I survived Boot Camp! (and, I'm glad I went)

Today I completed the Triathlon Boot Camp that I had been stressing about. Happily, I came away very confident that my goal of completing a Sprint event in May is well within reach. The event not only helped from a skills perspective, but eliminated many of the question marks and concerns that had been haunting me.
My cycling skills improved a lot, and I've got some great drills that should make me a safer and fitter cyclist. I went with the intent of participating in the planned 20 mile ride (after a 5k - 3.1mi run, to warm up) . Since things were feeling pretty good, I went ahead and took off with the 30 mile group. At a brief rest stop, we caught up with the 40 mile group that had been on the same route to that point. Feeling strong, I chatted with the leader and took off with them. So, I surprised myself and completed the 40 mile ride! It was a blast, and I was very encouraged by riding with some of the better cyclists.
Swimming, it seems, is a "full contact" sport in the triathlon! We practiced mass starts, buoy sighting and got our stroke analyzed by the head swim coach from Villanova and a couple of nationally ranked swimmers. It is interesting that the fundamentals of swimming have changed so much since I was swimming competitively in the 70's. It all makes sense, and it was very helpful.
This morning, we had the option to run 3, 5, 8 or 10 miles. Now, after two runs, a 40 mile ride, a killer "spinning class" (where we determined our "lactate threshold") along with the swimming and everything else, I was feeling like 0 miles might be better. But, I bucked up and went for the 5 mile run. The camp director encouraged the 8 miler, but I felt I might hurt myself. After completing the run (and worrying about my heart rate), it was clear that I made the right decision! We had our "gait" analyzed by a professional running and fitness coach that had been a world class 1500 meter competitor. The good news was that my weaknesses are simple and addressable - just need to strengthen my core and bring in my elbows to put more power to the pavement.
I'm really glad that I participated in the Boot Camp. I made some new friends (as in most sports, everyone was really nice and fun to be around), increased my confidence, created a great new training plan (more on that later), and set some new goals (also, more later).