Here are some of the questions you’ve had about our camp… if you don’t see your question, or want more clarification, just let us know here!
Are we doing an open water swim?
Yes, unless the weather conditions make it unsafe to make this happen. We have an open water swim on the schedule for Saturday morning.
What are the distances for the sessions during the weekend?
Friday:
Pool swim, primarily technique work.
Bike, 25 miles.
Saturday:
Open water swim, 45 minutes (session based on time rather than distance).
Bike, minimum of 65 miles, maximum of 90 or 112.
Run, optional up to 30 minutes.
Sunday:
Run, minimum of 9 miles, maximum of 18-20.
For those who are training for IM Santa Rosa in May, the longer distances should be well within your endurance capabilities in early April. If you’re not training for Santa Rosa, but maybe a full distance later in the year, we can tweak your distances according to where your training endurance is in late March.
I’m concerned that I am going to be too slow to keep up with the faster athletes… or, I’m concerned that I am going to be too fast and held up by the slower peeps. What’s the plan for handling a variety of abilities? Are we all going to be running/riding together?
We’re well aware that not everyone will be as fast as each other! When you fill out your athlete questionnaires, we’re going to have a feeling for who should be riding/running at certain speeds. Every athlete will be assigned to one of our coaches. Each coach will have a group of 5-7 athletes who are roughly the same ability level. This way, you’ll have one coach to look to when you’re on the course and they will be able to monitor who is where and make sure everyone is in good shape. While you can certainly ride together, that’s not going to be a requirement.
Since the bike course is a point-to-point route, how are we going to handle the logistics?
On Saturday morning, we will meet in downtown Santa Rosa. As part of your registration fees, we will organize transportation of bikes, all athletes and your gear (for an open water swim and endurance bike) from Santa Rosa to Lake Sonoma. Once we’re at the lake, you’ll complete the open water swim and then prepare for the bike ride on the Ironman course. Whatever gear/supplies (morning clothes, wetsuits, swim gear, etc.) you don’t need on the long ride, we will transport back to Santa Rosa. You’ll hop on your bikes and head off on the bike course. Once you’re back in Santa Rosa, all your gear will be waiting for you. Easy peasy.
What if we have technical issues on the bike course? I’m not great at changing tires… are we going to have any support out there?
Absolutely. We’ll have coaches on the course on bike as well as in vehicles. Support cars will have ample supplies and tools to handle most issues you might have out there.
What are the dinners going to be like?
Awesome! You, your fellow athletes and coaches will get together at two of the local restaurants and have a full meal together – pasta on Friday night and pizza on Saturday night. Gluten free and other dietary restrictions will be taken care of, of course. While you eat, we can all talk about triathlon, Ironman and anything else that comes up.
I’m not a member of Total Intensity Sports or, I already have a coach and I am a part of a training group… can I still get into the camp?
Absolutely! The weekend is designed for anyone who’s looking for more information and to get more acclimated to the course. Whether you have a coach or not, whether you’re in a training group or not, doesn’t matter.
I’m not doing Ironman Santa Rosa, will this camp be worthwhile for me?
Just because you’re not doing Santa Rosa doesn’t mean there isn’t going to be a lot you can get out of a training camp. While we might spend time talking specifics on the Santa Rosa course, we’re also going to be talking about Ironman training in general, and Ironman training is Ironman training. Plus, there is going to be a lot of time spent for questions and answers, and group talks, so any questions you might have about your own training can get answered as well.