Into Thin Air--week 2/5

2/5. One more week closer to race day! This past week I was in Victoria until Friday, when I flew into Calgary to sleep in my own bed for one night and then off to Canmore for the weekend! Richard and his First Energy gang were racing the 24 Hours of Adrenaline mountain bike race in Canmore, so I decided to do my own mini-altitude training camp while they were racing.

After a another tough week in Victoria with more biking, some hills on the run and some solid swim sessions (it was a little lonely with all the girls gone but I jumped into the pool with the junior kids, so they kept me entertained in the water and kicked my butt!). My body was pretty tired by the weekend.

Saturday in Canmore was nice and almost leisurely. I enjoyed the fresh mountain air and went for a spin with Gord. I just love the Rocky mountains! I miss them! The coach then had a tough bike/run workout on my schedule for Sunday. I was hoping for a training partner on this ride/run but apparently "anyone up for a 4 hour workout with some time trial intervals, stacked with hill repeats and followed with a run off the bike?" doesn't sound appealing to most people! I knew if Bree was here she'd be game, so me and imaginary Bree set off down the #1 highway and then up the 12% grade on Silver Tip Road for one tough workout!! I was going to hit 'the Quarry' for a swim but the thunderheads that were dumping rain on the poor guys in the race moved in right as I was about to head to the water--so I swam in the local pool instead and finished with a nice hot tub!

In the meantime, the guys were up at the Nordic center getting dirty and trying to stay warm! A number of thunder showers continuously hammered them with rain throughout the race. I stayed for Richard's first lap and then headed back down to my warm bed for 9 hours of sleep while they huddled in a damp tent with the neighbouring racers playing Metallica into the wee hours! I felt a bit guilty, so I brought them coffee and Timbits in the morning! They managed to finish second to a local bike shop! Good job guys!

Richard post muddy lap--me getting out of there!3 to go. In Calgary for the week, racing in Canmore on Sunday, then off to Korea on Monday for the last bit of Beijing prep!
Take care!
Lisa