Epic Camp 2008: Coming To A Close

Epic Camp has been a memorable experience. It is everything that I thought it would be. I came into it less fit than I would like to have been but I feel that my fitness has improved since I came here. Misery loves company and I have made some friends here that I’m sure I will continue to keep in touch with after we have all gone our separate ways.

Before going any further I would like to make a disclaimer. To really enjoy this camp I believe you need some solid 15 to 20 hour bike training weeks. This would include intensity and climbing. One to two hour trainer rides watching videos a few times a week just doesn’t cut it. I was fried by day 2. I would also recommend bringing a road bike with clip ons. There is so much pack riding and climbing it would be so much more comfortable. My back is in spasm from the low position on my tri bike. I wanted to just get off and throw it so many times. So if you are considering doing Epic. I would highly recommend it. Just be prepared ; )

So today, I’m not going to write about what we did or how I felt. I’m sure that has been covered by someone else. I think most folks would like to know about the personality of a person who does something like this. I guess I could classify myself as an elite age grouper. I finished top ten in my age group at Hawaii last year. It was performance that I think, now, after training with these guys and gal was an overachievement. So imagine what it would be like throwing together a group of 20 or so guys like me in with some elite pros and a former Ironman World Champion to train all day long to complete exhaustion over the toughest terrain New Zealand. Just to make it more interesting, throw in a race or so a day, some points, and a yellow jersey as a motivator. Nobody wants to finish last. Everybody wants to win. This group is so competitive. It gets pretty dicey.

After the days events are completed, Gordo is always seems to be bright and chipper and, being a numbers guy, he is on his laptop taking a tally of all the points and putting them in a spreadsheet. Later in the evening, at dinner, the places are dealt out. Molina, on the there hand, is crashed on the floor with Sinatra like music blasting in his ears. After day one the points went out the window for me.

I came to Epic Camp just to see if I had what it took to hang with these guys and also to learn what it takes to take my Ironman performance to the next level. I suppose I got what I paid for. A few weeks back I wrote a piece on motivation and digging deep. I have never met a group of athletes, like those that are here,those who can reach the limits of fatigue then just flick a switch and push themselves through it. It is truly amazing to watch. I am unwilling to go there in this camp. I can do it a few times a year and that’s it. I suppose if I flicked that switch a bit more often it might take me to the next level. I just can’t.

Scott Molina and Albert Boyce were cast from the same mold. Both guys are the nicest guys that you will ever meet. I can see how fatigued they are and they continue to fight and scrape for those few points in the races and then tack on for bonuses. They are like pit bulls fighting to the death. Scott has a great T shirt. “I’m not dead yet” Perfect. Oh yeah, I can’t forget Tara Norton. She is a female version of that mold.

A few months ago I was surfing “slow twitch” and came upon a thread. “Why is Albert Boyce So Fast” Well, I’ll tell you my friends why he’s fast. For one, he isn’t sitting on the computer talking about triathlon. He’s out there hitting it and hitting it hard. He pushes himself beyond exhaustion. This is a place neither most slowtwichers nor I will ever see. You have to see it to believe it. It opened my eyes. He has a work ethic next to none. You’ve got to respect a guy like that. He runs two businesses and maintains a family life on top of all of it. Oh, and by the way he’s winning this camp.

I, on the other hand, have wanted to give up on several occasions. Once, I was at the bottom of the Crown Range time trial and we had already ridden 3 or 4 hours. I looked up and saw the climb. “Someone have a Crown Royal? I‘ll drink a bottle of that instead. I’m taking a ride in the van. I’m done“. Gordo and the gang surrounded me like a school kid on the playground and made me do it. After I slogged through the rest of the long ride he came by me on the long climb back to the condo and flashed me his wry smile and the glint in his eye seemed to tell me “See bud, you did it. Don’t talk yourself out of s**t like that”.

So that’s epic. We’re almost done and things have toned down a bit. Things are getting a bit more relaxed. Would I do it again? Sure. But next time I would be a lot younger and I would be very fit on my bike.