Europe

I made the big trip across the world a few days ago for the next two WCS races in Madrid and Kitzbuhel. I’m here with a great little group: coach Patrick, massage therapist Kim, physiologist John, and training partners Kyla, Jeff and Matt. We are staying in Les Angles, France for a few weeks, which is the same place I trained last year before London. It’s nice to come back to a familiar place where we know the good cycling and running routes, and we have an awesome place to stay with hosts/ temporary parents Mike and Jenny. I’m already finding the altitude a lot easier to adapt to than last year, and although I’m still feeling tired from the jet lag, the first few days have gone really well.

Nothing very interesting to report, the training camp lifestyle is not very exciting, especially in a little ski town where everything is closed for the season. It’s absolutely beautiful here, but there’s nothing else to do except train hard, nap, eat and recover properly, which is exactly what we’re here to do. Boring places are probably the best places to train as there are very few distractions. My recovery days at home often become the busiest and most stressful ones, filled with appointments and grocery shopping and laundry and all the things that I don’t have time to do throughout the week. So I’m trying to appreciate how lucky I am to be here, even though I do really miss home!

Two new fun things that I got before I left: NormaTec and Bonk Breaker Bars. I am so grateful to have received the new NormaTec pro, which is a smaller and more travel-friendly version of their original machine. Personalized and everything! Normatec is a “muscle pump” compression machine used to help with post-workout recovery, and I find it helps me feel so much better after hard training days.

I was also sent some boxes of Bonk Breaker Energy bars, which are delicious and healthy, and a great snack in between workouts. You have to be pretty good to put “The Worlds Best Energy Bar” right on your package! Go get some.

Ok, that’s all the updates. And I’ve refreshed twitter about 5 million times. Now what do I do… I’m bored.

Thanks for reading,

Paula