Bikes, Bears, & Boiling Temps: An All-American training weekend!

A tweet like this will make you think:

Around the pool, those names are legendary. Peter Banks, Richard Quick, and Mark Schubert are coaches as well known for their crazy workouts as their gold medal results. And Gregg Troy? He’s the stopwatch behind this guy:

So when my own coach sent out a message like that, I knew my teammates and I were in for a treat!

A Fourth of July trip to the North Georgia mountains has become somewhat of a Dynamo tradition. This year the three-day weekend kicked off with some quality time in the pool followed by a mandatory fuel stop at the amazing BB’s Bagels!

After devouring BB’s trademark Energy Bagels we headed for the hills for lots and lots of time in the saddle.

So what kind of triathlon training weekend is worthy of a Peter Banks swim workout comparison? Try this:

*270 miles on the bike
*25,000 feet of climbing
*Record high temps (we’re talking 106 degrees Farenheit!)

I should probably also add two ice cream sandwiches, countless Cokes, and no less than 70 pounds of ice. It was no easy feat, but thanks to some good ol’ teamwork and some well-timed surprise SAG support, my Dynamo teammates and I all made it through.

EJ and Brent being fratacular

I even got a special treat just before the top of my last climb. I couldn’t whip out my camera quite fast enough, but I’m pretty sure the scene looked something like this:

And of course, we capped off some great training with a REQUIRED Fourth of July Atlanta tradition – the Peachtree Road Race! The first 200 meters of that race nearly put me in the grave, I’d forgotten how much running fast hurts! Luckily, my endurance kicked in around mile 4 and I finished the 10k in 38:28 – a big Peachtree PR for me and a nice way to celebrate Independence Day!

All in all, it was a great weekend with great friends doing what I love most! And I like to think those storied swim coaches would be proud! Bring it on Ironman! We are ready!