My new playground...

Here I am again, thinking back at the wonderful last few weeks, wishing I had put up my posts along the way. Here I am again, with thousands of great moments to share and thinking that I might sadly end up doing another-too long- monster post- today!

A lot has happened in the 14 days and 58 hours of training since the Vancouver Subaru series race.

Leaving Vancouver...taking the Mag mobile for a last spin.

The Lifesport pro camp ended yesterday for many of us. The camp was planned to be a week long, but it seems some of us preferred to hang around longer and stay at the mercy of our ambitious and very devoted coaches. We stayed to climb more hills, explore more of the outstanding bike routes, do a little more heavy breathing and push the lactic acid concentrations to the next level. Perhaps, more than anything else, most of us wanted to satisfy their curiosity and answer the question: How much further can we push?

On the day of the Vancouver race, we had all packed our luggage and once the race was over, we helped close the race site, loaded our boxes and suitcases in the trucks and car pooled to the ferry, on our way to Victoria! (Talk about organized travelling after such a big week-end! I was impressed!)

That ferry ride with the team felt more like a cruise! Of course, since there was a buffet on that boat, I sat with Justin for entertainment. Linsey Corbin was impressive too. Never saw her eat as much desert! ha!

Day one of the camp was wonderful, I think we were all glad to be together again, and it showed. I was very sore from the race and I laugh now when I read my training peaks report on that day -maybe I overdid it a bit on the easy swim, racing with Bree for Justin s draft- (hahah...we just couldn't help it!)

Thankfully, we went to the PISE for a recovery session where we had the real ice bath deal and acquired some knowledge about contrast sessions like that one with the physiologist.

Ice bath with Linsey at PISE

We welcomed new athletes into our group during this camp. Rachel Kiers was a great addition to the group, as well as Amanda Stevens ( outstanding person, great triathlete and very inspiring swimmer!) and Kerry Spearing, from Victoria! Yes, a future training partner for me! She is very strong and lots of fun! Those were great additions to our group. Kerry was good a great guide to help discover all the great bike routes.

This camp was also great because it allowed me to get familiar with the Victoria training and lifestyle, which I fell in love with for good. I feel at home here and am so comfortable. It was all about discovering my new playground. There are hills everywhere for riding, the roads are beautiful.Bree and I even got a nice bike tour with coach Lance! The roads that I prefer, remind me of Maui, there are little rolling, windy routes that take us through the forest and make time fly by on long bike rides. Kerry also took us on a ride along the ocean that I know I will be doing many times again. With Coach Paul Regensburg, we discovered the run TRAILS!!! He took the group on the most beautiful long run ever. Do you know many places where you can run for more than 2 hours in trails and never do the same one twice. Places where you are so spoiled that when you get warm and tired from the forest, you can just head down and find the freshness of the beach in a run along the water?

Riding with coach Lance!

And how about the swimming? More to discover!During the camp, we got to swim in three different lakes and 50 meter pools which are all in such close ranges of each other. I think now it will be very easy for me to get into great new training habits. I just can t wait to call this place home. And it seems like there is so much more to discover.

I surprise myself now, because I am looking back at that hard camp and not saying much about the epic training we all did. After all, the expression -suck it up- I learned at this camp was used more than once, and I remember thinking to myself how funny it was that I felt training in zone 3+ was becoming a habit! But once again, we were all there to support each other and make it look easy, we are so lucky we had our coaches be there for us, in all trainings, making sure we stayed focused, positive and that we kept on fighting!

Team effort on the run intervals

There is also the outside support that makes all this look so easy! There is such a good energy at my home stay, Denise spoils me and I am so proud of her because I remember her telling me how she wanted to take up triathlon in January. Now here she is, training regularly and participating in her first events! Curtis, her son, must be her inspiration. He has only been in the sport for a short time and is doing very well. He has been very helpful to me as well and has come along on some rides too!

And because we recognize the importance of balance....

We also had some great social evenings in the schedule. An evening with Bruce Regensburg (the fisherman!!) and lovely wife Marsha, where Bruce shared his catch and it was DELICIOUS....mmm...

The -very competitive- Lifesport crocket challenge.

(Haley! What a comeback!)

It is a shame I was not regular enough in my blog to talk more about our team training adventures. I can just hope that the blogging will also become one of my new habits!