OLYMPIC TRAINING CENTER - SHELLEY OLDS REPORT

2007 Women's Talent I.D. Pool Camp

Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs, CO

Attending this camp was such an incredible honor and privilege for me and I learned so much and met so many great people. All of the 7 women selected for this camp were so talented and so focused. I couldn't have asked for a better group of athletes to share this experience with. All of the coaches were incredibly gracious and helpful, offering advice and sharing their knowledge of the sport with us so freely. The camp started on a Tuesday and ended on a Sunday. The first few days were dedicated to track riding followed by a series of different physiological lab and field tests throughout the last three days. The Olympic Training Center was everything I imagined it would be. I was humbled by all the amazing athletes surrounding me in a variety of different sports. I took some time to tour the facilities and watch some other athletes train and compete. The first day, we went out to the track for a basic introduction to track riding provided by a National Champion in multiple track events, Colby Pierce. We did some pacelines, some flying 200m and some flying 500m efforts. All of the girls were new to track riding and racing and seemed to really enjoy it. After a quick lunch, we went out for a 1.5 hour road ride. That evening we attended a couple of very informative presentations by USADA, a sports nutritionist, and a sports psychologist.

The next day we went out to the track again. This time our coach was USA Cycling Coach, Clay Worthington. Clay would be timing our splits for a Mass Start Test and helping us more with race tactics and rules for the racing we would do later that evening. The test was developed to qualify riders hoping to ride for the National Team in International Track Endurance Events. For the women, this test is a flying 2k. The first 500m must be completed in under 33 seconds and the entire 2k must be finished in under 2:30:75. It is incredibly hard. I messed mine up pretty bad. Still, it was a good learning experience. Clay immediately offered some advice and Jim advised me to try another one for the experience. That afternoon we watched some tapes of World Cup track races and had a presentation on Training Peaks, software for tracking and monitoring your training progress.

Around 5:00 we rode back over to the track for a night of local track racing. We registered for the Women's Races and the Men's B Races. I ended up doing a 5 lap scratch to qualify for the women's match sprint event, racing the final in the match sprints, a 5 lap scratch race with the B men, a 10 lap tempo race with the women, a miss n out, and finally a 25 lap scratch race with the women. I ended up placing in all of the events except the Miss n Out and loved every minute of the racing. I was extremely impressed with the other women, especially because they had never raced a track bike before. They all held their own and it made for very fun and challenging racing. Clay offered some valuable feedback at the end of the night.

The next morning we reported to the sports medicine lab to undergo a 20 minute lab test. I warmed up on a trainer for about 20 minutes and then they put a very large tube in my mouth and pinched off my nose. They set the wattage to a fixed level for 10 minutes and informed me that they would be increasing the wattage for the last 10 minutes. I'm not sure what went wrong, but I was miserable during the test. Even in the first half, I felt like I was struggling. After about 15 minutes, I asked to be taken off the machine. I couldn't get enough oxygen and was starting to feel light-headed. I was extremely disappointed about not finishing the test. I didn't know what to do in this situation. Should I keep pushing despite the obvious illness, or should I sit the afternoon ride out and try to recover. I spoke with the coaches and ultimately opted to sit out the 3 hour road ride that afternoon. It was the longest afternoon of my life and I really felt like I was missing out.

The next day I didn't want to stay alone again and so I decided to head out with the girls on a road ride that would involve a specific type of physiological field test. We rode about 45 minutes out to a climb with about a 1.5 km stretch of a 5% grade. We would each be doing a standing start one after the other and racing the clock to the finish 3 separate times. It was a very hard test and I didn't know how I would feel, so I went out hard on the first one to make sure I got one decent effort in. Immediately after finishing I started coughing and didn't stop the rest of the day, literally. The coaches told me not to do any more and after everyone was done we rode up and over the climb and back to the OTC. I had an individual meeting with Jim Miller that afternoon, the Director of Endurance Programs. He gave me some great advice about how to achieve my goals.

Jim has been instrumental in raising the bar for women in the United States and wants to see that we get the experience we need to compete and win in World and Olympic competition. I admire him so much for all that he has done for the sport. He was straight forward and honest, yet he seemed to have a smile on his face at all times. The last day was another field test out on the road. We rode out to the base of a mountain and did a little preview run of the 20 minute climb we would each be doing against the clock. I did not perform the test for time, but did get a chance to ride slowly up to the top. On our ride back to the OTC we saw a bear and two cubs crossing the street in a residential area. It was really cool. We had a wrap up meeting that evening and all too soon, the camp was over. This experience was one that I will never forget. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet all the people who worked with us at the Olympic Training Center. I will be able to use everything I learned and have established some great relationships with some amazing riders and coaches.

This quote sums up the experience nicely. "Making a dream a reality will require diligent persistence applied daily... courageously." - Clay Worthington

Thanks for reading. - Shelley