The journey to Spain was no picnic, i had to sleep in an airport overnight, travel with a bike box and multiple bags and then experience the very reliable Spanish bus timetables. However after meeting up with Finlay (another athlete) we both managed to arrive at the Hotel in time for a first evening of Spa (that's right we had a spa!!) and the first of many feedings at the incredible Hotel Buffet.
The week was always planned to be a big heavy week of training but due to having such good coaches this wasn't just go out and do what you want. Everything was structured, controlled and organised. This made me very relaxed, all i had to do was turn up at certain times ready to swim, bike or run and the rest of the time i would eat, nap or relax in the Spa. Graeme and Allen have a lot of experience between them as do many of the other athletes on the camp so i was able to soak this up and really learn as much as possible as well as training hard. Each evening after training we also had brilliant workshops, varying from nutrition, to swim technique to running performance. I really enjoy the science and theories behind everything i do so this really made the week for me.
Anyway onto training! First i will start with the total distances over the week:
Swim- 20.87 KM
Bike- 443.8 KM
Run- 59.82 KM
Swimming: We swam every morning and a couple of days we also open water swam in wetsuits. The swimming varied between technique sessions with video analysis- having Allen Cardwell there a Swim Smooth coach was fantastic and we could really break down my stroke. And also strength, endurance and speed swims. We swam in an outdoor 50M pool which was incredible, each morning the sun rose onto the pool and i really enjoy swimming in a 50, partly as it makes sets seem shorter and its better for Open water training. During the week i really tried hard to focus on my technique, i was diagnosed as an "Arnie" (See swim smooth website) so i was continually thinking about my swimming and constantly picking the coaches brains. I was really pleased with the swimming i have never swam 7 days in a row before and even completed a set of 30x100s which seemed a hell of a lot! My swimming is far from perfect but i feel after the camp i know where i need to work with my stroke and i feel i have had some great volume and time in the pool. We also did a couple of open water sea swims which was great as i did not want to turn up to my first race having not been in the sea for a year!
Cycling: Sometimes i wonder if Spain was built for cyclists, perfect roads, brilliant climbs, wide descents and bloody good coffee! This was only my second time cycling abroad and i really enjoyed the routes out there. We could smash along the flat of the coast if we needed too or we could climb high into the mountains and up some brilliant climbs. Every ride had a mixture of both and was again structured. We had a long 5 hour day midweek of 130km which took in some amazing climbing including the Grau and also had some very long flat, fast hot sections where i was introduced to the Allen Cardwell express! Other rides included hill rep sessions, temp climbs, recovery rides and also a pretty fast ride on the Challenge Barcelona course (On which i suffered) but held onto the others until i decided to piss and rode the rest of the way solo! The riding on the camp was great there were some seriously strong bikers out there so chasing them at times was brilliant and other times very stupid (i'm young and yet to learn) But riding in a group everyday on some of the most amazing roads really was brilliant. I'm feeling very strong on the bike this year and on the climbs i feel brilliant, i have practised my nutrition for longer efforts and didn't bonk once! For me there is no better feeling than taken your turn on the front and seeing everyone right on your wheel. I do 90% of my training alone so riding in Summer kit with a group and great banter was brilliant and the sessions were ideal.
Running: Running out there was what Graeme called "icing on the cake" not the main focus but a definite benefit when it could be done. After most rides we would run of the bike, sometimes hitting hard sessions of 2x4k efforts where i did well to sit on Graeme and Craig (another brilliant athlete) shoulder. We would do most running on the flat route along the coast which was really hot but brilliant running conditions. We did do one long trail run in the hills just outside Callela, these were very steep hills and led to me having some ITB pain in the next couple of days but i love hill running so enjoyed the session. Other runs would consist of hard efforts such as 12x400m's or just long steady tempo runs. All week i felt great running and running in just a pair of short shorts was brilliant, the weather really does have a positive effect on training!
Most of my training can be seen on Strava if you are interested http://www.strava.com/athletes/1075991
So that's really how the week went, we trained, we ate, we slept and we relaxed in the Spa. I pushed hard when i was told too and took it easy also. I tried to pick other athletes brains and learn as much as possible. The weather was brilliant everyday and the guys on the camp were great company and a pleasure to be around. If training camp could be my life i would be very happy, focusing on nothing other than training is such an incredible thing and very relaxing.
However now i am back in Plymouth, with exams to sit and a degree to finish, not quite as brilliant!
I want to say thank you to everyone on the camp. Especially Graeme and Allen, i really appreciate all the time you spent with me and the work you guys put in. It was a pleasure to train with you both and discuss my future!
Here are some photos!
Rider some achievement it's big deal
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