Team Mongo

Many members of Team MONGO set out for a training camp to give their fitness levels a nice bump before the racing season. Many MONGO members are gearing up for Eagleman 70.3 which will take place on June 14, 2009.

Thursday was the start of the “Mongo Tri Camp”. Everybody began arriving Thursday afternoon, and by evening everybody was settled in their cabins and tasting Tom’s wine and beer assortment and checking out the hot tubs. Jon’s cabin was up till 1:00 AM directing a very lost Neil and Nikki to the lodge…we learned that Neil is directionally challenged. The plan for Friday was wheels “up” at 8 AM to ride two plus loops of the TTT course.

 

Day 1

We woke to a light drizzle and wet roads so decided on a 7.2 mile trail run to start the day while the roads dried up. Nobody had been on this loop as it was not part of the TTT course and due to a fire the week earlier the logging path was closed. The group consensus was that this trail put Potawatomi Trail to shame and the mud made it even more challenging. The guys took off ahead and the girls stayed together knowing that this was just the beginning and that we should save a little for the bike riding to come. Julie showed us her ultra trail running technique and most of us practiced the “rock it“ method on the down hills but Nikki preferred her “jazz” hands. Bob liked the trail so much he almost did a second loop but a rescue mission went out and talked him out of it. After the run we all rinsed off the mud in the lake and went back to fuel up for the 12PM ride. The group quickly split up into the guys and the girls and Tom who kindly escorted the girls through the fire roads and battled off the crazy attack dogs. Everyone ended up interpreting the map a little different and we ended up with a range of 50-70 miles on varying routes. Neil and Nikki got lost again until the guys tracked them down. The girls saw Neil going the opposite way on the loop saying, “Am I going the right way?” This became the common theme over the weekend. The weather cooperated today and we saw sunshine and 75 degrees. We covered over 6000 feet of climbing and descending. After an awesome dinner we celebrated a few awards for the day. Amy and Bonnie tied for “Queen of the Mountain” and Pat Carroll was “King of the Mountain” (after having run the Boston Marathon less than two weeks prior) and everybody got some Trek flip flops. All awards were graciously provided by our incredible sponsor American Cycle & Fitness. After some drinks and a lot of laughs people went off to their cabins for bed. Tom picked up Sotir from a local airport and Peter drove in each arriving around 10 PM. They enjoyed a beer after their travels before heading off to bed.

 

Day 2

The day began with a 7 AM wake up call and wheels “up” at 8:00 a.m. The goal was to ride out and back on 125 for 30-40 miles refuel at the camp store and then complete a loop of the TTT course. The group broke up and regrouped several times throughout the ride and then split up again. Everybody ended up with 60-70 miles and on these challenging hills it really felt like 90+ miles. For the most part, everybody had learned where the crazy dogs were and was prepared to fend them off except for one surprise when the craziest dog of all ran out after us. He apparently broke the rope that connected him to the tree much to our surprise! Everybody made it by unharmed but it was a close call! We finished the day with a TRun on a combination of road and trail ranging from 20-30 minutes. Peter feeling inadequate for missing the 7.2 mile run on day 1 went off to see the trail for himself and soon agreed with our war stories. He returned for the ultimate award – happy hour in the girls hot tub for him and 4 ladies. The weather cooperated yet again and it was a very pleasant mid 60 degree day with some sun and clouds. After another fabulous dinner, kicked up a few notched from the prior night, by “Chef Sotir” (just ask Tom) we had a few final awards. Julie won the “Mental Toughness” award for the weekend and Tom the “Domestique” award for a very long list of helpful tasks. The night carried on and lots of laughs were shared by all especially Sotir and Bob’s 1970’s triathlon stories.

 

Day 3

Sunday was the end of camp and again we woke to light rain which we had anticipated from the forecast. We opted out of a weMany members of Team MONGO set out for a training camp to give their fitness levels a nice bump before the racing season. Many MONGO members are gearing up for Eagleman 70.3 which will take place on June 14, 2009.

Thursday was the start of the “Mongo Tri Camp”. Everybody began arriving Thursday afternoon, and by evening everybody was settled in their cabins and tasting Tom’s wine and beer assortment and checking out the hot tubs. Jon’s cabin was up till 1:00 AM directing a very lost Neil and Nikki to the lodge…we learned that Neil is directionally challenged. The plan for Friday was wheels “up” at 8 AM to ride two plus loops of the TTT course.