We're already on our 3rd day and i've only just gotten around to providing a contribution to the Camp Blog. Luckily, we have some enthusiastic writers amongst the group who've recorded the EPIC first days brilliantly and from a number of different perspectives, all of which can be read here: http://epicwomancamp.com/blog/
Common themes seem to be; Trisports Lanzarote are looking after us superbly (well, of course), it has been somewhat cooler than most of us expected so far, stunning scenery, great views, hills, wind….and so far great spirit has been demonstrated by our group of 9 campers.
It sucked that I came down with IronFlu less than 24 hours before the start of the camp, but I'm reckoning that these first few days operating on half a lung have prevented me from the higher intensities or EPIC volume that tend to be costly later on in the 8-day camp. We'll see…both the overall points competitions and the QoM comp are pretty close after the first 3 days, and now we're beginning to see some "plays" for points from a number of directions, which is fun to observe. Whether motivated by the game, or simply striving to get through what has been deliberately designed as a very challenging week of training - most people would consider a DAILY minimum of 3km swim, 80km ride and 9km run for 8 days pretty heavy -so far i've been impressed at how these women are throwing themselves at the challenges. I've included some of the toughest bike routes that I know on the island ( since they also happen to be the most scenic, unique, iconic, fun - and may include camels )…and the running is mostly on trails, virtually all on hills…and then we ask them to race a QOM…then tack on for extra "credit"?
Points standings as of day 3:
| Points | |
| Alicia D | 11 |
| Robyn M | 15 |
| Maya WH | 24 |
| Wendy L | 25 |
| Iona M | 26 |
| Josta B | 27 |
| Lisa WH | 30 |
| Karen R | 30 |
| Jo | 32 |
| Suzanne Z | 32 |
| Tara | 33 |
We had a nice calm ocean swim this morning, and setting out a square ~600m course to swim round not only help to break that 3km swim down, it also provides an opportunity to work on sighting ( directly into the sun when required) and swimming a straight course. A few of us can use all the practice we're offered!
The ride today was a sample of the North part of the Ironman lanzaroet course - the most scenic and, with winds rising as they did today (and are likely to for the rest of the week), the most challenging. Including a time QoM up Mirador de Rio halfway round provided some logistical challenges with a mixed paced group, few of whom have any prior knowledge of the Island…but with Daz's help as a guide and a few regroup/photo stops we managed to co-ordinate to that point, and the lunch stop that followed, pretty well.
runs and /or pool swims followed … then paella, dessert and massage ( i'd not recommend doing these 3 in that order, BTW!) …followed by a somewhat weary day recap and brief for tommorow's aquathlon & Ocean Lava combo….
Aquathlon YAY!!!
