| A cold start to winter & new photos |
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It has been a little while since I have written about what we’ve been up to. Since the Four’s Head of the River (cancelled due to unsafe conditions) and the team sculling trials
(cancelled due to unsafe conditions), we have been away to a high altitude training camp in Spain to make a significant impact on our physiology. Photos here. We were training indoors everyday, up to five times per day, with a mix of ergos, weights, swimming and football – with a heavy bias towards ergos and weights. Every one of us looked forward to the football sessions, despite a lack of any skill and an increased likelihood of injury. A change is as good as a rest, or so Jürgen tells us. The benefit to training at altitude comes from the impact the training has on the aerobic system. At over 2000m, the lower air pressure fails to deliver the body’s requirements for oxygen during the usual breathing patterns while training. Over a few days, the body adapts by producing more red blood cells to increase the efficiency of the oxygen transportation. Towards the end of the camp, you start to feel as if you can breath again and back at sea level, you start to feel the benefits to your cardio system once you acclimatise. In short, training at altitude is a misery, it is hard, it is mental and I’m glad I got through the camp professionally and with good scores. On camp, the usual senior group was also joined by a handful of younger talent that has been identified by the World Class Start programme. The guys have generally been selected by the tape measure as well as their natural physiology. It was nice to have a few new faces around, as the usual group spends an unhealthy amount of time together. Importantly for me, it reminded me what it was like to be new to the team and how exciting and exhilarating I found every session as a 22 year old. On our return, unsurprisingly, we had made a big step on in fitness and our ergo scores gave us instant and unquestionable feedback – that’s always nice to see. For the two weeks since then, the team has been training in pairs gearing up for pairs trials this weekend and seat racing next week. .jpg "Reed & Hodge") Pairs training While you are Christmas shopping, going to parties, drinking wine and warming your feet by the fire, spare a thought for the GB rowers who are cracking the ice on the frozen lake at Caversham every morning in their lycra. Merry Christmas to you all and here’s to a healthy, happy and successful 2010. |
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