Epic Round 3

This is my third Epic Camp but will be my first time blogging. Hopefully some of you will find it to be intersting reading but mostly I want to record my thoughts for my own benefit. I'm presently sitting in the Munich airport awaiting a connection to Verona to kick off Epic Italy.



Here's a brief bit about my background. I started competing in triathlons in 2001 as a way to get into shape. I went quickly from being unable to run 2 miles without walking to completing my first Ironman in 2002. In 2004 I somehow convinced Scott Molina to coach me and with his help was able to realize a dream of qualifying for and competing in the Hawiian Ironman.



My first Epic Camp was Australia in 2005. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Meeting all the campers along with training at volumes I never before had imagined were the highlights. The camp really benefited me physiologically and psychologically and I believe had a lot to do with a great race in Kona in October 2005.



My second Epic Camp was in France in 2006. It was an amazing trip with incredible cycling. The first half of the camp went very well for me and I was feeling very strong. Unfortunately a couple of crashes on the bike left me with a lot of road rash and bruised or broken ribs which made it very difficult to sleep. Being unable to sleep my body slowly wore down and I ended up with food poisoning as well. Epic is supposed to be about exploring your limits and I sure found mine. I managed to keep grinding through the next to last day of camp where I did the whole ride by myself as I couldn't keep up with anyone else and couldn't take in any nutrition other than Sprite. I spent the last day on that trip in the van with Johnny as I was totally d0ne. That was the first time I ever got in the "van". I was as shelled as I've ever been after that trip but somehow managed to regroup enough to have a decent race in Kona.



2007 was a year focused on family and work as I took and new job and moved with my family to Charlotte, North Carolina. We're settled in now and I think my body has finally recovered from Epic France (it only took 2 years), so I'm heading back to Europe to redeem myself.



I'm turning 40 this year and this trip is a present from my wife who is back home taking care of our two wonderful daughters while I'm off trying to slay my dragons. If nothing else, the memory of Epic France and the footage of the Giro d'Italia I've been watching have motivated me to get in shape. Epic Camp scares me in a way that ironman doesn't. I can finish and ironman even if I'm 10 kilos over ideal race weight but I don't think I could get through Epic without being at a pretty high level of fitness. I've been very disciplined with my diet (dropped about 20 lbs since January 1) and done some great training over the past couple months to get ready. If I can just keep from laying the bike down on the tarmac, I may just survive :).