Training Camp

After a quick couple of days in Kamloops Max and I packed the truck up again, picked my sister from the airport and headed down to Penticton. I was white nuckling the drive the whole way there because it was pouring rain and it was so windy...a little scary...I like to drive on perfectly dry roads really slowly :-)

As it was raining our first training night was altered...instead of an easy ride and open water swim we headed to the pool. Coach and I had a good laugh because my swimming has improved so dramatically in the last couple of years...I'm still not even close to being fast but at least I'm not going backwards anymore.

Friday was the long the long ride day. Max had just cut a tooth, and for the last couple of weeks had not been sleeping well, and friday night was no exception. He was up at least 5 times and I felt like I got no sleep. We headed over to our starting point at 6:15...it was raining and cloudy. But we started out and the rain quickly disappeared which was handy because I got 2 flat tires in first 10km. Thank goodness for UBER tire changer - Jay who was coming up behind me...he had my tires changed in 5 minutes flat. Unfortunately he hurt his back while doing, and left me feeling guilty all weekend. Sarah, who I was riding with and who is totally fun to chat with, and I continued on. When we made the turn up to head up Richter the head wind started and the wind did not let up the rest of the day. It was the toughest wind I've ever had to bike in. But Sarah and I maintained a good pace the whole way and we were really happy with how hard we biked. It did teach me that I can't bike that hard and still run afterwards. All in all it was a good day...learned that I need to stay within myself for the bike, race day can only get easier with the winds we fought that day, and that IMC is definitely the prettiest course I've ever road!

I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Max and my sister...I was missing them on the ride.

Saturday we did the 4km open water swim. The water was perfect...so still and warm! And I think I was a touch faster than 2 years ago...yeah!! Then we did a 60km recovery ride. Again it was a beautiful ride! We went up the Green Mountain Road...they call the climb the wall...and it is totally steep but not that long! And the rest of the ride is scenic and rolling. It was a little bit of a slow ride and I was anxious to get back to Max and hang out with him because I had spent the previous day away. As soon as we got back to the hotel it started to pour...sideways rain because of the intense winds.

Sunday was long run day. I ran with three team mates. Two years ago when I did this run we ran a leisurely 30km...it felt great...we chatted the whole time and I really enjoyed it. This year I still enjoyed it, but there was definitely less chatting because we were cruising...we were running faster kilometer splits than my stand alone marathon time...so we ran 30km 24 minutes faster than the last time I did that run. I was done when we got back! But after some soaking in Lake Skaha my spirits picked up! I need my three team mates with me the next time I do a marathon...I'll definitely break my PB.

And yesterday, glorious yesterday, was a rest day...filled with attempts to fill my hunger and a massage!