RICH…$6.50 FROM THE CUT

It was finally time for a recovery day. Some of the girls chose to leave early on Thursday and spend more time at the coffee shop then on their bike, while Bird and I opted for a sleep in and some time alone with the Ipod. As it turned out, Canberra isn’t all that big and I ran into Tiff and Nicki on the lake before heading for a brew. The $53 prize money we had won the night before allowed for $6.50 each, just enough for a hot drink and Twix chocolate bar =) After getting wet on the way home a quick transition saw us go from lycra to apron for our nutrition cooking class. I was way past excited and after sampling what we had mastered for lunch I really had to use self-control to keep my portions low. I walked away with three new cookbooks that will now take priority place top-shelf in the kitchen! By the time we had sat through our group psychology session and a 90minute drug and alcohol lecture it no longer felt like a recovery day. Sleep was once again in high demand.

Yesterday was a test of my mental toughness. To make sure that I was in good health for testing I headed to medicine for a general check over. If I was being pessimistic I would tell you that I have a 1cm leg length discrepancy and struggled to identify the bottom line of letters in the common eye test! If I was being optimistic I would tell you that I was sent in for an echocardiogram and urine test and neither turned up anything worthy of worry. When I was given the pee-cup I didn’t really need to ‘go’, but it’s unbelievable how much easier it is to give a sample when nobody is watching! Lunch made me sick, and with less than an hour before my 30minute time trial test it wasn’t quite the way I was hoping to feel. Luckily I came good and was quite impressed with my resistance to lactate!..15mins at 13 lactate woo! I skipped on sweating it up in the gym, where I was guaranteed to leave in pain, so that I could sit and analyse the bodies of the males athletes entering and exiting the recovery centre =) Some pencil cam footage from racing on Wednesday night was viewed, where we compared the size of our behinds, before I headed to my massage. What can I say...it’s a tough life!

Weekend training is supposed to be hard and today was no exception thanks to head coach Warren McDonald (pictured above, don’t be fooled by my smile!) The re-occurring sight of Black Mountain, Mount Stromlo and every other climb that makes up the domestically famous Canberra Tour, had us all in desperate need of firstly, the food hall, and secondly, the recovery centre (Nicki and Spratty pictured above). A short description of the picture and the temperature of the water is required! The centre includes three spa baths, a plunge pool, a cold water walk through, and a river for active recovery. Now when I say cold, I mean freezing!!...So we HAVE to hug ourselves to keep from going numb! Through the weekend the house is continuously at altitude, so although we were wanting to keep our hours up we had planned an afternoon escape to the city, what we now call the 'real world'. That quickly changed and became time to chill out and sleep, and despite being at 3000mtrs altitude some of us managed up to 2 hours!

LACTATE, CAMERA, ACTION

The first morning that we wake to sunshine proves to be our first scheduled indoor session. To add to the sunshine was my new ‘Teschner Diva’ frame decked out with a ‘Shimano Dura-ace’ group-set and SRM, ready to be ridden! I was quite excited as you can imagine but couldn’t quite part with the Bianchi, trading saddles so that I still feel at home. It was time to do some power profile testing in what we call an ‘Under 1’s’ session. This hour included sprints in the form of; 14 x 6secs, 5 x 15secs and 3 x 30secs as we all lined up side-by-side on the trainers. With a mere 14secs recovery between our 6secs sprints, it was no surprise that they were the hardest for the non-sprinters in the group! SRM data was taken and Carla and I became lactate buddies, chasing each others scores that ranged anywhere between 4-15. What was interesting was how Tiff and Bird’s lactate dropped through the session as mine continued to sky rocket to a PB of 14.9 =) Not a PB that I’ll be attempting to top anytime soon...maybe in the 30min TT test this week...

It was then off to the gym and to say I was nervous would be an understatement. We were required to mention our weaknesses, and I thought...where do I start? Out came the video camera as we went through a series of simple tests including lunges, squats and push-ups. The bulk of our session was spent using medicine balls with a considerable focus on our core. I made good use of my towel to wipe away the sweat and am currently stooped over to relieve the pain in my abs. Our gym instructor Ross Smith informed me that I won’t look like a man after this session =) In accordance with increasing my massiveness (believe it or not that is really a word!) I have been discussing nutrition practices with Louise Burke our sports nutritionist, and now have a guide that illustrates typical ways in which I can meet, but not over-compensate, my needs for protein, carbs, vitamins and minerals. THIS IS NOT A DIET! And with additional snack choices including wine, chocolate and ice-cream I’m hoping I can master this plan!

Rochelle has bought along her video camera so as in years to come; we can all look back and laugh at ourselves. She has now been upgraded to a pencil camera worn on the top of her helmet (pictured above). It may seem quite ridiculous (and it is!) but it was for a special temporary purpose at the racing tonight. Surprise, surprise it was Stromlo Park that we headed to, to compete in Canberra’s local Wednesday evening criterium. With women’s A grade racing on offer we fronted on the line with our numbers and decorative yellow arm-bands (pictured above) in tow. Wazza had split the 8 of us and placed us in teams on two. Rochelle and Tiffy, Spratty and Carla, Josie and Bird, and finally Nicki and I were to compete against one another on the open and windy circuit. To cut a long story short, there was a break including Tiff, Bird, Gracie Elvin (local), Rochelle, myself and Spratty, with the latter three rounding out the podium in that order. Tired? Yes I am.

TO LIVE HIGH & TRAIN LOW

When I envisioned our AIS Altitude camp, I must admit I thought we would be sleeping in tents on the floor. Instead, I find myself living in a house with 5 bedrooms, 6 televisions and a kitchen and bathroom to share between twelve. This is called the altitude house where altitude is simulated by pumping nitrogen gas into all rooms via fans. I won’t go into the specifics as there would be a lot to repeat, but simplistically, there are two rules to the house. The first, all fans must remain on at all times to deliver the nitrogen gas to our rooms. The second, all doors must be closed at all times! (Alarms will sound if any door is left open for longer than 10seconds) For the past 4 nights we have been sleeping at 2500mtrs altitude, and expect to hit 3000mtrs by the end of the week. I’m yet to suffer from the ‘altitude sickness’ experienced by some athletes and am fortunate enough that I’m not pregnant, or else I’d be unable to stay in the house! Puncture...Spratty and Jos change a tube roadside (pictured).

The AIS is athlete heaven, if only it were in a different state! There’s a huge dining hall where buffet breakfast, lunch and dinners are provided and a large gymnasium where I pump iron to make my biceps grow =) I have booked in to use the water recovery facilities and hope to utilise the library this weekend, where file footage from every World Cup is on record. It sounds like the life, but with appointments ranging from medicine, physiology, nutrition, gym, physio, psych, tutorials and washing...I really don’t have time to scratch myself! I’ve been rooming with both the youngest and eldest on the team in Tiffy and Bird (pictured below). For the first two nights we were required to wear pulse oximeter’s that are clipped to a selected finger and taped to the arm, used to measure oxygen saturation and heart rate. The house is monitored 24/7 so when my oximeter stopped registering and I woke to the sound of our overnight monitor demolishing our bedroom door, it was because she thought I was dead! Instead, I had accidentally pulled the clip off my now bruised finger.

In Canberra style we have been waking to steady rain and trying to hit the roads between the showers. We spent Monday morning on the trainers with Bird attempting rollers for the first time...being a doctor doesn’t automatically give you every talent! That afternoon in motivated fashion we ventured to the local time trial racing out at Stromlo Park, and with the weather way past miserable it wasn’t a surprise that the only 7 people to show were all members of our squad! So a 10 minute time trial with food loaded pockets, 4kg water weighted socks and an assisted tailwind was all we managed before the ride home...still in the rain. Today was hard on the bike with efforts up Black Mountain followed by motor pacing up Mount Stromlo. With the common denominator there being ‘mountain’ it’s no surprise that we suffered through the session. With Laura and Dave on board we were able to take lactate tests throughout and compare some interesting data. Just for the record, bloods taken in the morning had my skinfolds at 76. I think we should add an 8th site, maybe my arse...

LEAVING HOME...TEMPORARILY

The plan heading into AIS camp was to prepare with a few recovery days. I’m pretty sure that didn’t mean four punctures, retrieval of a spare wheel and a taxi ride home all within an hour of riding!...None of which were me! I caught up on some sleep, 11 hours on the one night, and devoured the hedgehog that Mum had baked knowing that she wouldn’t allow me to take it on my journey. My final memories before leaving for Canberra are of my local Saturday morning bunch. Being on outback country roads we were forced to stop for cows flooding the roadside, and before packing my bike into a cardboard box once again, I was obligated to wash the cow shit off. My final café stop had me in high spirits, until I hit the deck in my own driveway while retrieving the junk mail from out letter box! I quickly jumped to my feet and skimmed the surroundings...nobody had seen and only the pride had been scarred. Finally, before saying my goodbyes, we managed to get Leila drunk on cordial...I’ll miss the little one!

The flight to Canberra is on average an hour and just as you’ve stopped climbing you begin to descend. I flew Virgin and decided to re-allocate my seat to the front of the plane, along the aisle, 12C in fact. At first I thought I was blessed, seated beside two VERY good looking young males who were returning home from the cricket. His name escapes me, and I’d prefer not to remember it, but seated in 12B was one of the most annoying people I have ever met. He talked to me while I attempted to read my book, while I was watching the TV, and even over the top of what I had to say. For such a short flight you wouldn’t expect to feel ill, but with a VB in hand, the smell of beer on his breath had me close to being sick! I was hoping my following experiences at altitude would be a lot more radiant. On arrival at the airport Laura Garvican and David Martin (AIS Sports Scientists) were there to assist us with our bags. ‘Us’ being the AIS women’s squad in Tiffany Cromwell (19), Amanda Spratt (20), Carla Ryan (22) and Josie Loane (26). Bridie O’Donnell (33) was to arrive later that afternoon. Also joining us on camp would be two professional cyclists in Nicki Egyed and Rochelle Gilmore. Wish me luck! =)