Forum menu
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/dec/14/british-cycling-olympic-boot-camp
[b]Ed Clancy's days of doom[/b]
How the men's team pursuiters typically spent their time during the boot camp on what Clancy described as "days of doom":
6.30am Breakfast
Typically porridge, scrambled eggs, cereal, coffee
7.45am On track
Endurance interval training behind motorbike: warm up, then blocks of 20 minutes with five minutes rest in between
9.45am Off track
10am Rest
Includes a massage, flexibility and injury troubleshooting with physiotherapist, a once-over from the team doctor, media work, play Xbox in team room
12noon Lunch
Typically rice and quinoa salad with chicken, ham, sweetcorn, emphasis on healthy, high-energy food. Snacks during the day include home made rice cakes, energy bars, gels and broccoli juice
2pm On track
Warm up then rolling 5,000m efforts in team pursuit formation
5pm Off track
5.30-6pm Stretching
Often using a roller to work on the quadriceps muscles and flexibility under physio supervision, to help ensure the exercises are done perfectly, and to iron out any issues
7pm Return to hotel
Dinner is typically chicken, pasta, sweet potato mash, risotto, couscous
9pm Rest, then bed
Huh? Do you think that's tough? I'd far far far far far far rather have that as my daily schedule than:
6:15 get up, breakfast (whatever's quick, usually a bowl of cereal)
6:45 drive 25 miles to start commute
7:20 start riding 24 miles into Central London, 130 sets of traffic lights means lots of intervals
12:30 Lunch, whatever Sainsbury's or the canteen can dredge up
5:00 Ride home, with another 130 15 second intervals, attempt some 20 minute FTP intervals, but nearly get killed by 4 buses, and get frustrated by all the traffic lights
6:40 back in car, drive home
7:30 dinner, whatever the girlfriend has cooked
10:00 bed
The only part I prefer of mine is dinner!
njee20 - sheesh, no wonder you're a grumpy bastard! 😉
Njee > U riding at 36mph? 😉
The pace this morning is between 52 and 58 kilometres per hour for 20 minutes or so at a time, lap after lap, round and round the velodrome,
The eight form a neat string, one rider swinging up from behind the padded back bumper each lap. On a toot of the horn the eight split into groups and begin racing the motorbike, upping the speed to gain a lap on Hunt. Another toot and they are racing each other in pairs, each pair trying to catch the other and then take a lap on the motorbike. Then they do it again in fours, half a lap apart, chasing each other in an imitation of a team pursuit.The technical term for this is "interval training with inhibited recovery".
njee20 - sheesh, no wonder you're a grumpy bastard!
Piss off!
😉
The pace this morning is between 52 and 58 kilometres per hour for 20 minutes or so at a time, lap after lap, round and round the velodrome,
The pace isn't that relevant - that's a by-product of their fitness. It's not just laps of the track either. And they're getting paid for it, and have nothing else to worry about!
I know, I know 🙂
they are still training pretty damn hard. It is a boot camp after all. Winning a gold medal or breaking a record doesn't come easy
Just hope they can do it next year
Oh yeah, of course they are, not suggesting any less of course, and the toll it must take is obviously a lot. Doing it day in day out would no doubt by bloody dull too!
But I don't look at that and think "my god, how do they do that". Anecdotally... a (good) professional rugby player I knew through a friend was quite open that their training wasn't that tough and it was a bit of a doss!
Pretty standard for any athlete in sports that require supreme fitness IME...
That said that timetable's not so bad - plenty of fit amateurs can manage that when they're on training camp (or if they didn't have to work...). What's more difficult is doing it day after day, week after week. The mental side is at least as tough as the physical.
Their food sounds quite tasty, apart from the broccoli juice.
Saw this as well
2500Watts of power!
Interesting it says fit male max power is 600watts.. Plucked that out of the air!
Doesn't sound too bad, more relaxed than my schedule for today:
6:00 up
7:30 gym for a run
9:00 at work
19:00 head home
19:45 home
20:45 swimming class
23:30 bed