Spain Day #12, 13, 14

At first I missed a couple of days of blogging because I was WIPED OUT. I’ve been here for more than 2 weeks, training everyday, and it’s catching up with me. When I finally collected myself enough to get on the computer the internet went all wonky again. Now, I’ll have to do my best to remember the last few days…

Day #12 was a “rest day” so we only trained for 1-2 hours. I jumped in on the Funny Run with Grant and Anna. We explored the olive groves and got about 10 lbs of mud and clay caked on our shoes. It felt like someone turned the gravity up on us and all we could do was run and laugh until we were crying. The earth shoes are actually perfect for Anna because they slow her down enough that we can almost keep up with her.
After lunch we went into Malaga to watch the Vuelta a Andalucia. It was wicked cool to see with the whole gang there.

Day #13 was the Pico (Sierra Nevada) climb. It’s one of the most challenging climbs on the pro tour and WE DID IT. It was around 30k with hills that ranged from 5-22% grade. It was incredible to start at the bottom where it was warm and climb into the snow after 2 hours of pushing those pedals. One of our guys took a detour because he was so buried at that point. I won’t poke fun and start naming names but you can read the full account here.

Day #14 started with a swim workout lead by John. We practiced a treading water swim start (like IMLP) and John even sang the song “It’s a beautiful day” just like at the race.
Then we got on the bikes to ride the “Kirkwood Express” which traveled through valleys of olive groves with no cars on any of the roads. I started this ride feeling cooked and I thought I had to get in the van. When I tried, Andy said “Why are you getting in now? It’s a descent. Just do it.” So I did and then I felt amazing again. At one point Anna took a sip out of her water bottle, which must have been filled with rocket fuel, because she suddenly took off. I held on and followed her for a wicked fast and fun descent on a slightly more narrow road surrounded by almond blossoms.

Stay tuned for the last few days...

Spain Day #11 - Perdone, donde esta el Christine?

"And when the day is done and I look back, the fact is I had fun, fumbling around" - A Mistake, Fiona Apple

(Dave "sun's out, guns out" Pike)

Today was AWESOME. Most people ran in the morning but I had a dream about a serial killer and some brooms and mops that encouraged me to stay in bed and sort myself out. After breakfast we set out for the Puerto Del Sol. I did this one once before so I had 2 goals:

1. to beat my previous time
2. and of course there's always the "must beat Bobby" goal

The ride to the climb was a climb, the descent was a climb, and then we got to the climb. This group is SO wicked fun to train with. It's been especially awesome hanging out with Anna a ton because she rulez. She's a girl, but she's wicked surly, so yeah... awesome. She does paint her nails like a froo-froo but its black nailpolish on un-halloween so you just know better than to mess with her. We were pretty toasted today after the climb, which was obvious when, at one point, Anna came into the cafe we stopped at and said, "where's the Christine... I mean bathroom?"

I beat my time up Puerto Del Sol AND I beat Bobby (though he kills me on flats and descents). I feel like a superhero today. When we got back we did some yoga. We hung out for a bit in the hip stretchy poses and Bobby videotaped it and there was minimal giggling. I DO NOT permit giggling in my yoga classes. Bobby has this stretch armstrong tri-pod thingy that looks like Tim Burton designed it. It actually kinda freaks me out because he can easily put a camera up anywhere. You really gotta watch what you do and say around here ;)

(this is the face I make when Pike pulls his guns out)

Spain Day #10 - "Eso es lo que dijo ella"

(a goat traffic jam just before the climb)

"That's what she said"

It makes total sense, as Dylan pointed out, that this phrase is a quality not quantity effort. For example:

If your partner says "G, will you pass me the chain lube?" You may want to respond "That's what she said".

Conversely, if your beloved says "D, have you seen my other bike shoe?" You might want to save it for a better opportunity.

It's an overuse risk and it may even be a physics problem. Dylan (our camp record murderer) will be teaching That's What She Said: 101. His delivery is impeccable.

So last night my legs were ACHING. This morning I swam with the triathletes, which was unusual for me. Last camp I snuggled with the roadies until 9am while the triathletes went swimming. It was wicked nice. Today I decided to start being a proper triathlete and I joined the group for the pool. I loved it, of course.

Then we set out for our first ride of Camp Numero Dos. I was dreading my aching leg feeling until we discovered that SOMEONE forgot their bike. It was his first day so I let him ride my bike. Let's not make fun of him. It was an understandable mistake. A miscommunication, really. At least he didn't BAIL OUT of the ride ;) Turns out he loved my bike and I got an awesome recovery day. I'm so amped for tomorrow.

I <3 Spain.

Spain Day #9 - Adios and Hola

(Erich and John soaking up the sunshine)

The pic is from our lunch on day 8. We stopped in a plaza that was having a festival. There were kids in costume everywhere and we sat in the sun and had lunch. I was SO happy to be there because there was tons of culture to soak in. It was the last day for the first camp and it was awesome to have that experience with that group. They were an awesome (and amazingly talented) group. We even got to keep a few peeps for the next camp.

On Sunday I requested the privilege of joining in for the airport trips. This way I got more time with my new friends who were leaving :( AND my old friends who would be arriving :).

I have been laughing hysterically ever since we left the airport. I'm seriously concerned about my riding capabilities under the influence of so much joking and hysteria. I'll keep you posted... but I may not survive this. My abs already hurt. I'm also fearful of going to bed at night for 2 reasons:

1. Someone will do something terrible to me while I sleep.
2. I will have be the outsider on all of the inside jokes that happen after 10pm.

I'm seriously glad I'm all caught up on sleep. Because I'm in Spain. All I have to do is train and eat and sleep. This is my life???

Spain Day #8 - Yo Quiero Mas

(group pic at the top of el Torcal)

The numbers say that this was the hardest training day of my life. If this were a word problem in your elementary school math textbook it would say something like:

"Guru rode her bike for 5 hours. She climbed a very steep 3k, then 5k, then 15k hill. Her final hill was a a 17% grade. How long did Guru soak in the hot tub once she got back to the camp?"

Anyway, that sounds insane. Here's the thing, I spent that ride looking a beautiful Spain thinking, "this is just awesome" while I rode with some awesome people. It wasn't a hard training day, it was a sick training day and an unforgettably awesome training day.

I had even decided not to do the hardest part but when we got there John said, "you're doing this". And I did :D Thank you, John, for that gift.

Spain Day #7 - Que Dolor

This morning I really started to feel the build up of training in these mountains. My legs were starting to feel heavy... in the hurt so good way. I'm doing what I came here to do. The people here are all very intelligent about their training and the general effort has been easily kept at a base pace. To start today's long ride, a new one called Fuente de la Reina, I was lucky enough to be joined by the CCB Escort Service. Sean and Dylan rode with our group and offered me some really helpful tips about climbing and descending. I got to test their advice and it made a difference in my technique. We had some seriously strong crosswinds, so it was awesome to have these guys teaching me how to avoid being thrown off the mountain. Over the first few miles it was taking my heavy legs longer to juice up and I started to fall back from the group, so I took Dylan up on his offer for a "hillevator" ride. He put his hand on my back and gave me a push while I still had to pedal hard against the wind. He's pretty dreamy so... that part was fun ;)

Once we got to the "start" the descent was 19k of twists and turns in the wind. The view overlooked the Mediterranean, which was a great distraction from the thought that we would have to come back up that unforgiving 19k hill. When it was time to start the climb I tuned into my "suffer and hurt" music, Tool. I love Tool for climbing because its the perfect amount of aggression at the perfect tempo for turning the gears over and keeping it steady. Another trick that I use for hard training is to summon my inner Phil. Phil is such an optimistic and awesome training partner and he seems to always say "this is just awesome" at the perfect time. I try to remember to focus on the beauty as I train, whether it be in the scenery or in the company, by taking a second to be present and appreciate where I am. This is VERY easy in a gorgeous place like Spain.


So with my mind away from the suffering and onto the positive, Sean comes up next to me and points out that someone has spray painted on the road in front of us "que dolor?" which means "what suffering?". It was too perfect. That phrase will definitely be added to my endurance bank.

That is when I glanced over, almost to the top of an evil mean climb, to see an actual spine on the dirt in the shoulder of the road...

Day #6 Puerto Del Sol

Day #6 was an "easy" day. We rode 45 minutes to the Puerto Del Sol, which people use as a time trial. It's a 7k climb averaging 5-8% and the times get added to a board in the dining room with each person's nickname. I had already found "Voodoo Phil" as soon as I arrived at the camp. He killed it last year. The climb was super fun and I just found my comfy kill spot and sat there all the way up. My buddy Dylan beat the camp and local records by about 3 minutes. That boy is an animal. After we all met up at the top we rode back to a cafe/bar to finish our ride. Some guys added a bonus climb while we drank cafe con leche. We ended our day with a long yoga session once we got back and I got a massage before dinner.

Before bed we piled into the sun porch and watched women's curling. It blew my mind.