Day 3, Day of Redemption

Day 3, Day of Redemption

Yesterday was an interesting day. I blew and came back from the depths of physical failure. It was not a first time at Epic Camp where I had a bad patch, but it certainly was the biggest patch of destruction that I remember. In hindsight, I believe it was dehydration. I accepted the fact during my day yesterday, that it shall pass, and it did.Today, started off very friendly with some of the most spectacular riding I have seen in New Zealand. We cruised the first 50 miles along a waterway that was car-free. We had spectacular views of Mt Cook and the Southern Alps. After lunch we had our only KOM of the day. My goal was to get over the KOM and then test my recovery from yesterday on the latter half of the ride. That changed after Brandon went to the front and pushed the pace. The group splintered and I was feeling good. So, I went to the front a little earlier than I had planned, and pushed the pace a little more, and towed our group to the base of the climb where the KOM contenders went off for the top. Bevy, or as I like to affectionately call him, Mr. Pump, as he is the #1 fitness instructor in New Zealand, took the KOM sprint and retained his polka dot jersey. Gordo, and Reno (Elliot), and Roto Router Man (Paul), all motored to the top. We let Molina, fight his way back before we shut the door on him taking us over the top. A valiant effort by Mr. Molina, yet not quite enough to get us. As we crested, our threesome of Molina, Brandon and I worked our way back to the group of Gordo and boys. As we were riding steady to hard, we rode by and they jumped on. I hit it hard for the next 30 minutes into a steady wind, and pulled the boys along. I was feeling great, and nobody was coming by, and nobody was dropping off. I liked the kiwi-rollers but then we hit a Kiwi hill, and I knew it could be trouble. Gordo, who had sat for the last 30 minutes, jumped hard (cheeky but all fair game at Epic Camp), and I could not hold on…I was too close to my limit for too long. Over the top, I knew it was time to shut it down as we were close to 100 miles by this point and the aid station could not come soon enough. It was hot, and I was starting to feel the trauma my earlier efforts had done to my body. Brandon and I rolled in good and dehydrated. A short break, and Gordo, Molina, Brandon, and Mr. Pump and I were off for Wanaka. The ride was friendly although, none of us could muster up too much and the day ended at 128 miles which could have been enough of a training day.

But not at Epic Camp. Today’s event for the day was an Aquathon (swim-run) down at the lake. This was an organized weekly local event, and we were down at the race start at 6 pm. The advertised course was 600m swim/4k run. The lake was rough, and the Epic crew was tired. It usually did not mean much as once a race starts, people find a little extra. The swim started off hard, as Molina, Albert, and Newsome went to the lead. I could not handle if for long and dropped back to swim with Gordo and Rob from Oklahoma. About 400m, I felt the affects of my early effort and my body revolted with some hyperventilating. I dropped back and relaxed on Gordo’s feet, who pulled us along at a good pace. With about 400m to go, which ended up being about a 1500m swim (as Newsome said an ‘honest’ swim), the water was shallow, and I followed Rob with a dolphin dive. Immediately my hamstring seized into a nasty cramp to the point of me stopping. I relaxed and cruised in the remainder of the way, hoping that my hamstring cramped up again so I could skip the run. No such luck. I leisurely ran the first 2k and picked up the second lap to hold off Toby, and felt my day catching up to me. Albert (Albernator) and Newome battled it out for the win, with Newsome just edging out the Albernator. Of course the day was not complete until getting in the 50 minute run, so Toby and I ran our last 4k at a very leisurely pace.

Another 8.5 hour day and we are only 3 days in, with the last 2 days being 280 miles on the bike, and 3 days in with a total of about 25 hours of training. And we still have 5 days to go. Luckily tomorrow, is a bit of a recovery day, although, we will still get in about 5 hours of training. Gotta Love Epic!

Molina, proudly pulled out his “I am not Dead yet” t-shirt, from a gift last year from the Monty Python show. I think I will need to go get me one of those next time I am in New York City.

Posted by Mark Pietrofesa