Blogs
Sun, 4 Jul 2010
Sarah checks in from Lanzarote
By Sarah Storey - Horizon Fitness Racing Team
Seven days since the war of attrition at the National Road Champs and I’m enjoying the Canary Island heat at Club La Santa! The camp was scheduled for me after the Nationals and Deloitte Ride Across Britain to give me the chance to both recover from the hard miles and racing, as well as putting in some higher intensity work on the rolling terrain of the volcanic island.
17 years ago I first arrived on the island as a swimmer preparing for my first Paralympic Games in Barcelona in 1992. So much has changed since then; not least in the way Parasport works. Back in 1992, my parents paid for the pre-Paralympic camp and they also came on the camp with me, bringing my brother and sister for a holiday. Perhaps the most ironic part was they’d had to book and pay for that camp, six months before I’d find out whether or not I was selected for the Games! A huge leap of faith for parents of a 14 year old!
My first trip back to Lanzarote since changing sports was in February 2010, and now I am back again to make use of the rolling terrain, great road surfaces, and extra resistance provided by the wind. After the big miles of 1017.5 miles in 9 days during the End to End ride, it’s time to add some speed in again, which will hopefully see my ability to attack in races improve, not to mention give me some added power for the shorter time trials.
My first couple of days on the island were about complete rest and also having a massage to aid with recovery. The last time I had more than one day off was back in November 2009, so my body and legs were ready for a spot of R+R! I started the training with a snappy 90km ride, averaging 30kph round a rolling route, with plenty of draggy sections to give my legs something to think about. With bright blue skies as the backdrop, the volcanic terrain of black rock was interspersed with the odd splash of colour from plants that could grow without water. I rode to one of my favourite parts of the island, a loop of a road round the El Golfo coastline, and with the fury of the Atlantic crashing against the rugged shoreline, the spray from the waves washes over the road and is quite refreshing against the heat of the road.
After this ride, the training was going to take a more normal format for a camp of this type; alternating days between medium length rides of 3 to 4 hours, with a day of efforts in the morning and a recovery ride in the afternoon. My first set of efforts was 20 second sprint attacks with a short recovery of 40 seconds between each one; the idea being to get a high, but consistent peak power on each effort, and then maintain that whilst still accelerating throughout the effort. I surprised myself with how consistent I could be on this session, which I’d not been able to do since my time in France in May. The second set was almost as good as the first, and I finished feeling like I was well on my way to better form for the Tour of Limousin in 3 weeks' time.
The final day of the three day block before the next rest day was a four hour slog in the wind to the top of the island, a place called Mirador del Rio. The wind had picked up compared to previous days, and with gusts over 40mph and a consistent speed of 20mph from the north, riding to the north was slow going, but well worth it for the views when I arrived, and the tailwind for part the way home! Covering only 105km in the 4 hours was solely down to the strength of the wind, although I did feel as though I was back on the End to End and struggling in at the end of a 7 hour stint!
Now it’s another rest day before the final week of training out here. With some more speed to find and some hill efforts for extra strength, there’s plenty to look forward to!
For more information about the Horizon Fitness Racing Team, visit www.onthedrops.com.