My housemate Rhiannon had three days earlier returned from a training camp there, and coinciding with the cold snap in the UK, reported sub zero temperatures, gale like winds so strong that they were kept off the lake some days and general cold dreariness. In preparation for our camp there I packed lots of warm kit, woolly socks, winter coats and, in case of a swimming pool/hot tub/ice bath, a bikini!
Lucky I did pack that bikini for as soon as we arrived we realised that the weather was on our side. 18 degrees Celsius the first afternoon, and it continued to be cloudless, bright blue skies with very little wind the entire time. Notwithstanding my rowing kit, my most worn item of clothing was certainly my bikini. Any time we had off was spent on the upstairs roof, reading and basking in the sun. We were intent on boosting our vitamin D stores!
This camp was in preparation for all of our upcoming Olympic Trials, 10-11th March. The training was tough, as expected, but the great weather made it so much more enjoyable! We work on a three day cycle when we are on training camp. This means we have two consecutive days of three sessions a day, and the following day is a two session day with the afternoon off. That afternoon off is always a source of great excitement, and much looked forward to. We usually plan the afternoon around food and sunbathing. Telling ourselves that, after two heavy training days and a half day, we really need some help to recover in the form of a coffee shop crawl to try out all the different hot chocolates and pastries that the area has to offer!
Despite being out of the boat for a few days due to a recurrent neck injury, I returned from the camp much fitter than when I had gone out and ready to do the last stretch of preparations for the trials on home water.
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