Epic Camp Day 11

EC is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get. From having felt so good yesterday, I felt decidedly average for the first half of today.

I rolled out of bed at 6 and headed off for a 10k run before we were due to meet up and run to the Kaikoura Pool. The pool is not what you would call tropical - so wetsuits were the order of the day. Great news for swimmers of my (in)ability. We did our 3k then headed back for breakfast. Toasted fruit bread and peanut butter continues to be my morning salvation, but scrambled eggs and baked beans is a close second. Needless to say that, at EC, I have both (in large quantities), together with a couple of bowls of muesli with yoghurt and bananas. I'd love to know what my caloric intake is at the moment. Gotta be way above 6,000.

After breakfast, we hit the road and, before we knew it, we were in the KOM climb and all hell had broken loose. I had Roger snapping at my heels as always, but managed to shake him loose. Somewhat optimistically, I had Gordo and Rich in my sights but ran out of real estate and lung/quad capacity. I think I finished about 6th.

Once we re-grouped, we made fast progress south, with the train being driven hard and fast by Daniel, Gordo, John and Steve. We motored through Cheviot (pitstop) and Amberley (lunch) averaging 36+kph. Meanwhile, I was suffering like a dog in the pack, trying to do as little work as possible. The inevitable 300w+ surges were hard going. For the first time on camp, I said to myself "you're shelled".

But it's amazing what a good lunch will do for you and, for the rest of the ride to Christchurch, I started to perk up. I even managed to contribute some pulls into the city (I was wearing the green jersey as a result of yesterday's efforts, so felt that I should at least be doing my share of the work).

I knew that, if I sat down after we arrived, that would be curtains for the day's training. So I put my running gear on and went out for my second 10k of the day (giving me a total of 25 for the day). I ran with Steve, who is still out there doing 25km. Pretty impressive given he ran 40km yesterday and rode strongly today. The guy is a machine and thoroughly deserves to be in yellow. It'll take a strong man to stop him winning his (and my) age group at Ironman NZ.

Fish and chips for dinner and everyone is very excited!

178km ride, 5:19, 190w AP, 222w NP, 1,238 total ascent.