Sophia Ibert 
It’s February, a few cold months with snow, rain and uncomfortable temperatures are already behind us. Many hours of training have probably already been moved indoors and we are all longing for sunshine and warmth, short-short cycling and swimming in the outdoor pool.
What’s more, you get the most beautiful pictures of the Canary Islands, Mallorca or the Spanish mainland rubbed in your face by other athletes every day on Instagram, Facebook and the like. And suddenly I find myself thinking that I absolutely have to do a training camp in the south. I look for flights and check whether the well-known clubs still have rooms available. But I wasn’t even planning to fly to the training camp this year. Once again, I’ve let myself be influenced by social media and all the pretty posts in my newsfeed have convinced me that as a “real” triathlete, you go on a training camp. But is that really the case?
Of course not
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Consistency is key
Please don’t get me wrong. I myself have been to Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Malle many times for training. And I always had an amazing time there. However, the corona pandemic and the training camps that have been canceled as a result have shown me more and more that training camps for age group athletes really aren’t a must. They are a nice-to-have, a nice break, a vacation, it’s just a lot of fun to escape the winter and collect kilometers under the sun. But a training camp that lasts 1-2 weeks does not make you a better athlete and does not ensure that you will have a successful season. Consistency is key. Especially in triathlon.
So if it’s not possible to go to a training camp for work, family or financial reasons, that’s no bad thing. It is much more important that you work through your training plan week after week, even if you probably can’t fit in 20+ hours a week at home. Continuity will definitely pay off.
Because you mustn’t forget that a training camp always means a bit of stress:
- Quickly finish off all the important to-dos at work before heading off on vacation.
- Borrow a bike case or get one from the cellar.
Und wie ging, dass noch mal mit dem einpacken?
- Pack your bags and don’t forget your training provisions!
- After the training camp, unpack everything, tidy up, do the laundry.
- Training is typically reduced before the training camp in order to arrive “fresh”. In the week after the training camp, training is also reduced in order to recover. In addition, the travel days are no longer used as training days.
- In addition, you should never fall ill. Not so easy when your body has to cope with the increased training volume. The atmosphere on site can also tempt you to do too much, and that’s when we are particularly susceptible to infections.
- It’s easy to catch something, especially in crowded airplanes and when eating from the buffet. I’ve experienced this myself twice at training camps.
So I close the internet browser with all the booking platforms again and tell myself that I’ll be fit for the season even without a training camp. KickAss coach Flo will manage that.
To all those who still have a training camp ahead of them:
Enjoy the time and cycle a lap for me!
See you soon Fia
