Russell Cox’s Blog: Epic Camp Review

I’ve brought in the New Year as I mean to go on. Not with the fizzle of the sparklers and failed fireworks on the beach as the clock struck midnight, but with two weeks of hard training following it. I’ve been a very busy athlete logging many hours of training on Epic Camp.

Epic Camp is the product of Scott Molina and Gordo Byrn. It’s an opportunity for endurance athletes to really push their limits. Long hours of hard training with everything else taken care of. For 2010 they decided to go even bigger than usual and ride the length of New Zealand over 15 days. As a veteran of two shorter camps they had me hooked!

The third of January found me and a group of similarly driven athletes standing at Cape Reinga the North end of the North island. A moment for photos and from then on it was swim, bike and run our way to Bluff at the South end of the South island. Just to remind us this wasn’t supposed to be easy we started with a hilly run race and bike and swim time trials. Everyone said they were going to hold back, I’m not sure many did.

Day in and day out we moved point to point down the length of the country. Each day a long bike ride would take us to our next hotel. Then throw in some swimming and running too for good measure. A potent part of the camp is the points competition. It’s there to encourage us all to work that little bit harder and stretch ourselves further. Fifteen days is a long time so I’ll pick out a few highlights for you.

Day one had two high points for me. Performing well in a stunning but tough run race and repeating that performance in a time trial. When a New Zealander talks about Kiwi Rollers don’t be fooled they mean tough little hills. I don’t think anyone had expected the initial run to be as hard as it was though. Up and down, up and down for ten painful kilometres. I think the downs did more damage than the ups.

Day two started with a reminder of how hard running feels on camp. Everyone’s legs were reminding them about the previous days efforts. Add to that some nasty weather for the ride and it wasn’t the most fun out there on the bike. I’m a nervy descender and when the roads get wet it just gets worse! Still things improved as the day went on and the scenery was beautiful.

Day three was yet more beautiful scenery and a chance to see how long I could hang in with the A group. Strongest riders up front it was a case of holding onto a draft as best you could. Sometimes it was hard to take note of the country around you as you focussed on the wheel ahead. Also a day for the poorest evening meal of the trip. The Millenium Sports Institute in Auckland clearly didn’t understand the catering requirements!

Day four was time for another race just as we recovered from the exertions of day one. A short Aquathon in the Coromandel. Beautiful water for a slow swim in my case as somehow I managed to drop off the pack. Last out of transition I relied on my run to get me somewhere up n the middle of the field by the finish line. Racing done it was just a 150km to go to the next hotel.

Day five was the first time I headed off early for the ride. A long rolling day around the West of Lake Taupo teamed up with Rob Quantrell another Brit on the camp. I planned to ride things steady and get the job done. The plan worked and I felt good enough to do a couple of 10K runs and a swim in the lake.

Day six was another day I opted to ride things conservatively. Some braver campers climbed up Whakapapa to add to the ride. I kept it simple and skipped the climb. Just when things started to brighten up the wind picked up full in our face. If I thought I’d get away with an easy finish to the day then I was disappointed. The final hills were real stings in the tail.

Day seven was my best ride of the camp. I ended up working with David Craig and pulling a small group along for the entire 200km ride. Felt great and the last 60km of riding was through some of the nicest terrain yet. Some grumbles were made as our group managed to miss the lunch stop, but ultimately a great day.

Day eight is the first time I have ever been blown to a halt! Climbing the Rimutakas with typical Wellington winds is no easy matter. I turned a corner as the rode pitched up and a strong gust hit me. Luckily I unclipped and got a foot down before I fell into the road. Then it was a pleasant ride into Wellington and the first island ticked off the list.

Day nine was easy! A ferry ride and then a 30K ride to our motel in Blenheim. Much appreciated at this point.

Day ten was the first time we really felt those Kiwi sea breezes. A shorter 125km ride all of it into a headwind. Things proved much tougher out there than had been expected. Rather than feeling fresh from an easy day, my legs were feeling sluggish and slow. I buckled down and reminded myself I was used to this living in Wellington!

Day eleven involved far more riding along than I’d like and when that wasn’t the case it was a desperate bid to stay on the back of the bunch. By lunch time I was gone and happy to sit on a wheel for the rest of the ride into Christchurch. It was around about this point when it became clear that friendly riding didn’t necessarily mean that friendly.

Day twelve had the best run of the camp. The Godley Head trail run is fantastic. Tough, but the views are spectacular enough to take your mind off it. We had perfect weather too, but it wasn’t to last. The 150km ride that followed was the most miserable of camp. Wet and cold everyone had as many layers as they could muster on. It was supposed to be flat and easy, but no one enjoyed it much.

Day thirteen was when the fatigue really started kicking in. Despite that I ended up hanging in with the A group for a lot of it. Including a particularly strong pull on the front which left most of us wondering how long it would last. Fortunately after lunch people seemed more willing to take their time and enjoy the views over the beaches.

Day fourteen reintroduced the concept of hills with vengeance. Dunedin has some brutal climbing for sure. Whilst the climbs were brutal we were once again rewarded with stunning views. Well most of us. It was also the day I learnt that the lycra in my shorts had thinned too much and felt obliged to bin them at the end of the ride!

Day fifteen was mercifully a lot easier than the profile suggested. More importantly we got the job done and arrived in Bluff at the South end of New Zealand. To cap it all off in appropriate Epic style we went for a trail run that involved a calf burning ascent of Bluff Hill.

My new year of training started with just over 100 hours in 15 days! Not bad going at all. I’ve been taking it easy since I got back to Wellington and letting myself recover. Then it’s time to capitalise on all the hard work and get ready for Ironman New Zealand.

If your want more details of my experiences on the camp check out my daily blogs over on my site.

FILED UNDER: Blogs / Features TAGS: Epic-Camp / Gordo-Byrn / New-Zealand / Russell-Cox / Scott-Molina

Paul Moore

Paul Moore is the Online Editor for Triathlete Europe. When not glued to a computer he can be found writing books - most recently Ultimate Triathlon: A complete training guide for long-distance triathletes which you can buy on Amazon

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