A little about Ingrid
It’s my turn this month to tell you all a little about myself and what’s happening with my training.
I’m originally from Johannesburg, but before I came over to the UK I spent 5 years living and working in Cape Town. I was lucky enough to get a position at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa to do my internship after completing my degree at the University of Pretoria. After my internship I stayed on for 2 more years, working in the Wellness and Fitness Centre doing mostly personal and group training, and in the cycling division doing power based testing and training.
From there I moved on to a health and wellness company called Virgin Life Care where I was responsible for the training and management of our Biokinetics network. After just over 2 years of working 8-5 in an office job I decided I needed a change. I wanted to get out and see the world! So, at the end of April I moved over to London.
Hopefully over the next few months I’ll be able to see and experience the best of what the UK and Europe have to offer, while working in the field where I am most happy – one to one training.
My main sport is cycling, both on the road and off-road. Since coming over to the UK my cycling has unfortunately been limited to commuting to work and back on a borrowed bicycle. But that has now changed, as of last week I am the proud owner of a mountain bike. I am hoping to get back out there and see lots of the countryside in the coming months.
So far my greatest cycling achievement has been completing the Cape Epic in 2006 and 2007. The Epic is an 8 day, +-900km mountain bike race that takes place between Knysna and Cape Town each year. The route changes every year and takes in some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. With about 16 000m of climbing during the race, some of the views are absolutely phenomenal.
Riders participate in teams of 2 and entries are limited to 500 teams, making race entries very sort after. The event is so popular they have had to start a race entry lottery.
I completed both events with my dad as a mixed team. This is quite a unique combination and I consider myself very lucky to have been able to do the race with my dad. He’s my inspiration. If I can still ride 900km when I get to 60, I will be incredibly happy.
In 2006 I struggled through the event. We had very wet, muddy and cold conditions. After crashing and spending 11 hours in the saddle on the first day, I didn’t know how I was going to get through the next 7 days. With lots of encouragement (and towing) from my dad, I miraculously got through it. It’s amazing what your body can endure when you set your mind to it. During the 2006 race my mind was definitely tougher than my body. It took me almost 2 months before I was ready to get back on my bike.
In 2007 it was a whole different story. I had a fantastic race. I was strong enough to enjoy the scenery during each stage and to socialize with the other teams in the race village at the end of each stage. We managed to complete the event almost 11 hours faster than in 2006. It’s amazing what more specific training and a little more experience can do!
For me, training for the Epic involved anything between 10 and 15 hours on the bike each week. I usually managed to get in about 2 hours on the road before work, two to three mornings a week (between 5 and 7am!), and then 6-9 hours on my mountain bike on the weekends. The secret to training for the epic is to get as many big rides in on consecutive days as possible. If you don’t practice in training, you will take a lot of strain during the race. It’s also important to allow adequate time for recovery. I generally took 2 complete rest days a week. I had a weekly massage.
One of the most important things I learned during my training was to listen to my body. When you are tired, don’t force it, rather take an extra day off. You get stronger during your recovery, not during training.
I won’t be riding in the 2008 event - I’ll be too busy exploring this side of the world. But hopefully I’ll be back in 2009, lottery dependant…
So for now I’m content just keeping fit with a few runs down the river and rides in the park. To keep me motivated I’ll be doing a few 10ks and maybe a half-marathon.
I’m also looking forward to doing a bit of exploring now that I have wheels again!
Happy Cycling
Ingrid