LP Day 1

Man, after a day like today, there's not much to say. Actually, there's a lot to say but I'm really spent right now and I also have a couple of beers and a glass of wine in me and the bed is looking mighty good. But I feel this obligation to post something and I owe it to the campers who put it out there today.

We started with an early 6:30am trail run up to Avalanche Lake. Most come here to train and just stay on the IM course. The course is great and it's important to learn it and experience it, but there is also so much more to see up here. I staggered all the campers to get us all to Avalanche Lake around the same time. The run starts on a horse trail for a few miles where you reach a beautiful lake and a damn. Then we continue on single track trail for a few miles until the last mile which is up hill and on log crossings, boulder leaping, and rock scaling. It's adventurous and the reward of Avalanche Lake and the views here are well worth it. I ran back and forth trying to run with each camper during this 2+ hour run.

After munching on some graham cracker bagels and peanut butter, we suited up to ride. The ride started very civil with the goal of riding one loop of the course, stopping at key places and discussing how to best approach this course. After the big downhill, I had everyone form a pace line on rt 9 from 73 until 86. I had them taking 30 second pulls at the front. This is always interesting since most triathletes train alone and don't have very good technical skills. Many were timid riding close to the wheel in front of them, but by the end of rt. 9, we were working well together and cruising along at a good clip. Trephina was a champ - she had never ridden a pace line and fell off early but was determined to get back on. Ed and I were able to get her there and she took a good pull at the front even.

When we turned onto 86 for the beginning of some climbing, I stopped to converse with big rocks in the sag wagon and a group of 7 hammered off the front. This reminded me of an old Farber tactic. Etiquette would say that when someone stops, the rest ride easy until the stopper regroups. Farber would always hammer away whenever I stopped for something. It always made me laugh, and then I'd bust my ass to catch him. This is what happened with these guys. I finally caught them on the out and back section of the course and then set a good clip on the final 11 miles back to LP up 86. When we arrived back, everyone looked wasted. That's the sign of a solid day!

Greg Pelican then did computerized bike fitting on the group as we hung around and ate. Eating is a popular thing at these camps when not training. Then, a few of the guys and Margit went for an easy swim. Not a bad day 1.

To top it off, Ed S. who has a house up here had us all over for a delicious dinner with grilled salmon, chicken, asparagus and potatoes. It was perfect - great food, relaxing, and fun conversation. I told a bunch of stories - many including Baker. Who knows, they were probably bored but all seemed entertained.

Ed S. got the mvp today. He helped out many on the run and he worked hard on the ride helping Trephina bridge up and taking long pulls when the group of 8 were trying to lose me.

The campers should either sleep really well tonight or sleep restless because their metabolisms are ramped up from all the training.

Stay tuned...

Lots of pictures will be coming.

Cheers,

EH