Winter Training Break - Club La Santa, Lanzarote

It was my first time visiting Club La Santa in Lanzarote for a training break though I have been very aware of it as a destination for both pro and recreational triathletes or many years.  Specifically I went as part of a group of four to help prepare one if our runners for attempting to get a qualification time for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games before the Guernsey CGA's qualification period ends in late March.

Hurdles set up for drills at Club La Santa

For me it was the chance to put in a good block of training.  The holiday itself had been motivation to train solidly such that I could make the trip worthwhile and be able to accomplish a decent amount of training whilst there.

Weather was a bit cloudy and cool for the first couple of days but then the sun shone progressively more and the temperatures rose.  Lanzarote is known for being windy and that certainly made biking challenging as the road network is quite limited which makes for routes that can have very long slogs into the wind.  Add to that some decent climbs and we had a great set up for general conditioning training.

Having all of the training facilities to hand without having to drive anywhere plus classes and gym to choose from along with treatments including massage and of course relaxing areas by the pool made for a very nice break away from the usual routine.

I clocked up about 16.5hrs of swim / bike / run in the 6 days and that included a couple of easier days so it proved to be a good block of training.  Included in the running was two track sessions - the second along with 2013 Hawaii IronMan winner Frederick van Lierde - so you never know who you are going to be rubbing shoulders with !   he was doing a 10k volume progression running session with hos coach periodically taking bloods to test lactate levels in preparation for his first race of 2014 in Abu Dhabi. (He placed 4th).

We also took the time to video running styles and running drills so as to work on detail technique - just the sort of things you need plenty of time and a warm environment for.  Do I think I'll go back? - quite probably !  The club is being extended with 2 further 50mtr pools (yes 2!) , more apartments and more sports facilities.

Sun beginning to set at the end of another day at Club La Santa