3km swim
22km ride with 800 m climbing ( camp minimum)
steep trail hike of 8km which took over 2 hrs
Aaaaahh, the benefits of a good night;'s sleep.... I woke up at 10 to 7 almost like a new person this morning, had also chosen to sleep with my legs elevated on 3 pillows as felt everything was a bit swollen last night ( heat, training, altitude.....)and had left the window wide open and could only hear the gushing stream which must have soothed me to a deep slumber....
The breakfast buffet did not disappoint ( as did last night's dinner, VEGGIES. SALMON. OMG!!!) but we were departing for the pool at 8.30 am so most of us were sensible. And the coffee was OK too. Phew...
We left for the pool which was about 7km away, today's option was 100 x 100 or min of 30 x 100 with a ride of either 30km or 800 m climbing in. I knew I was not in any form to swim for the infinity it would take to do 10km as well as John placing an embargo on buoys and paddles; apparently that is a standard Epic camp rule that somehow slipped past my beady eye.....but it was a beautiful pool and we managed to sequester 3 lanes between us and I have to say i REALLY enjoyed swimming this morning, toy free altho I felt like had really bad asthma when I started and couldn't get it under control then remembered we were at 1400m which does make quite a difference to the oxygen available!!
Us 3 km er's were dropped back to the hotel so i then went to do my ride and rode up to the ski field above Arinsal. It was 5km and got me 415m so I dropped back down then straight downhill to La Messana ( the next town ) then turned around and climbed back up, quick coffee stop at a pizza place to join the boys who had successfully swam 10km then i toddled off to finish my ascent. There is nowhere flat in Andorra, its up or down at around 8 %......there is also ZERO cell phone network coverage if you are on roaming as none of us had any cell phone coverage as soon as we crossed the border yesterday, solely hotel wifi but at least its decent.
Quick shower, snack then regroup at 3pm to be driven to some trail which climbed 945m over 4km, rocky and cobbly so it was a hike not really a run. I lost sight of the group, got confused at a sign pot so I think took the wrong path up and never met anyone else coming down so turned around and then also managed to take a wrong track but realised after a few hundred meters so climbed back up ( aaaah ) then made it back down to the van just as a few of the others arrived, that descent was hell on the knees and quads.........
More snacks, dinner, a couple of Riojas to end the day and now getting ready for tomorrow; a big day as we ride to Prades and also climb the highest climb in the Pyrenees ( cant remember name right now...)
Hopefully my butt has repaired itself and ready for another millennium on the saddle, it looks to be quite a bit cooler too which should help altho I don't want to get cold....hmm..... undershirt os looked out for tomorrow for the first time.
On that note, I;d better get to bed and get those legs elevated again, got to see if I can win that polka dot jersey back though given the amount we have been eating and that my carb consumption has increased three hundred fold, I'm probably lugging an extra few kgs up the climbs.........
Until tomorrow, adios from Andorra...
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