Solid Week

I miss Lake Placid! It's always great to come home after a brief time away from the family, but the training grounds of Lake Placid are hard to beat. The picture above is where the trail run ended on Thursday of the LP camp.

I came off camp a bit tired and very ravenous. It was hard to stop eating this week! You get used to downing lots of food at these camps, plus the metabolism is in overdrive, trying to make up for your depleted condition.

Even though I was a bit tired, I still managed to get in a few decent rides in the heat and some solid runs. Looks as though I'll be going into Griskus with only my two swims from LP and my one swim from Tucson under me. It is what it is.

One of my PT clients had a TV on yesterday morning and there was much discussion over this being the 10 year anniversary of Princess Diana's death. I can't believe it's been 10 years! Lisa was a huge Princess Di fan. The funeral was being broadcasted all weekend in late August of 97', and Lisa and her frined Amy were intent on not missing a bit of it. We had just bought ou first house in Shelton and were doing some renovating, so they were couped up in one room where we basically had everything we owned. I informed Lisa that I was heading out to ride early Saturday morning with Farber and might not be back until Sunday. She just said "fine" while she studied the TV, as if she didn't even hear me. I took a small backpack with a change of clothes and a credit card and rode from Shelton towards rt. 10 in Hamden to meet up with Farber. We then headed north on rt. 10, stopping in Simsbury for breakfast, then Northhampton, MA for lunch, then we were chased by a pig in Greenfield, MA, before finally rolling into Brattleboro, VT. I called up Lisa and told her I was in VT and she said something like "sure you are honey." Farber and I ate some bad pizza and drank some great beer, before waking up early on Sunday and riding home.

Thus, the VT ride was born. Baker joined us the next year on the ride and hasn't missed one yet since. We have done it every year, and even twice on a few years when I was training for Hawaii. We eventually smartened up and now we ship our change of clothes up to the hotel.

Looks as though we'll be doing it this year in August sometime. Have to keep these annuals going!

Cheers,

EH

LP Wrap Up

I decided to do the long run yesterday morning back in the trails that we started the camp with. This would be beneficial in a number of ways; tired, fatigued legs would incur less damage due to the forgiveness of the trails, the course was beautiful, and going out the way we started, to name a few.

I gave the assignment of running out 1 hr 5 min at least, knowing that the return trip would be a bit quicker and wanting everyone to run at least 2 hrs. We started out of the parking area down the steep hill that we'd have to ascend on the return trip for 1 mile then bared right onto a dirt road then right onto a trail. Everyone was running very gingerly which made me grin, thinking that it was a good solid training camp. Jeff Molson and I hit the Damn in 41 minutes and before starting up the more technical single track, we waited for the next group of Juergens, Steve, and Bruce to come along. Soon, on the single track, it was just myself and Steve. We reached a bridge at the 55 minute mark that had a bunch of signs/arrows giving trail selections - one being Avalanche Lake, 1 mile. We headed that way and soon started the very, very technical climb straight up. In fact, we were not running much at this point yet our heart rates were well up there. We even came across a ladder made out of tree trunks to ascend. The trail became more and more amazing and enjoyable, discovering new things. At 1 hr 14 minutes, we reached Avalanche Lake, and man was it worth the trip. The lake meandered endlessly through two huge cliffs, sitting ontop of this mountain in the middle of nowhere. Steve and I took it in for a moment, and then turned back, not wanting to hold up the others at the parking area. As we left the more technical section and opened our strides more, we found ourselves running at sub 7 pace. Steve mentioned to me, "I never would have imagined I could have done everything that we did during this camp!" That made my camp. I go about putting these camps on so that people could challenge themselves and accomplish more than they maybe realize they were capable of. I try to pull this off with a fun, entertaining twist. I think those that have attended would agree that for the endurance enthusiast, it's a great vacation!

Anyway, I'm jumping ahead. Let me describe Saturday first:

Saturday seemed like race day. There were so many athletes out on the course, it made things quite fun. The weather was low 60's and sunny with quite a bit of wind. In fact, there was more wind than I have ever witnessed up here. The wind seemed like it was in our face all day. Ange took a group out at 6am, and I took another group out at 7am. My group was to ride the course - 112 miles. This is a big feat on it's own, but following what we did on the previous days combined with the competitiveness of tons of "others" on the course would make the challenge that much more interesting. As we climbed out of LP, my intentions were to see where everyone was at. I wanted people to do their own thing today, not letting others dictate their pace. As I rode comfortable the first 7 miles, I turned to realize the only one with me was Bruce cook! I decided that I would pull Bruce through a loop and let everyone else do their thing. Bruce sat tucked in nicely and we rolled through the 56 windy miles in 2 hrs 50 minutes. I waited a bit for the rest of the group to come along, but when they weren't coming, I headed out and figured I'd try and catch Trephina and Roy and see how they were doing. Both of them were riding 86 miles, their longest rides ever by far! I caught them after the downhill and assessed how they were before rolling on. I came out of the out and back and waited at the convenient mart there for the campers to come through. First came Bruce, then a threesome of Jeff, Gus, and Scooter. Next came Ange and Jen who was also having a "firsts" day, then Baker. I decided to head back up 86 myself and get my car and come back and check on everyone. The wind let up a bit and I cruised through the second loop at 2 hrs 39 minutes riding time.

After everyone finished their brick runs, we drove down 86 to the gorge at a beautiful spot on the river and soaked our tired legs in the running water. It felt great! There were some pretty fatigued people at dinner that night and I reminded them of what they had accomplished. Athletes seem to only remember their last workout. Lot's of wine and beer were drunk that night and then we, of course, headed to Ben and Jerry's.

Three camps in the books this year thus far! I have to commend Jeff Molson and Gus "Daisy Dukes" Ellison for attending all three! They are a bit whacked.

I have found the ideal camp locations between Tucson, CT, and LP.

Cheers,

EH

See you tomorrow.

It's been a long day. I'm full of pizza and beer and very tired, so I'll post tomorrow - promise.

Quickly though: 112 miles ridden today on a very windy LP course, followed by brick run. Big day! Felt like the race was today - there were over 200 athletes riding on the Haselton out and back section this morning when I was in there the first time!

Cheers,

EH

Whiteface

This year seems to be the year of the cold camps. Today, we rolled out at 6 am to do the Whiteface Mountain climb in rainy, 50 degree weather. As we headed down rt. 86 towards the 8 mile climb of Whiteface, Sean G. gets his second flat - his first was before we even left the hotel. He tells us all to roll on because we have to make it past the toll booth at the 3 mile mark of the climb before the guard gets there around 8am. Cyclists aren't allowed on the road to the summit of whiteface during the day because of the steep, narrow road. We regroup at the base of the climb and everyone heads up. The rain is constant and I'm soaked before the climb even begins. As we ascend, the temperature drops significantly. I was alone from mile 2 on up and it was cool. Almost spooky as there was no noise at all but the wind and rain and visibility was nil because of the fog. I hit the summit 58 minutes later and couldn't wait for the others to reach it for the group photo - I was too cold. Jeff Juergens rolled in as I began to descend. He was wearing only shorts and a long sleeve jersey and looked comfortable! His new nickname is the polar bear. Next I see Gus, then Steve, then Scooter and Robbie McCewen, then baker then Dangle. Ange took another group out that road to the toll booth, then descended and road the out and back Haselton section of the IM course.



The descent was frigid! I was shaking so bad that I had a hard time applying the brakes. I reached the bottom feeling a bit hypothermic and stopped at the convenient mart for a coffee and then sat in the sag wagon to warm up while we regrouped. The ascent today was much more enjoyable then the descent because of the wet cold conditions. Everyone was frozen and shaking at the bottom and I made the decision to have everyone ride back up 86 instead of the long route which would have been the course in reverse.

I told everyone to take a quick, hot shower and then meet in the front parking lot to run. We all ran between 1 hour 10 minutes and 2 hours. So far, we accomplished quite a bit and it wasn't even noon yet.

At most of the camps, we eat lunch on the road - usually in the form of a powerbar or perpeteum while riding along at 20 mph. Today, we actually had the chance to go to lunch. We went to The Cottage which is a great spot. Baker and I were pretty famished and downed some nachos and chicken and black bean burritos. Everyone had an opportunity to do whatever they wanted for a couple of hours before we met to swim at 3:30pm. Most opted for a nap. Ange discussed some swim tips before we plunged into mirror lake for a 45 min to 1 hr swim. Yes, that's right - I swam again! Two days in a row. The lake was great, as usual. It's actually quite warm right now. There is talk that this may be the first year for a no-wetsuit swim at IMLP. I highly doubt it, but it would be interesting.

Tonight, we had dinner at the Adirondack Steakhouse, minus one of the campers. Sean G. didn't ride this AM because of his flats and wanted to do the climb up Whiteface so he set out alone at 4pm, hoping to begin the summit at 5pm when the tollbooth closed for the day. That is my kind of person!

The rest of us had a great dinner with lots of laughs, and guess what? We hit Ben and Jerry's again on the return trip. As we all walked back to the hotel at 8pm, who comes rolling up but Sean G.! Baker and I joined him just now at a cool restaurant across the street. He ate dinner, we just had some wine.

I have been very impressed by the athletes at this camp. No whining which is my number one rule and hard workers. I am also very impressed by my co-coach in this venture, Angela Forster. I coach Angela and also have assisted her in getting her coaching business rolling and she is doing a phenomenal job. She is a caring, hard working person and her dedication to her athletes and the respect they have for her is terrific. This has been great to see.

Tomorrow, we head out at 7 am to tackle the 112 miles of the LP course followed by a brick run and then, a bit later, a swim, so I need to get some sleep now.

Cheers,

EH

Day 1 in the books

Today is officially the first day of camp. We started by meeting at 6:45am for the short drive over to the trails that I scouted out earlier in the week. It was in the low 60's and sunny - perfect running weather. We ran 90 minutes on the trails. The turnaround of the run was at a damn on a lake that used Mt. Marcy, the highest peak in New York, as it's backdrop. I took a bunch of pictures, so hopefully Alan will post them soon! There are a ton of athletes that come up here to LP to train and they never leave the IM course. Don't get me wrong, it's great to learn the course, but this area has so much more to offer. This is something that I wanted to show everyone attending this camp. They all seemed to really love the run today.

Everyone ran really well also. We finished the run at a beautiful lake where we soaked our legs while downing some warm bagels. Soulshine Bakery here in LP makes a graham cracker bagel that is amazing.

At 11am, we headed out on our bikes to ride a loop of teh course (56 miles). Since most here are racing LP in a month, I wanted to break down each section of the course and discuss how to tactfully race it. On the stretch along route 9, I gathered everyone up and had them paceline, taking short pulls at the front. Most did well, but Jen Collister earned the days mvp for hanging tough when the line was broken down to only four.

The weather was ideal - cloud cover and light wind and low 70's. On the ride back up 86 towards LP, a thunderstorm rolled through and gave everyone a soaking, only to let up and have the sun breakthrough for the finish. We were going to ride more, but it was getting late and I still had a nutrition discussion to do and then a swim.

The swim was in mirror lake. I doubled my 2007 swim mileage today! My second swim thus far of 2007. I used my new Nineteen wetsuit which is by far, the best wetsuit I have ever swam in. Here's why: it felt very buoyant, especially in the legs which was great, and the shoulders were way flexible, but the main reason is the comfort. The neck is very wide and low and never ever chafed. Plus, I swam somewhat decent today! Swimming in Mirror Lake certainly helps.

We just returned from a fun dinner at Nicolas followed by Ben and Jerry's once again. I talked at dinner how I noticed today that many athletes here would benefit the most from working on their limiters/weaknesses, yet most continue to play to their strengths. It was evident that many are still fearfull of their weaknesses. Overcoming this would make the most significant impact on the success of these athletes.

Tomorrow I'll update on the characters attending this camp. We have a fun group here. Tomorrow is also another big day, so time to crash.

Cheers,

EH

Wednesday

Molson, Ange, Baker and I headed over to a trail near Mount Marcy to start the day with a trail run that took about 1 hour and 10 minutes. It was a great way to begin a busy day here in LP. I had a lot of last minute things to do before the Camp officially began, which was tonight at 4:30pm.

Later in the morning, Jeff, Baker and I headed out to ride a loop of the course. Ange waited for Chris Nook, one of the campers who flew in from Cleveland. We startred on the long, gradual 9 mile climb out of town, and I put in my headphones and settled into a strong pace. I wanted to get in a good solid ride today. The legs felt really strong as I made my way to the big downhill. I hit 51 on the downhill and then had a nice tailwind along the river on rt.9. This is where I received my first flat of todays ride. I changed it quickly and headed onwards, only to flat again, about 8 mile later. Same wheel (rear). I changed this one and again, got back into my rythm. I went through the 25 mile mark of the course in exactly 1 hour of riding time, when I suffered a third flat! I sat on the side of the road, having flashbacks of Hawaii 2002. Baker rolled up an gave me a spare and a CO2. I inspected the rim very closely as well as the tire, but couldn't figure out what was causing the punctures. I did use some plastic to reinforce some rough areas on the rim, changed the flat once again, and headed off. I ran into Angela and Chris on the out and back section and rode withthem for a bit and then attacked the headwind on 86 all the way back into town. I then high-tailed it to the bike shop and bought some new rim tape, a carbon-kevlar tire, and some new tubes. I should be good to go now, and hopefully got rid of all my flats for the rest of this camp.

The weather cooled off considerably since yesterday. We all met in front of the hotel at 4:30pm and did a short run around mirror lake. We regrouped at the beach and had a short discussion including introductions, camp expectations, blah, blah, blah... We have a cool group here. Everyone seems fun and ready to train hard, yet more importantly, have a good time.

After a nice dinner at The Boat House, we walked to Ben and Jerry's - you have to start camp out on the right note! On the walk over to B and J's, I ran into my wifes cousin who was up here over night on a business trip. Small world.

Tomorrow, the fun really begins, starting with a 90 min trail run! I'll keep you posted but until then, bye for now!

Cheers,

EH

Good Times

The 30 mile drive from rt. 87 to the town of Lake Placid through Keene never gets old. It's become a nostalgic 1/2 hour, bringing back great memories from the annual trips up here since 2000.

The first time I ever came to Lake Placid was in June of 2000. I was racing the IM the following month, and dragged my dad up here with me to do some reconnaissance training. That was the beginning of my love affair with this place. The thing that I loved most on that trip was that no matter which direction you looked, the views were stunning. We came up on Friday and I rode the 112 mile course on Saturday by myself, then ran 13 miles (1 loop) of the run course. This trip set me up well for a solid race the following month.

Every year since, I have come back up to watch my athletes race as well as get in some great training. In 2001, I remember coming up here. I was preparing for Hawaii (which I skipped because of 9/11). I never had spectated an IM before and thought I'd really hate it - sitting on the sidelines while others participated. I soon learned that spectating here is loads of fun. I got to train with tons of others that were here to spectate the day before. In fact, I remember riding one loop of the bike in a peloton that had upwards of 60 cyclists, including Karen Smyers and Ken Glah. This ride was a blast. I attacked at the top of the downhill and for the rest of the loop, the pace was crazy. Then I got to go out for a great dinner and plenty of beers the night before the race while all the nervous athletes tried to sleep.

I arrived up here around 12:30pm today. After checking in to the hotel, Jeff Molson and I made a short drive to meet Ed Sparkowski, Mike Morrow and Charlie Cowan for a trail run. The camp officially begins tomorrow evening, but I came up early to scout out some routes. Ed has a house up here and he and Mike were nice enough to drive up for the day to show me this trail run! Charlie is a local stud here. The guy is 55 years old and holds the record for 50+ here on the IM course.

The run was great - just what I was looking for. I want the athletes to experience not just the IM course, but lots of the beautiful surrounding area while attending this camp. Right as we finished up, the skies opened. It rained only for 15 minutes or so and then the sun came back out.

Jeff and I went out for some Mexican food to complete the day.

It's always great to be back up here and I'm really excited about this camp! Stay tuned.

Cheers,

EH

Packing for camp is a bitch!

My car is full! You'd think I was leaving town - for good. I have a dufflebag that has clothes for all occasions (I have witnessed every type of weather at these camps!). If I were checking this at an airport, I'd pay a shit load of overweight fees. I have enough hammer schwagg products to open up a retail nutrition store (thanks Steve Born from Hammer!). Tools - you never know who's bike is going to break - and trust me, someones will. Plus, it's not a camp if I don't get to use my pipe cutters. Wetsuit - I have to swim sooner than later and what better place than mirror lake?! Thanks Nineteen Wetsuits for the beeeautiful suit - I can't wait to try it out and hope it compensates for the non-swimming this year. Three huge Hammer coolers for keeping the campers hydrated. Extra tubes, pumps, co2's, ... My laptop (I will try to update pictures and blogs while there - promise!) Lot's o' shoes: running shoes - 3 pairs, cycling shoes - 3 pairs (it may rain!), casual shoes - 2 pairs. Finally, I have my two bikes. Be sure that tomorrow morning, I will be backing out of my garage very, very, very slowly!

I can't wait to get up to LP tomorrow! Even the drive up is very cool. I do it only once per year and once you get off the throughway, the next 30 minutes to LP is to cool. It's going to be a great week.

Cheers,

EH

Been Awhile...

I haven't blogged in a bit and was harrassed today by one of my good friends and athlete that I coach.

Let's see, what's happened since I last posted? I recovered quickly from that small cold I had. Things have been very busy. The Lake Placid Camp is next week, and I'm really looking forward to that. Business has been very busy - both personal training and coaching. That's always a good thing. We just renovated our kitchen here, and it came out great, although, we had the headaches you always encounter when doing a home improvement. Typical frustrating things like workers not showing or leaving early, project managers throwing their bull shit at you, which is nauseating. The job lasted two weeks longer than expected, but the end result came out great. Since I'm the cook in this house, I'm actually very excited about this new kitchen.

I haven't raced a triathlon yet this year. I set up a busy schedule, and soon realized that this year may be more of an off year. I'll certainly enter a few races, but only when it's convienient considering the other priorities taking place. This is actually fine. I'm in this sport for the long haul and I know that little racing this year will mean big goals next year. I'd like to race soon though. I've been self evaluating quite a bit lately. Maybe the fact that I age up in two weeks is part of this. I age up into a new decade as well. So I've been really focusing during my training and recovery to see if I'm on that downhill slide. The thing is, I feel quite fast. Faster than ever? I don't know. I have been doing some tests that show I'm not slipping. My recovery may not be as good as it was years ago, but my key sessions show that I'm not losing any speed or strength.

I really need to begin swimming. I have swam only once thus far in 2007. That was for a measly 1500 yds in Arizona. I think it's time. Next week at my LP camp, I promise to swim each day in mirror lake.

My first race may be the Griskus sprint race here in CT. This is the best sprint race in the nation. It may be my biased opinion but I think I'd find many that would agree. The competition is always great as well. I will race this this year whether I swim between now and then or not!

I have a lot of athletes that are racing, so I'm living vicariously through them. Many raced recently at the Mooseman 1/2 in NH and at Eagleman. Many PR's were set and everyone did well, so I'm very happy about that.

I am going to try and post at least every other day on here. Hopefully I can think of some entertaining things often. But next week, I'll definitely be posting from LP. This camp is going to be great - we have a terrific group and the agenda! Well, I don't want to scare the attendees in case they may be reading this.

Download this: Incubus, Dig, and Keane, Is it any wonder.

Cheers,

EH

Rolling Forward

I came off the CT camp mentally drained. There was a lot going on besides just the camp. I took Monday and Tuesday fully off, feeling like I was on the edge. Turns out I was as I'm nursing my second cold of the year. It's my own fault - I slept maybe 4 or 5 hours per night at camp, and then last week getting back into things and having a busy work week, I slept only 4 or 5 hrs per night each night. This is my killer - lack of sleep. OK, it wasn't just work I must confess - Lisa kept me up late one night watching the 2 hr finales of 24 and Lost.

Anyway, before I got sick, I went out on Wednesday to ride a benchmark ride. This is a ride that I typically do once per month to see where I'm at. I look at my time, avg HR, and avg watts for the 40 mile course that goes up through Bethel and around the reservoir in Redding, down into Wilto and back. My best time ever on this course was 1 hour 48 minutes. This course is a tough one. It doesn't have any killer climbs, but it rolls constantly and has enough to really deaden your avg speed. Back to last Wednesday. I set out not intending to do a test, but instead to do a few longer intervals. I headed up Hattertown road and could feel the camp fatigue in my legs, but I was still holding a high wattage and a good pace. I decided to try and hold this for 1 hr at this HR which works out to be my mid C zone. Well, one hour in, I felt great and kept going. I hit the 40 mle finish point in 1 hour 43 minutes! My avg watts were way up especially considering my lower HR.

I was thinking about why I had such a good ride. This year, I committed to keeping the ball rolling forward with momentum. It's a simple analogy, but think about the beginning of the season when you first begin your serious training towards your A goal. This is when you first start the ball rolling. The goal is to build momentum, so as that when you approach your A race, you are peaking. The problem is that in the past, I'd do things to either slow the ball down, or stop it all together. Things like training too hard through illness, training too hard on consecutive days, not absorbing my training, not paying attention to my nutrition, ... You get the picture. This year, thus far, I've been getting smarter. I've taken more days off, yet feel stronger in general. I'm not a slave to my exercise log. I still aim for a very consistent routine, but I'm very honest with myself when assessing whether I need extra rest or not.

Of course, I am writing this as I sit here full of congestion. Remember, I mentioned I was getting smarter. "Getting" being the key word. I've always said I am a much better coach than I am an athlete.

Cheers,

EH

Camp Roundup

Apologies for the lack of blogging at the CT camp, in case anyone besides Baker is actually reading this. This camp was so unbelievably busy - I just didn't have the time. This was by far, my busiest camp to date. In fact, Baker asked me yesterday "how do you think this camp went?" The Sunday of all my camps, I usually know exactly what I thought of the camp. This time, I responded with "to tell you the truth, I haven't had any time to digest it yet." Now that I have had a bit of time, I can say that this was one of the best ones, if not the best one, yet. (I know - it sounds like every current camp that I finish up seems to be the best one yet, but honestly, I really do try to up the ante each time.)

As I posted in my last entry, it started off with me a bit stressed and minus two bikes. Thursday was an awesome day including a 90 minute swim, a 5 hour bike with an 8 mile time trial in it and a 5 mile great climb, and an easy 30 minute beautiful trail run along this lake that's in the middle of nowhere. Then we had bike fit and aerodynammic analysis and dinner.

Friday, we met at 6:45am in the front lot to make the 5 minute drive over to the parking area in Salisbury for the Appalachian Trail. We were doing an out and back 90 minute run. The first 15 minutes of this run is up hill on the trail, some parts so steep that you have to walk. Then, it rolls up and down for 5 minutes, before another 5 minutes of climbing, including scaling a rock wall. Once up the wall, you are greeted with one of the most picturesque views around. It's an overlook that shows off the Berkshires and Connecticut, including some lakes. We then ran along the ridge for a bit and up and down a few more ridges, before returning. It's an amazing run, even though Mark took a face plant at one point earning him four stiches just below his nose! He had a pretty good nose bleed going. When we returned to the parking area, I mentioned to everyone that if they ventured off course, they'd end up getting punched in the nose by Baker, just like Mark did. Big Rock's came over to me and said "how cool is this that I ran on the Appalachian Trail on my 65th birthday!"

We headed back to the Inn for a great breakfast, and then dressed to ride. The weather forecast called for showers, so most dressed with quite a few layers. Kenn V. earned mvp honors by showing up for the ride dressed in what appeared to be a warm-up/track suit, like he was next in line on the bench in an NBA game. The ride was the Hudson River ride - an out and back ride to the Hudson, going over the Kingston Bridge. This Bridge is high and long! It's a 72 mile round trip on what I consider rolling hills. The campers argue that my definition of rolling hills isn't the same as their definition of rolling hills. The plan was for everyone to ride steady and at their own pace. I notice that when I ride with many at these camps, they seem to ride a bit harder than maybe they should, and I didn't want them digging too deep today, considering what they went through Thursday and what they had ahead for Saturday. I took off early and rode out to the bridge at a steady effort. This is a great, solid ride. It has hills constantly, yet you can stay aero and steady over the majority of them. Everyone did really well on this ride.

We met back at the conference room after this ride and had a long discussion on nutrition. This is such a hot topic and I gave my two cents on what works well for most. One of the main things I suggested was that those that are ultra regimented and over focused usually seem to be the same ones that wind up running into trouble on race day. The other suggestion I mentioned was that if you had a plan to use low glycemic carbohydrate sources like the hammer products, which I recommend, then stick with only low glycemic carbohydrate sources.

Friday night, John Brennan, Jeff Molson, Baker, Ken O. , and myself ventured out to an irish pub at another Inn to discuss John's exciting new business "My Athlete". This is going to be a winner, trust me. After a few too many Guiness's, we headed back to get some sleep before the big Saturday plans.

Saturday started at 5:45 am, with a short drive over to the pool. We did a swim session until 7:40, including some fun relays at the end. The losing teams had to do side planks and push-ups. Then, back for another solid breakfast, including an omlette I had with habenero peppers that the chef tried to talk me out of. I tasted these for the first two hours of the ride. We met to ride next and this ride was going to be a big one. I took out the first group at 10 am, and Baker and Kenny took out the second group at 10:20am. We were to meet in Kent center after an amazing amount of climbing including a jaunt up a 20% grade. From here I'd access how everyone was doing and decide the latter part of the route. My group did really well during the first three hours. we rolled out into a bit of drizzle and I could tell the group was a bit dejected by this and the fatigue from the past few days. I pulled them aside early and told them on days like this they need to go "emotionless". They can't think to much and let their emotions interfere. Instead, go into robot mode and just pedal. If it's slow pedaling, who cares? Just pedal and don't think. The drizzle past quickly and it was dry the rest of the ride. we lucked out unbelievably with the weather. While most of the surrounding area got wet over the four main days of this camp, we had barely a shower.

We regrouped in Kent center with some coffee and cookies, and then I sent a group back up rt. 7 to rt. 112, while I took another group up rt. 4 to 43 to 63 and over music mountain. Everyone rode really, really well! Most thought they'd be flat today after the previous two days and they rode strong. Scott Smith is riding at a new level, as is Mark M.. Dangle puts a lot of negetive pressure on himself but he rode very well. I got a chance to ride with every single camper today, for a good bit of time. We arrived back at the Interlaken around 4'sh and headed out on a hilly 6 mile brick run. Then, everyone received massages before dinner. Lot's of wine was drunk this evening, including a few bottles while Baker showed his infamous Saturday night video. Once again, he came through strongly. What he throws together and edits in just a few busy days is quite amazing. After everyone cleared out at 10pm, I met with Sean and Greg who are producing some spin dvd's with me. Greg had been filming all day which was quite bizarre for me. This meeting was very positive and I'm really excited about this business venture. Thes two guys are very, very good at what they do.

So after not much sleep, I awoke, grabbed some coffee with Baker as we tradionally do every morning of camp, and prepared for the 7am long run. It rained during this run, but that didn't matter. It was another stunning course. For those of you that have never seen this part of CT, you are missing out big time. I have put on camps around the country now and this one is probably the most scenic. Plus the roads are great and have no traffic. I started out in the back of the run talking with some of the campers. There was a group of four at the front and I bridged up to them and sat right behind them. After 15 minutes, they all slowed somewhat significantly. I ran the same pace as they started. I was curious to see if they would start out too quick, like most do on their long runs, and sure enough, they did. Most ran the very hilly course in 2 hrs to 2 hrs 20 minutes. We had brunch and then said goodbyes.

It was a great camp! Lots of training, lots of laughs and great people. I know that those attending will benefit significantly from the training they did. They should all realize that they are capable of handling a lot more than they may have thought.

Cheers,

EH

Never a dull moment

Yes, it's been quite awhile since my last post, but I'm back. We just finished the first full day of my CT camp and it's been extremely busy and eventful. Man, what a start to this one. Yesterday morning, I loaded up my car in the garage, and put my race bike and my new road bike on the back rack. The bikes were cleaned and ready for camp. The new road bike is my new favorite and the one I'd be taking to France this summer. I kept thinking about what needed to be done for camp, and wondering if I had forgotten anything. As I back out of my garage, I hear the crunch of metal. I stop quickly and didn't even need to get out of my car to know what just happened. Anita, my kids sitter, had hand surgery the day before and spent the night at our house. She has a car that's low to the ground that I didn't see. Long story short, both my bikes were toasted. The frames and wheels bent and cracked. I was sick to my stomach. I couldn't even speak. I grabbed a frame I had in my basement and made the drive up to the Interlaken, where I had hoped to switch the useable components off of my wrecked bikes onto this frame, and then head out and mark some courses. I was missing some parts that I had to run into Litchfield and then Torrington for, before returning back to Lakeville. This took most of the day. I called up my contact at Cannondale, Matt Cappiello, to see if he might be able to help me out, while I was building up my bikes. The cell phone coverage up here sucks and I was cut off leaving a message for Matt. Matt called me back and said, "Eric, is everything ok? All's that I heard was you were backing up and hit... Are your kids ok?" Boy did that put things into perspective for me!

The campers arrived and we went out for a beautiful run. This was just what I needed. We then had a great dinner, followed by the initial meeting. We have a fun group of 17 - they all seem adventerous and more importantly, they all have good senses of hmour.

Today was huge day - a 90 min swim first thing in the am, then breakfast, then a 2 hrs easy ride to the time trial start where everyone timetrialed the 8 mile course all out to provide me with some good HR info, then we refueled at the sag and road another 3 hrs including a good 5 mile climb. We followed that up with an easy trail run, then Greg pelican from Bethel Bike, who had joined us on the ride and run today and did a great time on the TT course, discussed bike fit and aerodynamics in cycling and demonstrated proper fit with a size-cycle. He did a great job, providing some very useful, informative information.

There were three MVP's today who will fill you in more. They all owe write ups for the site.

Thanks Matt C. for helping me out big time and for also putting things into perspective. Thanks Lou from Cannondale who Matt rallied to get me a demo bike to use for the camp and dropped one off late Wednesday night.

I'm wiped out and going to try and get some sleep.

Cheers,

EH

day two for CT camp planning

Thursday, the second day of our CT camp planning trip, we headed out for a run at 6:30am, again on the trail course that we ran yesterday. I wanted to get out a bit further on the trails and make sure they were as good as I thought they were on Wednesday. After a big ride like we did Wednesday, the brain could be a bit clouded on later tasks. We dragged Big Rock's with us. The trail turned out to be even better than the previous day. We went out a bit further and ended up on an overlook with views that were incredible.

We headed back to the Interlaken for a great breakfast and then Baker and I suited up to ride. The biggest bummer about cold weather riding is that it takes 30 minutes to get dressed! The temperature was still in the high 40's to low 50's and overcast. We were exploring another ride we plan on doing. This ride is really challenging and really scenic and really challenging. When we finished the ride, we were both whooped, but fired up at the same time. The course is really solid. I discussed with Baker how it's actually more challenging than the rides we did in Arizona. In Arizona, the climbs were really long, but at a consistent and moderate grade. You could get into a good rythm on the climbs. We'd usually be riding flat to get to the climb, then ride flat after the climb. Great, great riding, just way different than here. The ride Baker and I did Thursday, there were some serious climbs every 15 to 20 minutes. they didn't last too long, but they were quite steep, some greater than an 18% grade. They were on twisting courses where you'd turn a corner and BAM, run smack into a steep climb. It's hard to get a rythm on these climbs. This gives some serious strength and confidence, plus it is really scenic.

I felt strong on the bike both days which always helps in liking a course that much more.

All in all, it was a very productive two day excursion and the CT camp is going to be great.

Of course, Friday, and this weekend, the weather turns beautiful! Man, after writing aboout the weather from Wednesday, I could certainly handle the weather we had this weekend year round.

Hope everyone has a great week. Life is quite short, as we once again learned this weekend here in CT. Make the most of this week ahead.

Cheers,

EH

CT Camp Planning

Baker and I have done this almost every year since 2000. We head up to Lakeville, CT for two days in April to scout out some new routes for the May Camp, and plan the agenda. The past two years, Big Rocks has joined us, although he's smart - he meets us up here before dinner for some beers and good food.

I met with an early morning PT client in Greenwhich and then headed up to Lakeville. Driving up 684 and then rt. 22, it was raining quite hard, and windy, and 40 degrees. I met Baker in the parking lot around 9:30am, and prepped to ride. I wanted to check out one of the courses we are planning on doing this year. We headed out on our road bikes around 10:30am. The wind was strong, and it was cold, but the rain was holding off for the time being. It felt great to be back up here and out riding regardless of the weather. Around two hours in after some decent climbing, I mentioned to Baker "How cool is this?! Another year and we are still out here riding!"

We had a serious headwind for the next hour, right to the base of a killer climb. Of course, it also started to rain. As I crested the peak of the climb approximately 5 miles later, wet and chilled, I thought again about how great it was to be out riding. I have been hearing lots of complaints lately about the weather. People really are jonesing for some sun and warm days up here in the Northeast. Many have mentioned that they are lacking motivation because of the poor weather. The way I see it, you have two choices; view the weather as a problem and handicap your lifestyle accordingly, or stay optimistic and forge ahead. Considering all the serious things taking place in the world at the moment, bitching about the weather and letting it hamper our moods seems a bit wussified.

I don't want to seem insensistive, or act like I'm some hard-ass. I understand that many deal with sun light deprivation disorder. All that I'm saying is own your choices and make sure they represent you.

Baker and I descended and stopped at a small convienient store 4 hours into the ride where we downed a couple of hot chocolates and then spun the hour home. We cleaned off our filthy bikes and then headed out to check out a new trail run. I don't want to give anything away but this trail run is incredible! I can't believe that we have hosted 8 camps here at this location and we are just finding this run!

After a few Guiness and some good food, we are quite whooped. I think both courses that we scouted out today are two of my favorites thus far in the past seven years. Tomorrow we have another busy day.

Cheers,

EH

Nutrition 411

Things have been busy since returning from Arizona. There are quite a few anxious to get out there next year since we only have two slots left for 2008's Tucson camp.

I thought I'd discuss some basic nutrition in this blog. Let me preface this by saying that I consumed quite a few Reeces Peanutbutter Cups yesterday on Easter.

The past few weeks, I have had more and more questions about different diets that are out and about and how effective they are. Everyone, it seems, is still looking for that magic formula. The easy way where you can eat anything you want and take one pill and drop weight, or the exact combination of protein, carbs and fat, or the all liquid plan that’s guaranteed to shed 38 lbs in four days.

Exercise

Losing fat is hard work. Yes, that’s right, it takes work! And it’s not that complex. It’s a simple math equation of calories in vs. calories out. To increase your calories out component, you need to exercise. If you are trying to lose weight without exercise, you’ll gain whatever few lbs you lose back quickly, bottom line. Exercise is simply movement. So again, don’t go looking for that magic exercise that will give you a six pack in one week. Instead, choose exercises that you like to do and do them daily. Stay consistent. The exercise plan that works the best is the one that you do consistently over time. Also, the more variety in your exercise program, the better. Finally, you need to do some strength training if you want to lose fat and keep it off! Cardiovascular exercise is not enough. Strength training increases your lean muscle tissue (not necessarily in size ladies, but in denseness) which will increase your resting metabolic rate, so that when you aren’t exercising, you’re still burning a good amount of calories. It takes fuel (calories) to maintain lean muscle tissue. Also, exercise doesn’t need to be that formal. You don’t need to be in a fancy gym, or on a fancy bike. My mother is a great example. She has been thin her entire life. She never did any formal exercise until the last 10 years or so, but as a kid, I remember that she was always busy. She loved to do yard work and would spend quite a bit of time in the garden. She wasn’t drenched in sweat like you are after a spin class, but she was active, and spent a bunch of time doing this and it also kept her away from the refrigerator.

Nutrition

This leads to the calories-in part. Live by the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time, eat really well, and 20% of the time, don’t sweat it. The same people constantly ask me the same questions about diet and nutrition. They know where their weakness is here, but they want to change every other part of their daily habits so that they don’t have to address the real problem or weak area. It could be the snack on the drive home from work, or the double portions at dinner. More than likely, it’s the evening calories. It’s tough changing habits though. If you have something after dinner each evening, well then, that’s a bad habit. Cut this back to two or three nights per week. Sure, it’s a bit tough, but quit making excuses, show some will power, and just do it.

In regards to bad carbohydrates and low carbohydrate diets, here’s the skinny on this; Carbohydrates main function in the body is energy. The dietary carbohydrates are broken down in the body into glucose and stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver. We use this glycogen for fuel – energy. However, we can only store so much glycogen in our bodies. Extra carbohydrates ingested through your diet that cannot be stored as glycogen or utilized right away for energy are converted into fat and stored as body fat. Are carbohydrates bad? Hell no. Do we overdo them? Hell yes. The problem is that most carbohydrate sources, especially high glycemic (fast burning) sources are quite dense in calories. Bread, pasta, sugar – these things pack a lot of calories and it’s easy to overdo these. You can easily sit at a restaurant and down 600 calories in a few pieces of bread before your dinner is even served. However, if you are extremely active, like an endurance athlete, you need more carbohydrates in your daily nutrition consumption than most. An endurance athlete on a low carbohydrate diet is setting themselves up for weak workouts and performances. Keep in mind that the more calories that you burn throughout the day, the more you need to replenish those depleted carbohydrate stores. On your easier days or days off from exercise, back off on your carb intake.

Here’s my idea of a very healthy eating day:

Breakfast #1: an 8oz yogurt and a piece of fruit,
or two eggs and some rye toast

Breakfast #2 (usually about two to three hours after breakfast 1) a small bowl of oatmeal or an apple with almond butter

Lunch: a turkey or roast beef sandwich on rye or whole grain bread w/ lettuce, tomatoe, sprouts, spicy mustard and a slice of low fat swiss cheese.
An apple or a handful of small carrots

About two hours before evening training session: some no fat cottage cheese

Dinner: a large salad, grilled vegetables like green beans, broccoli, asparagus, … a lean piece of meat like a filet, or a piece of fish like Tuna or Salmon, and a glass of wine. If I trained hard that day, I might add some rice, or have some pasta, and maybe a small bowl of low fat ice cream afterwards.

Use the scale, your clothes and your energy level to determine how to adjust your calories- in equation. If you have been trying to shed some bodyfat and it’s not happening, chances are you are not being as diligent as you could in one of the above mentioned areas.

So, to sum up, there is no secret, magic, quick fix. It takes hard work and will power. But if you stay with it, the results will speak for themselves.

Cheers,

EH

Go out with a bang

Thursday

Thursday was more of a recovery day for everyone. We did a good swim session, an easy bike ride that turned into a lot of stop and go due to eight flat tires!, and an easy 40 min run. Brian and Jill were kind enough to invite us all over their house for dinner. Jill cooked an amazing lasagna. Amy, Jerry’s wife baked a bunch of delicious chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Peter and Jeff got the MVP awards. Peter has been doing really well at camp and swam great this morning. On the ride, a storm was coming in and a few of us hammered back to the hotel to try to avoid getting wet and Peter road well. Jeff did a 1 hr 10 min run first thing this morning, followed by another hr in the afternoon. He is prepping for the Boston marathon and has put in 7+ hrs of running since Monday, along with the bike sessions. And we have a 90 min run planned for tomorrow morning!

Friday

We headed over to Sabino (sp?) canyon at 6:30am to run. There was a lot of rain last night for Tucson, and it was still cloudy this morning. We headed down a dirt road, which led to a paved road. There was a river across the paved road from the rain. When it rains in Tucson, the ground doesn’t absorb the water which leads to easy flooding. As everyone searched for a dry route across this river, I ran through it. No one hesitated in following. We have a very solid group of people here, all with adventurous spirits. We entered a single track trail that took us up and up and up. We ran up hill for the next 15 minute on a cool trail with sweeping switchbacks and amazing views. I thought of Big Rock’s, who has a fear of heights when traversing, as we ran along a small trail with steep drop offs on one edge. By now, the clouds had passed and the sun was shining. The run down the other side was just as amazing, with its switchbacks and views. We turned around at a dried up river bed and headed back up over the climb. At the top, Gus and I stopped to take in views of mountain ranges, and valleys, and even the city of Tucson. When we hit the bottom on the other side, we continued on a rolling trail through a canyon that had some water flowing through. The views were, again, spectacular. We finished up by crossing the river again and ended back at the park entrance in 1 hr 40 min. This was one of the visually best runs I have ever done.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped off to refuel. You need to eat quite a bit during these camps to replenish depleted energy stores and to have energy for the next session. We had Jamba Juices and Brueggers. Gus was asking about what route we would be riding this afternoon, and he suggested going back to Kitt’s Peak and riding to the top of the climb where the observatory is. We only made it just past the 7 mile mark on Monday due to time constraints and lack of fuel and hydration on that 90 degree day. This was a great idea, and we decided to drive closer so that we could all make the summit.

We parked at a little convenient store in the middle of no where called “Coyote’s”. This would be our starting and finishing location for this ride. Coyote’s actually had fire balls, which I stocked up on to hand out during the ride when the athletes need a pick me up. We did an easy warm-up to the base of the climb. The warm-up was up a constant grade! Kitt’s Peak is a 12 mile climb up an average 8% grade. I rode steady up the first 5 miles then turned around and rode back downhill to spend some time riding with each athlete. I rode with Spinner who was taking it a bit easier today, then went up to ride with Mike. We talked about cycling form and his pedal stroke and I mentioned to him to stay relaxed with his upper body. One thing that many noticed during this trip was that their upper bodies would be sore the day after a long ride. This was because they were pulling aggressively on their bars when climbing, rocking their upper bodies back and forth. I went onward to catch Bruce who was taking a quick break to put on some booties (it was getting cold as we rose in elevation). We took in the views, and then I went on to reel in Peter. He was working it. Peter is a strong rider. His first triathlon was in 1984! Next up was Jeff. Jeff also is becoming quite a strong cyclist. We chatted for a bit and he said that Gus was the only one up ahead and I had to try to bridge up to him. So I forged ahead, hunting down Gus. Man, is he riding strong – especially for March and coming off of just base training. I was working hard and finally got him in site around the 9 mile mark. It started to hail a bit on the mountain, but this passed through quickly. The views were, once again, incredible. I caught Gus at the 10 mile mark and rode his wheel to recover. He was in the zone, listening to his ipod and climbing strong. I pulled alongside at the 11 mile mark and he didn’t even know that I was behind him, riding his wheel for a mile. We finished strong at the peak where the observatory is. This climb had better scenery than Mt. Lemmon. We took a few photo’s and waited for everyone else to summit, then put on whatever extra clothing we brought up and started to descend. It was so cold on the descent that my bike was jumping all over the place because I was shaking. I couldn’t feel my hands or feet and braking was hard. I went by Bruce who was pulled over on the side of the road with his hands down his shorts. He said he was trying to warm them up, but I don’t know if I’m buying it. Most pulled over at some point or another just to warm-up. We rolled back to the Coyote under some awesome skies of storm clouds and sun breaking through. The rain held off on us, and once again, we had another stellar ride!

We hustled back to the hotel to pack up before dinner. On the drive back, I reminded everyone of what they did this week. Then we headed out for our last meal here, followed up by blizzards from DQ. Bill and Gus received MVP’s. Bill went out and rode Lemmon all by himself today, which I suggested that he do since he missed it on Wednesday due to feeling ill. Gus deserved it as well – he had a great showing at camp.

The first day of camp, I mentioned to everyone that I wanted them to challenge themselves throughout the week. To not go and blow it all out on the first day, but to see what they could do to raise the bar a bit by the end of the week. They all did great.

Bruce is ready for a breakthrough race at IMA in three weeks. He is physically ready to set a huge pr, if he believes it mentally. Sarah will be racing there also and this will be her first IM. She impressed the hell out of me and everyone there at camp. She was the youngest, and the only female and she more than held her own on some pretty grueling workouts. She is a swimming stud, but she can bike and run as well. She’ll have no problem in three weeks if she rests now and paces herself right on race day. Her attitude and energy at camp was infectious and I appreciate that.

One of the main things I took away personally from another camp is that most athletes that attend these are insecure about their ability. They are much stronger than they give themselves credit for.

We were delayed on my flight home as I finish this up. I’m sitting next to Jewel (the singer) at the moment on my flight from Dallas to Laguardia.

Thanks everyone, for making the first Tucson camp a very successful one. Thanks Brian and Jill for your hospitality, energy, knowledge and assistance. I’ll be back next year. I found my winter camp location.

Cheers,

EH

Mt. Lemmon

I’m polishing off a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food as I type this. As a matter of fact, I had a huge piece of apple pie today as well, but more on that later. One of the benefits of training days like we had today is that I still think after all the calories I took in today, I’m still in caloric debt.

We decided to do the famous Mt. Lemmon ride today. We left the hotel at 8 am and spun an hour and 15 minutes through the city to get to the base of the climb. This climb is 27 miles! It’s not climb 5 miles, then descend a bit, then 2 more miles of climbing, then some descending... No, it’s 27 miles of climbing, with the exception of some downhill from the 22 to 25 mile point. In Connecticut, we have lots of climbing, but nothing that goes for more than 15 minutes. We were climbing for over two hours! My plan was for Brian and I to ride up a bit and let everyone do the first nine miles solo, finding their own rhythm, so that we didn’t dictate their pace. Then, we’d ride back a bit and spend some time riding with each person. Brian turned at the 5 mile mark to take a quick pee break and ride with a few of the campers. I continued onward. The wind started really blowing on the mountain and the weather was changing. At nine miles, it was getting chilly, and all that I had on was a pair of bib shorts and a sleeveless jersey. I turned and road back a bit and saw Jerry and Gus coming up. I continued on with them. We were all getting a bit chilled and I turned at the twelve mile mark to see that I was alone. The sag wagon was back at the nine mile mark, and I didn’t want to turn back to ride downhill and chill more, so I soldiered onward. The ride was gorgeous. One road that swept through the mountain side with spectacular scenery. I maintained a steady effort and the wind kept picking up and the temperature kept dropping. I road into town at the 25 mile mark and headed up the ski road to the 27 mile high point at 9000 feet altitude. I was freezing at this point.

I descended back to town from the ski area, and we all met at this small little restaurant that supposedly has amazing pie. We all had some pie and lot’s of coffee (and the pie was quite amazing) and then put on every bit of clothing we could muster from the sag vehicle. Most put their bikes on the sag vehicle and caught a ride down to the 12 mile mark and descended from there. I had to ride down this mountain! The climb up was incredible but the ride down was absolutely awesome! The scenery was even better heading down. I had my ipod on and felt relaxed and warm again from both the three mile climb out of town at the top of the mountain and because we we’re descending. Because of this, I was gliding through the turns, reading the lines very easily. It was such a cool experience. In fact, this was one of the coolest rides I’ve ever been on! Where else do you get an opportunity to climb 27 miles and then descend it?

After regrouping at the bottom, we road back to the hotel easily. Another six hour day in the saddle. We followed this up with a one hour brick run.

Everyone did really, really well today. Jerry from Arizona had ridden 35 miles further than he ever had before on Monday. Then he came back two days later and did it again! He and Bruce had minor accidents today on the mountain but they are both fine. Bruce is racing IM Arizona in three weeks and is in unbelievable shape. He was cruising on the brick run today, as was Jeff. Sarah, Peter, Mike and Jim all had huge days as well today, and they smiled while doing it! Gus – he is setting himself up well for a breakthrough year. Brian and Jill have unbelievable training grounds here.

More and more food is being consumed at dinner each night. We went to another great Mexican place tonight and everyone, even Bruce, was chowing down!

OK, that’s all for now. Today was one of those training days though that’ll go in the memory books.

Cheers,

EH

Day 3 in the books

Started the day with a 2 hr run in a beautiful national park here. It was in the foothills of a mountain range. There was an 8 mile newly paved road loop within the park. There wasn't one car on the road!

We started out on the road and Jeff and I detoured off onto a dirt road, which led to some single track trail. We stopped in the trail to check out a huge rattle snake, that was hanging out in a bush about 5 feet away from us. Bruce came up on us and the three of us continued on our adventure on the single track. Once again, not a cloud in the sky.

The park was gorgeous in a bizarre way. It's desert so there's cacti everywhere and no shade whatsoever. The path was hard packed dirt and was just great, great trail running. It was quite hilly as well and also hot in there.

I had Jeff and Bruce stop on a few occasions to take in the incredible views. We had some good conversations and solved the worlds problems as we ran.

On the way back from the run, we all stopped to get smoothies, then showered quickly and headed off to Trisports, or the newly named "candy shop" for some shopping. They had a two lane endless pool in the shop that the campers used to try out wetsuits. With the underwater camera set up, we were able to see their stroke up close on the flat screen. Pretty cool! Bruce, Jeff and Sarah made some new wetsuit purchases from their tryings.

We stayed at trisports for quite a bit and everyone was famished so we stopped off for some sandwhiches on the way back. It was getting late so we opted to skip the easy recovery ride and instead did assisted stretching, core work and had a nutrition discussion. There have been lots of nutrition questions on this trip, to say the least. seems like this the area where triathletes are most confused.

I went off on a bit of a rant discussing motivation as well and how most are more talented then their race times depict but their heads get in their way.

Everyone is bonding well and having fun. They are a bit tired so the afternoon off did some good. Besides, tomorrow we have a 6+ hour ride planned with a 27 mile climb up Mt Lemmon followed by a 1 hr brick! Should be fun.

Cheers,

EH

Kitt's Peak

Wow! Big day today. We started with a swim again and got in a nice session, ending with some relays. The losing team of the last relay had to do a 2 minute plank.

Next came breakfast, then we got dressed to ride. We waited a bit for Jeff to get here. What a trooper he is – he took the 6am flight out of Hartford, was here in Tucson by 10am, and on his bike a bit after 11am in the 90 degree heat! We joked that he wore his eh uniform under his clothing on the plane like superman.

The ride: First, todays ride once again proved my cumulative base combined with quality winter computrainer sessions pays off. My longest ride this winter were two 90 minute sessions I did on the computrainer. Most of my ct rides were 1 hr in duration. Today, we rode over 6 hours including a ton of climbing, and I felt very solid.

Brian planned one excellent ride. We headed out of Tucson on one road towards . This road is a gradual uphill and was into a serious headwind for 40 miles. After 20 miles, I had everyone ride a pace line, taking one minute pulls at the front so they could experience the wind. The pace line was going great for about 15 miles and then the headwind and climbing caught up with some and the line was blown apart. Peter and Jim turned around 90 minutes into the ride, opting for an easier day today while still acclimating to the heat. We regrouped at the base of Kitt's Peak. I sent Jeff back, since he was in for a solid 4 hour and 30 minute ride and I didn’t want him too fried on day one. The rest of us started up the 12 mile climb of Kitt's Peak with an 8% average grade. The climb was beautiful, with switchbacks overlooking valleys. I stopped at the 5 mile mark and waited for everyone to regroup. I wanted to send the majority back at this point. We were already 3+ hours into the ride, it was really hot, and it was getting late. I didn’t want everyone spent by day two. I had Gus and Jerry wait with me to continue up for a bit more. Jerry turned at mile six, and headed back down the fun descent. Gus and I went past 7 miles when we both ran out of fluids. Realizing that if we soldiered on, it would be a suicide mission, so we turned and blasted downwards. We caught up with Jerry and turned back on the 40 mile road back to Tucson. Jerry let out a yell of excitement. We finally had a nice tailwind. In fact, we covered the next 26 miles in 1 hr. The three of us stopped at the one lonely convenience shop and scoffed down snickers ice cream bars and a bottle of coke.

A lot of salt tablets have been downed thus far by the campers. In fact, at the pool this morning, they were all holding out their hands like junkies!

It was a great training day, followed up with a nice Mexican dinner and I’m tired so I’m crashing now. We have a 90 minute to 2 hr run planned first thing in the morning and I need some sleep!

Cheers,

EH

first day of Tucson camp

hate to rub it in to everyone back it east, but it was 90 degrees here today and not a cloud in the sky!

We started the day with a swim at the outdoor pool at 7am. We put the campers through a nice 90 minute session while simultaneously working with each person on their form/stroke.

We then had a big breakfast before getting ready to ride. It felt so good to ride outside - and without taking 45 minutes to get dressed and worrying about skin being exposed to severe wind chill. We did a 3.5 hr ride through a park out here that was really cool. We did some decent climbing including an out and back jaunt up a set of switch backs that included pitches at 17%. The group, although advised to take today easy, started out a bit aggresive. I think the anxiousness of riding and in such great weather left most a bit jumpy initially. However, as the heat and distance increased, the pace decreased. Many salt caked athletes by the end of the ride.

I took my new Cannondale System Six out for it's maiden voyage today, and I can honestly say that it's the best road bike I've ever ridden. The system integration is the real deal. The bike performs as a whole unit, instead of a frame with components. Sounds like bunk, but anyone that's ridden one will understand what I'm talking about.

We headed out for an interesting 45 minute brick run. We headed south on a trail along a dried up river bed. On the return trip, we ran in the river bed which was thick sand - a great strength builder which everyone seemed to enjoy:) I was a bit up ahead and could hear this crackling sound. I turned to see a huge fire in teh brush behind me. Brian and Jerry ran up the side of the river bank to call the fire department. The dryness of this climate combined with the windy day had this thing spreading incredibly fast. We finished the run and took a dip in the pool to cool off. Then we headed off for pizza and a few Guiness.

All in all, a great day! We have a really nice and fun cast of characters attending this camp. Everyone is sticking to one of the main rules which is to have a sense of humor. Sarah, the lone woman, won the mvp today. she'll be reporting something on my site within the next day. She was a collegiate swimmer and cruised through the swim session. She was nervous about the ride and more than held her own - and this was after making huge adjustments to her bike position yesterday afternoon!

OK, I'm going to bed now, but I'll send some pipctures to Alan tomorrow to post.

Cheers,

EH