I can finally sigh a breath of relief. I’ve just finished a gruelling three week block of training clocking up more than 45 hours of training. It’s a massive time commitment to fit this amount of training into my schedule, but the results are paying off! This week sees me having a slightly easier week before cranking into the volume and intensity again next week.
Over the weekend I was up in Wellington at the fifth and final NZ training camp. It was a full on weekend and we were put through our paces with intensive on and off the water sessions. Each camp we do fitness testing and I was stoked to clock a PB with my 6 lap fitness test. The weekend was a great success and it was fantastic to spend two solid days with my teammates. Unfortunately one of the team didn’t make it because her internal flight in Aussie was cancelled, but we had a group phone call to make up for her absence. The NZ Paddle Ferns is made up of an awesome bunch of girls and I’m really looking forward to heading away to Europe with them. I can only imagine the fun we’re going to have!
“The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.”– Joe Paterno
Preparation: prep.a.ra.ation n. the action or process of making something ready for use or service or of getting ready for some occasion, test, or duty.
Preparation is a key word in my vocabulary at the moment. It’s what I’m focusing on everyday. I’ve learnt over the years the importance of being prepared and I fully believe the harder I prepare and train the easier it will be to win. This year I’m throwing everything in the pot to be the best athlete I can be. In order to do that I realised I needed to focus a lot more on ‘recovery’ techniques so I could get the most out of my training sessions. Every session I am prescribed by my strength and conditioning coach, Andrew Abakhan, is physically and mentally demanding. So, to seek something that counteracted this I decided to try my hand at Yin Yoga.
Yin Yoga is “a meditative slow-paced class that explores long, deep stretching to enhance joint mobility and flexibility; this class is perfect for healing the body’s connective tissues. You will enjoy a deep stretch especially through the hips, pelvis and spine; a great antidote to running-related stiffness. This class is a therapeutic one and will complement the energetic ‘yang’ styles of yoga to help you to balance an active lifestyle; an excellent option for athletes.”
Flow Hot Yoga Studio
Yin classes are run by the amazing folk at Flow Hot Yoga in Riccarton. They’ve been ever so generous and given me a 3 month membership so that I can reap the benefits of consistent yoga practice. I can’t speak highly enough of the teachers at Flow. They are all so lovely, kind and most importantly lead fantastic classes. My first week I went to 6 Yin Yoga classes and noticed a difference straight away. One of the teachers mentioned we hold a lot of our lifes tension and stresses in our hips and by releasing them we can feel a real sense of relief. I can vouch for this being true. After three weeks of consistent Yin Yoga practice I feel so much better both physically and mentally, it’s like a weights been lifted off my shoulders believe it or not! I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to stop now! It’s such a rewarding class in which you spend a full hour in a nice warm room allowing your mind to settle, focusing on your breathing and allowing your body to open up and heal. It’s the perfect counter activity to my highly demanding physical training. I only wish I had started much earlier. With just under five weeks till we leave for France I’m really looking forward to attending a lot more Yin classes and seeing how supple I can get my body and how settled I can get my mind. A big shout out and massive thanks to Flow Hot Yoga for letting me join their classes in my build up to the World Championships!
I’m going to enjoy this lighter week with a few extra yoga classes before hitting full speed again next week. I can’t believe how quickly time is flying! Soon enough we’ll be on our way to Europe! Exciting!
Thanks to everyone for all the awesome support! AND don’t forget my Quiz Night is on Sunday 10th August at the Bealey Ave Speights Ale House. Book your tickets by clicking HERE.
Liv x
