I finish this blog from a terrace in central Pafos, Cyprus with the sun beating down making it impossible to read my laptop screen. It's a very pleasant 22 degrees and I've just returned from a 3 hour sunbathing session whilst riding my bike. I'm on a month long training camp during my Uni holidays, joining my coach's squad who are based here during the early part of the year. I'm also part of ETE race team, ETE are a training camp company operating primarily in Cyprus.
Some may say I'm on a prolonged holiday, others, albeit fewer, dread the idea of swimming, cycling and running being your life for 28 days. I'll run you through a typical day for me and allow you to make your own mind up.
March 26th training day:
We swim every morning, bar Sunday, in a fantastic 50m outdoor pool. The thought of swimming in the warmth with the sun on your back is glorious. Unfortunately, for this week only, the pool timetable had other ideas and we are forced to swim 2 hours earlier at 6am. March 26th- My alarm went off at 5:15am, a quick coffee and snack later and I was on my bike for the short 5 minute morning commute to the pool. All thoughts of a sun soaked swim are out the window, it was pitch black and cold.
Some may say I'm on a prolonged holiday, others, albeit fewer, dread the idea of swimming, cycling and running being your life for 28 days. I'll run you through a typical day for me and allow you to make your own mind up.
March 26th training day:
We swim every morning, bar Sunday, in a fantastic 50m outdoor pool. The thought of swimming in the warmth with the sun on your back is glorious. Unfortunately, for this week only, the pool timetable had other ideas and we are forced to swim 2 hours earlier at 6am. March 26th- My alarm went off at 5:15am, a quick coffee and snack later and I was on my bike for the short 5 minute morning commute to the pool. All thoughts of a sun soaked swim are out the window, it was pitch black and cold.
As soon as I, reluctantly, jumped in, all thoughts seem to dissolve away and I became present in the moment of the session. 6K and nearly 2 hours later we're permitted to escape to the shelters of the warm showers. The reward then sets in as we watched the sunrise knowing we've already swum 6K. The serotonin quickly wears off and I was left ravenously hungry, breakfast then turns into a banquet of calorie dense food to recover and then fuel for the next session of the day.
Today, session number 2 was some time trial bike efforts. 10:30am rolled round and it is was time to get ready and head out to our typical TT effort location: a new and almost empty dual carriage. We had 2, ~ 30 minute efforts which took us up and then down, a small hill with some carriage-way flat TT'ing book-ending each effort. The final effort was ~15 minutes on the carriage way, on already tired legs. No records were broken but for the first tough bike session of camp things were looking good for the next month. Again, to further boast that I woke up early in the Uni holiday, we were done with a 6K swim and >2hrs ride with 1.25hrs of effort by lunch time. A big lunch was had and I headed straight for the sofa which was screaming my name. I quickly succumb to a semi-comatose state but I still had a 30min easy run to do to see the day off. Problem is, after 2 training sessions one's ability to leave the sofa becomes similar to an arthritic 90 year old. Somehow, I still managed to get up and out the door for a 30 minute run, returning home straight to dinner prep for a meal enough to feed a family of 4. After dinner, I watched a bit of TV, wrote this training day and I'm about to go to bed. This leaves me with one question for you to decide on: am I working hard or hardly working?
Today, session number 2 was some time trial bike efforts. 10:30am rolled round and it is was time to get ready and head out to our typical TT effort location: a new and almost empty dual carriage. We had 2, ~ 30 minute efforts which took us up and then down, a small hill with some carriage-way flat TT'ing book-ending each effort. The final effort was ~15 minutes on the carriage way, on already tired legs. No records were broken but for the first tough bike session of camp things were looking good for the next month. Again, to further boast that I woke up early in the Uni holiday, we were done with a 6K swim and >2hrs ride with 1.25hrs of effort by lunch time. A big lunch was had and I headed straight for the sofa which was screaming my name. I quickly succumb to a semi-comatose state but I still had a 30min easy run to do to see the day off. Problem is, after 2 training sessions one's ability to leave the sofa becomes similar to an arthritic 90 year old. Somehow, I still managed to get up and out the door for a 30 minute run, returning home straight to dinner prep for a meal enough to feed a family of 4. After dinner, I watched a bit of TV, wrote this training day and I'm about to go to bed. This leaves me with one question for you to decide on: am I working hard or hardly working?