I’m a bit late in getting this out as I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to race Kona this year. Good news is I’ll be able to race and I’d like to keep the tradition of a Kona/IMF prep camp going. This will be the 9th year I’ve done this camp.
This year it might be a camp or it might just be a group of us getting together to train. Either way, I’d like to see if any of you would like to join me Sept 14th -22nd in Palm Springs, CA for 8 days of great training. I’m planning on a similar structure of past camps; a few long rides in the heat of Palm Springs, a few epic mountain rides in Big Bear (staying one or two nights in Big Bear), and of course the pinnacle training op of the camp on the last Saturday would be long Swamis with a supported 15-20 mile run off the bike. Of course there will be a number of other runs and swims throughout the week.
At this point I’ve got 4 others joining me and I’m happy to accommodate more.
Please email me if you’re interested.
Mitch@counterpartcoaching.com
Hey Mitch that is huge news that your back to 100% and can race again in Kona. I am glad to hear about that. Good luck in Kona…I passed my rolldown slot at IMLP. For next year, Wildflower or St. Croix and then Ironman LP. I am also toying with the idea of renting a house at the base of Alpe d’Huez and getting together 8-10 hammerheads to ride 4-6 hours per day on all the big climbs in the Alps for ~7 days at the end of may…interested?
Thanks Dev, not 100% but I’m just happy to be able to race over there.
I think we’re doing the Honu camp again but France sure sounds fun.
Mitch
Hey Mitch, at our age being 100% is not always in the cards. I’d say most masters dudes are always racing even at peak at 90%ish with some body part that is partially broken/sub par. This is the beauty of age group competition…by the time you reach 40+ everyone is to some extent damaged goods, so training and racing becomes a matter of how each of us manages around the broken parts, in addtion to juggling the rest of life.
If you don’t do the Honu camp and I do the France thing, we’ll have to lure you over to make a celebrity appearance. Paul Thomas has already threatened to actually train, show up and take out a can of wuuuuupassss if I commit to doing this camp!
Hmmmm, that sounds like a good time. I am not too far from there. Headed to Cancun for 70.3 on the 21 or sometime around there. Might head out for a day or two though.
Hey, dev, I would be interested in something like that. Not sure if your looking for riders, or if I am fast enough. But, I’d be willing to give it a shot.
Mitch, sorry to hijack your thread, but I thought I’d share some of the ideas behind the France camp with you and others.
The France camp would be pretty simple. I’d rent a house for a week. Everyone pays their share, buys their own groceries and cooks their own food…feel free to share if you want. Your beer and French wine consumption is your business. I will cook nightly for those interested and make espressos every morning. I’ll also set a daily ride route with options to turn around and cut it short, or go up ahead and hammer. Galibier, Telegraphe, Glandon, Croix de Fe, Les Deux Alpes, Iseran, Chamrose and perhaps Izoard and Sestriere would all hopefully be on the agenda. If there are enough rental cars, we can also do a one day trip over to Nyon France outside the base of Ventoux at Bedouine and do a Ventoux ITT smackdown. But all this will be totally self supported…no sag wagons. There are also some good trail running options in the vicinity, but personally, I’ll be doing minmal maintenance running…~30-40 minutes every other day. Keep in mind that at the end of May, all Cols should be open, however, weather can range from scorching hot to potentially snow at the summits. You may recall images of Andy Hampsten cresting the Gavia in the Giro during the same time of year in a snow storm…
The only cost will be to haul your butt and bike from wherever on this planet you live to Bourg d’Oisans at the base of Alpe d’Huez and pay me for you share of the house. This will likely happen next May or the following May. The real limiter for me is to have enough time off work so I can pull this off and also do my family summer vacation with wife and son. I need to wait a few months until I know what our company’s major product milestones and major customer account plans are in 2008 before committing.
I originally planned to do something more organized in 2005, but never pulled it off. This would be totally “self supported…show up and train”.
As for speed, there will be a cross section of super fast guys or two and a bunch of regular age group poser guys. I have keen interest from Dr. Tom Evans who showed me how to climb some real mountains last week when I was in Penticton riding with him 4000 ft in under an hour over 13K to the Apex Mtn resort…that climb was tougher than Alpe d’Huez!
Dev