The past 2 weeks I have been warm-weather training with the British Paratriathlon squad in Lanzarote. There were many new experiences, some good and some not so good, but I had such a great time with so many great people! There was the standard crude humour from the boys and the phrase ‘better out than in’ came arise quite often. And the girls? Well, we’re no different. Somehow, as athletes (especially triathletes), we accept our bodies for what they are, and if you find yourself in an awkward situation everyone will understand or more often than not, they’ve been through the same experience. As one of the boys rightly said, ‘I lost my dignity when I started triathlon,’ and I feel I reached this point on the camp.
Here’s how it all began.....
Back in December British Triathlon were advertising for athletes to become guides to help visually impaired para-triathletes reach Rio – the ‘Guide to Gold’ campaign. I applied, and from 40-50 applicants 10 of us were selected to attend an assessment day in Loughborough. This was a gruelling day consisting of 2 bike tests, 2 swim tests, physio screening, an interview and a 3Km run on track. I felt I had a solid all round performance, falling not short of my PB’s, and I generally had a great day. We had the chance to meet some of the athletes and everyone was so friendly. I was definitely in my element up there, even for only a day. I had an email a week later with some great news saying I’d been selected – Christmas came a few days early! I had been invited to the 2 week training camp as a ‘confirmation phase’ to check it’s actually what I wanted to go ahead and do.
On 18th January I left the cold British weather and flew to Lanzarote with a few talent ID squad members, performance athletes, 5 guides and 4 coaches. Four female guides had been selected from the assessment day and one of the very experienced male guides came out to help. There are 3 visually impaired athletes (VI’s) and the idea was to swap around over the 2 week period so we all got to experience training with each VI. So.....challenge #1 – riding a tandem bike! I think you get the same response from everyone when you say you haven’t ridden a tandem bike before – ooohh dear! But I feel my first ride went quite well. Riding around on the tandem with no-one on the back is a piece of cake. Challenge #2 – riding a tandem with someone on the back ;-) Thankfully my first ride was with a VI who was very confident and unphased by a new guide. After a very wobbly start and some reassurance from Alison I made good progress. Alison is a bit of a speed merchant, so she was keen to pedal, and pedal fast. Tandems can pick up quite a bit of speed and I sometimes felt I wanted to pedal backwards to counteract her action. Obviously there are still brakes on the tandems, yes! However, her support and calm nature helped my confidence grow quickly and I was doing U turns (often called dead turns) after about 20 mins. She may have been crapping herself on the back but I couldn’t see or tell! I was fine! My confidence grew throughout the 2 weeks and I started to love the descents on the tandem bike. Apparently they’re faster on the flat and downhill but going uphill required some serious hard work! Alison and Jack (the male guide) reached 47.5mph downhill on one ride! These girls are by no means slow. In fact, Rhiannon, who has come from both the British swimming and cycling squads, is much faster than me in the pool! We all got the opportunity train as individuals as well as guiding the VI’s.
Here’s how it all began.....
Back in December British Triathlon were advertising for athletes to become guides to help visually impaired para-triathletes reach Rio – the ‘Guide to Gold’ campaign. I applied, and from 40-50 applicants 10 of us were selected to attend an assessment day in Loughborough. This was a gruelling day consisting of 2 bike tests, 2 swim tests, physio screening, an interview and a 3Km run on track. I felt I had a solid all round performance, falling not short of my PB’s, and I generally had a great day. We had the chance to meet some of the athletes and everyone was so friendly. I was definitely in my element up there, even for only a day. I had an email a week later with some great news saying I’d been selected – Christmas came a few days early! I had been invited to the 2 week training camp as a ‘confirmation phase’ to check it’s actually what I wanted to go ahead and do.
On 18th January I left the cold British weather and flew to Lanzarote with a few talent ID squad members, performance athletes, 5 guides and 4 coaches. Four female guides had been selected from the assessment day and one of the very experienced male guides came out to help. There are 3 visually impaired athletes (VI’s) and the idea was to swap around over the 2 week period so we all got to experience training with each VI. So.....challenge #1 – riding a tandem bike! I think you get the same response from everyone when you say you haven’t ridden a tandem bike before – ooohh dear! But I feel my first ride went quite well. Riding around on the tandem with no-one on the back is a piece of cake. Challenge #2 – riding a tandem with someone on the back ;-) Thankfully my first ride was with a VI who was very confident and unphased by a new guide. After a very wobbly start and some reassurance from Alison I made good progress. Alison is a bit of a speed merchant, so she was keen to pedal, and pedal fast. Tandems can pick up quite a bit of speed and I sometimes felt I wanted to pedal backwards to counteract her action. Obviously there are still brakes on the tandems, yes! However, her support and calm nature helped my confidence grow quickly and I was doing U turns (often called dead turns) after about 20 mins. She may have been crapping herself on the back but I couldn’t see or tell! I was fine! My confidence grew throughout the 2 weeks and I started to love the descents on the tandem bike. Apparently they’re faster on the flat and downhill but going uphill required some serious hard work! Alison and Jack (the male guide) reached 47.5mph downhill on one ride! These girls are by no means slow. In fact, Rhiannon, who has come from both the British swimming and cycling squads, is much faster than me in the pool! We all got the opportunity train as individuals as well as guiding the VI’s.
The first open water swim was interesting and was supposedly in one of the more sheltered areas – challenge #3. There was little point in sighting because all you could see was massive waves coming towards you and there wasn’t much controlled breathing going on, more like inhaling salt water. I was tethered at the ankle to Melissa for the first swim and she was very confident in the water, more so than me at times I believe and I like open water swimming. In our second session, conditions were even worse, she told her guide to ‘stop being a pussy’ and later unattached herself so not to be pulled under. She’s Cornish – enough said! Thankfully the second week was less windy and the flat water became a luxury. It was far more enjoyable! I was thoroughly enjoying the camp. Buffet food for breakfast and dinner (with a different nation theme every night – including the music), lots of training and more resting than I’m familiar with.
So when did it all go wrong you’re wondering? The day after Mexican night, that’s when! On the first Saturday we had a brick session planned (a run off the bike) which involved a 10 mile time trial followed by a few short tempo runs. High-fibre Ryvitas for lunch the day before, Mexican food for dinner and the final ingredient to my recipe for disaster was beans for breakfast! Actually, I wasn't the only person to suffer and we think we worked out the cause of it, which was great news come Mexican night a week later. A couple of people had slightly dodgy stomachs on the way over to the drop off point on the island. One of which was Alison, who I was going to be riding with. I considered putting my waterproof on in case she was to vomit over me whilst cycling. I was feeling fine until after our warm up ride to the start of the time trial. Typically there were no public toilets and after many of us were clambering over the mountains of rocks (which I think was a touristic site) to go for a pee, I began to realise this was worse than I initially thought. I didn't have much choice as we were starting the time trial. Well this was good - Alison was feeling sick whilst I feared things were going to come out the back end. That said, we powered away on the bike, catching the pair ahead, and clocking the fastest time. Then came the run, where suddenly it got worse. I guided Alison for 3 very short tempo runs and when given the option of a 4th I was praying she would decline. I needed to go to the loo, NOW!! There are 2 options in these situations: a) just walk calmly whilst clenching your buttocks or b) run as fast as you can to the facilities or most convenient place. I went for option b. I sprinted through the car park, up over the rocks, passing used tissue on the way. I had to be less picky with the location and I was beginning to think I wouldn't get my tri-suit off in time. Typically my zip got stuck for a couple of seconds, but I was soon relieved. Now I know athletes have different preferences but I tend not to wear anything under my tri-suit for comfort reasons, but you do run the risk of being exposed if anything goes wrong. So there I was....squatting over a bunch of rocks naked with my tri-suit round my ankles, waving goodbye to my dignity! I think what I actually found most uncomfortable was sitting in the van on the way home having not wiped. But hey, at least I said sitting! Luckily I planned to get a new tri-suit this season anyway. It was a speedy drive home thankfully as our (unnamed) driver was desperate to use the facilities back at the hotel having taken antidiarrhoeals all day. How he managed is unbeknown to me!! It’s safe to say we left this natural picturesque site, a touch more natural but far less picturesque.
Week 2 became a bit like Groundhog Day as the training schedule was a repeat of the first week. So I thought I’d inject some fun into the camp and introduced everyone to the game Human Cluedo. This could be the most antisocial game known to mankind but it’s a great icebreaker if ever you need one! Everyone puts their name, an object and a location into some hats and each person draws out one of each. Then to ‘kill’ that person you have to ensure the person is holding the object in that location – challenge #4. Once you've done this then you acquire their mission to kill. The aim of the game is to find your killer, i.e. ‘kill’ as many people as possible. Simple. Or in some cases, not so. One person was required to kill someone with haggis in the swimming pool, but believe it or not this was actually achieved. This game provided endless entertainment throughout the week but you become suspicious of everyone and everything. I've never seen people scarper so quickly when someone walks into a room and it was impossible to walk around the cafe with a towel without being asked questions! Great fun nonetheless.
I learnt so much over the 2 weeks and enjoyed almost every minute of it! The whole squad made me feel at home and I made some great new friends. It was a good laugh and I feel very lucky. I've finally found this sport that I absolutely love and now I get to compete knowing that I’m helping the VI’s reach their ultimate goal..... I am loving life!
One of the boys on the camp was wearing a t-shirt with this brilliant phrase on it! This is for all the triathlete partners out there ;-)
Week 2 became a bit like Groundhog Day as the training schedule was a repeat of the first week. So I thought I’d inject some fun into the camp and introduced everyone to the game Human Cluedo. This could be the most antisocial game known to mankind but it’s a great icebreaker if ever you need one! Everyone puts their name, an object and a location into some hats and each person draws out one of each. Then to ‘kill’ that person you have to ensure the person is holding the object in that location – challenge #4. Once you've done this then you acquire their mission to kill. The aim of the game is to find your killer, i.e. ‘kill’ as many people as possible. Simple. Or in some cases, not so. One person was required to kill someone with haggis in the swimming pool, but believe it or not this was actually achieved. This game provided endless entertainment throughout the week but you become suspicious of everyone and everything. I've never seen people scarper so quickly when someone walks into a room and it was impossible to walk around the cafe with a towel without being asked questions! Great fun nonetheless.
I learnt so much over the 2 weeks and enjoyed almost every minute of it! The whole squad made me feel at home and I made some great new friends. It was a good laugh and I feel very lucky. I've finally found this sport that I absolutely love and now I get to compete knowing that I’m helping the VI’s reach their ultimate goal..... I am loving life!
One of the boys on the camp was wearing a t-shirt with this brilliant phrase on it! This is for all the triathlete partners out there ;-)
Finally, I’m pleased to announce that I am now a brand ambassador for Zone3, who provide high performance products for triathletes and swimmers. I look forward to building a partnership with them this season and hopefully in the years to come.