Day Two at Training Camp

Well it's day two and already I'm feeling the effects of training 3 times a day - hands covered in blisters, legs aching and managing to sleep for far more hours than I would normally (I even had an afternoon nap yesterday - unheard of for me!).

We are training on the Guadalquivir River, which is very big and has the most amazing number of fantastic bridges crossing over it. And the best bit - the sun is shining and it's warm!!

It's so much easier to train in this environment - surrounded by at least thirty female lightweight rowing athletes, plus hundreds of other water-sport athletes. One of the water-sports is a funny kneeling, paddling thing that seems to be done by lots of very fit men! I will try to capture one on film to show later - it looks very precarious yet they move pretty quickly.

The food has certainly improved from what I remember, the problem now is that you have to stop them piling huge portions on your plate. Because it's a training centre they clearly think we need to eat lots, and especially lots of carbs. Breakfast consists of bread or croissants or a cereal that takes enough chewing to take you up to lunch-time!

Lunch and dinner always start with a huge plate of pasta (with varying sauces), some very over-cooked fish, tinned or frozen veg and a salad that includes iceburg lettuce (basically water!). I'm going for as much variety as possible to try to cover every nutrient, and an emergency visit to the supermarket has ensured a more edible muesli for breakfast.

Today's training session was a 12km paddle before breakfast, 3 x 1000 metre sprints before lunch and before dinner I am thinking of going for a run, to save my sore hands!

So for those of you that always think I am on holiday - think again!