Winter Smiles for Miles Camp!

• 5 days 
• 9 workouts
• 22 hours of fun

rain, sleet, 38 degrees, freezing, laughing, camaraderie, support, digging deep, suffering, ignoring the brain, and following the body

This was Biscay Coaching Smiles for Miles Winter Camp. I love Hillary and jumped into camp as my gravel camp was canceled. I had done this camp before in January but was much fitter.

I have been on my TT bike 1x since mid-October; I have done 1 ride of 4 hours, and most less than 3 hours, 1 swim that was 5K after not swimming for 4 weeks; running was okay but lots of slogging miles with little quality.

California has been hit hard with the atmospheric river, a parade of storms... pretty much non-stop rain since 12/26, so any panic training was limited to the trainer.

I showed up with the one thing I could control, my attitude! And a lot of fuel. The less fit our body is, the more calories we need. 

Thursday was fine- AM swim and social Bike.

Friday: Palomar, with Wolford and Cole Grade, 5 hours 7500 feet. Humbling but doable with the company of Amy and all the snacks!   This ride was post-swim featuring the "forever" set. 16x25 band only 3 ALL out/1 easy + 200PBB max effort x 3.  Lats were shattered. Post-swim massive calories and onto the ride.  

Saturday: 12-mile chill run in Daily Ranch with 1800 feet of elevation and 100x100 in the driving rain. I was blessed to lead all 100! A few low spots around 6500, and finally, we hit 9000. The last set was 9x100 - swimming side by side, 3 of us for 50 easy and 50 ALL OUT race; the lactic acid was surreal. 100 easy and done!   Plant Power was the saving recovery dinner. 

 

Sunday: storms everywhere, so the 110-mile East County Adventure was aborted, so we headed to Warner Springs, planning to ride to Anza Borrego, where it was sunny, and then ride back! CA weather reports are as reliable as having Bernie Madoff manage your money.   Within 15 minutes, it was cold and rainy, but we were heading to the desert, so we persevered, and despite a rough start, it cleared and warmed up. In AB, we had 37 miles of sun and dry weather, and then we headed up to Montezuma into a storm.   The wind picked up to 20-25 mph, the rain started, and temps dropped; soon, it was 38, pouring rain, and so windy it was treacherous. With no option, we kept pedaling through puddles. Shivering and beginning to worry, then the magical Hillary came on a rescue mission. Within 30 min, we rescued all 13 off the road, nearly hypothermic, piled in vans, bikes everywhere! What  I learned is my unique So Cal winter gear is shit!   

Knowing Black Lake Tri can have extreme weather, I have some shopping to do! Thanks to badass Alyssa Godesky, I have a shopping list! And have made a good dent; still more to buy but on my way! 

• Shell Mitts  ☑️
• Patagonia Base Layer ☑️
• Warm Vest - have vests but not a warm one 
• Waterproof Shell  
• Shoe Covers ☑️
• Lobster Gloves
• embrocation balm This is fascinating to me was advised NOT to use it before the swim.  
• Wool beanie under helmet ☑️
• Wool Socks -   ☑️

Back to camp. Monday was our final day of hill repeats backed up with a 4K swim.

Done and dusted and have been ravenous since. Eating nonstop since Monday. I feel good in the pool, but my legs are still tired.   One more day of recovery, and we hit it hard this weekend. 

And I wanted to race Oceanside 70.3!   I just love triathlon too much.....