My third year as a member of team Evotri has really been an exciting one so far…
On paper, it was definitely slated to be a good one with my wedding in late June, honeymoon to Scotland, and the Ironman World Championships in Kona. None of those have happened yet and it has already been incredible. The cool thing is that the best is yet to come.
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| Caitlin and JP |
As most of you know, I am living in California right now. This place is incredibly beautiful. The roads are perfectly smooth and the climbing is second to none. The 500 mile trail system definitely helps for running and a pool across from my work makes things super easy. I am really starting to find my groove here and my fitness is starting to develop.
The year started with the hiring of a coach. I wanted someone who was local and knew what it took to get to an elite level in the sport. Jill Savege, Canadian Olympian and Ironman Kona Top ten finisher, has been amazing. She is flexible and knows how to maximize the time I have in order to continuously improve. Under her, my swimming has become more consistent and my stroke has become more balanced and powerful. We’ve started actually doing intense workouts and it is paying off big time. I am better across all disciplines which feels really good, but still loads of work to do.
My cycling has really come back to me as a huge strength. I even bested Jordan Rapp, Multiple Ironman Champ (and husband of my coach,) in a 20k TT!!! To be fair he was absolutely smashed from several huge weeks of training so it wasn’t exactly legit. Nevertheless, it was so exciting for me to even be racing with him -- let alone beat him! I was over the moon as he is one of my heroes in the sport. I went through some really dark spots cycling where it was a weakness and I questioned continuing in the sport. If I didn’t have cycling, I didn’t have a weapon, so it is a huge relief to have it back in the arsenal again. It also helped bring my confidence back.
Training with my CycleOps powertap, powerbeam pro trainer, and my Zipp 808 has made test workouts and races fast and fun. I am really starting to delve into training with power. My favorite workout is the 20 min TT. Power has been an excellent tool for really pushing on hard intervals and it has taken my riding to a new level.
I attended a spring training camp put on by Solvang Triathlon Camps. It was some of the most intensive training I have ever done and we accumulated 27 hours of intense training in 6 days. I must say, it buried me. It took me a while to come out of that hole and absorb the work.
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| Dead after a particularly hard day at the Solvang Spring Fling Camp |
I am officially out of the bucket and feeling incredibly sharp again. Especially on the bike. One of the coolest recent developments is that I have been riding with Terenzo Bozzone, multiple time world champion, for the last week and we have been hitting the hills hard. We have had two 80-90 mile rides with 8-9000 ft of climbing in each one. I am slowly learning what kind of work it takes for these guys to be at the top of the sport. Man… it is nuts.
Stay tuned to all of JP's training and antics at poohbeartri.blogspot.com
