This morning when I got out of bed, I realized something: I, like a lot of competitive age groupers, dream of what we could do if we could train full time like the pros do. Having had a taste of what the pros do, I think I’ll keep my day job.

It was hard to get on my bike today — I just lacked any sort of motivation. Unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly an easy day: about 100 miles of cycling, split up in the middle by a 2k cold lake swim and a 10k-ish trail run. It was 51 miles out to the lake, and included a long series of climbs that were — true to the stereotype &mdash uphill and into the wind.

I had gotten spit off the back after about 19 miles (still have my front brake issue so I couldn’t ride in the pack), and going up the road towards St. Arnaud, I had absolutely no power in my legs. So I got in the van at around 25 miles with the idea of getting back on the bike after the swim, run and lunch, and seeing how it went.

The lake was pretty cold but very clear, and we did a 4-lap triangle that worked out to around a mile. After the initial shock of the cold (even in a wetsuit), I ended up having my best swim of the entire camp (judging by who I finished near). The trail run was nice and leisurely, just getting the time on our feet (like we really need it). After a good picnic lunch lakeside, I climbed back on my bike with the goal of getting to at least 50 miles for the day.

As much uphill as there had been on the way out, the way back wasn’t entirely downhill. Each series of hills on the way out had had several miles of downhill before going up again, so we had to go up that downhill this time. Not only that, the wind had shifted, and we now had a headwind going back! Doh!

Still, I felt comfortable in my aero bars, and I took full advantage of the downhills, despite the lack of braking power. There were some curves, but none required braking, fortunately. I figured I’d get my 90k (56 miles) in and climb in the van — the only problem was, the van never came. We were so spread out by that point that Sarah, the driver, had problems covering the entire field, so the further I got, the more likely it became that I would just ride on in, which would put me at 120k (75 miles) or so. Not bad considering how terrible I felt at the beginning of the day. I ended up with 76 miles.

So my 7-day total is about 12k of swimming, 425 miles of cycling, and 66k of running. I’ll have to add up the total hours, but it’s a lot — easily the most I’ve ever done, maybe by more than double.

Tomorrow is “events day” — which I involves a little triathlon in and around Nelson. Not sure I’m ready to race at this point, but if anyone’s catchable on the run, you can be sure I’ll try…