Nicole Cook earlier this year in Montreal
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Emma Silversides races for the Global Racing Team. she has offered SheCycles.com a unique insight into the training she needs to do to stay with the peleton and ride with a pro road team.
As promised, here I am with my second installment of 'training'! I am feeling a little bruised and battered as I write this following a crash in a criterium in Germany two days ago. However, I know that in a couple of days I'll be right. I know my body heals very quickly as long as I give it a chance to. This applies in all scenarios; with illness, injury and most importantly post-training and racing. These are the times when your body is most susceptible to damage and therefore I do everything that I can to help myself recover. I'll run through a few of these things.
Post ride routines
Immediately after a training ride I put on a warm dry top (after removing any damp kit obviously!) and do 10 minutes of stretching. I believe that this helps the muscles recover and reduces soreness the following day. I will then immediately bath or shower and wrap up warm. Food and drink is next on the agenda; I try to eat within an hour of a training session. Souplesse/recovery rides are not so important where food is concerned but certainly intense, endurance rides and of course races are. I follow this routine to help my body recovery from the training and give it the best chance of fighting any bugs or germs that it may come into contact with; your immune system is at it's lowest just after intense exercise. It goes with out saying that if I am wet through after a rainy session, stretching can wait until after a shower!
Taking care of myself during training and racing is also important to me. The longer and more intense the session or race the lower your immune system dips. Food and drink on the bike are a must, I don't believe in denying myself food when training hard to lose weight. Also, any longer rides (3hrs upwards) usually warrant a stop to buy refills for my bottles.
A daily routine - sleep, food and training!
The last topic I can comment on is daily routine. As soon as I wake I will take my heart rate. This is done after a little stroll! (a former triathlon coach, Rick Kiddle, always taught me that this 'movement' prior to taking your resting HR releases any tension). This is recorded along with my weight. Yes, (virtually) every morning! If you are going to do this DO NOT become obsessed with it. My weight can fluctuate up to 1.5kg from one day to the next. It is purely an indication to me of hydration and in the long term any general trends in weight. For example, this year I have put a small amount of weight on through the season; this does not concern me, but rather since I am riding stronger than ever, indicates that my current weight is about right.
Plenty of Zzzzzz's will help you train better
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Back to daily routine! The obvious things are fitted into my days; training, 3 good meals, bike maintenance and for me painting! Dinner is not eaten too late since I like to go to bed early; I really do believe that this is when your body works the most and that the more sleep I get before midnight the better.
So there you go! A brief insight into my life! Got any questions? Don't hesitate to contact me via the SheCycles.com Forum, I can't promise a magic answer but I'll do my best. Until next time….
Bex Hopkins
