Epic Italy - Day 8

Day 8

Run – 4.5km uphill race

Swim 3km incl 10x200 on 2:35 (wetsuit/long course)

Bike 170km

The committee felt we were a little shy on run points this camp so we opened up with an uphill running race. I was feeling pretty good and took a good 2^nd to Gordo. It was great to see everyone put in a big push on day 8 with plenty of heaving going on at the finish line. Performance of the day goes to Russell Cox whose watch was on UK time and he was looking out his bedroom window as we started. He bolted out of the hotel and made a big move through the field. Russell has been sick all week but has fought valiantly to keep hitting the programme.

I found out after the run that Jo and Mike P had run 1hr before the race, the madness continues on.

Off to the pool and the majority wore wetsuits this time around. I told Molina and Gordo I was going to try 10x200 on 2:35 for a bonus point. I had no idea if I could make this interval in such a fatigued state. Gordo said he would sit on my feet and see how he would go (he popped on the 2^nd rep). As it turned out I had a storming swim and was coming in on 2:22-2:25 each rep. This was the fastest I had swum on the camp and fastest I’ve swim in quite a while – all on day 8. I was stoked with this effort. The final ride turned out to be a bit of debacle for me. I was really looking forward to cracking a very high pace in the 2^nd half of the ride but due to some athletes dropping off I had to stop to check everything was OK. So plenty of personal time today.

Much of the ride was on bike paths that were in immaculate condition. Around the towns there was a bit of bike traffic but on the whole it was pretty good.

We had a great bunch of athletes on this camp. Plenty of repeat campers so everyone knew what they were getting in for. The ‘camp completion’, doing all the minimum sessions was the highest I can remember.

So that’s another epic under my belt. I’ve achieved exactly what I set out to do which was to boost my fitness, particularly on the bike, and not come out of the camp smoked. Today is the day after and I feel pretty bloody good.

Special thanks to

• Ian & Julie from Pyrenees Multisport www.pyreneesmultisport.com – if any of you want to find out what ‘The Tour” rides go through and so some spectacular climbing give them a shout
• John Ellis from Muscles Inc in Christchurch for his massage and support
• And a man behind the scenes who helped me with bookings; Paolo Tommasini – we never met but your assistance was tremendous.

Now it’s time for me to reunite with my wife and 1 year old son in Paris. After 4 weeks away I can’t wait to see them both.

The next Epic instalment will be in New Zealand in January.

Epic Italy - Day 7

Day 7

Run 50mins

Swim 3km

Bike 115km incl Stevlio Pass (2772m)

The pools over here are just brilliant but getting into them early morning is not possible. So we ran first with a city highlights tour then made our way to the pool. Scott said he did not want to be in the pool longer than 45mins so I said lets go with 30x100 on 1:30. The morning was a little cool and the water wasn’t quite warm enough so the sooner we got out the better.

Everyone had been looking forward too anxiously to the Stelvio climb (the highest pass in the alps). I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but had read that we were coming up the harder, steeper, bumpier side. It took 3.5hrs just to get to the base with some decent elevation gains and some long pulls into the head wind. Everyone seemed to be eating a crap load of food today, Michael Peters was helping Douglas out with some gels and he reminded him of this for the rest of the camp.

As we started the climb the grade was nothing too scary and myself, Gordo and Steve were straight off the front. Knowing it was 25km to the top I was taking a conservative approach to this climb and the three of us split after a few km’s. I then decided I wanted to enjoy this climb and settled into a rhythm I could reasonably comfortably hold. There definitely were a few steep pitches but nothing too excessive. As we came out of the tree’s the beauty of the climb became clear. The final 7-8km was like it was up a rock face. From the bottom of the climb the 48 switchbacks began counting down - the majority of them came late in the climb. There were motorbikes and sports cars for Africa. The noise some off the motor bikes made was deafening and did ruin the solitude of the moment somewhat.

As we approach ‘the wall’ I could see Steve ahead of me and as the swtchbacks began I could see Molina behind. I decided to just hold my pace and if Molina came to close I would drop the hammer and see what was left in the legs, I knew I’d only catch Steve if he cracked. Even though I was going at a pretty sensible pace the final few km’s were bloody hard. The temperature had dropped down to 2-3c, my arms and back were getting sore and every time I got out of the seat the jelly legs were kicking in. To add to that there isn’t much air at 2700m and everyone had a good hacking cough (ala Russell) going at the summit. When I rounded the final hairpin I was a happy man.

We had planned to go up the Gavia Pass today also but sanity prevailed as we wouldn’t have been done until about 8pm

Another great day with plenty of memories.

Epic Italy - Day 6

Day 6

Swim 3km

Run 10km race + guess your time

Bike 100km incl Passo di Erbe (2004m)

In an Epic first (since I’ve been involved) we were forced to pack the bikes into the van this morning and cut the first 55km off the ride. It was just pissing down with rain and with the majority of the trip to the pool downhill we would have been icicles on arrival. We do what some people consider stupid things on epic but riding in that rain would have been nothing but misery.

Ironically once we did get on the bikes after a swim and 10km run race (guess your time) it was the first day on the camp where I have gone the entire route with no rain. The passo di erbe was a douzey. As I warned the guys it was very steep to start with plenty of other nasty pitches through the climb. I had put the pedal down a little in the valley and dropped everyone except Gordo, Steve wasn’t too far behind but I was finally starting to get my cycling legs back (as planned). Each day I seem to be getting a little stronger on the bike, my climbing still isn’t great by any stretch of the imagination but my flat riding is heading in the right direction.

The summit of the Passo di Erbe was just wicked; like so many of the other passes we’ve done. Great views on snow covered peaks The decent was long and narrow and I sure am glad the cows wear bells around the necks up here. I came screaming around a corner and heard some bells coming up, around the next corner was 3 cows and a Shepard in the middle of the road, without the bells I’m sure I would have gone ploughing straight into them and come off second best.

Gordo and I lapped out the final 30-40km at very high speeds which felt great. Tonight we’re in a reasonable hotel on the outskirts of Bolzano with great views over vineyards and up the valley to the mountains.

Epic Italy - Day 5

Day 5

Run 50mins

Swim 3km

Bike 60km (incl Passo Tre Coci 1989m)

This morning I had to abort my attempted long run first thing as we’re still at Cortina and I just can’t run up here. I’m getting no training benefit from jogging so called it a day with my running.

Today was regroup day so we just had to do the minimums. I went out with Russell and told him we’d just do a 45km loop then tack on an extra 15km. After climbing the Passo Tre Coci Russell said “you didn’t tell me we had a 10km climb in the loop”, he didn’t ask so I didn’t tell. Russell has had a hacking cough since day 1 of the camp so he’s done tremendously well to push through the camp. As we came down the descent the clouds opened again and we got a full on downpour. We struggled back to the hotel and the points system we have showed it’s worth as we did a quick change of gear then headed out again for the final 15km. If that had been anywhere else any other day I would have been straight in the shower.

Epic Italy day 4

Day 4 – Cortina D’ampezzo

Bike 110km

Swim 3km

Run 50mins

After yesterdays brutal ride we didn’t include any major passes today. We biked from Cortina to Brunico (55km) as the pool in Cortina is shut for renovations. I was a little agitated this morning for a few reasons so after setting an easy pace up the climb out of town I settled into a good steady rhythm and pulled the group the entire way to the pool. I think some of the guys appreciated the pull, others were expecting a cruise, either way we got to the pool on time.

For the swim I just did 10x200 on 3:05 with Gordo and Scott. We finished the swim with the traditional 400IM which everyone completed. I put in a poor effort and only managed 4^th. Again we were in a fantastic 50m outdoor pool, they really do have some great pools over here.

I ended up going solo for the bike home as I dropped my glasses and fell behind, then took a different route. Scott, Mike P, Jo and Steven tacked on an incredibly tough climb just at the thunder clouds rolled in. The Tre Cime has pitches of up to 20% and is often used in the Giro http://cyclingnews.com/road/2007/giro07/?id=stages/giro0715 . They all looked shelled when they rolled into the hotel drenched, cold but satisfied with a big day. The hotel we’re at in Cortina has been by far the best so far (Hotel Des Alpes http://www.desalpescortina.it/ ). It’s a bike friendly place and the manager is very helpful.

Running at altitude is not agreeing with me. Cortina is at about 1300m (which isn’t super high) but I really really suffer, so much so that I often have to stop for a quick walk and my running is not much faster than power walking. It seems I’m not the only one suffering so it might be a combination of the excessive biking were doing, accumulated fatigue and the altitude.

Epic Italy Day 3

Day 3

Run 10km

Swim 3km (incl continuous IM set 12x100IM/150 free (no rest for 3km)

Bike 160-165 (incl Passo di Feddia 2042m and Giau 2233m)

If we look at epic camp Italy as a meal, day 1 was the aperitif, day 2 was the prima and day 3 was the secondi (main). We all ran to the pool this morning for our swim and Scott and I did the IM set for a bonus point. We were 50m apart (long course) so when I was doing my breastroke Scott was coming down the other way doing fly. It wasn’t looking pretty but I knew my fly was about 10 times worse!

I had driven today’s bike route (Trento to Cortina) last week so I knew what we were in for and it’s fair to say I had quite a bit of anxiety about the passes we were going over. They seemed awful tough in 2^nd gear in the Fiat Punto so I wasn’t sure how we would get over with pedal power. Straight out of the hotel we were climbing, I set an easy tempo to try and hold things together before Steven and Gordo went off the front. The rest of us more or less stayed together which was good for everyone’s piece of mind. We were traversing along the ride of a mountain and the views to the left were just spectacular. Mile upon mile of terraced fields with little villages dispersed along the way - this was a great start to the day and the weather was cooperating also. The second part of today’s ride was up a valley through ski towns and again was pretty cool, however at the end of the valley we could all see the road finished and there was no tunnel to go through. As we came through the town of Canazei we knew it was going to go up fast over the Passo di Feddai (Marmolada), most of us stopped for coke at the bottom and I stayed a little longer to give my hammies a stretch as my back was really starting to tighten up. As it turned out the climb was not as bad as it seemed in the car, I’m not sure of gradients but there wasn’t much over 10%. I settled into a comfortable pace and wasn’t too concerned about what place I was at the top. I remembered from last week the views from this climb - they are out of this world - I’ll post some pics tonight on the epic camp site so you can see what I mean. Thankfully at the top the weather was warm enough to have lunch with a vista that made coming to Italy worth it just for that moment alone. It’s fair to say we came up the easy side of the Feddia; the decent was incredibly steep and the rain had returned. I was a little (maybe a lot) worried at times even going in a straight line. We could have gone over 100km/hr on some of the straights if it had not been for the rain and the fear. Scott and I were dukeing it out on the front not thinking about our families we could be leaving behind if we went over the edge. Gordo too was hanging on as he didn’t want to start the next climb with a deficit (he normally descends like a grandma).

Onto the next climb, it started out not too bad but it didn’t actually seem like we were on the pass. When we actually made the turn onto the pass road my god did you know about it. I was straight into the 39/27 and was grovelling just to keep the pedals turning over, I’m picking it was over 15%. All the way up there was no respite with an average grade of probably around 10% for about 10km. I was taking it as easy as I could but really only had one speed and it wasn’t fast. For the first 2/3 of the climb my energy levels were OK but there was just nothing in the legs, however the last few km’s were very painful and I wasn’t a pretty sight slumped over my handlebars. My HR was only sitting in the low to mid 130’s most of the climbs so it’s fair to say it’s starting to get a little suppressed which is normal. At the top although I was slouched over my handlebars the views did make me feel so much better and knowing we were staying at the bottom of the climb in Cortina also gave me hope.

So a tough day at the office and I didn’t feel great but the ride was without doubt one of the most memorable of my life…living the dream….

Epic Italy Day 2

Day 2 – Trento

Swim 3km

Bike 160km (with two passes)

Run 50mins

After yesterdays gentle introduction to the camp today’s profile on the bike was a little taster of what is to come when we hit the mountains. When I set today’s route I thought it was going to be a reasonable climb early on then some rolling terrain and some flat. I didn’t quite get it right. The thing with Trento is it’s in a valley; north and south are flat but anywhere else and you are going straight up. After a few accidental tourist detours through town we were into it. I set a gentle tempo up the climb to start with then Gordo shot off. The second group comprised Steven, Scott, Jo (our only female camper) and myself. After a little while Jo came around me and started to crack the whip. Whilst I wasn’t quite on the rivet we were chugging along faster than planned and nobody seemed willing to take the lead off Jo. I was latter told she was sitting on 175HR and was worried about getting dropped on the flat’s and descents. Jo is a petite wee thing and struggled a little with the power bursts on the flat on day 1, day 2&3 she really showed the boys what she was made of consistently being one of the first over the climbs. About 2/3 of the way up the climb Scott upped the ante and it was game on as the climb steepened, Jo dropped off first then Steven and as we made the crest at the top of the Passo Vezzena (1402m) I was 2^nd(behind Gordo) Steven 3^rd and Scott 4^th (it was a bit of a hoax 2^nd for me as Scott had stopped to put his jacket on as the rain began and it was heavy). Down the other side of the mountain and the rain was just chucking down but it wasn’t too cold thankfully.

Everyone seemed to get lost somewhere today but we all made it to a welcome lunch break in the sun. From there we went up a valley for some time before a tough climb back over the pass, I took this real easy mindful of what lay ahead on day 3. The final 20km of today was downhill and it had dried out which was fantastic. This was the highlight of my day, high speed, great road surface and cool views.

So after two days I’m in one piece and doing what I had planned to do with my training. Everyone seems to be holding up OK with the exception of Michael Peters who has a recurring groin injury (see team blog).

We had a monstrous meal tonight, god knows how any normal person could have a prima and secondi at the restaurant we ate at. When we got back to the hotel I certainly had that “I’ve eaten too much” feeling. Oh well I'll likely burn it off tomorrow