It was a great feeling stepping off the board last summer, as my rest period was a reward for all my hard work. I had a “normal” life for at least five months; I bought a flat, had an indulgent family Christmas, ate what I wanted and did very little exercise other than to have fun! I did no set gym sessions or diet plan, and it was all guilt-free as my coach and physiologist insisted that I rest my body and mind for the entire winter period. It was not going to be until February that I intended to step back onto my windsurfer!
My first step towards getting back into my fitness was in January at a training camp out in Lofer, Austria at the British Ski Team lodge where I went along with the more fitness focused sailors and windsurfers to go cross-country skiing. This was a great starter to get a high volume of base level fitness going, and the beautiful snowy mountains provided a much nicer training ground than cold, rainy England!
After this camp I went out to Palma, Majorca, which has great roads for cycling. Again we had an elite group of sailors that I could tag along with, which is always good for motivation. It was chilly but we managed to avoid any rain, some days were warm enough for shorts!
I started getting twitchy about being off the board around mid-January, but I left it another month until I actually began RS:X sailing again, so come February my motivation was like a coiled spring. I planned my return to windsurfing nice and gently with a lengthy trip out to Buzios, Brazil. I joined a group of some of the best women in the world, including the world-dominating Spanish duo. I very much felt a sense of jealousy from the girls out there; some of whom had stepped back onto the board with only a couple of months rest after the Olympics, and some who didn’t have the chance to compete in China had hardly stopped at all over the winter. This made me feel smug, but they clearly had a big jump on me as I was very wobbly to start with! But I made sure that this did not dent my confidence, as our outlook is very much a four-year plan for 2012, and not just nailing the first event of the season.
My initial focus in Brazil was time on the water, which highlighted how much my body had weakened in certain areas, especially my legs. I was keen to get my speed up to standard across the entire wind range, but to get quality sessions where weaknesses are targeted and rectified in every wind strength takes time and patience. On top of this my coach Dom Tidey was keen to introduce a more relaxed, fluid style into my techniques, so it all seemed like a big mountain I had to climb. However, we were reassured by my steep learning curve as it proved we were on the right track.
My development in professionalism up to the Games with diet, rest and recovery was surprisingly easy to replicate and soon the weight fell off me and my muscles were coping well with the stress of the high intensity training and racing. Mentally it was important to not take too much of an ego hit when I was getting my ass kicked in the racing. We were putting together the base structure to set me up for the season, and it was crucial to keep seeing each day as a positive learning experience.
Brazil was a great choice of venue for getting back onto the board; I could train on the water in just a bikini and boardies, I could surf every afternoon and there was a really high standard of girls racing there who are all good friends of mine. It was like half holiday/half job.
Once back in the UK in mid-March I met with my Olympic Manager, Stephen Park (Sparky) who asked me to list what support I felt I would need to get a Gold Medal in 2012. I felt like I had been given complete control over my programme, which was very empowering. It has now been titled “Project Bryony” and the initial focus is on body structuring and strengthening for long-term preservation. My physio, Chris Gordon and my physical trainer, Steve Gent have designed pilates style exercises to target my weaker areas of strength and flexibility so I can be sure that when I start power lifting later this year that I am more aware of good lifting techniques and that my body has a high standard of core stability and symmetry.
Other support-staff look after my general fitness, like Pete Cunningham the physiologist, who works closely with the very successful British Cycling team. Nutritional advice is on tap from Nathan Lewis, who worked with me throughout my Games preparations. Finally, of course, not forgetting the pivotal role of my coach Dom Tidey, who is crucial to funnel through to me all the relevant services that are available to us as part of Skandia Team GBR.
By April it was time to face my first World Cup Event, which I had chosen to be the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma, Majorca. As this was only my second event since my break, Palma never had an outcome focus but it is hard to not set myself high standards. I couldn’t help but get frustrated with my mistakes. But on a positive note there were so many areas that were really coming along well, like my speed. As the week progressed my racing started to look a lot tidier and even my finishing positions were improving.
I was reasonably happy to finish the qualifying series in 4th. But, as with all Olympic Class Regattas now, we had the medal race to finish, which can be such a killer if you get it wrong, as it is double points. The beauty of hindsight showed me that the race was tactically simple, but over-complicating it resulted in a poor finishing position that dropped me to 5th overall by one point. These races that leave me feeling gutted only give me more determination to up my game for the next race.
Sure enough at my next race I seemed to be back on my game, finishing 2nd in Hyeres, on France’s south coast. It was a great accomplishment as the quality of the fleet was even higher, and it was good for my confidence that I belong on the podium!
We will inevitably have a great list of things to target over May, so I will hopefully be in fighting shape come the Europeans in June in Tel Aviv, Israel. Our focus through May will be on water training in Weymouth (the Olympic venue) to work on pumping, speed and board-handling techniques, on top of the fitness training and not forgetting “Project Bryony!"
