More from Switzerland

Switzerland training camp has been a mixed bag - mostly positive... but there are always a few downfalls to anywhere you go. It is absolutely incredible to have the opportunity to live and train in the middle of the Alps. After all, not many people get this chance during their lifetime. Living here you don't have much choice but to get fit. There are very few distractions, which can be a good or bad thing, I guess. However, I will say, that living in such a secluded (and uppity) location has its downfalls. Everything here is ridiculously expensive: rent, food and even pool fees (for a small and somewhat "ghetto" pool)! It is certainly a challenge on an athlete budget, so I'm doing the best I can to budget and try to make sure I'm not completely broke by August.

I found my new favorite run on Saturday. We set out on a long run up into the Alps and ran straight up for about 30 minutes. Finally finding ourselves above the tree line there was an incredible view of the Davos region below us. Dodging cows as we ran back down, we found our way on to an undulating path that rolled around, past waterfalls and through fields, which had some of the best views and the perfect surface for running. I enjoyed it so much that I almost forgot that I had been running for over 90 minutes, most of the time running up and at altitude.

I'm really excited that the Tour has finally started. It's always good amusement for rest days and the Garmin boys have kicked it off with some stellar performances already. I was hoping to get down to the area near Geneva, Switzerland when the tour runs through that region, but I'm not sure with my racing schedule if I'm going to be able to make it happen. It certainly would be a lot of fun and really awesome to get to see the Tour up close as part of the "Garmin family".

For now, I have about 2.5 weeks of training to go before I head off to Hamburg for the World Championship Series race there on the 25th of July. I need a little redemption after the terrible swim and subsequent concussion of D.C!!