London Training Camp??

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The word “Camp” is hardly the way to describe my training in London.  It was more like a training resort.  Although I had to study all day long, training woke me up in the morning and also provided a nice break mid-day.  My gym and pool were drool worthy even to the most outdoor enthusiast.  Take a look at the photo and I will explain why this gym blew my mind.

The gym is like a big box which seems completely separate from the pool.  Once you find the entrance to the box, you enter a reception room.  You show your 4 Seasons guest pass and you are let in.  On the ground floor is a little health food bar.  One floor up is the aerobics zone (also spinning room) and another floor up is the weight lifting zone.  If you go down a floor, beneath the reception , there are two hot pools for relaxing.  From those pools , you can go up a flight of stares and enter the pool area.  Although it seems like the buildings are separate, they are actually connected underground.

The pool is 20m and has a blue light inside.  This means that while you swim , you actually see that you’re creating blue bubbles underwater.  You can only see it at night. In the dressing room, instead of cold tiles, there are hot stone tiles to keep your feet warm.

This is where I trained for the week.
I swam twice, lifted weights once and did two spinning classes.  I did two runs outside.  One run was with the Barclay’s Team at a track called Mile End :

One run was just me getting lost in London for an hour and a half.

Afterwards I made a crucial mistake.  I told the front desk to bring 4 ice bags to my room.  I filled the tub with cold water, added the ice and added myself.  It was freezing and turned my legs red.  Then after 10 minutes (with a break in between), I had a warm shower and tried to warm up. The only way I could think of was under the covers.  The problem was that since my body had wasted so much energy running and keeping itself warm, it wiped me out. My eyes closed instantly.  Eventually, I got up and went to work in the London Office but that ice bath just crushed me.  Only do it right before you plan on going to bed anyway!

London was over and after my flight, I dashed over to Holmes Place for a swim and gym workout.  Went out to eat Italian with my dad and cute bro and looked forward to riding the next day.

Saturday Group Ride

My alarm clock rang at 4:50 AM with plenty of time to get ready and ride to Ceserea, where the group was meeting.  I got dressed in warm gear because it was raining, put the bike in the car (So what if there was some thunder), made espresso and some Special K.  Then I thought it would be wise to check the forum.  On the forum it said that the ride was cancelled.

I took the bike out , changed clothes and got into bed.  Since I already took a sip of espresso, I thought it wise to chill online until I get tired again.  I informed the forum of my current situation and kept surfing.  After about 15 minutes, there was a message telling me to get dressed and come to Tal Shahar for a ride.  I’m not sure what motivated me to do this but I did exactly that. I got dressed, took one sip of my remaining cold espresso and a bite of the cereal that had soaked up the milk.  Then I slowely spit the bite I just took back into the bowl… don’t try that at home kids. It’s gross.

I ended up riding with the group in speratic bursts of rain.  It was actually fun.  The guys hurried ahead and I stayed with Mor who participated in the Israman but she did the full course (What a hero!!!).  We enjoyed the fresh, post rain, views of the fields and vinyards while making our way around Beit Govrin.  We finished at just under 4 hours and the rain was not too bad so we were happy. We had a quick cup of coffee and cottage cheese and we were on your way.

The moral of the story is -

1) If you have to go back to sleep, just sleep in your riding clothes.

2) Don’t take a sip of espresso unless you’re sure you’re riding.

3) There is only one documented event of a woman melting from water so… Just get out there!!