Hello again to everyone,
What I didn’t expect around this time in 2018 happened:
I extended my contract with CANYON//SRAM and therefore I keep on living my dream.
I’m happy to not only be back with the team, but also as a Blogger for Voxwomen in 2019.
Furthermore the extension allowed me to have my first proper and professional season preparation after last years start was kind of “throwing myself in the deep end”:
With The Zwift Academy finals in December, a small break afterwards, one team camp in February and the season kick off right afterwards.
Before I became a part of the team I always wondered how a „pro season prep“ looks like. That’s why I’d like to share the progress of my current season preparation with you.
Spoiler alter: It was a short winter!
The preparation started in November, around a week after my last race of the season 2018 in China, with a training camp in Mallorca. The camp with the German Track National team. Luckily for me, the track team is not very interested in a lot of climbing (because neither am I ;-)) So I could start with some easy miles and not too much suffering.
Summed up: ten days of mainly flat, a few hilly and some strength endurance climbing rides in the legs. I guess my muscles even forgot what lactate feels like. But that wouldn’t last for long….
Only a few days later, according to the upcoming Track World Cup in Berlin, we all met again. This time in the less sunny Frankfurt (Oder) for the team pursuits final preparation. My legs were suddenly and painfully reminded what lactate feels like (a lot of lactate), during a week of high intensity and maximum effort sessions on the track.
A roster of five girls, four riders and one backup rider, made their way to Berlin and extended the preparation till race day. I got selected as the backup rider, which I was pretty pleased with as this was my first time in the TP constellation ever. Even though I didn’t race in the end, it was an amazing experience. I enjoyed every second, well not every second. Actually a 16 second lead can be pretty long 😀 And who knows? Maybe the next time I’ll make it one step further.
One step further in the preparation and five days later I left to team camp with CANYON//SRAM in Málaga.
On the menu: Basemiles, teambuiling, sponsor meetings and loads of climbing!!!
Our „epic ride“ up to the Sierra Nevada included 3721 altitude meters and was followed by a two hour hike in the snow. Pizza and tiramisu afterwards were very well deserved.
Peaceful and calm Christmas days at home followed, before I left to my third training camp on New Year’s Day.
Again with the National team and again to Mallorca. We continued the build up of the last two months with even more base miles, more climbing, some strength endurance and some speed work for the legs. Of course we always combine our rides with core sessions. In Mallorca I also try to swim every day after the rides. For me swimming is a combination of core training, stretching and some relaxation.
Due to snow and cold weather I spent the 3 weeks after the third and prior my last camp mainly on Zwift for intensive sessions and my easier outdoor rides on the Mountain bike.
So it was February already when I left for the final camp in Gandia, Spain, with CANYON//SRAM. This time less climbing, but good basemiles and quite some speedwork for the legs. After the first campweek six of us even raced the UCI 1.2 race Vuelta CV Féminas and we were able to start the season with a success. With a young and rather inexperienced team, my roomie Alice (Barnes) took second in the bunch sprint. It seems that even with tired legs you can race fast 🙂
So overall my cold winter “month” were 6 weeks long. Can’t complain about that, I still remember what 5 month of winter feel like.
Most important I stayed healthy with a good mindset and I am ready for racing.
Let’s get this season started!
Tanja!2
