Utah Training Camp - St. George

Now that I'm home from St. George, where the squad had its most recent training camp, I'm reading "The 19th Wife", about one of Brigham Young's many wives, Ann Eliza, and polygamy.  It's interesting because much of it takes places in southern Utah and names places that we saw or rode by during camp (Kanab, St. George, Zion, Snow Canyon, the "crystal meth labs" of Hurricane, etc.).  

St. George has some incredible scenery.  Very deep colors (sky, water, desert, canyons etc).  It was awesome to train there for a month in the desert, but it would be a tough place to live year-round.  It gets HOT.  It's the kind of hot that makes you feel like you are breathing through a small straw and your skin is turning inside out.  BUT, we had some great places for open water swimming at a couple of the reservoirs (see photo below), tons of trails to run on (through canyons, around the reservoir), endless riding options - we could ride on a highway for an hour and see maybe 5 cars-, and treadmills for when it was just too darn hot.

The squad had a good block of training with coach Paulo on deck, on land, or in the Element urging us on.  I love the competitive atmosphere of camp.  Now i'm back in Richmond for a while, finally cooling off after the   10 day heat wave that just came through.  I'm taking a couple of easy days and then back into training.  Next race is Columbus, OH at the end of July!  

Bonus picture from Wildwood, NJ...this picture changed my stereotype of the Jersey Shore!