The FinKraft training camp has been a success under every aspect and now that we are back home dealing with our daily routine while scheduling our racing season, it comes to my mind how well every rider has done in dealing with the huge training volume in Tucson.
All of us have ridden between 80 to 115 miles for a week block of 600 or 700+ for whoever has spent a couple of extra days at the camp. This is remarkable for an amateur rider, someone that is not used to spend all these hours per day on the bike. Yes, the coaches in FinKraft had taken in consideration the camp in programming the winter training plan for our riders, but still, it’s not a secret, that we had been scrambling to stick to it because of the lousy weather and the limited time available to adjust our schedules.
So going into the camp, I was a bit worried about the ability of each and every rider to complete the training camp without any serious debacle during one of the “epical” rides. On the other end, Roger was very confident in all of us, claiming that, if for anything, the camp at the end of the week would have challenged more our mind set, our mental strength than our body. He had designed and programmed each ride in all the details so that it could perfectly fall in our weekly program. Certain rides have been definitely long but a smart collaboration among the stronger riders has made possible to maintain the effort at endurance level for everybody in the transfers from one climb to another one.
Again during the FinKraft camp every rider had only 4 things to do while enjoying his or her time: sleep, ride, rest and eat. Eating was definitely critical since we were burning between 3000 to 5000 Calories per day and even though it’s generally easy to feed hungry people, that was not our case. We needed a diet rich in light carbs, lean proteins, vitamins, minerals and, of course, very appealing.
The challenge was won hands-on by Kim, Roger’s wife. Using all the products that our “food and supplements” sponsors have provided for the FinKraft camp, Kim, with her usual cheerful smile, every morning would set up the big isle in the center of the kitchen with every kind of nourishment you could imagine: from the steel cut oatmeal to the Greek yogurt, going trough eggs, toast, peanut and almond butter, jelly, honey, germ wheat, fresh cut seasonal fruit, juices, tea, coffee and so long. For the rides, each rider had a container where he or she would find the daily allocations of power bars, minerals, vitamins and after-rides drinks.
On top of that for the longer rider we were provided with extra peanut butter jelly or honey sandwiches. Since it’s very important to start eating right from the beginning of the recovery time, every day, coming back to the camp between a shower and a jump in the pool, we were provided with platters of cheese, turkey, tomatoes and fresh fruit.
I still cannot believe that after all that food, we were still looking eagerly to the dinner. I guess that it was because of Kim’s cooking skills. Every night was something totally different and so tasty: I still remember a wonderful lasagna stuffed with chicken, mushrooms, fresh tomatoes sauce and mozzarella; whole wheat spaghetti “aglio e olio” (garlic and extra vergin olive oil) served with grilled chicken marinated with balsamic vinegar and soy sauce; spaghetti with meatballs and marinara sauce; penne primavera with asparagus, cherry tomatoes and pieces of grilled chicken breast; grilled wild salmon fillet with a mix of crispy roasted sweet and golden potatoes flavored with fresh rosemary; a Mexican night with soft tacos, guacamole, black beans, grilled meat, salsa and queso. Of course I cannot forget the pizza feast on Saturday night, the last dinner. Kim prepared so many varieties that I cannot list all of them, but I can tell you that I had six slices along with a couple of local brand beers and that I would have had more if I didn’t remind myself that I was at a camp and not at a Saturday night party in the Hamptons.
In three weeks and with three different group of riders nobody has bonked once. This is just remarkable! The fact that Barilla was one of the camp sponsors, it’s just a coincidence when I claim that at the end of the Tucson FinKraft camp all of us where “cooked”, from all that riding, but still very “al dente”.
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