This week was purely based on endurance. Therefore we had about about a 30 second break between each trail that we did at Bunya just to catch our breath. An advantage was that most of the trails had some form of downhill as well as uphill. So on the downhill we would just roll down and save our energy for the uphill parts.
This week was quite fun for Blake because he got to experience a lot of trails that were all individually different. Altogether, Blake did roughly 8 kilometers in 43 mins. This was a cracking time considering how tiring this would have been. This was with a wide elevation gain of 136 meters which demonstrates that Blake tackled a lot of uphill as well. A very good improvement from Blake this week.
I felt like Blake was a lot more confident this week on the bike. He seemed to really enjoy exploring all the different trails even though there were minimal breaks. I felt as if he put a huge effort in this week and it really paid off in the results. I have personally seen a massive improvement from the week 1 intervention to now. He will only get better and more confident at riding in the coming weeks.
Client Feedback:
How were you feeling during the ride due to the minimal breaks?
Since this ride was based on endurance, of course, I was a little bit tired during the breaks, but it helped me get better and save my energy more.
What have you improved on?
I have of course improved on the endurance factor and I was also surprised that I didn’t get asthma throughout the ride.
Is there anything that you think needs work?
Even though the main thing last week was uphill I still need training because I just get too tired going uphill.
How is your confidence feeling in terms of riding a bike through the trails?
I’m terrified to go down big slopes that have roots throughout them. Also, my reaction time has gotten better so I can avoid things that I don’t feel comfortable doing the majority of the time.
This week, I felt was a successful week because Blake was able to keep a constant speed and not get scared of things coming up. If things a little scary were to come up, he would have a good reaction to stop in time as he said and ride slowly in that section. We are only half way through the full intervention and he has come so far already.
Next week will see quite a big change. Campbell and I will be focusing on sprints and agility. All of Blake’s energy will be used in the sprinting so he will have long breaks in between each sprint. We will time his sprints for a series of different lengths and work out how many meters per second he is doing for each length. This will then tell us his average speed and if he is keeping his speed constant in each different length. Bring on next week!
Getting healthier 