Coach Rich's Epic Training Camp #1, or...
...Dick gets all Rocky IV in the Sierra Nevadas 
Greetings TeamEN, from June Lake, CA, about 320 miles north of LA on the east side of the Sierra Nevadas. I'm writing to you from 7600ft on the back deck overlooking Gull Lake and Carson Peak, still with snow on the top. TeamEN member Brendan Shannon and I are using his family's condo as basecamp for 8 days of epic IM training. He's racing IMCA, I'm racing IMWI, and the intent is to drill ourselves into the ground, just for kicks.
Here's a mid-camp report. I'll eventually write something similar for the EN blog, with pretty pictures and stuff, but right now I'm too shagged to bother, knee deep into a bag of chips and salsa before a 45' hilly run after a 3hr windy, climbing ride....
This is Camp #1 because I plan to come back in here in August, staying in Mammoth, to repeat the craziness before IMWI.
View my camp photos here, on Facebook
Camp objectives:
- Scout out the area for future EN Epic Camps in July and August of 2012. This area is just an endurance athlete's paradise. Just off the hook, I love this place and want to show people around.
- 3-6hrs+ per day for 8 days
- All rides at ~68-75%. Between the altitude, the length of the camp, the running and swimming involved...I'm just punching the clock and getting in the miles. I go hard when I feel like but mostly just steady and think long term success.
- Run, every day
- Get in 3-4x OW swims
- Stretch and core work, every day.
- Count/watch the calories so I can lose some weight during the camp but...the way I'm feeling right now I think I should just shut up and eat .
Pre-Camp
Last weekend I was in IMCDA to support the team. I got in my important cycling before the trip and then ran, ran, ran in CDA. Took Monday off, as a travel day, then kept the ball rolling Tues, Wed and Thurs, with tempo run 1 mile repeats, tempo bike intervals on the Santa Fe Dam, and a 2:15 crazy hilly long run. Took Friday off, from the legs anway, to recover a bit before the start of the camp. I swam with Barry Plaga at the Rose Bowl on Saturday and can report I'm getting a little closer to him...
Saturday, July 2nd: Prologue
Brendan and I left LA very early so we could get up to June Lake (about 6hr drive) with enough time to get in a quick ride on the June Lake scenic loop and a little exploring of Mono Lake. See our route here
Bike:
2:18, 38mi, 1265kj, 2400ft gain
Saturday, July 3rd: Day 1 -- AM 30' run, then Benton Crossing Loop
I've done this loop twice, from Mammoth, in similar training camps in 2002 and 2003. The first time was an exercise in getting out in the middle of nowhere with no water and struggling to survive. '03 was sagged and much better. '11 was no sag...but a bit of a repeat of the conditions of '02 = 9 years hasn't made me any smartererer.
The Day:
Run: easy 30' run in June Lake, to get it done before the ride so we couldn't talk ourselves out of it afterwards
Bike: See our route here. Summary: this route is crazy, crazy remote. We got a late start, with each of us carrying 4 bottles, slamming 2 before we left, another 2 bottles as we rode an easy, mostly downhill 30 miles to our last opportunity for water at a campground at Crowley Lake, where we drank more and refilled our bottles. Then we got on the Benton Loop proper. Crazy, crazy beautiful ride. Like, John Wayne western kinda country, with most of it at 6500-8k feet elevation. Long, long aerobar sections and steep climbs, and a 52mph descent until we intersected with the road that would take us back to hwy 395 and civilzation. Sign said 39 miles to 395, we each had about a bottle and a half of water and it was hot...not good. Long flat to long 2-3 climbs into a headwind that would. not. stop, on pavement with these teeth jarring seems every 20ft or so. I pulled Brendan until a long climb where I decided to do my own thing and would wait for him at the summit. Many miles later Brendan passed me...in the back seat of a pickup truck, probably doing the smart thing and getting a ride out of there. He was out of water, I was mostly out of water but 100% not the brightest bulb in the box. Got a half bottle from Brendan and carried, waiting for the long downhill next to Mono Lake. A couple miles past the summit (Sage Hen Summit, 81xx ft), I saw a sign for a picnic area just ahead = possibility for water. Get to the picnic grounds...destroyed in a fire. Ooops, carry on. I get down to the flats, about 7 miles from the 395, get a call from Brendan wanting to know if I need a ride. Nope, I'll figure it out . I was stopped next to a motorcyclist who gave me a half bottle of water. About 15' later, riding into the headwind from hell, a cyclist and his wife stopped their truck to see if I needed anything. He had talked to Brendan earlier in the day, figured I was now alone so huge props for stopping. A bottle of water! Score! I carried on to 395 and found a trailer park/campground right at the intersection. Drink as much water as I can stomach, refill all 4 bottles, eat a Clifbar for the final assault on the last 14 miles...into a stronger headwind...of the June Lake Loop. Finished the ride covered in salt and hit the showers!
The Numbers:
107.58 miles, 5:51 ride time (did the century in about 5:20), 3543kj, 94 degree avg temp (!!!), 6500ft gain.
Up Next (gotta get out the door for my run)
July 4th, hotties snowboarding in bikini's, and a 12mi run at 7600ft = we are NOT in Kansas anymore!
Comments
Mark
BTW, I'm pretty sure you will put in more volume in this one week then I will do in the entire month of July.
cool. just grow a beard while your there to make the whole rocky4 get into your psyche!!!
gh
Yep, workin' on the porn 'stache to fit my race prep persona: Bucky Chablis
bucky chablis! it's funny, but i don't know what it refers to?
i too have decided to assume a different persona in these 16 weeks before the next OS: Farnsworth Thaddius Piccolo (FTP)!
no 'stache though, so bucky chablis is more cool.
FTP
Working on a 70's porn 'stache. Your pornstar name is the:
Bucky Chablis
I just did the math (I suck at keep at keeping a training log). Totals through today (still planning a 3hr ride later today)
Swim: about an hour total, ~3 miles. Tough to motivate to swim
Bike:
Run:
Total: 23:35:11 hours. This for the week beginning last Saturday, will go through Sunday with a swim and long run before we drive back to LA. So a 3hr ride yet to be done today and 5hrs tomorrow = 26-27hrs of cycling, probably just under 500 miles. Just did the math, I need 162 miles in 2 days to get 500...hmmm.
Will be 50-53 running miles total. I took yesterday off from the run...kinda wish I got in 3-4 so I could easily get over 55 running miles. My biggest week ever, back in the day was ~47.
Also, basecamp is at 7600ft so all of this training has been between about 6500 and 9945ft (Tioga Pass yesterday). I'm finally able to sleep a little better, the first few days were rough.
ahahahahahaha!!
i never heard of that before.
in that case, for now i am still Farnsworth Thadius Piccolo until the start of the OS, but when it's time for such an epic training block, i will transform into:
Chon State.
(i.e. spanish pronunciation of the first name or phonetically: ch-own)
sounds like a dream training camp.
gh
Is this Brendan Shannon from La Canada? Does he still drive that black chevy chevelle? Went to high school with him.
Yep, that's him