Day 2 at the Lifesport Pro camp in Victoria afflicted pain very early on. On tap was an 8:30am track session of 6 x 1 mile at 10K race pace. A great way to kick off a Saturday morning!
My body was recovering well from the travel, training and commuting. I got up early to begin my ride to Magali Tisserye’s house. Having a car amongst pros makes you a very sought after individual. The track was at a high school near the ferry to Vancouver.
I mentioned in yesterdays post about how extracurricular activites or added mileage was frowned upon. In most aspects of life doing more work is typically a good thing. If you think about that guy in the office who is always staying late and coming in early usually gets the promotion. What I found in my experience is that every athlete follows their training plans to a T. If it says 1 hour, they put in 1 hour. Good weather outside but you have a swim, maybe next time! Clint Lein (my homestay in Victoria: Peak Performance) said it best. He told me that when Peter Reid won Kona he spent 9 months at Clint’s house. He said that when Reid wasn’t training he was watching mindless tv on his couch. Clint even cooked a lot of meals for him. Eat, train and recover. Thats it. Clint also mentioned that most Ironman winners adopt the same lifestyle. Which I don’t disagree with but for all of us that need to pay the bills thats a tough pill to swallow!
Back to the track. It was a typical winter morning in Victoria, light rain, windy and about 10 degrees. Beatiful compared to Ottawa as I got to run in a t-shirt (small victories!). The track thankfully is where I feel more comfortable then the pool. Lance Watson, previous coach of Simon Whitfield, was with us taking splits. One thing that really stuck with me was how serious he was. Running in circles meant more than just that, it was about focusing on yourself and pushing your body to its comfortable limits. All while keeping perfect form.
Running around was myself, Brent Poulsen, Magali Tisserye, Amanda Stevens and Lisa Mesnik. Brent showed that even without a lot of speed work he still had great form from Clearwater in the fall. I managed to hang with him for the last 2 but it was a real challenge! It was great to be out even if it was quite painful!
The day of course didn’t end there as we drove back to the city. I commuted home for a quick bite and then it was off to the pool for another killer session. In the pool Clint volunteered to do video analysis of the athletes at the camp. We each got tips about how to improve. I got a novel!
After the track and swim I was pretty spent. After riding home I hit the hay for a nice long nap. Maybe this is why you don’t do extra work?!
The last workout of the day was a 30min easy run. My legs felt like rocks as I headed out the door. I’m pretty sure my Grandmother who just broke her hip could have kept up with me. Oh well. Pain is temporairy. Plus, this sure beats the 8-5 life!
Hopefully, though, I could recover enough for the next day which would also be another huge challenge!
Happy Trainin’
Cliff
