Welcome to our weekly gathering around the campfire. This free communique will level up your endurance skills in ten minutes, twice a month. Forwarded this message? You can sign up for these emails by clicking here.

5 MAR 2026

What is it you love about movement, and which manners of movement speak to you on a subconscious, silent level? Put another way, what modes of movement fire your imagination and whisper, quietly, this is you. What are the pursuits and activities and sports that you just can’t help yourself from doing?

We choose our activities and hobbies out of a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic drives: something about the activity speaks to us and we believe it will change us for the better in different ways. Intrinsic motivation fires us up internally and subjectively: first of all, the activity just seems like fun even though we might not be able to explain why; second, we suspect that applying ourselves to a difficult goal will move us in the direction of some personal growth goals such as greater confidence, patience, and ease, provided those are personality traits we actually desire; third, doing the hobby just makes us feel better than when we are not doing the hobby—there’s something about us and the sport that just fit together, and experiencing that kismet is joyful. When we were kids we simply called that “play,” or, more likely, we didn’t call it anything, because labels lived in the province of adults. We just had fun...[read more]​

You can read the rest of the story AND get a free PDF worksheet that will walk you through figuring out your balance of extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation, because once the newness wears off, you're going to need some strong motivations to maintain your earnest enthusiasm for whatever it is you're trying to do.

Good luck.

​And here's a link to that PDF.

Swim Camp Sacramento—ONE SPOT LEFT

Yup! We are down to ONE SPOT LEFT at Swim Camp Sacramento! By this point you've heard me talk about swim camp a lot, so I'll be brief:

Spending a weekend intensive on Swim Smooth's Three Pillars is a way to remove the obstacles that are holding you back in the water and approach your swim training sensibly. When you're at swim camp you get:

• Four swims in just over 30 hours (lots of density) with a 50/50 split of training and technique
• A classroom session where we will "speed-type" your stroke and get you individualized feedback
• Your CSS pace (your "FTP" for swimming), plus a solid threshold swim session
• A 25-minute individual stroke correction session
• A 15-minute personalized video swim analysis with Swim Smooth's proprietary analysis method
• Swag from FINIS Swim (and maybe even a visit from the folks there)
• A "Red Mist" session you can use to build your triathlon/open-water swim fitness and endurance
• Community, support, and everything you've come to expect from a Campfire Camp!

We'll be swimming at the NorCal Swimstitute—come and join us.

As always, thanks for reading.

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—The Counselors at Campfire Endurance

Presented by Campfire Endurance Coaching

Today's newsletter is presented by Campfire Endurance Coaching.

We help endurance athletes improve their results (get FASTER), find more joy in the process of getting faster (get HAPPIER), and achieve lifelong wellbeing through sport (get HEALTHIER).

Our company has two major services:

• ​One-to-One Coaching: fully customizable, high-touch coaching built for your life and your goals. Our coaches carry a maximum of 15 athletes so you know you and your goals are always a prioity.
• ​Training Camps and Clinics: immersive multi-day and single-day events aimed at getting you the most improvement in the shortest amount of time.

If any of those sound like something you would like to take advantage of, you should consider booking a 45-minute FREE coaching and training consultation with us​