GEC's High Endurance Ironman Training Camp--Day 3

Any day is a good day in my book when a swim in canceled or replaced with a bike ride. Today the weather forecast called for some afternoon showers and thunderstorms, so we elected to skip the swim and ride earlier. We left near 7am and headed north. The scenery in Flagstaff is amazing--pine and aspen forests, snow on the mountain, open meadows filled with wildlife. We got to ride through all of that and some high desert on the way to the Grand Canyon.

On the way, though, we had to endure 85 miles of pain. We started from the cabin and rode together through town, then we split up a bit. Shawn, Owen, and Luc were off the front, Polita was in the middle, and Angie steady at the end of the train. Bill and I rotated through, then decided to catch the leaders again. We put the hammer down for over 20 miles, and could not catch the train on the front. They were flying. We did what we could and got closer, but could not catch up. It was fun to try, though! Luc, the bike powerhouse, won today's MVP award for riding everyone off his wheel at one point or another.

The group rode steady all day. When we reached the Grand Canyon, we were all relatively close together. As we entered the park, Owen and Polita turned our attention to 4 elk grazing just off the road, then we saw deer grazing near our hotel that evening. We went straight to the rim of the canyon, gazed, awed, and shot photos, then went to the hotel.

After a short break to clean up and get some food in, we walked back to the rim. We couldn't check into the hotel right away, so we had some time to kill. Once we did check in, it was run time. I got some down time since my ankle is still tweaky, but the group ran an hour or so along the Grand Canyon rim. After that ride, I was impressed.

Then, dinner and bed time. Strong day for everyone today. The group meshes well and gets along great. It's great when they do. Shawn is strong here and I expect great things. Angie is steady and will get stronger as the week progresses. Owen and Polita are really showing improvement since we started working together and will have great seasons in front of them. Luc is a joy to have at camp, and although an accomplished cyclist, he's relatively new to triathlon.

Tomorrow, we ride back to Flagstaff, stopping along the way to climb up to the ski area (110 miles, over 5000' climbing), then a short brick run. This will be the mental toughness day.

(I've got some great photos. Check back when i have a good connection and i'll have them posted)