Lanzarote Training Camp 2010

Firstly, apologies for no blog last week. I was sunning it up at the ‘runwild runfree’ multi-sport training camp at Club La Santa, Lanzarote. It’s a hard life but someone has to take on the tough work... don’t they! Pretty sure you are all thinking I was wishing to be back in -6 temperatures in the UK instead of the windy and sunny 20 degs of Spain? Actually, no!

Lanzarote and the Club La Santa resort really is a perfect destination for a camp of this nature. We have a sports complex that caters for all our needs: multiple free sports, a selection of restaurants (4) offering different food at different price levels, entertainment, child care and kids activities, Leisure pool complex, 50m outdoor pool, Run Track, Conference facilities, Squash courts, Tennis courts, Treatment rooms, Shops and so on....

The camp, once again was a real success. I have already had conversations and emails thanking the ‘runwild runfree’ coaches for a superb week. In-fact, we have already had 6 repeat bookings for 2011. Always great to get bookings for the following year when the current camp is either still happening or just over....

The 2011 camp saw a slight departure to previous years and although we didn’t hit the nail on the head every day, we re-worked the schedule and provided everyone with an action packed week of training. Previously a triathlon camp, the 2010 edition became a ‘multi-sport’ camp. This allowed us the flexibility to cater for triathletes, swimmers, cyclists and runners. We increased our coaching staff and had very specific sessions to help the clients obtain as much information as possible.

Each day had two coached run sessions, a 2 hour coached pool session, a guided bike session, one to one ‘bookable’ swim sessions and of course a selection of optional ‘free’ sports and classes provided by the Club La Santa resort. It is always very easy to do ‘too much’ on a camp like this and inevitably some sessions cross over. We always try to plan our days to allow everyone to train as much or as little as they like. Of course, most of the triathletes want to bike and swim each day whereas the runners are happy with a morning and evening run with some core/stability or strength work in the day. We also had a couple of lecture room sessions covering multiple subjects; an introduction to Ultra Running by myself & Niandi, running tips from Martin & Liz Yelling, Q&A with David Fletcher and a discussion with David Granger on his post cancer success in riding the Tour de France route with Geoff Thomas and his up and coming attempt at swimming the Channel. We offer everyone the option to take part in a Duathlon on Monday, Tuesday a Half Marathon and Wednesday a Triathlon. These are great opportunities to practice race technique, transitions, feeding or maybe you just want to incorporate them in your week as training. This year we had clients take part in all three. Adrian Goss had a great Duathlon. In the Half Marathon we had Jennie Muston, Julie Deadman, Sandie Stidwill, Mitch Nova, Rosemarie Maguire, Jakub Pawlowski and myself. It actually turned into a real ‘race’ with Jakub setting the early pace followed some 300-400m back by myself, a Brit and a Danish Guy. Chasing behind was Jennie Muston. For those who know, the Lanzarote Half is a tough course; hot, hilly and windy. At the village of ‘El Cuchillo’ I broke away from my Brit and Danish Company and chased Jakub. I slowly reeled him in at mile 9 not wanting to pull him back too soon. I pushed on the last climb to ‘Soo’ and caught him just as we crested the top. Behind Jennie was closing in on the Brit and the Dane. It was an exciting race.... decending down at sub 6 min pace Jakub and myself were running neck and neck with a couple of miles to go we decided to continue the ‘push’ BUT we would not contest the finish. We both crossed the line in 1:25. This was a PB for me on this course. My previous two years had been in 1:26, so it was a really pleasing race. Jakub was over the moon!! It was his first ‘win’. Behind Jennie had caught the Dane and was chasing for 3 rd place. She entered the track with a great 4^th place in 1:28. You have to remember that this race was done on no taper. One day previous we had done a 15-20 mile long run and two days before that we had done a 2 hour long run... throw into the mix track sessions, recovery runs and threshold work. Therefore these performances were quite special. Mitch came in in 1:41 and Julie Deadman came in on 1:47, amazingly just 1 min outside her Half Marathon PB. She was in great form. Sandie had a good run but unfortunately went of course with about 2 miles to go. Rosemarie put in a great effort in prep for Paris Marathon and using a walk/run strategy crossed the line in 2:32.

The Triathlon as always produces quite a large field. The swim takes place in the 50m open air pool with 8-10 swimmers per lane. It can be quite tough... from the swim, a quick transition and then a hilly/ windy ride to Tinajo and then a fast ride back to Club La Santa before an out and back 5k. Roddy Gosden, Adrian Goss and Kris Lachor took part. All three raced really well with Roddy coming in first. Kris I think was beginning to get addicted to triathlon and I think he was even thinking of an Ironman?! Adrian as ever put in a great effort. Well done ‘Mr Heinz’.

As part of our camp plans we put together a ‘treasure hunt’ on the first day. This was 20 marker flags placed over a 16 mile course covering villages, road and off road terrain. Allowing teams of 2 a 2 hour time limit they were set off at the same time with a map showing flag locations. I think this proved to be one of the highlights of the week. Not only does it introduce a competitive edge, it also gets people bonding. Congratulations to Jakub and Mitch for getting 1^st prize.

Our last day is always a chill day with some serious training. On the bikes we like to ride to ‘Femes’ and tackle its short but very steep climb. This year we made our journey but with a difference. Firstly, some of the non-cyclists travelled by Taxi to spectate and chill out. Secondly, we had a Time Trial with each rider set off at 1 min intervals. It was a great way to finish the week and great fun. To add spice, Adrian and Jennie decided to run the hill. Winning time went to Martin but the first camp attendee with the fastest time was Andrew. Stunning effort! The ice creams afterwards were very welcome...

High lights? Well, we had many! Firstly, I think having Olympian Liz Yelling on the camp proved invaluable. Everyone and not only the runners benefited from her experience. David Fletcher and David Granger provided some great coaching pool side and we had really positive feedback. Martin Yelling & Joel Jameson as ever were superb on the bike providing the clients with some really great long bikes. On a camp of this nature it is always important to look after everyone and all abilities, therefore we have split run groups, several bike groups and of course we have several different lane abilities at the pool. I also need to mention Richard Whitehead. Richard is coached by Liz. He is a double leg amputee and currently holds the marathon world record time of 2:50:38 recorded at Chicago in 2009. My high light? Well it was seeing Richard do a monster track set on the last day of the camp. He was tired, struggling to hold the pace and with the help of some pacing from Liz he managed to pull it out of the bag. Standing track side shouting out the splits watching a world record holder and an Olympian has to be one of those ‘I was there’ moments; quite special!

If you fancy coming along in 2011 we are taking bookings from Monday March 15^th. Apartment allocation will be similar to last year and we will therefore have capacity for 30-36 attendees. If 2010 is anything to go by, 2011 is going to fill up fast.

If you would like to view images of the week, please go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/runwild.runfree.uk/Lanzarote2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCLzc-dyi_enHLg#

Booking at www.runwildrunfree.co.uk