As we prepare to head out the door to host our April Triathlon Training Camp in Mallorca I wanted to give you some thoughts about the rationale of the camp and perhaps some things you might consider when choosing a triathlon training camp.
Each Spring we see northern hemisphere age-group athletes go out in search of some sunshine and great training facilities with the sole intention of getting some big miles in the legs as well as the opportunity to eat, sleep and train with fellow athletes without the distraction of work and family ties. Sounds great right?
The problem is that on some of these training weeks the age group athlete will potentially quadruple the volume that they are used to (believe me I have been there) and this can lead to burn out and over use injuries (again, been there). Yet the true rationale for going on a camp is that we get a performance benefit down the line and actually get faster – isn’t it? So here at Performance Edge the rationale is slightly different. Yes we will train - after all we have great weather and all day to do it – we do not bring our athletes out for a Spa week - but we do not try and over work them to the point of ultimate fatigue as most of these athletes are only really starting to emerge from the Northern winter and this will be the first foray into the sunshine and some consistent volume.
Rather the aims of the camp are:
- To complete an appropriately increased volume of training with some great rides at an increased volume than they are conducting at home– after all they are not working and we have removed the distractions of home so we do have all day to train.
- To work on athletic development – so we conduct both run and swim video analysis as well as constantly watching for areas during run & swim sessions where we can improve the athletes efficiency
- To do all of this in a great location, with some great weather so the athletes can train and recover from both life stressors and the stress imposed by the training they are doing and
- To return them fitter and in better shape than they first arrived – not more tired and needing the following week off to recover
So at the end of next week I want to see a dozen refreshed, fit, tanned and better informed athletes returning home with a passion and an ability to progress towards their A Race of the season.