Saturday, January 24, 2015

Resting Today

Hello again from Mallorca. It's the second rest day of our camp and I'm busy... resting! For some reason I was awake by 7:00 this morning, managed to lay in bed until 7:30ish, but then I couldn't stand it anymore and had to get up. I went to the lobby and messed around on my computer for a bit before having breakfast. Then it was onto relaxing a bit more before going out for a nice, easy spin into Palma for a coffee in the sun. It was glorious. The sun was shining brilliantly, the sky was blue, the company was good, the view over the marina was nice, and the coffee tasted great! Home for lunch, then a quick nap to bolster my recovery before the last training block, a massage, and then more relaxing before dinner and bed. All in all it is a great day!

Yesterday we had a long ride as a whole team. Despite the sun shining on us, the temperatures were quite chilly, especially in the shade on the north side of the mountains where we spent a good portion of the day. We made a nice lap of the island that included several of the well known climbs, but for me the most exciting one to see was the climb from Sa Calobra, formally called Col de Reis. It was an incredible road and well worth the trip there if you're ever here. The construction of the road is unbelievable and the views over the mountains and Mediterranean are awesome. After several more hours in the saddle, nearing 6 to be exact, we had one final climb to do, in which we decided a race would happen. I had mixed emotions about it, but decided to indulge the directors and attack straight away at the bottom. I actually followed Markel, but was immediately pulling alone. I was eventually pulled back and was happy to just let them ride away as the burn in my legs and lungs was enough for the moment. After the climb it was a flat, slightly rolling ride home. Soon after we passed the final town, there was an attack from the classics guys, which I later found out was well orchestrated. One of them was to attack the bottom of the climb in order to help "stoke" the race for the climbers. Then as we were rolling home, they could have their own race. It was all in good fun and I was content with 2/3rds of the guys to just let the 5 or 6 guys have their fun. It was a good, long day in the saddle with everyone.

On the other training days we've just been doing some specific exercises individually and as a group at times. We've used our TT bikes once, and I believe they're on the schedule again tomorrow. Outside of the daily on the bike training, we've had lots of off the bike training. Nearly every day we have something extra, whether it is core training, squat training, pilates, or stretching. To be honest, it is a little exhausting! The benefits are well worth the energy spent though. Perhaps our reward for all the hard work is having our chef, Kim, here. He refuels us each night with good meals and desserts. Meal time is a highlight of the day for both the food and the good team atmosphere where we can reflect on the day and share stories from the past. There's never a shortage of conversation.

I suppose that is all for now! Thanks for reading :)

1 comment:

Cindy said...

Glad it is all worth it!