Spring Break 2014

Two weeks ago, CSU had spring break...  

About 20 members of our triathlon team made the most out of the week away from school by traveling to Las Vegas to get in some good training.  The trip worked well with our training plan as it would be the last "big" week of training leading up to Collegiate Nationals.

We drove down to Vegas and rented a house similar to winter training camp.  

We did a couple beautiful rides in the Las Vegas area....

Looking out from the Hoover Dam

Most of us were very grateful to be able to ride and run outside in warmer weather.  One afternoon we did a swim workout in an outdoor pool.  When I had been in Vegas this past September for a race, my dad and I had swam at the same pool (only $2!) and I really wanted to come back.

You know how you always seem to forget something for trips?  Well I forgot bib shorts for this trip.  Not good for a training camp with a lot of riding... Luckily I had my Team EMJ tri shorts from Louis Garneau since we were planning on doing some bricks.  Normally tri shorts don't provide hardly any padding for longer rides.  These shorts performed awesome!  If you're doing a longer brick/race (or just want to have a comfy ride) get yourself a pair of the elite course shorts.

The hot weather required me to pay more attention to my hydration needs.  The Skratch Labs Hydration Mix played a big role in this.  I mostly alternated between the lemons and limes and raspberry mixes.  We also cooked for ourselves again each night which was a blast.

Chicken fajitas

10 avocados in that ice cream container

Most nights we ended up in bed fairly early...the first night I was a little ambitious and joined a group heading down to the strip.  We walked around for awhile, got some gelato, and saw the fountain show.  After that, training dictated my bedtime.

Then to make it the ultimate spring break, we road tripped a couple more hours to Havasu.  The real reason for this was that our collegiate conference championship was taking place the second weekend of spring break.  Most people would rather not race after a hard week of training but our coaches emphasized that it was all part of build up to collegiate nationals.  

I've found that I'm much more relaxed training through a race instead of tapering because I put less pressure on myself by focusing on workouts the entire week instead of one morning during the week.  I think a lot of the training camp crew was surprised with their results. 

Our team had just under 40 people race at Havasu.  For some it was their first Olympic race!  Being able to go through the steps needed to prepare for the race with our team I think was very helpful for a lot of people.  Seeing newer athletes work their way through the race, and enjoy the process is always really inspiring.  Many of them have come a long ways since joining our team in the fall.

This trip could not have been successful without our team trailer.  We fit around 40 bikes and gear in the trailer for this trip.  Big thanks to our sponsors Windsor Eye Care and Vision Center, Discover Massage, ProVelo, MP Multisport who helped CSU triathlon with purchasing and decorating the trailer.

The trailer looking good in Vegas...

Thanks for reading and have a great day!