Mallorcan Musings

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the Ful-on-Tri training camp in Can Picafort, Mallorca. I’ve been going to Mallorca for Tri Ccamps for the last 4 years and it never fails to impress.

I had been looking forward to this since Christmas when I signed up somewhere on a beach in Thailand. It was something to look forward to and a great opportunity to catch up with friends when back in Europe.

I arrived late having been in Estonia the previous week (blog on that to follow!) but as soon as I arrived I was greeted with some much needed sunshine! The first evening I ran along the sea front and completed a pool swim led by coach Shane.

The key focus of the week for me was getting back into endurance training now I am back into a build phase. My next 70.3 races won’t be until Autumn. A very full training plan was provided by head coach Richard featuring some iconic climbs – Puig Major & Sa Calobra as well as lots of pool/sea sessions and a few runs off the bike. Unfortunately I missed Liv’s (super duper run coach) run technique session….but I heard it was great!

The first morning was an early start and a rush through the breakfast buffet (a highlight on any training camp). The days route ended up being over 100 miles with nearly 3000 m of climb. By far my longest and highest ride to date…..thanks Jon. I think.
Fair to say I paced the climbs knowing I was going into unknown territory. And I still bonked after the lunch stop in the brutal headwind that so often hits along the east coast of Mallorca. There’s also something to be said for having a support crew at the top of a 13km climb (Puig Major) we might not have been the most favourite cyclists of the day. But we certainly had the most fun! Thanks Liv & Emma.
It was a great day for climbs and #sockdoping with these two beasts:

Wednesday was swim/run day. Outdoor pools are the dream and its always good to get pushed by Euan. Just like Thursday club nights! A long sandy run along the beach trails was tough but the view was worth it. A rest afternoon (shock!) punctuated by various talks on transitions & injury prevention. As they say rest? What’s that? Classic Ful-on-Tri rest day.

The following day most tackled Sa Calobra, despite some navigational errors…whose fault was it again? Most enjoyed both the decent & ascent back up the iconic climb. I took a slightly different plan with max effort bike intervals and a mixed pace run off the bike. Recovery swim completed the day. All were rewarded with the chocolate fountain on the dinner buffet.

Friday and the last full day of camp began with a swim at 8am and ended at 12pm, or 3am, or 5am…..depending on your stamina ;). A long ride to Randa and up the climb to the monastery was another opportunity to ride in a group, and meet more club members. I always love a long ride putting the world to rights. And despite having no legs at all, after a coke & ice cream I made it up the 5km climb! Cake was compulosory at the top and then a ride home with fellow superwomen Katie & Steph along with the rest of group 3. Found my legs on the way back didn’t I !!

And now the most hotly contested competition of the week. The World FoT Sea Swim Championships. A highly complicated (it seemed) team competition around various buoys. Although its turns out you get no extra points for extra buoys……sorry team!

A final night dinner on the beach followed by drinks, more drinks & dancing to some questionable music rounded off the week. Many thanks to Merilee for organising a fabulous evening.

A great week of riding, swimming & running with Ful-on-Tri. Making new friends, training hard and sharing tips is what makes weeks like these so great. Whether discussing bike fits by the pool, the merits of the ‘PRP’ (if you know you know) or how Ironman was once a “niche cult but is now a global religion” (thanks Adrian for that one!) its so inspirational to be surrounded by ABSOLUTE ATHLETES all with their own goals and ambitions. <<Insert GIF here>> (no its not a typo….)

On camp I also gave a talk on what I have been up to in the last 6 months. Thank you Richard for asking me to do this. It really allowed me to find some great snaps of the past few months and share some memories as well as things learned. I could probably write a whole blog post on this but for now during those post camp blues just remember this:

• Instagram (or any social media) never tells the whole story. Be true to yourself and train smart and you’ll get much further than posting the ‘perfect selfie’.
• Rest. Rest hard. Training full time has taught me so much about resting. And also the merits of training the easy – easy & the hard-hard. Recovery is key so don’t waste it.
• The importance of the TEAM. From Ful-on-Tri to Team Hatch and my coaches in between. Positive people, positive mindset. I couldn’t do any of it without them.

Many thanks to James for organising the trip (especially given my late arrival!) and all the coaches for all their hard work. Here’s to next year!