Sea Otter-Day 5

Sea Otter day 5 (also day 5 of 5 day sea level training camp), proved to be a no stress no pressure day (at least for the first half of the day). It was the day of the XC, and after winning the circuit race the day before, I was happy to just go out and ride my mtn bike.

Lisa (my team director) dropped me off at the Raceway about an hour before the race started. She left me with my mtn bike, my road bike, a backpack, and tires which I stored at the Specialized tent.

A quick lap of the course was my warm-up and at 11:30 we were off. To my surprise and a little bit of disappointed there was a lot of pavement in the race. I can race pavement any time I want to, but I don't get to race on the dirt very often.

1.5 hrs later, I was done with the race (I finished 12th), and packing up my mtn bike, backpack, and tires in the Sports Garage sprinter. After a quick change of shoes, I was on my road bike riding the 10 miles back to our host house.
Shower, food, and packing were followed by a long and interesting trip to the San Jose airport. I had heard how bad the traffic can be after Sea Otter ends, and this was no joke. A drive that should have lasted 1.5hrs ended up being almost 3 hours. Quick thinking by Mechanic Brain took us to a different route and got me to the airport 16 minutes before my flight took off.

I ditched my "TSA banned substances", and ran like hell. This run may have been the hardest workout of the entire weekend. However, I got on my flight and made it home without any more trouble.

I had a really good time at my 5 day sea level training camp, otherwise known as Sea Otter. A few days at home, then it's back on the road again.