Training camp in Eilat -- part 4
We met in the parking lot at 5:30 for our first workout of the third day -- a practice race on the course of the Eilat Triathlon. The idea of doing a practice race after the previous day (with that very difficult climb) was rather overwhelming, but fortunately, my brain is not very awake at that hour of the morning, so I just kind of went with the flow of things.
Got to the "transition area", did a short warmup, took a dip in the water and then stood on the beach, shivering (it was cold!), waiting to start the "race". I'll spare you the blow-by-blow of the practice race and just supply the highlights. Remember Ronit, my teammate who I have never ever beaten in a single race or practice race? Well, she and I ended up doing the entire swim together, side by side, and that's how we got out of the water. I'm much faster than she is in the transition area and I headed out on my bike long before she headed out on hers. I'm also stronger on the bike than she is (that didn't used to be the case), so she never managed to catch up with me. It was a very tough first 10 km into strong winds (Eilat is always like that) and we both struggled, but I guess I struggled less than she did. The second half was much easier ;-) Ronit runs faster than I do, but she didn't manage to catch me. Despite sore muscles and the previous day's dehydration, I was in top form this morning and although the run wasn't fast, I felt strong and I had no problem keeping her behind me. I finished a minute or so ahead of her and as soon as she finished, she announced to everyone that I'd done a great "race" because it was the first time I'd ever beaten her.
I really had done a great race. It wasn't just beating Ronit -- it was my entire attitude. I should have been tired and sore and maybe I was, but the entire time, all I could think about was how much fun I was having. In fact, I even said it out loud on the bike (while riding uphill into the wind). And I smiled during the run. SMILED!!! I'm not sure I've ever felt like that during a race (real or practice) before. In fact, I usually hate practice races -- they're harder than races (no water stops, for one thing) and there's no finish line, no one to cheer me on (though there were a few triathletes from the Eilat team out there this morning and they were cheering all of us on), no competition -- nothing to keep me motivated. I loved this practice race. It was like someone had switched something on in my brain and I was just out there feeling great and loving every second, even when it was hard. I can't even describe the feeling and I don't know what caused it, but I hope I can get it back next time. As I said to my coach after the workout -- maybe before every race I need to do a hard climb, get dehydrated and be completely exhausted! By the way, I actually did the practice race 15 seconds faster than I did the race last year. I think the swim may have been a little bit short and the run to the transition area was shorter, but I had to ride a bit slower today (there were cars on the road and in certain places it was frightening).
After the practice race, we rode back to the youth hostel, showered and had breakfast. Then, at 10:00, we headed out for the next workout -- a ride to the Taba border crossing and back, about 8 km each way. The ride there was easy and fast (with the wind at our backs). We stopped at the border to wait for the entire team to regroup, had a few pictures taken and then headed back. Well, I tried to head back. First, before I even managed to get on my bike, I dropped my chain (I must have accidentally kicked it). I got that back on, but while doing so, I must have dislodged my pump, which I discovered falling off my bike after I'd started moving. It had actually started to fall apart (this is good -- I've been looking for a good excuse to replace it with a better one), so I had to stop, pick a piece up off the road and then hand it to the team manager, who was in his car. I ended up being the last one to leave the border with everyone else well ahead of me. There was a pretty strong headwind and a lot of traffic. Because of the traffic, I was afraid to go down on my aerobar -- the wind was making me wobbly and I didn't want to fall off in front of a moving car. So I just kept my body as low as possible and rode hard, trying to catch up with the team. Slowly, I did catch up with at least some of the team. I passed a few kids and then I passed Ronit, who I figured would hang on behind me, but she didn't. The best part, though, was that I passed one of the boys who later said to me, "I tried to draft off of you and I even managed to do it for a while!" This really made me smile. Most of these kids ride really well and the idea that one of them thought that I was someone worth drafting off of just made my day!
Here's a satellite map of our ride to Taba. The route is marked in red. To the right is the Red Sea. The yellow line is the border with Egypt. It looks here like we crossed the border, but, of course, we didn't -- whoever drew the line on the map apparently "missed". We did ride right up to the border, though.
As soon as we got back to the youth hostel, we changed into swim suits for the last "workout" of the day. This took place at the beach right across the street from the youth hostel. Eilat has a very beautiful coral reef and although we weren't on the reef itself, we were close enough to be able to see a LOT of beautiful coral and fish -- both the coral and the fish came in a variety of colors ranging from green and yellow to purple and blue. So while the kids were busy sprinting back and forth (because the coach told me that that's what they consider "fun"), Ronit and I were busy "sight-seeing". This was the perfect end to our short training camp -- it was so much fun that I was sorry I didn't have a snorkel (I had to keep taking my face out of the water to breathe -- how annoying!) and I didn't want to get out of the water. But like all good (and bad) things, training camp had to come to an end. We got out of the water and went back to the youth hostel to shower, pack, eat and head home.
So now I'm home -- sore and tired, but very content. It was a great weekend and I can hardly wait until next year (when I finally reach Ein Netafim!).
Got to the "transition area", did a short warmup, took a dip in the water and then stood on the beach, shivering (it was cold!), waiting to start the "race". I'll spare you the blow-by-blow of the practice race and just supply the highlights. Remember Ronit, my teammate who I have never ever beaten in a single race or practice race? Well, she and I ended up doing the entire swim together, side by side, and that's how we got out of the water. I'm much faster than she is in the transition area and I headed out on my bike long before she headed out on hers. I'm also stronger on the bike than she is (that didn't used to be the case), so she never managed to catch up with me. It was a very tough first 10 km into strong winds (Eilat is always like that) and we both struggled, but I guess I struggled less than she did. The second half was much easier ;-) Ronit runs faster than I do, but she didn't manage to catch me. Despite sore muscles and the previous day's dehydration, I was in top form this morning and although the run wasn't fast, I felt strong and I had no problem keeping her behind me. I finished a minute or so ahead of her and as soon as she finished, she announced to everyone that I'd done a great "race" because it was the first time I'd ever beaten her.
I really had done a great race. It wasn't just beating Ronit -- it was my entire attitude. I should have been tired and sore and maybe I was, but the entire time, all I could think about was how much fun I was having. In fact, I even said it out loud on the bike (while riding uphill into the wind). And I smiled during the run. SMILED!!! I'm not sure I've ever felt like that during a race (real or practice) before. In fact, I usually hate practice races -- they're harder than races (no water stops, for one thing) and there's no finish line, no one to cheer me on (though there were a few triathletes from the Eilat team out there this morning and they were cheering all of us on), no competition -- nothing to keep me motivated. I loved this practice race. It was like someone had switched something on in my brain and I was just out there feeling great and loving every second, even when it was hard. I can't even describe the feeling and I don't know what caused it, but I hope I can get it back next time. As I said to my coach after the workout -- maybe before every race I need to do a hard climb, get dehydrated and be completely exhausted! By the way, I actually did the practice race 15 seconds faster than I did the race last year. I think the swim may have been a little bit short and the run to the transition area was shorter, but I had to ride a bit slower today (there were cars on the road and in certain places it was frightening).
After the practice race, we rode back to the youth hostel, showered and had breakfast. Then, at 10:00, we headed out for the next workout -- a ride to the Taba border crossing and back, about 8 km each way. The ride there was easy and fast (with the wind at our backs). We stopped at the border to wait for the entire team to regroup, had a few pictures taken and then headed back. Well, I tried to head back. First, before I even managed to get on my bike, I dropped my chain (I must have accidentally kicked it). I got that back on, but while doing so, I must have dislodged my pump, which I discovered falling off my bike after I'd started moving. It had actually started to fall apart (this is good -- I've been looking for a good excuse to replace it with a better one), so I had to stop, pick a piece up off the road and then hand it to the team manager, who was in his car. I ended up being the last one to leave the border with everyone else well ahead of me. There was a pretty strong headwind and a lot of traffic. Because of the traffic, I was afraid to go down on my aerobar -- the wind was making me wobbly and I didn't want to fall off in front of a moving car. So I just kept my body as low as possible and rode hard, trying to catch up with the team. Slowly, I did catch up with at least some of the team. I passed a few kids and then I passed Ronit, who I figured would hang on behind me, but she didn't. The best part, though, was that I passed one of the boys who later said to me, "I tried to draft off of you and I even managed to do it for a while!" This really made me smile. Most of these kids ride really well and the idea that one of them thought that I was someone worth drafting off of just made my day!
Here's a satellite map of our ride to Taba. The route is marked in red. To the right is the Red Sea. The yellow line is the border with Egypt. It looks here like we crossed the border, but, of course, we didn't -- whoever drew the line on the map apparently "missed". We did ride right up to the border, though.
As soon as we got back to the youth hostel, we changed into swim suits for the last "workout" of the day. This took place at the beach right across the street from the youth hostel. Eilat has a very beautiful coral reef and although we weren't on the reef itself, we were close enough to be able to see a LOT of beautiful coral and fish -- both the coral and the fish came in a variety of colors ranging from green and yellow to purple and blue. So while the kids were busy sprinting back and forth (because the coach told me that that's what they consider "fun"), Ronit and I were busy "sight-seeing". This was the perfect end to our short training camp -- it was so much fun that I was sorry I didn't have a snorkel (I had to keep taking my face out of the water to breathe -- how annoying!) and I didn't want to get out of the water. But like all good (and bad) things, training camp had to come to an end. We got out of the water and went back to the youth hostel to shower, pack, eat and head home.
So now I'm home -- sore and tired, but very content. It was a great weekend and I can hardly wait until next year (when I finally reach Ein Netafim!).
posted by bari | 14:24
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