueling again.  It's been too long.

The final test came towards the end of the Loop of Truth on Saturday.  At the base of Beech Mountain we gave each other a knuck bump and went about our business.  I got an early lead and felt like I was going to fall apart.  At the 1/2 way mark Watty closed the gap and a few seconds later I opened it up again.  At the 3/4 mark he closed the gap again and we were really duking it out.  I got some more separation and ended up with another 25 seconds in the bank to take the KOM.  The surprising part of all of this is that WE BOTH set personal best times up Beech Mountain.

Even though I was crowned with the coveted KOM TapouT jersey we both came away from the camp as winners.  My main goals were to lose a little weight and get in good enough shape to ride strong within our group again.  His main goal was to get in shape for his upcoming Ironman in June.  We both succeeded and had a lot of fun talking trash in the process.