Day 4

Day 4

Thursday -- and we switched up the program a bit. Ran first, biked second and swam last. The run kicked off and 7:00am. For me, that was 60min in a light drizzle. Next up, was a quick shower and some breakfast. We were due to roll out on the bikes at 9:30. Not much time to eat, get warm, pack up and get the cycling gear on. Ride distance was to be 125k and the weather predictions called for rain all day. They were spot on. Additionally, there were some nice headwinds, two passes and some technical descents that got COLD. No gear was left behind on this one. Full gloves, booties, socks, shoes, cycling shorts, Craft under gear, jersey, vest, jacket with liner, arm warmers and two medals around my neck to identify me if I slid off a cliff, had myocardial infarction or cerebral apoplexy.

Most of the group was tired from the get go. Things began in a gentle way but that lasted about 15min. The group fractured into two pieces. I take about 90min to warm up when I am fatigued so I started slipping off the back. Monica told me she thought we could stay with the pack (very polite that gal) so I hunkered down. What else could I do :-)

Between some low back pain left over from the day before and some knee tendonitis that flared in the cold and wet I felt the darkness settling in my mind. I stayed ‘in a bit of a bother’ for the next 90min when we hit the first _steep_ climb. A quick stop at the top for some folks to put on additional gear for the descent gave me a chance to eat, drink and stretch. The second half of the ride was much better and the group worked very well together all the way to Nelson. The wind, rain and climbing made it a bit of a mind bender as we finished up a very steep pitch to our dorm rooms on a college campus. Out of the wet gear, into a hot shower, grab some food and off to the pool.

The swim was outdoors, 50meters and the water was about 76 degrees. Three thousand meters later many of us were freaking cold again! It’s kind of funny because nobody carries much body fat so we all get cold easily. Dinner time.

See Yaaa ...