Epic Camp France 2011 - Epilogue

Epic Camp France 2011 - Epilogue
August 22

We had a nice dinner last night in downtown Lyon although I could keep from sweating and no amount of cool beverages could shake the weariness from my bones.
 I did have a chance to catch up with Rob DePinto (an Aussie living in Hong Kong) which was long over-due. You'd think we would have tons of time to sit down and chat on these camps but if you want to get some sleep then you are best to hit the sack right after dinner, and Rob has certainly needed his sleep on this trip.  Rob's got some neat races coming up later in the year including 70.3 Taiwan and IM Cozumel so would like to use this camp as a springboard to get ready for those.
 The Yellow Jersey went to Steven Lord and I can't think of a person I'd rather see out there on the road in various countries riding around with a Yellow Jersey with the Epic Camp name on it.  He is the kind of person I had in mind when I set up this camp biz and he's been such a pleasure to be around and get to know.  He and his partner Jo Carritt are putting on some camps now and I'm sure they do a great job.  Go to Steven's website - www.stevenlord.me.uk for more info on their camps and coaching services.
  The KOM jersey went to Clas and although he wasn't his usual superman on this camp and doesn't have any races looming immediately to get ready for, his class is always evident and I hope those campers who watched him were able to appreciate the fitness a guy who's gone 8:15 for an IM has.  Clas is also doing some coaching now and his experience and thoughtful approach to this sport would be helpful to anyone - www.clasbjorling.com.
 The Green jersey went to Rob Palmer who showed determination to squeeze every last ounce out of himself from the beginning to end of the camp.  He pushed every single climb right to the end, contested every event and also took his turns at the front when he could. Rob is an under-stated, efficient, consistent, hard-working age-grouper who's gone well under 10 hours already.
 Our 2 Polish campers haven't gotten a mention thus-far in my blogs and there's a reason for that - they prefer to fly under the radar.  But I want it to go on the record that they were fabulous company, the easiest campers to look after that I've ever had at any of our camps, and I was really pleased they came along to take on the challenge even though it was a massive under-taking for them.
What a nice bunch of people to spend time with.  It was everything I expected.

This was my 13th Epic Camp since starting this adventure in '03.  Since my 5-year break from Tri's after "retiring" as a pro in '95 these camps have been the main focus of my participation in the Tri world.  Yes I've raced a lot of events since getting back into the participation side of the sport at age 40, but these camps have been the highlights and certainly I'll miss the unique atmosphere and challenge these camps have given me.
I've made so many great friends at these camps over the years and I look forward to future holidays with them.

Some totals for this camp:
Cycling - 1067km ridden over the 8 days including 20,000m of vertical gain, most of it done at a hard effort with KOM's on every big climb.. That's a hell of a lot of work on the bike.
Running - there were 3 run races - 1) the Embrunman Tri, 2) the aquathon and 3) the run race up in Alp D'Huez.
Swimming - We didnt' swim every day but there was ample opportunity to swim a lot and swim hard if anyone wanted to include the swim sets for extra points.
I don't have the camp point totals so will get Russell or John put those up in their blogs.

Future Camps - I've been planning on putting on some age 50+ camps with my good buddy coach KP (Kevin Purcell) for a long time and I'll get off my lazy butt and get those going soon.  Really looking forward to doing something that's a little closer to 50% training camp & 50% holiday.   I still want to include some significant,  challenging training, but only enough to satiate and stimulate, not anihilate.   I'll make sure to spread the word about those once I actually get everything in place.

I'd like to say a big Thank You to my good friend John Newsom for organizing the camp once again.   He's got enough to do with his coaching, race directing, podcasting, and family without to choose not to run these camps.  Its great to see him taking part in the entire camp once again and enjoying the challenges he's set out for everyone.  Both John and I are racing in November in hopes of qualifying for the NZ team for the ITU Olympic Distance World Champs in Auckland 2012 and John needs to race decent to make the team.  That shouldn't be too hard for him.  Getting on the podium next October will be a tough assignment though and I look forward to seeing him try and squeeze in the training to do that.
 John will put on other camps so check in at www.IMtalk.me (and listen to the podcasts!) for news of those.  At the moment he's in the final planning stages for a camp in May/June in Kona that includes racing the Honu 70.3, so contact him if you're interested in that one.
      Thanks to Julie and Ian Wright of www.pyreneesmultisport.com for once again looking after us and to Anna Beadle who gave great massage, energy and support.   This is the smallest support crew we've had on any Epic Camp and these 3 worked their tails off for us.
  Thank you to our generous sponsors and friends who've supported us: High 5, Blueseventy, Fuelbelt, XTri, HED, Oomph and Coffees of Hawaii.
Cheers from France.

We've got a great, sunny, warm day here at home in Christchurch so I'm just heading out for an easy spin.
Life is good!

Train Hard, Satiate the Need.
The TERMINATOR