Mini Camp Report - VanderTri.com

Mini Camp Report 05/04/2009

Well I just wrapped up my little mini training camp in the Gorge. It was a mixed bag in terms of weather but overall it was a good couple of days.

Day 1 - Headed out for a good ride east from Hood River on the old Hwy 35. It's a good road with some good gradual climbing for 5-6 miles then things get tough as you head State Road out of Mosier this is a brutal 5 miles of serious climbing with some sections in the 17% grade range. The prize is a sketchy descent down the other side to The Dalles. The weather was good on the first morning with temps getting up to the mid 60's. Out of The Dalles I rode 8 mile road which is a real mind bender with sections which you swear are downhill but frankly there not their uphill. Overall it was a good solid ride of 70+ miles.

After a quick refueling and a nap I was back out for a nice 20 min negative tempo run. It was a good run after the legs got loosened up. The first half of the 20 minutes was at a solid 7 min mile pace. The negative side was at 6 min with a couple of sub 6's thrown in for good measure. I finished off day one with a tasty meal and a couple of Walking Man IPA's at Brian's Pourhouse. Then I crashed.

Day 2 - Just a ride today. When I started thinking about this couple of days of training I was thinking some really long 6-7 hour rides but I forget that I don't have an Ironman until the end of August and haven't ridden long yet this year (as my coach reminded me) so my long ride was another solid 4+ hours and just over 80 miles. This included my favorite climb anywhere it's the section of Hwy 35 from Rowena (not really a town) up to the Rowena overlook. It's just under 3 miles but it is a solid 6% climb the entire way so you lock in a gear and go. Another good ride and my legs were feeling good. The weather was even better with temps up to the low 70's.

Another enjoyable part of this ride is the ride out on Fifteen mile road (they're not really creative in this part of Oregon with the naming of their roads) which is the great country road with no traffic at all. I still haven't seen the end of this road it was a great ride most of these roads head out through canyon farmland so usually you've got one a slight climb one direction and a slight descent the other makes for a nice little bit of work and reward. This was it for day two.   I refueled after the ride with a late lunch at 6th Street Bistro and enjoyed the last of the sunshine.

Day 3 - The weather has turned. It wasn't cold but it was wet!!! I headed out for my 1:45 easy tempo run early in the morning and got really wet but at least I didn't freeze and the legs felt pretty good overall. Got some breakfast, coffee, email done and a nap late morning while I hoped the weather would improve. Finally time for my early afternoon ride. Just a short 2 hour ride. The weather had cleared and the roads dried so I headed out with just a rain vest. 20 minutes into the ride and the weather had rolled in and it was big time. The start of the rain conicided with my flat tire. A quick change and back on the bike and it was really raining hard now, but it wasn't cold, it could have been brutal if the wind had been blowing the The Gorge was uncharacteristically calm.

I passed about 20 people huddled in the Hwy 35 tunnel waiting for the rain to stop but I just kept on going. It was one of those trance rides the rain pouring down and I was just tapping out cadence on the slight climb. I was also chasing clear sky just as I got to the turnaround point the rain stopped. It was short lived as I turned back into the teeth of the weather. I came back through the tunnel and all the people were still huddled there still waiting. I finished off the ride back in Hood River to the rain subsiding. I was going to quickly do a t-run and changed to go run as I walked out the door into a black sky the first roar of thunder boomed and the first bolt of lighting ripped down....ok no run.

I was suppose to stay another day but the forecast was for another wet day on Sunday and I decided I could ride in the rain back home.  The ride home was a wild and wet one with cars slowing to 20 mph on I-84 for about 15 miles with the rain just simply pounding down.  The rain subsided just as I got home in Seattle just before sundown Saturday.

Day 4 - Another 3:30 on the bike. My legs were cooked from the last few days but surprisingly it was sunny and not too cold out. I headed out for a good ride but my legs were sacked, but still managed 65 miles at a pretty good clip. After a good nap and refuel it was to the pool to finish off the mini-camp with a nice little 5K swim. Lots of long mixed drill intervals and then 10 x 200 which turned into 8 x 200 (I was just too tired).

Overall a good week with 275 miles of biking, 35 miles of running and 10K of swimming. Looking forward to racing in a half marathon in two weeks and mixing it up in a bike time trial next weekend (as part of my long ride).

I've included some pics below from the trip to the Gorge.