Blog: Joanna Rowsell on the final training camp in Majorca before the Olympics

Blog: Joanna Rowsell on the final training camp in Majorca before the Olympics

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I have just returned from our final training camp in Majorca before the Olympics and it was a hot one! The temperature was mid to high 30s, something I definitely wasn’t acclimatised to having been in Manchester for the last month.

We flew to Majorca the morning after our kitting out in Loughborough and found ourselves on a flight full of people heading to Magaluf for the party season. I got asked a number of times “Wow, are you actually training for the Olympics?” When I replied yes, the next question was “If you are training for the Olympics, why are you going to Magaluf?!” So I spent a lot of time explaining about the other side of Majorca and how we would be training hard and having early nights, definitely not partying!!

"I found the heat a challenge but I definitely prefer training in this weather to the cold!"

Joanna Rowsell

We had a combination of long rides and split days of training over the nine days we were out there with an easy day in the middle. We visited the dreaded Sa Calobra climb twice for a really hard interval session and also did a bit of team time trial work.

We rode our time trial bikes on the split days and road bikes for our long rides. We included specific efforts like standing starts and efforts along the flat coast road. All the training was about preparing for the track but we were also riding for over four hours every day so it is a big overload of work.

I found the heat a challenge but I definitely prefer training in this weather to the cold! We were going out training earlier than usual, leaving by 8:30am, to avoid the worst of the heat but then for our second session of the day at around 4pm there was no avoiding it! Keeping well hydrated was key so I was drinking plenty of CNP Pro Hydrate which has electrolytes to replace lost salts and improve hydration as well as carbohydrates. I also found myself tipping lots of bottles of water over myself during efforts to keep cool!

Majorca

To keep on top of our hydration we were providing a urine sample every morning to check if we were starting the day hydrated or not. I was then aiming to drink 500ml before the training ride started and then continued with a minimum of one bottle per half an hour throughout the ride. We were also recording our weight before and after each training ride to ensure the amount of fluid we had taken on was enough. This worked well for me and I had a great training camp and was really pleased to do some PBs for power output during my different training efforts.

We flew home on Sunday, luckily it was a much quieter flight, and I now have a few easy days before getting back to track training on Thursday. With just over four weeks to go until race day this is the final push of work for us!