Was feeling emotional at dinner and had told John I’d be taking a day off the bike. When things got tough yesterday, I told myself it would be OK to hit the spa. I was looking forward to Jacuzzi, sauna and a hotel pool I’d found online before camp.
Woke up at 4am, drank a bottle of water and ate a big bowl of soaked muesli. Finished off yesterday’s article then cleaned my bike.
Alas, I slept OK, metrics were in the green and I passed the stair test. How that happened, I have no idea.
Spa day has been postponed.
Game plan is to ride up to a col above town, run around a mountain, descend to an alpine lake, swim, lunch in the sun, then ride home. The plan is to be done well before the thundershowers predicted for this afternoon.
Surprisingly, the camp looks good. Albert was downright chipper - all smiles and looking fresh.
Bike - Tre Cime di Lavaredo, 4km at 11% to finish
I was hoping to be warmed up before the finishing climb, which John briefed as 4km at 11%. Around here that can mean there’s a 16% segment in the middle. You really need to respect the steeps of the Dolomites.
I went out the back of the A-group as soon as the ride left the hotel. I averaged 108 bpm for the first climb out of town. Then there was a nice rolling section that brought us to the main event.
Now that Zoncolan is my baseline, everything seems reasonable. I was able to drop my heart rate in the corners and stay (mostly) green zone (~45 minutes, 120 bpm avg). Max HR was 133 bpm, top of my Zone 2. All in all, the ride was beautiful and didn’t take much out of me. Good thing because I don’t have much to give at present.
I’ve heard whispers of a surprise climb to come. There seems to be a support team schedule that hasn’t been shared with us, shows all the special events.
Run - Loop Cime Grande
This was really nice. My legs were blown so I walked the first 2 km. Then tossed in some jogging as I loosened up. 8.8 km in 90 minutes, not exactly ripping down the trails.
Swim - Lago di Misurina
Billed as “likely cold” so I packed everything: hooded vest, booties, gloves and full suit.
When I rolled up I didn’t like the look of the clouds, or the forecast. So I bailed back to town for gelato and more muesli. Swimmer reports indicated the temperature was refreshing, but not too cold.
Truth be told… I’m tired and the thought of getting cold, or wet, was unappealing.
Four hours of training, all green zone. Little bit of tempo power work up the final bit of the climb. Got myself on Oli’s massage list at 4:30pm. Hoping for a good night’s sleep (last four nights average was 5hrs 45min).
Sometimes your spirit needs to recover as much if not more than your body. Wishing you better days ahead.
Inability to sleep = shelled! Sounds like an amazing trip