EC:NZ'06 :: Epilogue :: Thank you!

I enjoy the Epic camps immensely, but they don't come without some inconvenience to others. I appreciate the patience and understanding that the athletes I work closely with have shown me over the last 12 days. A return to normalcy and more frequent contact is at hand shortly. I hope that my experiences here can be of some value to you as well as the time spent with such fine coaches as Gordo, Scott and John. As well, my family is extremely patient and supportive. Lastly , I want to take the opportunity to thank Gordo, Scott and John for having me along for another great camp. Epic Camps top my annual training plans.

Coach KP // Big Daddy // Kevin

EC:NZ'06 :: Day 12 :: The Final Day

After riding back to Christchurch yesterday everybody was able to relax a bit mentally and physically. We still had an enjoyable menu of events to do before the camp ended with dinner and awards but they were fun events – although lots of points available.

Day twelve events

1) 1k beach run – 1st Clas, 2nd Stephen, 3rd Brandon
2) Speed Golf – 1st Scott, 2nd Mark, 3rd KP
3) 1km bike sprint – 1st Clas, 2nd Eric, 3rd KP
4) 400IM – 1st Molina, 2nd Albert, 3rd Monica
5) 200 kick – 1st Monica, 2nd Clas, 3rd Alan
6) 50 free – 1st Scott, 2nd Mark, 3rd Gordo

Final Epic Camp New Zealand 2006 final Points Standings:

1) Clas – 226
2) Mike – 212
3) Stephen – 196
4) Brandon – 192
5) Molina – 168
6) Albert – 164
7) Matt – 158
8) Gordo – 148
9) Wim – 147
10) KP – 146
11) Ciarin – 145
12) Monica --144
13) Bella – 144
14) Randy – 139
15) Jeff S – 137
16) Jason Rivas -- 131
17) Mark 129
18) Jason Rita – 113
19) Eric – 110
20) Jeff M – 106
21) Jonas – 104
22) Scott D – 104
23) Kevin K – 104
24) Mitch – 102
25) Alan – 88
26) Dan – 85

Into the evening we went downtown to a nice steak house for dinner. They had us reserved in an upstairs room with plenty of space. We had great appetizers, drinks, steak or chicken, deserts, cheeses, crackers – the works. A very nice meal!

After dinner, camp photographer, Kerry, arranged a slide show of the hundreds of pictures she had taken over the preceding eleven days. Incredible scenery! This is the 6th Epic Camp I have done and the third in New Zealand (south, north, south). This country is breathtakingly beautiful. Probably the prettiest place on earth – and that is not hyperbole.

The 2006 January camp had the largest number of athletes to date and it was the most organized. The crew kicked butt – everyday. The training workload was comparable to the others although the climbs were the steepest yet. Colorado had more climbing and altitude but not near as steep. Total riding for eleven days was over 1500km. But that doesn’t tell the whole story as these roads are rough, the winds can be like Kona, the rain was a bit difficult, the general terrain is consistent “rolling” (steep hills), mixed with long mountainous climbs through passes. Of course there wwere the daily swims and runs as well.

I’ve said it before – I wish everyone could do an Epic Camp once. It is impossible to impart to the reader the true magnitude of the camps. I mean that in more ways than volume.

It’s time to break down the bike and get back to SoCal. Back to my family that I miss so much, my office, my patients, the local rides, masters and runs. It will be fun to follow the twenty something guys and gals as they race this year. Quite a few will be at Ralph’s (Cali 70.3) in March and some more at IM Brazil in May.

See Yaaa,

Kevin (KP)

EC:NZ'06 :: Day 11 :: Keep Rollin'....

Nothing special happening on day eleven besides some scratches when I tipped over after hitting gravel at 7mph while climbing. It was another long day that followed Day 1 through Day 10. Not much rest time as I was up early and running in 40 degree F weather by 6:00am for 50min. Then we rolled out on the bike from Arthur's Pass back to Christchurch, about 150k and a bit over 5hrs for me. The were plenty of steep rollers in the first half of the ride, and by the time we reached the steepest climb over the pass I had hit the wall. Off the back, popped, sunk like a three foot putt! My period of alone time lasted until the descents and the long flat 70k back to CHCH. At that point I perked up a bit and stayed with Ciaran and Mike Coughlin back to the ranch. However, it was a struggle for much of the ride. Directly off the bike we went ot the QE2 to swim 3000 meters. Another day and another nearly 7hrs of training.

Tonight we had a big dinner and some schwag was handed out. Gear with Epic Camp and Oomph! printer on them. Nice stuff. I also received an early Core Team bike kit from the Oomph! Scott sent us the 2006 line that has not hit the stores yet. Cycling jersey, matching arm warmers and a skull cap. Thank you, Scott, the kit looks SHARP!

Our 12th and last day tomorrow will have some fun events and a couple events that send everyone to the land of anaerobia! For example -- 400m IM -- that's right -- 400 meters IM in a 50m pool. This will be hilarious. Lots more as well .....

See Yaaa ....

EC:NZ'06 :: Day 10 :: Give Yourself A Chance

Day ten of Epic Camp is notoriously tough. Each EC has been that way. It's not suprising given that nine days of mega training precede day ten. But it's more than that. I think the Head Honchos, the Epic Chiefs, plan it so that day ten is a monster. It's a test day. Mentally as much as physically. Let me tell you, I had more than a few moments where I was stretched mentally today -- as well as physically.

We started the morning early under a steady rain. Not particularly cold at first but I went from my bed to the edge of Lake Brenner for an aquathon in 15mins time. Boom -- it's time to race. The lake swim was about 1600 meters and a hilly, beautiful trail run of about 8k followed. I went hard. I saw Monica digging deep at the turn around and picked it up. She inspires me. We ran the trails through deep standing water, up and down. The carzyness of the race made me smile. Before the swim started I said "the more insane the training the funnier it will be to us later". This day will bring me some laughs down the road. I finished behind some and in front of others.

A quick breakfast and it was time to pack and prepare for the big challenge: Arthur's Pass. The weather was ugly -- so ugly there was question about whether we would be able to go over the top of the pass. It was at least two hours in steady rain to the base of the climb. The temperatures had dropped and I was getting cold. Everyone who was going up had started up and I had to make a decision -- get in the van -- or get going. I got going. Like so many things in life, the decision is often more frightening than the task at hand. I can tell you this -- I knew that I was physically unable to ride over the pass. It was _that_ steep. So, starting at all was scary. I knew it was a long climb and that at some point I would be off the bike and on foot. Move out!

Half way up the pass I asked myself what the hell I was doing there.
Answer: "Everyody has got to be someplace" :-)

I've done things equally tough at epic camp: Desert Road, The Chalet climb, and a few other excursions, but I've never had the angst about any of them that I did about this climb. The point is this: the pain in my mind was worse than the pain that came to my body -- and the pain in my mind if I had not gone over the top via human power would be worse than either of them. That's the best I can explain it.

What condition was I in when I reached our accomodation? I was wrecked, but smiling.
Eyes swollen, drool on my chin, nausea running through my body but as happy as I have ever been as a result of a training ride. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't _that_ tough. It was just very tough. I tell you what's tough, being a 14 year old girl with cancer, facing and conquering eleven months of chemotherapy and radiation. Fighting for your life. You want to see courage -- that's courage. I was just cold, tired and scared.

You see, we can make situations seem worse than they are by over thinking them. I almost talked myself into the van. I almost neglected to try. I've done it before. It's worse than failing. Failing -- for me -- was not trying. I couldn't fail on the climb. I had to get off my bike and walk for 400 meters at one point in the middle, but I would have walked until the next hotel if I had to.

See Yaaa ...

EC:NZ'06 :: Day 9 :: Spectacular Western Coastline (Hilly!)

Today was the most visually satisfying day of the camp. Westport is right on the rugged western coast and our accommodations were about 200m from the ocean with only a grass field separating us. Our morning began with a drive to a hilly trail run above the ocean. There were about 10 cameras on the run so I am quite sure some photos will reach the internet. The west coast reminds me of what we would see along the Oregon and Washington pacific coastlines. Hilly, rocky, windy, rough seas, lots of colors – the earth at it’s best! The run was 50min long before we piled back into the vehicles and returned to home base for breakfast.

We were scheduled to roll out on the bikes at 9:30 and left on time. The ride was 140k but was along the coastline which is extremely hilly. The scenery was _so_ beautiful. One of the prettiest routes I have ever done. Did I say it was hilly? We went up and down (steep) nearly the entire ride. I rode with Gordo, Monica and Jeff Miller. Wim was there the first half of the ride. Once again, the g-man pulled in such a way that the group stayed in tact but we never let up. Ride time was a little over 5hrs and I would say that the pace was my maximum steady state for that duration. Harder than my IM pace. I could not have had a higher average effort. Professor Byrn has a way of getting the most out of me. Jeff rode well and Monica appears to be getting stronger as the camp progresses. The last two days the g-train has just kept a rollin’ …

When we arrived at our destination in Moana, we found we were situated in brand new condos over looking Lake Brenner. They are real nice places. A group of us put on our wetsuits and swam in the lake. The temperatures felt about 63-64 degrees; chilly at first. Mark P. was without a wetsuit and was skinning it. He is a faster swimmer than I in the pool so my rubber suit had us moving at about the same pace. He felt the chill after about 40mins but plowed on through the chop just fine.

I had some deep tissue work done by Richard prior to dinner (an incredible spread down at a local restaurant). My low back has really flared up the last few days making saddle time less comfortable than it otherwise would be. I am hoping it lets go tonight because tomorrow is the BIG challenge. We will climb Arthur’s Pass. Steeper than anything I have ever ridden as there are parts that will be near 20%. The TT climb should take me about 75min. “Somebody” planned a triathlon first. That’s right, a race first.
CRAZY ... I tell ya!

Today -- 50min run, 5hr ride, 45min swim.

The only negative today was that my buddy, Jason Rita, had his rear derailleur yanked from his frame. He will be scrambling to get back in action on the bike tomorrow. We are in the middle of no where, could be tough. Big thanks to Jason for hooking me up so that I could post to the blog. No time for e-mail tonight as he has his own work to do.

See Yaaa ….

EC:NZ'06 :: Day 8 :: The Longest Day, Riding With The gMan

Everybody knew today was going to be long. The question was – how long. Was there going to be headwinds? Turns out there were headwinds, so the 225 to 230k took the group I rode in just about 8hrs. Then I ran 50min and swam 3000 meters. Close to a 10hr day.

Back to the ride; I left with Mark P. and Scott D. at 6:40am. Gordo left with Monica at 6:45am. They joined us outside of Nelson and the pace immediately picked up. Gordo proceeded to pull our group of five riders for the next 8hrs. Remember, there were headwinds that could be called ‘wicked’ right from the get go. Additionally, we did over 6000 feet of elevation gain. It was a challenging ride. I am thinking it would have been over 9hrs without the g-man’s monster pull.

Let me explain why riding with Gordo was so nice:
1) he pulled for 8hrs
2) the pace was constant
3) he was not trying to rip anybody’s legs off
4) he knows where he is going
5) he purposely kept the group together
6) we never wasted time on breaks ‘cause Big Daddy kept it snappy
7) nobody wants to crack under his watch

We have a run that begins tomorrow morning in about 10hrs from now. As I am feeling a bit shelled, I am opting for bed over a trip downtown to an internet cafe. It was a stellar day today. I am sure many of the other campers outside of our group had great rides as well. For me – personally – this was the most scenic ride, the longest ride and my best ride. Epic!

See Yaaa …

EC:NZ'06 :: Day 7 :: Unimpaired Hard Cases

Oooooh doggie!

Not a particularly tough day for me today except in the context of the rest of the week and as a prelude to tomorrow. Much of the camp started with a hard half marathon. There were points available for top finishers and points to be had if you could guess your finish time closer than others wearing no watch. I don't have the full results of the race but can offer that the Baron finished first. Post run the official ride was a tough ride with four climbs. Total elevation gain was about 3500 to 4000 feet. Only the unimpaired hard cases did both of these events back to back. Guys like Clas, Molina, Albert Boyce (AG podium in Kona) and a couple others. Many of us did a 50min run, a flat 60k ride and a 3000 meter swim. It's worth noting that Scott is stringing together back to back to back tough days at camp right now. Pretty impressive stuff.

The last half of today everybody was talking about tomorrow; a 235k ride with headwinds. I have some angst about this one. It's a long ride witrh strong athletes and lots of elements to deal with. KEY day!

See Yaaa