August 28, 2009

Think forward to your training this January…

Will you be tired of the indoor trainer and the treadmill and that black line on the bottom of the pool?

Are you going to be struggling to stay motivated for those wet 5-hour slogs in this rainy/snowy winter climate?

Are you planning on ANY 2010 triathlon event from Olympic distance up to Ironman?

Then this brand new event is going to be perfect for you…

Head Coach Ben Greenfield is proud to announce The Official Pacific Elite Fitness 2010 Triathlete Training Camp, scheduled for January 18-25 in Sunny Endurance Mecca Training Grounds – Austin, Texas!

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Overview:

This camp is open to all levels and will be a unique all-inclusive experience at the brand new, completely furnished Dillo Endurance House in Austin, and features the following:

-All meals are included. Most are prepared in our kitchen but we also give you a sampling of the excellent local cuisine in Austin – some of the best Tex-Mex and BBQ around.

-We pick you up at the airport with a snack and a smile. No need to rent a car.

-You can ship your bikes down and we’ll have them assembled and ready when you arrive. Avoid the hassles at the airport and the ever-rising fees.

-We provide all of the training and recovery food that you need, through our camp partnership with Clif Bar.

-All group rides are escorted by pro triathletes on bikes, and of course, coach Ben Greenfield. Rides can also include a sag wagon at your discretion.

-Guests of the Dillo Endurance House receive a “friend of the shop” discount at Austin Tri-Cyclist.

-The house is comfortably furnished with high-end linens, a big-screen TV, wireless Ethernet, a cold/recovery pool and a hot tub.

-Group core and yoga classes are available within a half-mile walk or jog from the house, or even at the house, if desired.

-Massage appointments are available at/near the house.

-Sports medicine and chiropractic appointments can be made in town whenever necessary.

-And of course, you’ll have easy access to the beautiful trails, pools and roads of Austin.

-Pro triathletes will be living and training at the house with you, teaching you their top tips and tricks!

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Schedule & Itinerary:

MON JAN 18: Arrive; airport pick-ups; ez spin for early arrivals (your bike is already there!) … ez jog on the town lake trail, too. Dinner TBD at the house, with an amazing salad and dessert. Slideshow/video intro and run-down of the rest of the week.

TUE JAN 19: Longhorn 70.3 day. Big breakfast at the house. Stock up on calories. Drive to the Longhorn course. Start with a ride — the entire course; then a brick run — one loop of the run course (6.6mi); shake-out / chill-out swim after, maybe 1k; recovery drinks on-site; sandwiches on-site; back to house, clean up, relax a bit; Sushi Night at the house; watch the bats at sunset at Congress Ave bridge, then go check out a live band and have a few local beers … or Amy's Ice Cream for the teetotalers

WED JAN 20: early risers go to Barton Springs. “Polar Bear Challenge Day.” wetsuits optional! Big breakfast afterwards. Then a long ride out west … Fitzhugh? Johnson City? Marble Falls? Depends on the crowd … lots of food hand-ups during the ride, possibly a meal stop — Salt Lick?? … arrive home for a big Italian meal, built around the Tremonte family recipe for red sauce; ride bikes to Amy's Ice Cream for dessert

THU JAN 21: another long ride day — south and east of town … Buda, 5-mile dam, San Marcos, … optional short brick run afterwards; late lunch; core class in the evening; dinner: Brisket at the house … optional evening activity: First Thursday — open art galleries on South Congress Ave, w food and drink vendors

FRI JAN 22: lighter day. Sleep in. light snack and swim at Barton Springs. Big breakfast. Bee Cave 30-mile loop (rolling hills, preview part of Saturday's group ride). EZ 5-7mile brick run. Late Lunch at the house, chill out a bit, then happy hour at the Hula Hut — big outdoor patio, tex-mex, etc., or another similar spot. Some may head downtown to the bars & bands afterwards while others will rest up for Saturday's ride.

SAT JAN 23: ATC Ride — pre-ride light breakfast; 50-mile loop with brick run; lunch at house; drive to Hamilton Pool and chill out. Stop at the Salt Lick for dinner on the way home, if we didn't go there on Wed. Optional night out — Master Pancake Theatre at the Alamo Drafthouse.

SUN JAN 24: light pre-race breakfast; choice to do the Frost Yer Fanny Duathlon or 3M half-marathon running race or long run around Town Lake; stop for lunch on the way back from the race; social Barton Springs swim afterwards; activity: Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon for Chickensh!t Sundays (think cowpie bingo on a smaller scale); light ride in the evening — 20-30 miles, flat.

MON JAN 25: breakfast, barton springs, airport … optional ride for those with later departure times

Total: 2 long rides (Wed, Thu), 2 medium-long rides (Mon, Sat), one race day (Sun) … 3 open-water swim workouts, 3 casual/social swims … 2-4 brick runs, 1-2 chill runs, optional long run if you don't race … one core strength class … memorable activities: lots of Barton Springs, Congress Ave bat colony, a Hamilton Pool Trip, Chickensh!t Bingo, First Thursday, Hula Hut, and a band. Campers are free to add in extra runs and swims as they see fit. The venues are right out your front door.

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The House:

The Dillo Endurance House is packed with the comforts of home, hopefully making your home away from home even more comfortable than your usual home.

-The bedrooms are tastefully appointed with cycling and triathlon memorabilia. Each bed is dressed with high-end, high-thread-count sheets. Most rooms feature two beds and double occupancy is expected. Each room has ample closet and/or dresser space for two guests.

-The kitchen is equipped with pots and pans and dishes and snacks … and most importantly, a team of trained cooks to prepare all of your meals. We also have a large grill outside for BBQs and our ever-popular “Texas-Style BBQ Brisket Night.”

-The garage has plenty of storage space for everyone’s bicycles, of course. But it also features two work stands for last-minute repairs and a complete set of Park tools. In case you catch a rare day of bad weather in Austin, the garage is equipped with a fleet of fluid trainers where the campers can go through an Indoor Cycling classes with a certified/experienced instructors on-staff.

-The common living area features a big-screen TV with computer hook-ups in case you want to show PowerPoint slides while delivering a clinic to your campers. We have a DVD player for watching cycling movies, race videos, or the occasional movie. One or two computers are available for camper use and the house features wireless Ethernets for those interweb junkies who bring their own laptops.

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Swimming Venues:

-Barton Springs Pool is less than half a mile from the house. This spring-fed pool has a natural bottom and cement walls, so you see a lot of plant life and sometimes a few fish in the water. The spring pumps out cool water at 68 degrees year-round. The pool is open from 5am until 10pm and is perfect for wetsuit swims and open-water practice as the pool is swimmable for over 200m.

-Deep Eddy Pool is about a mile from the house. It is also spring-fed but has a bottom/walls/lanes/etc. like a normal pool. The water is a bit colder than Barton Springs and it isn’t open through the whole winter. Deep Eddy is 33 yards long.

-Big Stacy and Little Stacy pools are spring-fed and heated. Big Stacy is 33 yards long and Little Stacy is 20-25 yards, IIRC. Each is within a mile of the house.

-Hamilton Pool Preserve is about 25-30 miles outside of town. It is one of the coolest places to swim that I’ve ever seen but it is set up more for chilling out and splashing around a bit than for serious training. Hamilton Pool is a round pool about 75-100 yards in diameter that sits under half of a collapsed grotto with a 50-foot waterfall.

-The Pedernales River also runs through the property, offering some interesting open-water opportunities.

-Hippie Hollow is a swimming beach on Lake Travis about 30 miles outside of town. It is clothing- optional, so you may meet some interesting characters there.

The House has a relationship with one or more masters swimming programs within a mile of the house so that campers who are USMS members can get group workouts if they desire to do so.

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Biking Venues & Routes:

Austin features a few distinct types of bike-friendly roads, with rolling hills west of town and flatter rides to the south and east:

-Farm-to-market roads tend to be two lanes, often chip-sealed, lightly traveled … the Longhorn 70.3 bike course is mostly on this type of road.

-Larger, busier roads tend to feature wide shoulders with regular cyclist traffic.

-Limited-access highways have access roads with two or three lanes in each direction and lots of room for bikes.

-Campers are encouraged to participate in the Austin Tri-Cyclist Taco Ride on Saturday mornings. Quite possibly the largest and longest-running tri group ride in the country, the taco ride will have well over 100 riders in the peak season. 50- 30- and 20-mile options are available.

-The house staff can provide you with maps, cue sheets and human guides for looped rides ranging from 20 to 120 miles, with flatter and hillier options.

-The Texas Hill Country starts just west of Austin, providing a lot of rolling hills and a few steep or sustained climbs. East of town the landscape is much flatter, letting your athletes drop into their aerobars and just go steady-state all day. The pro triathletes on our staff will accompany your group on their rides with back-up nutrition, sag support or even a picnic lunch.

-A great mountain-biking trail starts about half a mile from the house and there is a BMX trick park downtown, about a mile from the house.

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Running Venues:

-The Town Lake Hike-and-Bike trail passes within a quarter mile of the house. It runs along the north and south sides of Ladybird Lake (formerly Town Lake), which is a dammed section of the Lower Colorado River. There are six bridges with pedestrian access, offering the runner looped routes from 1.5 to 13 miles in length. This dirt/cinder/gravel trail is heavily used by runners, joggers, walkers and a few mountain bikers. Lots of eye candy but not so crowded that you can’t maintain your pace. Local running store Run-Tex provides free water and cups every few miles along the trail to keep you going strong.

-Lake Austin High School offers a quarter-mile synthetic oval for track workouts. The Barton Creek Greenbelt offers more shaded trail running and can be a bit rockier. It starts at Barton Springs Pool, less than half a mile from the house.

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Food:

All on-site meals are prepared by trained cooks who are likely to be pro athletes themselves. The house menus are designed with the guidance of a certified dietician. We strive to include organic, natural and locally-grown ingredients whenever possible. All beef comes from local farmers via a cowpooling set-up.

Here are some sample house meals:

Breakfasts

– in addition to the following, cereal, bagels, yogurt, fresh fruit, juice, coffee and milk are always available…

-vanilla-cinnamon-raisin French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, fresh fruit, yogurt, juice coffee, milk

-breakfast tacos – tortillas with your choice of eggs, bacon, cheese, potatoes

-migas – a tex-mex classic

-gingerbread pancakes, eggs, sausage

-Mrs. Tremonte’s Breakfast Casserole – includes eggs, sausage, cheese and biscuit dough all baked into a giant mass of morning goodness

Lunches

-on-the-bike lunch: sandwich hand-ups during your long ride, with extra snacks when you get home and an early dinner

-sandwich board, with high-end meats and artisan breads

-breakfast tacos – they’re great for lunch, too

-BBQ stop at Rudy’s Country Store & BBQ

Dinners

-Sushi Night: the staff is trained in preparing homemade sushi rolls from store-bought sashimi- grade fish. If desired, our staff can prepare all of the ingredients and you can learn how to roll your own sushi rolls.

-Italian Dinner, featuring the old Tremonte Family Recipe for “gravy,” a.k.a. tomato sauce with meat. It takes a whole day to prepare the sauce, but our staff will take care of that while you and your friends are out riding your bikes!

-BBQ brisket – slow-cooked by a local restaurant and heated up on the house grill, served with traditional side dishes

-Grill night – a collection of meats and vegetables cooked on out our patio

-Ranch Dinner – Grandma Stein’s specialty including chicken, peaches and biscuits

-Always include a rockin’ salad like mixed greens or spinach with dried cranberries, bleu cheese crumbles, chopped apples or pears, candied pecans

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Fun Activities in Austin:

Another way in which the Dillo Endurance House helps differentiate your camp from others is through our connections with fun non-sport activities in Austin. We expect that you will be focused mostly on your training, but since this *is* your vacation we have a concierge service to set up you up with fun supplemental activities such as:

-Go see a live band in the Live Music Capital of the World. Austin is known for a certain blues/rock style but you’ll find artists of many genres, from punk rock to blues to cowboy singer- songwriter … and on a Friday or Saturday night you’ll have well over 100 acts to choose from.

-A night or afternoon out at the Alamo Drafthouse, where they always serve food and beverages during the movie via a system of paper notes and runners. You can order a bucket of beer on ice to ensure that your Cold Ones stay cold throughout the show. Special events have included:

-Appearances and Q&A with the director, actor or producer of a film being shown

-Sing-along and quote-along nights to classic music videos and comedies

-Master Pancake Theatre, where comedians skewer a movie in a similar manner to the old Comedy Central show, Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

-Food and film events with custom menus, like The Godfather with a fine Italian meal

-The Alamo also puts on Rolling Roadshows throughout the Austin area, with themes like “Goonies in a Cave,” “Jaws on a Lake,” “Deliverance: The Canoe Trip” or “Bike-In Movie: Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.”

-An afternoon trip to Hamilton Pool Preserve to splash around under the 50-foot waterfall or to hike to the river for a long open-water swim.

-A jaunt down South Congress Avenue on First Thursday, when all of the galleries are open late and the crowds descend for beers and merriment.

-A 9pm swim/dance party at Barton Springs during the monthly full-moon event.

-Disc Golf at one of five courses in Austin; you can even incorporate this into an interval workout or a game of “speed frolf,” where you add your number of throws to your running time.

-The unique cultural experience that is Chicksh*t Bingo at Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon.

-A visit to the flagship Whole Food Market at 6th and Lamar

-Dinner at one of Austin’s many unique and funky eateries. There are far too many to do justice in this limited space but here is a sampling:

Austin’s culinary specialties:

-Tex-Mex: Maudie’s, Trudy’s, Chuy’s, Matt’s El Rancho, Guerro’s, Baby Acapulco, Z Tejas, Hula Hut, Iron Cactus, The Oasis, or one of the many places in East Austin where you had better be at least conversant in Spanish

-BBQ: Rudy’s, Stubb’s, The County Line, Ruby’s, or a memorable trip to the Salt Lick in Driftwood, TX

-Breakfast Tacos from a “taco truck” parked in East or South Austin … or a
classier experience at TacoDeli or Maria’s Taco XPress. Breakfast tacos are also on the menu at any breakfast joint in town.

Other staples:

-Breakfast: Magnolia Café, Kerbey Lane Café, Austin Java

-Cuban: La Havana

-Roadside Nostalgia: Shady Grove

-Steak: Austin Land and Cattle, Texas Land and Cattle

-Indian: The Clay Pit

-Sushi: Musashino

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Camp Rates:

So now, I bet you're wondering…for all this fun and training, what are you looking at for rates?

Here's the deal: because this is a brand new Triathlon Training House, and we'll be the first camp to ever use the Dillo Endurance House, they're offering BenGreenfieldFitness.com fants, Pacific Elite Fitness athletes from Spokane, WA, Coeur D' Alene, ID and around the entire world a huge discount on the entire week. This means if you sign up by November 1 that you get everything listed above, including all lodging, meals, coaching and training at the reduced rates listed below.

-Sign-up by October 31: BenGreenfieldFitness.com Special Pricing: $1300 (split into just three payments of 439)

-Sign-up November 1-December 31: BenGreenfieldFitness.comSpecial Pricing: $1375 (just three payments of 459)

-Sign-up January 1-10: BenGreenfieldFitness.com Special Pricing – $1450 (must pay in full!)

Go ahead and check out prices on other camps going on right now across the nation. You can't beat this deal for an all-inclusive triathlon training camp. This is guaranteed to be the most jam-packed, high-quality training weeks of your life, combined with the best eatin', best coachin', and best extracurricular activities you'll ever find at any camp!

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Yes! I'm ready for the Official 2010 Pacific Elite Fitness Triathlete Training Camp and I want to go train in beautiful Texas in the middle of winter. Please reserve my spot and register me for camp ASAP!

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P.S. How about this for a “deal-clincher”? Most major airlines have new nonstops from US cities to Austin for just $99 each way!