OK... Here it is..

What you've all been waiting for.... My Club La Santa recap... well good things are worth waiting for.. ok in this case perhaps not... but it'll keep me outta trouble writing for the next half hour or so!!!

Here was the schedule;
Friday:
0900: Swim 1.5hrs video + techinque
1300: Bike: 2hrs
1500: Run; HR zones (I didn't do this, this was the nose breath = 80%MHR thingy)
Saturday:
0900: Run 1 Hr off road easy (I didn't do this)
1100: Swim; 1-2Hours video, technique, fitness
1530: Bike: 2hrs
1730: Run (as a brick) 3k
Sunday:
0830: Bike: 5hrs
Monday:
0900: Bike: 1.5hours
1500: Mini Duathlon race (optional, I didn't do this)
1630: Recovery swim or wetsuit in lagoon (didn't do this either!)
Tuesday:
0900: Bike 2.5hr
1130: Run (Brick) 1hr
1500: Swim 1hr technique and video
Wednesday:
1000: Mini Tri (400/18/4.5)
1330: Bike: 3.5hrs - cancelled due to high winds!!!

So it was a great, full on camp. We also has some evening lectures/ talks which were good. As Jules has mentioned in a comment on my last post our swimming video's/ horror movies are now on youtube... Very interesting seeing where you are going wrong.... some things I knew I did badly and somethings I didn't realise - it just shows you that actually to get yourself video'd in the pool is probably a worthwhile exercise!!

Here's my main learning points from the camp;
1. 80% of your training should typically be done at 80% of MaxHR..... indeed coach Joe said 60-80%of maxHR. If you don't know your maxHR you can gage the 80% mark by breathing through your nose throughout. The moment you stop nose breathing you have exceeded 80%Max! Interesting stuff
2. The human body has amazing capacity to train. Even when you wake up feeling achy and tired in those muscles once you start up again you find renewed sources of energy. Anything is possible!
3. SLEEP is an essential part of recovery! (G&T is not)
4. Rather then getting a flywheel turbo trainer try out a roller.... you won't need a video to keep yourself occupied as you'll be concentrating that hard to stay upright and balanced! Joking aside - because of the balancing thing you develop two things; better stability and better pedal stroke/ technique. Coach Joe reckoned they're the best thing, basically do 30mins then hop of for a quick run then get back on for another 30mins and another run after.
5. The weather plays an important role in races! Now take the mini triathlon... It was blowing an absolute gale. Even going on the flat into the wind meant I was in my granny rings! So despite posting a quicker swim time and faster run time then last year (despite the wind, which shows how much better my run is getting), I still ended up with a slower time overall because of the bike split - this was all down to the headwind! So I learn from this that whatever race time goal I may set for myself the weather does play a vital role. So you can't always consider absolute time achieved without taking into account the conditions - simply put even if you race the same venue over the same course you can't expect a "best" or a "time" as the conditions will impact the result. I know this is obvious but I've learned not to therefore be disappointed if your performance seems worse year-on-year as it's all relative!

I'd love to go on a camp again this year but doubt I'll get the chance - it is an excellent way to focus though. I've got lots to improve upon which is a great place to be!

Oh now no "holiday" blog is complete without the odd picture - these are courtesy of Jules (my roomy) as I've still not downloaded my camera yet!

Here's Bianca (left) getting some sunshine alongside Julian's trusty stead;


Then there was me looking excited about the 5 hour bike ride up the volcano!


Putting my legs up after the 5 hour ride;



And obviously a bit more tired after another session (please note I DIDN'T KNOW my roomie had sneakly taken this picture - BAD BOY!)


And finally a picture of Pete (left) who was one of our bike group leaders (also did the "follow" the tour de France last year, the whole lot!). He was great for the first couple of days... until the point when one of the group riders took him out, causing not only a bit of a large crash but also pretty bad injury to Pete's shoulder. Hope he's recovery is going positively. The rather large guy on the right is a twice winner of Ironman Lanzarote - Jules, if you be so kind to confirm his name in a comment! This guy went up the 10k climb I did in 55 mins in about 35 - and was only in his zone 1 - YIKES!


Oh and how could I forget the CLUB SANDWICH:


Training since the camp has obviously been missing in action slightly. Not much done whilst boarding (one quick x-trainer session and one 40min dreadmill interval session). Since getting home Monday have been struggling with jet-lag and getting back into work mode.... so only managed a 30min hill session, club swim night and a 1hour run. Right now I'm not feeling too confident about the half-Mary a week Sunday. More on that later.

Next post - Tremblant recap! Happy training folks!