Team Tri Life Ironman Canada Training Camp – Day 4

Sunday was our last day at camp and we had only one thing on the agenda – a long run.  The plan was to start at 7 am, we’d run along the marathon course around the east side of Skaha Lake to the turnaround at Okanagan Falls, then turn back.  Total run time would be up to 3 hours.  This run was a bit of an unknown for me.  I had been experiencing hip pain the week before and had barely run.  My left knee wasn’t feeling 100% either.  And it was going to be a hot one out there.  It was already 18C out at 7 am and the temperatures were expected to climb to the mid 30s.  Definitely not temperatures I am used to!

We had a support vehicle carrying ice, water, Coke and Infinit so we’d be able to refill our bottles along the way.  I brought some gels but I’d mostly rely on Infinit’s run formula.

It was a beautiful morning as we set off along Skaha Lake.  Things were feeling great as I started running.  Because I knew it was going to be hot I made a conscious effort to start off slow.  I had started behind the main group as I needed one last trip to the bathrooms and within about a mile I caught up to Kelly.  I wanted to run with her for a bit for some company so I joined her on her 4:1 run/walk intervals.  We ran nice and steadily and I was having so much fun that I wanted to stick with her to the turnaround.  There was another group out running – super nice guys! – and they asked if we needed anything from their sag wagon.  We were okay at the time but they told us it would still be there when we turned back around in case we needed anything.  Thanks guys!

We hit OK Falls feeling great!  Time to turn around.  Some of the hills seem a bit bigger and longer on the way back so we walked a few of them.  I wanted to approach the run the same way I would approach it on race day, and some of those hills I think I’ll be better off walking instead of attempting to power up them and risk tuckering myself out.

I really was having the best run – running with Kelly was great and my body seemed on board with the run.  I had a huge grin on my face.  As we ran back toward Penticton there were more and more runners on the road.  I was thankful that we had started at 7 as most of our way out had been shaded, but as the sun continued to rise there was now no shade to be found.  In the last half hour my knees started to feel a little achy.  I was still with Kelly on the 4:1s but I’d pull ahead a bit on the runs then we’d join up at the walk breaks.  Finally, there we were, 3 hours done!  And I’d had a great run!!!!

And with that, camp was over!  We didn’t make it all the way back to the parking lot so we caught a ride with our support truck, chatted with the group about our day and then slowly but surely folks started dispersing.  I had survived camp…

Day 4 Volumes:
Run – 3 hrs

Total Camp Volumes:
Swim – 1 hr 55 min
Bike – 238.6 km, 10 hr 27 min
Run – 3 hr 36 min
Yoga – 1 hr 30 min
TOTAL – 17 hr 28 min