Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Geez....more snow!

Well,

we started to receive some more snow today (2-3 inches) with another couple inches due by the end of Thurs. According to some locals here, this is the most snow they can remember Flagstaff getting in a long while. Figures it has to happen when we're here to train. That's OK, by Sunday we are supposed to get above 50F, with Sedona hitting 67-68 F by Monday!

Today's training:

Headed to the pool this morning, and put in 5400m.

300 swim, 200 kick
10 X 50 band only, on 55"
800 neg. split.
1500 pull, build by 500's (19:35)
200 easy
800 Pull, neg split (10:20)
100 easy
800 swim, neg split (10:10)
200 easy

Due to the inclement weather here in Flagstaff, as well as Sedona, we decided to cancel our planned trip to Sedona. We were going to ride 3.5 hr with some climbs, but it was a mixture of snow and rain in Sedona, so instead it was onto the trainer.

Joel brought over two of Troy Jacobson's Spinervals DVD's. Kyle, Colin, Natasha, Kirsten and I did two different DVD's for a total of 2hrs of solid riding on the trainer.

We warmed up with Competition 23.0 Time Saver workout A, a 30 minute technique workout. From there, it was onto Competition 22.0 - Time Trialapalooza. This is one tough Spinervals workout!!

This workout is designed to improve your sustainable power output, and includes progressively harder sets (20 minutes / 15 minutes / 10 minutes / 5 minutes) with 5 minute recovery intervals. Tough, tough, tough. But we got through it, with just a few Gallons of sweat expelled. :)

Thursday is a bit of an easier day, a 3km recovery/drill session in the pool, followed up by a 50-60' run with a few accelerations later in the afternoon.

Also, tomorrow night, I'll be watching the St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team play against Georgetown on ESPN. Hopefully they can step up and knock off the Hoyas who sport a record of 15-5 overall and 5-2 mark in BIG EAST action.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Good Swimming by all

Again we had pool time later in the morning, so upon waking up, it was time to hit the road for an easy 30' run. Breakfast and stretching, then off to the pool to swim.

We re-visited a set we did earlier, and I'm pretty sure everyone swam faster today than last time.

400 mix
20 X 50 on 50" every 4th fast
200 Kick

Main Set (best average for all of the 100's)
8 X 100 on 1:40 (1:15's)
200 pull
6 X 100 on 1:40 (1:11's)
200 pull
4 X 100 on 1:40 (1:08's)
200 pull
2 X 100 on 1:40 (1:05, 1:06)
200 pull
1 X 100 (1:04)

Kirsten averaged the fastest for the first 8 (1:11's), and thus had to lead out the lane (we all swam in 1 lane, due to pool space). Simon had the fastest average for the 6 (1:10's), and got to lead, though we moved into 2 lanes. I had the fastest average for the next 4 as we spread out to 3 lanes after that. I managed the fastest average for the next 2, as we then took 6 lanes (they were open by then) and all 6 of us did the last one at the same time. Colin made a remarkable comeback through the workout (1:21's for the first 8) swimming his way down to the fastest 100 at the end (1:02.6). Everyone cracked 1:10 for the last one. A great swim by all.

The last workout of the day consisted of a 70' run with 6 X 3' hard/3' easy running. I headed over to Flag Athletic Club to run on the treadmill with the group, as we've had some snow showers coming through the area throughout the day.

I felt pretty good running for the second time today, running the first 4 hard intervals at 9 mph, with the last 2 intervals at 10 mph.

After running, and a great stretching session on the Stretch Station, I hit the outdoor hot tub, then followed it up with a nice session in the Eucalyptus steam room.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Pool Space

While we've been here in Flag, we have been sharing pool space with the Japanese National swim Team. They are here at altitude preparing for the World Championships March 17 - April 1st in Melbourne Australia.

The one swimmer of note on their team is Kosuke Kitajima who won both the 100 BR and 200 BR at the 2004 Olympics.

getting into the new week

Today we started out with a nice and easy 40' run to wake the body up.
After some stretching and breakfast, it was off to the pool for an easy 3km swim.
A bunch of 50's drill, and some pull. Nice and relaxing.

Our last workout of the day was a 90' cross ride. We tried to make our way back over to Walnut Canyon where we ran yesterday, as there would be some good cross riding out there. We ran into some tricky sections of slush, but we managed to find our way out to Walnut, then headed back along Route 66 back into Flag. We ended up at 2hrs, but a nice base ride. Now we've got a new area to go to for some longer cross rides.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Weekend Recap

Well, since I missed posting yesterday, today's entry will be a bit longer than normal.

Saturday:

We started out with a easy 30' base run. A nice easy loop around the university, then home to stretch. We were considering heading down to Sedona to ride, but the majority of the group elected to stay up in Flag and ride 3hrs cross. Jordan and Jill headed down to Sedona to ride on the road, while Simon, Kyle, Kirsten and I went out to ride cross.

The cross ride was wicked. Simon took us out along some awesome fire roads, along E3 which is a great area to do some tempo running. We were riding through puddles, mud patches, etc..an awesome ride. There were a couple of deep snow patches where a couple wipe-outs occurred, but it was a great ride!

Sunday:

Adam, Kyle, Jill and I met up with Simon and Jordan at Late For the Train to go running. After Simon and Jordan finished up their coffees (or whatever they had), we decided to head out towards Walnut Canyon to go running. We didn't quite go into Walnut Canyon, we parked there, but ran out to the Arizona Trail to do our 1hr 40 min long run.

Here's a link to the Arizona Trail web site, if you look at the map, you can roughly see where we ran (near Walnut Canyon).

What a great place to run! Dirt roads, with a great view of Mt Humphries off to the side. The pace started out nice and casual, as Simon, Kyle and Adam didn't push the pace. Once we turned around at 50' the pace picked up a bit, and I let Kyle, Simon, Adam, and Jordan go, as my HR was at 165 (my long run pace) and I didn't want to go any higher. The run went by quick, and I felt pretty good running.

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching Tiger come back and win the Buick Invitational, did a 30' easy spin on the trainer, and then we headed over to the pool to swim at 4:30.

A total of 5000m, broken up as:

2 X (200, 2X100 descend, 2 X 50 descend)
200 Kick
5 X 300 Pull descend, w. 20" rest (4:00,3:55,3:50,3:45,3:36)
200 easy
5 X 300 Swim descend, w. 20" rest (4:05, 4:00,3:55,3:50,3:40)
200 easy
400 kick

I felt great in the pool today. I don't know what it is. Maybe not being in the water yesterday. Hopefully that feeling can carry forward the rest of camp!!

Here are the weekly totals for week 3

Swim: 25,700 m
Bike: 8.5 hrs
Run: 7 hrs

Friday, January 26, 2007

Friday

Not as tough of a day today, a swim and an easy run.

5000 m in the pool this morning, the same workout that we swam two weeks ago.

400 swim, 200 kick
2 X (10X50 w. band on 1', 200 IM)
Main Set:
3 X (3 X 200 w. 30' rest, 3 X 50 on 1', 250 easy)
During the main set, the goal was to build speed throughout each of the 3 200's and 3 50's.

I felt a little bit better in the water compared to the last time we swam this set!!

We ended the day with a 40' easy base run. Turns out I could have worn shorts running today, it was 48 F when I headed out, and nice and sunny!!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Pictures

Here is a link to pictures that Joel has taken thus far on the trip.
There are some really good ones in here.
I'll add the photo's to the links to the right for future reference.

Camp Photo's

A day of swimming today.

We started the day with a 60' easy base run. It was a great morning for a run...chilly but no wind! The legs felt a bit sluggish starting out (from yesterday's run) but felt better toward the end. Ran a bigger loop around the back of the university, then a smaller loop through the university and past the basketball arena, then back home.

The second workout of the day consisted of a 2.5hr cross ride. I rode a MTB today, as we're having a problem getting mt old dérailleur cable out of my STI shifter (going to have to bring to the bike shop). The MTB was a full suspension bike, which made it really tough to ride (the suspension made it really tough, as it felt like I was riding a pogo stick). I turned around early, and headed back home to ride the trainer. Rode 90' on the trainer, watching TV. It's a shame, as it was such a nice day out!!

The weather is looking good for the next little while, mid 40's, no snow!!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Sunny in Sedona

Ah...what a difference a 40' drive can make! High of 60 in Sedona today, rode in shorts with knee warmers, a jersey and arm warmers!

This morning we swam 5000m in the pool.

400 warm-up
20 X 50 on 50" every 4th fast
200 Kick
6X400 w. 30" rest
200 Kick
12 X 50 on 50" every 4th fast
200 warm-down

The main workout happened in Sedona.

A 90' ride that was supposed to be ridden as a negative split. My powermeter (SRM) was finally downloading properly, so I've got some numbers from the ride. The route we rode was a 20km out and back loop through some rolling terrain. Avg power for the whole ride 223 watts (W) and for the final 45' it was 266W. I'm happy with those numbers.

After the ride we went straight into a 60' run on a dirt road.
The run was broken up as:
10' steady, 10' base pace, 15' tempo, 15' base pace, 10' easy

I felt pretty good running straight off the bike today, it was great weather for running, sunny with a bit of a breeze (except when we had to run back into the wind!)

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

snowballs...

A big day in the pool today....5700m

A longer warm-up today, then a long main set, and warm-down as follows.

400 swim, 400 pull, 400 kick

2000 - descend by 500's (I was hurting on this one)
100 easy
1000 - descend by 500's (felt good on this one, 12:50, even split)
1000 - hard (crash and burn at 400)

400 warm-down

Joel initiated a points system for fastest 500 splits for each of the 2000, 1000, and 1000. Simon and Colin worked together on the first 2000, which turned out to be a good idea.
Kyle and I then decided to work together for the next 1000, with me taking it out (6:25 at 500) and holding on until 700, then Kyle brought it home. Unfortunately, Colin and Simon came back a bit faster on the last 500 (6:13 to Kyle's 6:20).

The last 1000, I took it out hard again trying to gap Simon and Colin, and hold on until 500 for Kyle to then go, but I fell apart at 400, and Kyle couldn't go with Simon and Colin. Games like that make the workout go by a lot easier!!


The second workout was a 60' fartlek type run. Adam, Jordan, Simon and myself headed out to Buffalo Park to run. Jordan went snowshoeing, and Simon, Adam and I ended up running through the forest in shin/knee deep snow for 70'. A great run, that included a couple bouts of snowball fights as we ran!

We ended the day with a 60' spin on the wind trainer, to keep the legs loose for tomorrow's bike and run workout down in Sedona.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Start of Week 3

Two weeks of training is in the books.

Here is a recap of the totals from week 2:

Swim: 25.2 km
Bike: 8.5 hrs
Run: 5 hrs

We started out week three with a swim and a run.

I think my swimming is starting to come around now, after two weeks of getting the feeling back in the water. Luckily I have a big background of swimming, so it's coming back quicker.

The workout consisted of a short warm-up, long main set, and a warm-down totaling 5000m (all swims LCM from now on)

200 mix, 2X100, 2X50

400 Pull steady w. approx 30" rest
8X100 on 1:40 (held 1:18's)
400 Pull steady w. approx 30" rest
6X100 on 1:40 (held 1:16's)
400 Pull steady w. approx 30" rest
4X100 on 1:40 (held 1:13's)
400 Pull steady w. approx 30" rest
2X100 on 1:40 (held 1:10's)
400 Pull steady w. approx 30" rest
1X100 on 1:40 (went 1:07)

400 Mix warm-down

I was happy with that swim, as the goal of the set was to get progressively faster as we went through the set on the 100's.

The run was 60' with 6 X 15" pick-ups. A bunch of the group headed off to Flag Athletic to run. Our apartment complex has a workout room, so I thought that I'd try and get my run in on that. Unfortunately it wasn't working, so I headed outdoors for my run. It was a nice sunny day, a great day to run outside. It's so much more refreshing (not to mention less boring) to run outdoors.

I'm getting ready now to watch hour #5 of 24, which comes on in less than 15 minutes. Can't wait!!

Hope everyone is enjoying the blog, I'll try to get those pics from Simon and post them here.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Chilly Cross Ride

Today's activities included a swim in the morning and a ride in the afternoon.

5000m in the pool this morning, nothing too special, just get it done. Main Set was 1200 pull, followed by 4X300 descend.

The big workout of the day was a 3hr ride. We decided to stay up in Flag today following swimming, so the guys headed out at 130 to ride cross for 3 hours. It was a great ride, but a bit chilly! With the wind chill, it was -16 C when we were out riding. It was the coldest we have ridden in here in Flag so far.

The only part of me that got cold were my feet by the end, but i think part of that was from jumping in the snow to take a few pictures! Hopefully I can get the pics from Simon, and I'll post them on here soon.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Epic Snowshoe

Well...in the last 24 hrs we received roughly 7-8 inches in total. Everything was covered in snow this morning.

Most of the group headed down into Sedona to do a group long run with a bunch of fast and I mean fast half marathoners from the local running shop in Flag. To quote Simon's blog, "we met up with some "fast dudes" including 3 sub 1:03 half marathon guys, Ryan Shea and Fasil (2nd at the houston 1/2)". So the level of running down there was really fast. Fast enough that Simon and Kyle had troubles keeping up.

Jordan and I opted to go snowshoe running up here in Flag instead. We drove over to Soldier Trail, and headed out for our run. Let me tell you, running for 90 minutes in snowshoes, in 7 inches of fresh snow (a couple sections were packed a bit from some nordic skiers) is really tough!! I couldn't have been happier to finish that run! My hip flexors were on fire by the end of the run. The reason is that you've really got to lift your legs each stride, and that really works the hip flexor area. A snowshoe run like that will be good at building some running strength. I felt like I had run for 3 hrs!! I did some good stretching afterwards, to help the flexors.

Jordan came over and gave me a hand in putting on some new shifters for the cross bike. I now have STI shifters on the cross bike (so the shifting is at my finger tips, way easier).

I ended the day of with a 30' easy spin on the bike, and an Epsom salt bath.

We are swimming Sun AM at NAU, and then we are decided where to ride afterwards, either down in Sedona or up here. TBD.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Well, as I sit here and write, we have a good 4 inches of fresh snow on the ground (with a couple more expected over night). It's funny, because there is a long driveway in the apartment unit right beside us, and all we can hear are cars trying to get up it, and they just can't make it. I don't know why people here don't run snow tires on their cars.

As for today's training.

Today was pretty busy. 5000m in the pool, pretty tiring. 400 WU, 200 Kick, then 2X (10X50 w. band on 50", 10X100 (25 fast, 75 easy) on 1:40, 500 pull neg. split) we warmed down with 400 mix.

Second workout was a 2hr cross ride. Simon led the group out towards Elden Lookout. The climb is about 4 miles long, up a dirt road. We went maybe a third of the way up, and then it became too snow covered to go any further. The descent down was a bit sketchy, but fun!

We ended the day with a 50' run. The group headed over to Flag Athletic Club, but I opted to run outdoors. A loop over to the university, then another loop near the apartment.

We ended the day with the group going to Picazzos pizzeria in town. Lots of different pizza's there, and the place was busy. A great night. Couple people had some wine, and Adam Campbell had a beer, I was so tempted to have one....but I held fast, and stuck to water and a Pepsi.

Rest Day

Thursday was a rest day.
No snowshoeing, no nothing. It was nice!

The highlight of the day was walking over to the car wash and washing down the cross bikes.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Pics from Sedona

The trailer used to haul the bikes down to Sedona...


The start of our run yesterday....

Good Day in Sedona

Yesterday was a tough day.

We started out swimming at the University, 5200 LCM.
The main set was 6X400 w. 30" rest. First 4 were pull, the last 2 were swim. Was going along pretty well until the last 400, when my arms wouldn't move at all!

After coming home for breakfast and to get organized, we loaded up the trailer with the bikes to head down to Sedona.

We rode roughly 60', with the last 30' hard. Let's just say the heart rate (HR) was pretty high during that last half hour. Got dropped by the guys on a climb, and had to Time Trial (TT) for a solid 5 mins to try and catch up. We went from the ride into a 70' run along dirt roads. This was the focus workout of the day.

The run workout consisted of 10' warm-up, then 8X (2' solid, 3' easy) ending up with 20' warm-down.

An epsom salt bath after dinner ended the day.

Today (Thurs) is a day off, I might get some snowshoeing in again on the trails in town.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Big Breakfast

Today was a busy day.
We arrived to the pool to see we were swimming 6000m today. The breakdown of the workout went like this;

warm-up: 400 swim, 400 pull, 8X50 swim with a band
Main Set #1:
20X100 on 1:35, every 5th one fast

Main Set #2:
3X800 (building to fast the 3rd one)
Warm-down: 200 kick, 200 easy

I felt a bit better today, my swim is starting to come around. The speed is coming back for the 100's. I was suffering on the last 800, but I think everyone else was as well.

Following the big swim workout, a bunch of us headed to IHOP for a big breakfast. Stuffed (w. cream cheese) french toast, scrambled eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, and hash browns. Quite the breakfast!

Workout #2 of the day consisted of a 2hr ride. Colin, Kyle, Jordan and myself headed out on the cross bikes. A good group ride, its in the books.

We ended the day with a 30' easy run. Colin is in the process of making some pretty good chili, can't wait to try some tomorrow night.

We are swimming Wed AM at NAU, then we are going to head down into Sedona again for a bike/run workout. Should be a busy, hard day.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Week 2

Another great episode of 24 tonight...

Today was the start of week 2 in Flag. We had a bit of a sleep in today, swimming at 9am. 4000m in the pool, as 400 swim, 200 kick, then a mian set of 3X (300,200,100 getting faster for each one, then 4X50 fast on 1') followed by 800m straight swim and 200 kick.

The remaining workout of the day was an on your own (OYO) run of 60'. Most people headed over the the Flag Athletic Club to run on the treadmill, but I figured I'd run outside and get some fresh air. The sidewalks were hit and miss (better on some streets, but crappy on others), and the trails weren't packed down enough to run on.
In and around NAU was a lot better. I only slipped and fell on some ice once while running.

Still chilly here in Flag, and windy today. Supposed to get above freezing later this week.

Thats all for now....

Sunday, January 14, 2007

24....Jack is Back!

Wow...what a start to the new season of 24! This looks like it's going to be a great season, can't wait until the next two hours tomorrow night! Jack Bauer is the man.

Anyways....today's training :)

It was damn cold this morning when we woke up. -5 F, or -20 C. It was so cold out that it hurt to breath. We loaded up the big Trailer with 9 bikes, and headed off to Sedona for some warmer riding. It was still chilly in Sedona (-2 C when we started, about 4C when we finished), but NO SNOW, which is what we wanted.

I ran 40' once we got there while the group swam at the Hilton Spa, and then we re-grouped, had some food, and headed out for a 3hr ride. We headed from Sedona (4500 ft) along Hwy 89A through Cottonwood, through Clarkdale (3500 ft) and up towards the town of Jerome (5200 ft). Jerome is supposed to be a great little town, and it has lots of history. There is a good page about the history of Jerome here.

The road up to Jerome from Clarkdale is all uphill, and twists and turns. We only rode to the sign proclaiming the entrance to the town, but still to that point it was a good 20' climb. From that point up, the road switch-backed and got steeper. Jordan said we could continue climbing for another hour if we wanted. For another day....

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Snow, Snow, Snow

We awoke this morning to see approx. another 4-5 inches of snow on the ground. It was chilly this morning as well (5 F, or -15 C). Since we knew this weather was coming, we headed over to the Flagstaff Athletic Club to run. They have roughly 15 treadmills there, with a bunch of TV's as well. 75' on the treadmill went by pretty quick watching NCAA Basketball (gotta love the mountain standard time). After a stretch on their great stretching machines, it was into their 25yd pool for an easy 2000. I ended off the session at the gym with a nice eucalyptus steam.

The last workout of the day was an easy 60' spin on the trainer. The rest of the day has been spent watching the NFL playoffs. I don't think I'll see much of them tomorrow, as we are heading off to Sedona at 8am to ride the road bikes down there, followed by a run. Looking forward to getting out on the road bike tomorrow.

24 returns tomorrow!! Can't wait to watch it!

Friday, January 12, 2007

What a ride!

Wow....
what a day!
We started out this morning with 5000m (Long Course) in the pool.
400 mix, 200 kick, then 2X (10X50 on 1' with a band on the ankles, 200 IM)
Main Set was 3X (3X200 descend, 3X50 descend, 250 easy)

Then this afternoon, Colin, Kyle, Joel, Simon and I went out for an awesome cross ride! We had about 3 inches of new snow on the ground, and strong blowing winds (45 mph gusts). Made for a really interesting ride. Riding along the Urban trails around town, with the snow covering the ice hidden underneath! I may have to get some better tires for the cross bike... We were out for around 2hrs today.

There have been a couple changes for the weekend due to the weather. We are supposed to get another 4-6 inches of accumulation tonight, if so, I'll try to get a pic posted tomorrow showing what it's like here.

Tomorrow we are running on the treadmill for 75 min followed by a 2000m easy swim. The afternoon entails a 60' easy spin on the trainer (I'll be able to watch the NFL games!)

Sunday we are going to head down to Sedona where it will be a bit warmer, and we are planning on riding 3hrs, followed by a run down there.

Winter Wonderland

This is the weather outside right now....snowing since last night, probably 2 inches on the ground right now, lots of blowing snow.....Colin, Simon, Kyle and I are getting ready to go out for a cross ride in this....should be interesting!!

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Snowshoeing


Today the group went out for a snowshoe at the Flagstaff Nordic Center
It was a great day to snowshoe. The Center is located at roughly 8000 ft. We were out for about a 90' snowshoe, where we hit a max elevation of almost 8700 ft. We ran roughly half of the trek, and hiked the other half. What a great day.

Cross Bike

The cross bike that I'm using down here. Simon was kind enough to bring this one along for me to use here. Notice how muddy it is after just one ride! Riding cross is great!!

Couple More Pics


I drove over the Continental Divide, which separates which way the rain will drain once it hits the ground...pretty cool.

some photos of the drive

The side of the road at a new Mexico rest stop. Remnants of the storm that went through about a week before.
A highway sign in New Mexico warning that the highway could be closed...

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

The Long Drive...and the first three days of camp

Well..it's Wed already, and I'm safe and sound in Flagstaff Arizona, after 3550km of travel. Spread over Fri, Sat, and Sun, the drive went really well. No bad weather, lots of football on ESPN radio, and some good sights driving through New Mexico. Let's just say that I'm glad to not be sitting in a car any longer. I'll try to post some pictures taken during the drive up here in a couple of days.

The whole group is now here, with the final four arriving Monday evening. Our apartment is pretty cool, a four bedroom unit, with kitchen, and 2 bathrooms. I'm sharing the apartment with Colin Jenkins and Kirsten Sweetland.

The rest of our group includes : Simon Whitfield, Kyle Jones, Jordan Rapp, Jill Savege, Lauren Groves, and Natasha Filliol. Joel Filliol is the head coach, and Adam Campbell is our manager/organizer. Simon drove down from Victoria, as did Joel and Colin. Jordan Rapp drove over from the Rye, NY area, and everyone else flew in.

The three days of training has been interesting. Getting used to the altitude here in Flagstaff (6950 ft) has been a challenge. Even walking up the flight of stairs to get into our apartment is tough! Swimming is the toughest challenge, as the lower level of oxygen in the air, combined with the fact that breathing while swimming is tough enough, makes the first week of swimming or so tough. Your heart rate (HR) is also higher here due to the altitude, and while we have been out riding, you notice it the most while climbing a hill (We've been sucking air up the hills).

The riding we will mostly be doing here will be on Cross bikes, which essentially are road bikes, but with bigger, wider tires (35mm)and most people have disc brakes on their cross bikes (so the mud doesn't collect around the brakes) Disc brakes are located down near the hub of each wheel. Riding cross is totally awesome, we came back yesterday from a 2hr ride with the bike totally covered in mud, as well as a lot of our clothing. Riding on the snow and mud along the fire roads and trails is so much more exciting than riding on the road or the trainer. Simon says riding cross makes you a stronger rider, so I'm hoping he's right!

Today the group had blood work done in the morning (I chose not to do the blood work due to my phobia of needles, and the fact that I'd most likely pass out) to measure their red blood cell levels (among other things) so that they have a base line measurement to compare how the altitude training is affecting their bodies during the course of the camp. We had a 60' ride (Colin and I rode cross outdoors) and the group headed down to Sedona, which is at 4000 ft elevation to swim and run. There's supposed to be a difference between 7000 and 4000 ft, but I couldn't notice it today! Hopefully soon I'll get used to the elevation. We swam 5000m, and followed that up with a 60' run in this beautiful park, that had these huge rock formations jutting out of the group, and trails running all over the place on a red clay surface. What a great place for a run.

Thursday is a casual rest day, we are going to go on a group snowshoe in the morning, and then chill out the rest of the day. We are supposed to be getting a bit of bad weather rolling through the next couple of days, some snow and highs around 32 F. We've had highs of 50-55F thus far, which has been great!! It gets really cold at night here, and then warms up during the day. The upcoming lows are forecast to be about 5 F.