LWAC - Warm Weather Training - Portugal

Eight Lincoln Wellington athletes together with their coach, travelled to Monte Gordo in Portugal for some warm weather training, with funding assistance from England Athletics, East Midlands region. The athletes were able to utilise the superb facilities at the Vila Real dos Santo Antonio sports complex and the surrounding forest trails and local beaches.

Each athlete had an individual training programme that was based on their usual routine, but with the addition of extra time to complete circuit training, gym tests, stretching, biomechanical screening, drills and evaluation sessions that could not easily be completed at home.

The warm weather enabled them to carry out higher quality training and there were numerous other benefits. The coach and athletes had time to evaluate the training with more emphasis on technical aspects, they were able to witness at first hand the training of international athletes and gain an insight into the lifestyle of a professional athlete. They really enjoyed the break from the routine of training back home, with new surroundings, new faces at training, better air quality and quality recovery time between sessions. They were also introduced to the dubious pleasures of the ice bath, finding it soon became a positive habit after training. In summing up, they returned pleasantly tired, but mentally refreshed and inspired to push on to the next level.

As for the coach, he learnt a lot more about his charges, was able to exchange ideas with other coaches and watch how they interacted with their athletes, making some useful new friends and contacts along the way.

A final thought from one of the group - "it was amazing! I was training alongside the Olympic champion from Sydney 2000 and picking up loads of tips from her and her coach!"

That doesn't happen every day!!!!!

Contact LWAC via at info@lwac.org.uk
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