We have held a training camp each winter since 2004 with the exception of 2006, when Bri and I traveled the world in search of the perfect hamburger. This year was another fun one. The beach house we've rented the last 2 years was not interested in altering their typical Saturday to Saturday rental period, so after searching high and low I found a nice hotel on St Pete Beach that was reasonably priced and central to our activity calendar.
The hotel was on the water and just across the street from the beach, which works for me. We will go back to looking for a beach house next year first but this is a solid place.
On Wednesday we rode between 50-70 miles, then swam 2,000-3,500 at Northshore pool, depending on speed, desire, and training plans.
On Thursday we did a longish (hot and humid) run, easy ride. and cool off dip at Fort Desoto.
On Friday we returned to the bike for another long ride and another long swim at Northshore.
Then we caught a sunset on the beach.
Saturday morning we headed into Tampa to run the Gasparilla 15k. It was mild by Florida standards but coming down from NC and other northern states, most of us found it to be really hot and humid. No PRs whatsoever were set.
Later that morning it started to get really windy, so a couple of athletes returned to Northshore, while several of us decided to swim in the Bayou behind the hotel.
A few more opted for dryland yoga and strength.
Saturday night we opted for a Sunset Sail cruise, which was a great way to wrap up the camp.
Sunday morning the wind was still howling, so we skipped the planned easy ride and did a very leisurely jog through the Pass-A-Grille area of St Pete Beach.
After that we kicked everyone out of the hotel and told them to come back next year.
On the way to the airport I took the last campers standing to Northshore for one final outdoor splash before we all head back to indoor pools and chlorine headaches.
Fini.
