jo Epic NZ 09 day 1 & 2

Day 1. Porters
Camp started at full throttle wit a 6miel run to the pool – a good pace and we arrived earlier than planned for our swim. As per Epic Italy, the first swim set included a 2km TT – one of my worst fears of the camp. Pleasingly I swam ok, and not the slowest, at least. Intentions of a few other campers in for the points game were quickly made clear with Tara being the first ( apart form steven of course) to suggest a second run of the day back from the pool. Russ is also well up for it this year and joined us, as did our temporary room mate, Douglas. The scheduled ride had been modified to exclude Porters Pass, which was a bit of a disappointment,. As I’d been looking forward to getting up there. Steven and I discussed this when we found out, and decided that despite making it a much harder ride ( an addition of 60km, much of it climbing in to a head wind) for no camp points, we’d do it for fun. Russ decided to join us. It was well worth it though we really had to crank it most of the way to make it back in time for the 12hour training curfew. Good for steven its the fastest that I have ever traveling down the Old West Coats Road!
Super had been saved for us and was really impressive – home made lasagne, pies and carrot cake, in large quantities! They have really set a standard!!

Day 2. Tough day.
This morning’s swim took advantage of Rolly’s coached session at the QEII – and we were advised that this would give us the option of a longer session, earning bonus camp points for a 6k set. Rolly’s sets tend to be up o 5km anyway for my lane so it was a bit of a no-brainer. I was pleased to be swimming well this morning, despite being able to feel a twinge in my abductor when I was kicking hard to get those 100m in on 1:30. It got kind of chaotic when Rolly’s later squad session turned up and all of us ‘regulars’ started shifting through the lanes…but most of the “campers’ finished their swim after 3km in order to run back for breakfast. Steven, Tara, Chris and myself stayed on in the pool, thus committing us to run later, off the bike. My decision to try the 1km band only swim meant that the remaining 1.7km after Rolly’s set was pretty well taken care of, but was extremely challenging and resulted in a lot of swallowed pool water – through breathing and laughing. Steven managed to appear just like he was swimming but not kicking much, whereas my feet seemed o be drawn to the bottom of the pool instantly. At least in a 50m pool it as just a case of thinking ‘ there and back’ just 20 times. I discovered that if I did a little bit of a butterfly kick every now and then, or swam a bit ‘fly dive’ it provided a bit of a breather. I decided that this was not cheating, since no stroke was actually specified for the challenge, as far as I am aware. Anyway, it was a great workout and despite making for a rushed breakfast (not just for me, but the others having to wait for me to get through it – so sorry, guys).

The day’s ride was a 190km point to point to out next overnight destination – Kaikoura. We rolled out socially over the flat start, getting a 2 line clockwise rotation going nicely. With the lead pulling off out to the right line and rider coming through from the left behind them, gave a good variety of conversation as the pairs swapped – a little like speed-dating, I thought, and a good way to get to chat a little to the other campers a bit. The pace remained moderate until the first refreshment/pee stop at 50km. The King of the mountain comp was to finish at the crown of one of the climbs 30km further down the road. We had not been rolling long when the pace suddenly seemed to kick up. I had been in a good covered position near the front on outside line but let a gap form. Fatal. Before I knew it, other riders were coming through to ‘plug the gap’ and I was loosing position and the pack. With that pain in my quad still sharp despite the recent ibuprofen hit, I failed to put in the small effort required to push and stay connected – the cost being a solo ride, through cold drizzle for the next couple of hours – and out of the KOM all together. The latter was probably a blessing as climbing hard wouldn’t have helped my leg, but I was expending more energy to maintain 16-17mph, as I would have to cruise at 20 in with bunch. With the ‘broom wagon’ cruising right behind me, I’ll admit that the temptation to stop and get in the damn thing was extremely strong, especially knowing that immediately after a (rushed) lunch the day would end with a 70km time trial, which I was in no fit state for.

Still, when I arrived at lunch stop, despite being very cold, everyone seemed quite happy to wait for me to eat and Steven gave me a reassuring hug. I felt better about the TT and decided hat I might as well at least ride the distance to the finish even without racing it. When I was informed that I was setting of 4th last (in reverse points standings) I was further encouraged, plugged the turbo mix on the MP3 and went for it. Immediately, with the techno pumping and the bit between my teeth, I felt great. It was awesome seeing the speed at which Chris pummeled past me and disappeared into the distance, and shortly afterwards John, Steven, Tara and Russ followed, but I was holding a steady power and enjoying it. My leg didn’t hurt, either. I soon caught Douglas.and then a few more of the guys, enjoying the motivation to continue persuit of the figures up the road, and to push on in fear of getting caught. I was also conscious that if I did not hurry to get to Kaipkoura I’d not have time to get my obligatory 50 min run of the day done. As it happened, I arrived with time to tag on for 200km -though another 10 km would have gotten an extra point so that was a bit of wasted effort since the 200km bonus can only be won twice on camp and tomorrow’s ride guarantees that distance anyway – clearly after the ordeals of the day I was not thinking very clearly.
The run off the bike had been playing on my mind for the later 45min of the ride as my leg began to seize again, and my fears were dramatically realized. It was an agonising jog. I had hoped that a run would loosen the muscle but not the case this time and I jog/walk/sobbed my way round for 50 minutes totally mad with myself for potentially stuffing myself for tomorrow. But, I’m icing it and have managed to convince John to give me a quick massage and some advice. Fingers crossed.

Dinner was a great BBq with plenty of steak and homemade burgers. Just what I wanted after all the carb –bars that I ate today. Even I find it hard to believe that 6 months ago I would not have let that meat past my lips!

Tomorrow promises to be a challenge – with a point-to-point ride over 250km! But for this evening I am chuffed that my hard efforts for the day were recognized, and I was awarded the Green ‘camper of the day’ Jersey :o)