My summer in Belgium has come to an end, and to finish off my summer I have travelled to the Alps for 2 weeks of training with DS, Helen, and Ian Field. For Helen and Ian this is their pre-season training camp for the fast approaching cross season, and for me it's a great way for me to get in long, consecutive days of training.
I have never had this road training camp experience before and it is perfect for strengthening my knee in preparation for next season, so I can have an issue free season, unlike the start of this year.
We are staying at the top of Les Deux Alps which is around 1600m, so some good altitude training is taking place. The bad thing is that at the end of every ride we have to climb all the way back up to the apartment which takes around 50 minutes. Everyday I’m attempting to come up with different ways to prevent epic ‘cracking’ on the long climb back up to food, Mars Refuel and sleep!
So far, I think I have blown every single day, except for the much needed recovery ride yesterday along the valley bottom, where I was allowed a cafe stop and the best tasting White Magnum ever! DS has decided to go on ‘the regime’ and has bullied Ian and Helen into it too. This has an extensive list of rules, a few of which include no carbs after lunch, salad for tea and a lot of training with another form of exercise everyday too (e.g a walk).
Well, I have refused to take part in said regime as it is technically the end of my season and so I am taking great pleasure every evening consuming a hearty carb filled sandwich whilst the others tuck into their salads, and Stef's face is always a picture. I’d also like to add that Stef has not even riden his bike today… slacker!
Each climb pretty much goes the same way. Ian and Helen race each other up it spinning away, I try and make sure the gap between me and them is minimal, but pushing a god awful gear and really trying hard not to mentally crack by carefully selecting motivational songs on my iPod. Good job the views are amazing and the sun is out or else at some points the climbs could have resembled hell! With 6 days down and 8 to go, and my legs aching every minute of the day, I'm still having a great time and just can’t get enough of the view out the window.
As for off the bike, I have, as of yesterday, enrolled for my second year at uni and that will be starting on 27th September. A lot of my friends are already back in Newcastle, moving into their new houses, and I really can’t wait to get back to them all after such a long summer apart.
I'll write again soon, but you can see daily updates of events in the Alps by following me via LittleSimo and onthedrops on twitter.
Annie
xx