back to school camp...

Another training camp done - this time 5 days (Monday to Friday), for the Dio school cycling team. I guess the main idea is get in a week of solid training to bring the fitness up and to teach everyone a few new skills (or remind a few who have been there before - and who are a little rusty). I was one of three coaches - Vanessa is head coach and Scott is the other coach there. It quickly became apparent that there were two distinct groups for the school girls- those that had hung their bikes up at the end of last season and done little else between the end of last season and the start of camp - and the others who had done a good amount of training and were in pretty reasonable shape. Unfortunately there were a few were sick and/or injured too.

The first proper ride was full of complaints and there was some pretty slow riding. The pushing had already begun (fellow coach Scott and I pushing the slower riders back into the bunches). While the average speed was pretty low, the coaches efforts were not so! The next day involved a couple of time trials, one 8km and one of around 2km, but mostly up hill. Sort of seeding TT's for the first few races of the season. Of course the complaint level escalated, as plenty did not want to do TT's - especially those that were very unfit! Those that complained the least generally did the best - probably because they had a better mental attitude that a huge physical benefit. At the end of this day it was time for the coaches to have a bit of a growl - and tell a few to "harden up". The next day was the bigger ride at around 90km, and to be fair, the attitudes had improved a heap, and all were riding a lot better. Having said that a few had left camp as "sick" or sort of thrown in the towel. Some were genuinely sick, but some were just giving up. The last day was an easy ride (33km), and all went very well for the front group, which I was taking, and Scott got the short straw, having to push the slower riders along...

From my perspective most of the rides were very easy overall (average HR for the rides were between 109 and 118) - but there were a few harder aspects, and they did tend to be quite tiring overall. Probably just been on the bike seat for so long! The back was pretty sore each morning too - and that was no doubt from all the pushing! Scott and I had to do the time trials - which were a bit of a blast - but you had to make sure you weren't beaten by the girls! The power graphs are below - 8km with an average of 374w and the hill climb (just over 1km) and an average of 444w. I went out pretty hard in the TT to try to catch Scott, and made a big gain initially, but then "popped" a bit and had to try to hold on to the end. The spike toward the end is a little hill - just for when you are getting tired. I was not that enthusiastic for the hill Climb, and went out hard to get speed up before the climb actually started - then just survived it really. Should have probably been over 500w average, but that was not there! Ended up one all for the coaches bragging rights and not beaten by any school girls! Whew! Probably not too bad a result for where I am fitness wise either.



8km road TT...




Hill TT - getting a bit tired now...


One thing that was a little bit of an eye opener for me was being "on camp" with girls. I certainly don't claim to know too much about the other gender and this just added to that mystery! Each night the girls organized a few games - in a guys world it would be called "team building", but here I am pretty sure it was just high school girls entertaining themselves. I maybe scared for life from these experiences, as the coaches did get roped in to these events. First Major was the marsh-mellow game. The contestants line up and you have to put a marsh-mellow in your mouth (not eat it) and say "fluffy bunny". Add another marsh mellow and say the words. At some point you fail and lose the marsh mellows! Pretty gross really. Three groups get through this game and I have to say it was amazing how many marsh mellows fit in a mouth and how disgusting it is when they come out! Then the call comes for the coaches to have a go. Gulp! OK - I am not moving and if Scott says no, we are safe (Vanessa is not doing it!). Scott cracks and we are lined up with bowls in hand and someone handing up marsh mellows! We get a few past 20 and Scott cracks and off to the kitchen to remove the marsh mellows, and I do something incredibly stupid - eat the marsh mellows! I then proceeded to feel VERY sick for the next hour! Next night is "here is a waikato times newspaper - take a coach and dress them in this - in some cycling theme". Let's just say that standing around in my short shorts having newspaper sellotaped to me by 15-17 year old girls is quite scary. I am not sure I have all the sellotape removed yet either! The only redeeming fact is Scott looked like a bigger Dork than I did! The last night was sing star night - pick a song, dress up and do a dance/sing in your team. Coaches are judges (I am no singer or dancer!)! This actually went OK, and I did not mind being the "Simon Cowell" judge either. The girls really got into this. I can't imagine boys doing this sort of stuff! The judges retired and the girls continued the dancing and singing outside (9pm ish). One of the parents then come in and tell me I may have to rescue girls from the pool - the singing dancing has progress to in the pool... oh dear...
There is photographic evidence of the weeks training and "Team building" - but I am not sure they should ever be published! Far too scary!