After another great working experience at the 2014 Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek, I’ve returned home with not only great memories, but more knowledge. Being part of a large therapy team as well as mingling with the athletes, other staff and supporters at such an event does lend itself to broadening one’s scope of knowledge, not to mention being reminded of various philosophies and yarns from years past.
It’s all about recovery
I was fortunate enough to treat a few elite riders from Belgium on a daily basis. Michiel Van Aelbroeck, Robby De Bok and Mathias Smet all hail from the Flanders region of the lowland kingdom and combine cycling with their respective careers. Daily treatment and conversations with these guys revealed their emphasis on proper rest and recovery. Michiel is an osteopath in Ghent and is the de facto coach of the trio, something which Mathias confirmed during race week. With their trip to South Africa involving a strict budget together with inter-continental air travel, their investment was focused on enhancing their health and well-being rather than fancy accommodation and other such bling. Bearing in mind that Michiel, Robby and Mathias all resided in the tented village, their eventual fifth place on the final general classification was remarkable at face value, but no surprise given their meticulous attention to detail.
Some key factors:
- Their journey to South Africa saw them drink copious amounts of water on the flight to South Africa. Together with the constant rolling of their muscles, wearing of compression socks as well eschewing airline food, they arrived in Oudtshoorn in pretty good conditions, oblivious to the gawking of their bemused fellow passengers.
- Daily massage treatment took on an extra dimension for the Flandrian trio. With treatments set at 45min each, these guys each invested in a double session every day, perhaps the only riders to do so. Being an osteopath, Michiel is certainly well versed in which muscles to concentrate on; even requesting a harder massage after Friday’s shortened stage. His reasoning? Shorter stage duration requires harder treatment.
The beauty of sport
Back in the early nineties, Harald Zumpt and Kevin Richards would spend some months training together in Kevin’s hometown of Port Elizabeth. This coastal city of South Africa is known for its relaxed vibe and strong beach culture, suiting these two watermen-cum-elite triathletes down to the ground. Now firmly established in the field of bio-feedback devices, Harald travels to most of the big endurance events throughout South Africa, providing on-site customer support together with his fellow colleagues at Polar.
One of our daily conversations relayed how he and Kevin would have a weekly long run, ending at the small coastal resort of Sardinia Bay, where Kevin’s brother would meet them with food and surfboards. After around 20km afoot, these guys spend the rest of the day riding the waves and living the dream. Not sure how many elite triathletes of today are doing that sort of thing but the fact is that both of these guys are still doing these sorts of things today, although purely for leisure. Having suffered a foot injury in recent weeks, Harald is unable to run, although it doesn’t seem to bother him too much; he is happy to enjoy the other two sports (swimming and cycling) giving his plantar fascia time to heal. Stopping for a swim in a dam on the way back to Joburg or riding his mountain bike in the Garden Route after a business meeting for the sheer pleasure is what is important to Harald these days and is what we as athletes should strive for: pure enjoyment via the simplicity of sport.
Different folks, different strokes
While I’m sure many of us can relate to the above examples, some elite athletes and their coaches take this phenomenon a little further in an effort to diversify their respective sporting talents.
Nicola Spirig is the reigning Olympic Women’s Triathlon Champion, yet has raced sparingly in WTS events since her London glory. 2014 has given the Swiss athlete a chance to show her versatility on the road and athletics track, with national representation at the European Marathon Championships capping off personal best times at 5000m and 21.1km.
While her need for diversity has already been documented, the methodology of such adaptation is explained in detail by Brett Sutton in this video interview. Whilst performing in a different sporting arena is most laudable, returning to her winning ways on the ITU triathlon circuit underlines her sheer athletic class.
Sometimes branching out into different sports is just what an athlete needs to revitalize themselves as well reach a new level in their main sport. Sutton and Spirig clearly understand this notion, the nuts and bolts of which are explained in the aforementioned video.
Note: header image courtesy of Shawn Benjamin www.arkimages.co.za
