For anyone reading this, I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures over the past few days. I will add them as soon as I get back home, but right now I need to prioritize sleep for the last day.
Going into camp, I was legitimately scared of day 10. This was one of the few days that I legitimately didn’t think I could finish. Day 10 is 100x100m in the pool in Morzine. I’ve never swam that before, and swimming definitely isn’t my strength. Due to the route, this was also the day that John and I needed to do our fast 10k run, so that happened too.
The day started early. John wanted to drive up to the lake at 6:30am to do the fast 10k while it was cool out. We started with an easy warmup, but I started first since John had to find the bathroom. I ran the path before, and it was a really shitty run. The trail is very rocky, and every step is an opportunity to roll your ankle. This would make it very challenging to run quickly.
I started off pretty quickly, but I felt like it was a sustainable pace. I didn’t knew ahead of time that I needed to run 3:48/km pace, but I made a point to not look at my average pace at all during the run. The first time I looked at my watch was after one lap: 3km in 10:45. I had no idea what the pace was, but if I maintained, I could do 9km in just under 33min. Knowing that, I just focused on placing every step perfectly and maintaining the current pace. I finally had my fast running shoes, and running in them felt great. Laps two and three passed reasonably quickly, but the final 1km was tough. I ended up finishing in 36:40. I was VERY pleased with that. It was 10 seconds faster than Newsom, and it was nearly a PR for me. And on day 10 of Epic Camp!
The next few hours were relaxing as I mentally prepared for the big 100x100’s. Newsom went for an easy ride, but given that I was already scared, I took it easy.
Going to the pool was nerve-wracking. I think everyone was nervous. It helped that we were all doingo this swim set together, but it was still tough. I went out very, very conservatively at 2:00/100m pace. It turns out this was way too easy. I was consistently coming in on 1:26, so I had over 30sec rest. I was also starting to get really cold. Eventually I started going on 1:45, and I was able to maintain it relatively easily. Every 20th 100 we were allowed to take it easy and rest. I skipped the first two, but at 6000m, I started eating food. I didn’t need it, but I know my body could use it.
Eventually the swim set ended, and high fives were had all around. There were still some people swimming though, so we had to wait quite a while for everyone to finish. This was a bit of a mistake on my part. I should have immediately ordered food at the pool. Instead I decided to wait.
We didn’t end up eating lunch until 3pm - a good two hours after finishing the swim. This was bad for recovery, but it was also bad because I kind of wanted to get some riding done. Missed opportunity. We rushed back to start a long run by 4pm. If I wasn’t going to ride, I definitely couldn’t miss doing my last two hour run.
The lunch mistake came back to bite me hard. I felt like complete shit for the first hour of the run. Both my stomach was a mess, and I had to pee every five minutes. On top of that, my body was aching like you wouldn’t believe. I was barely moving. This was probably the slowest two hour run of my life. I ran up the river trail to the waterfall and back down the other side until the trail ended. I made it 21k in just over two hours.
The end of that run marked the end of the training window too. We had a nice dinner, and after John’s monster day, he finished two points ahead and back into yellow. Waiting for people for lunch and missing the opportunity to bike and feeling like shit on the run were unfortunate mistakes. Oh well, there’s still one last day. I don’t want to be an asshole and tack on after the triathlon race, but I might. It depends how badly I want yellow...
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