This weekend I'm boldly going where, well, I have never been before: my first ever training camp. TeamT2A is off on the Epic Jebel Hafeet cleansing camp and it promises to be emotional.
Jebel Hafeet is located near Al Ain - a couple of hours inland from Dubai. It is a mountain that rises, almost out of nowhere, between Al Ain and Oman. Our hotel (base camp) is near the top of the mountain. The road from bottom to top is often named the greatest driving road in the world - 13k long, with 21 switchbacks, it climbs 1,300m... that road will be our nemesis this weekend!
This camp is an annual one for T2A and, in the pst, has resulted in blood, sweat, tears and people falling asleep in their lunch. It's brutal and, with temperatures now rising well up into the 30s, that just adds an extra challenge.
In a way, I'm looking forward to it tho - I'm a poor climber and know that this will really help both my fitness and confidence. Also, with my IM Austria and Challenge Roth (a lot of the team are racing there one week after Austria) now around 3 months away, it's the perfect way to kick off our big IM blocks.
This morning, I packed the road bike, put the lightweight carbon Planet X 50 wheels on there, and made sure I had my most toothy of cassettes on those wheels. At 6ft and 82kg, I'm not a mountain goat and need all the help I can get!
I'm hoping to take lots of pics and blog about the experience for the next three evenings but, if I fail to do so, I'll wrap it all up with a Hafeet summary when we get back on Saturday. That is, of course, if I survive!!!
Jebel Hafeet is located near Al Ain - a couple of hours inland from Dubai. It is a mountain that rises, almost out of nowhere, between Al Ain and Oman. Our hotel (base camp) is near the top of the mountain. The road from bottom to top is often named the greatest driving road in the world - 13k long, with 21 switchbacks, it climbs 1,300m... that road will be our nemesis this weekend!
This camp is an annual one for T2A and, in the pst, has resulted in blood, sweat, tears and people falling asleep in their lunch. It's brutal and, with temperatures now rising well up into the 30s, that just adds an extra challenge.
In a way, I'm looking forward to it tho - I'm a poor climber and know that this will really help both my fitness and confidence. Also, with my IM Austria and Challenge Roth (a lot of the team are racing there one week after Austria) now around 3 months away, it's the perfect way to kick off our big IM blocks.
This morning, I packed the road bike, put the lightweight carbon Planet X 50 wheels on there, and made sure I had my most toothy of cassettes on those wheels. At 6ft and 82kg, I'm not a mountain goat and need all the help I can get!
I'm hoping to take lots of pics and blog about the experience for the next three evenings but, if I fail to do so, I'll wrap it all up with a Hafeet summary when we get back on Saturday. That is, of course, if I survive!!!
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