Weekend in Bintan with The Grangers, August 2010

After receiving a number of requests for a girls only camp, BPM-Sport decided it was time to find a champion female triathlete who would be willing to join us in Singapore and help us host one. Having worked with Belinda Granger earlier in the year, and remembering how popular she was with session attendees, Belinda was the perfect person to ask. Fortunately Belinda agreed to come back to Singapore to work with BPM and so the planning started for our first ever “Testosterone Free” Female Only Camp.

As interest grew, so did the number of boys who wanted to be a part of the action. Knowing that Justin Granger, an accomplished triathlete himself and for many years coach and mentor to Belinda would be in town, it was decided to introduce a parallel “Secret Men’s Business” Camp to keep the boys happy.

The first session was to be held early on the morning of Friday 20^th August with the boys meeting Justin and BPM coaches for a track session. Unfortunately no amount of planning could have prepared us for the torential down pour, thunder and lightning that decscended upon Singapore. Luckily the guys still mananged to put in a solid training session and come away with new skills and the need for a hot shower (something unheard of in Singapore!). This was the fella’s only session for the day. 

Meanwhile, the girls started to gather at the track for what was to be their first session of a 3 day camp. A drenched Belinda arrived ready to meet the girls and put them through their paces with the help of Justin. A bit of rain didn’t hold the girls back from tackling their track session with gusto while receiving inside tips from two of the sports best. With a series of drills, track sets and a few laughs completed it was time to call it quits and head for a well deserved breakfast. Luckily, the weather started to clear during the session and as the group started their light jog to the East Coast Park, the rain said it’s final farewells for the day.

An easy cool down jog along the Singapore coastline brought the group to breakfast at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in the East Coast Park. This has always provided campers a great opportunity  to get to know each other and was no different this time with athletes joining us from Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. Following breakfast the group contiunued making their way through the park to camp HQ for a day of more training.

After a quick change, the girls hit the Olympic swimming pool for a session that would make their arms and legs work hard with a few participants using paddles for the first time, and feeling it by the end! The girls were put through their paces by Belinda and Justin as they took on a range of swim sets designed for their respective levels in the BPM-Sport Camp HQ Pool. Thank goodness the afternoon was going to be relaxing. 

Lunch followed with each participant being given their camp goodie bag with items courtesy of The Body Shop, Key Power International and BPM-Sport. It was then time for an introduction to myofascial releases. Using foam rollers kindly donated by The Fit Bar, the group were taken through a series of releases that would aid in their recovery post training or racing, and many realised just how tight they really were. A bit of core work was also included to emphasise the importance of this muscle group in triathlon training and daily living.

With Belinda telling the story of an embarrassing tyre changing incident early on in her career, the final session of the day would no doubt be helpful to all. It was time to receive a visit from The Bike Butler who took the girls through some basic bike maintenance including how to change a tyre (little did we know how important that would be later in the camp), fix jumping gears and general bike care – the little things we all would like to, and probably should know!

 With day 1 finished, it was time for everyone to head home, rest up and prepare for the weekend of training ahead.

Saturday started early (what weekend of training doesn’t) with the girls and the boys meeting at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal for a trip across to Bintan. It was an opportunity for the boys to find out what the girls had been up to the previous day and to share stories of the track sessions.

Once in Bintan, the group readied themselves for the day ahead and as the girls rolled out, the first “flat” of the day was called by one of the boys. So while the girls got started, the boys had a tyre to change – maybe they should have been at the previous days mechanical session?

With the girls underway, the second flat of the day was called. Despite numerous attempts to change the tube, it was soon discovered by our fearless leader Belinda that there was in fact a good sized hole in the tyre. With a used gel packet inserted (a trick learnt from Justin), the girls were once again on their way. Unfortunately the gel packet was not to last and after a second pit stop, it was decided that the problem would be best sorted by Justin, so Sarah and Karen jumped in the support van and headed back to where the boys would be.

The rest of the girls, who were by now in 2 groups, continued along the roads of Bintan towards Bintan Camp HQ. Unfortunately the first group missed the planned turn off and continued on further down the road than anticipated. Many wondered whether this was actually a tactical “miss” by Belinda to get some extra miles in group 1’s legs? The second group made the correct turn and started on the Bintan Rollers – 27 hills within a 14km section of road. Many were ecstatic to see the crystal clear waters of the ocean at the end of the hills indicating that the hotel was near.

After 4+ hours of riding, the first athletes rolled into the accommodation at the Bintan Cabana Resort. It was not long before everyone was reunited and a 4km moderate paced run off the bike ensued in the rising heat of the day. With lunch beckoning, participants checked in, changed and sat down to a well deserved lunch.

Refuelled and ready to go again, the girls headed to a beach side hut with Belinda for a “Girls Only” talk while the guys regrouped around the lunch table. This was an opportunity for camp participants to ask either Belinda or Justin anything triathlon related. While the girls started safe with questions about nutrition, race planning, training and how Belinda got “those abs”, talk later turned to uses for Paw Paw cream and whether undies were permitted under knicks……ah, no!

The guys enjoyed a chat with Justin and hearing about his tales of life on the road as a professional athlete and what it is like coaching your partner. On the basis of protecting his manhood, the boys had to promise not to utter a word about his responses to some of the questions surrounding the “challenges” of training with and coaching your wife. The guys received plenty of inside tips in how to best prepare for their season, race planning and how to manage both the ups and downs of racing and training.

The afternoon finished with a transition session under the shade of the palms where tips were provided to help athletes improve their time in T1 and T2. It was then off for a quick shower, change…and dinner.

Luckily a bus was hired to take the entire group to the Ocean Bay Seafood Restaurant as what was thought to be 2km up the road in fact ended up being 7.5km….ooopps!! The restaurant was an Indonesian style Kampong restaurant that was located on “stilts” above the ocean bay. The dinner comprising of local seafood dishes was destroyed by all before returning “home” for an early night or evening at leisure.

Sunday morning started with the sun rising and the group heading out for an easy “wake me up” run. It was evident that someone was still not awake and while the rest of the group sat down to breakfast, a certain Ironman missed the resort and continued up the road….for an extra 1 hour!! A search party was sent out and a rather embarrased Frenchman was located looking a little dazed and confused!!

After realising the previous day that the girls would benefit from some climbing tricks and tips, they returned to the rollers for a session with Belinda. Everyone spent time learning different ways to tackle a hill and climb it quickly without much effort. By the end of the session, the girls were climbing the hills much smarter and easier.

While it was thought no more flats could occur within a weekend, Jeneane was struck at the start of the hills and after several attempts to reinflate the tyre were unsucessful, a passing motor bike was flagged down and while carrying her bike with one hand and holding on with the other, Jeneane returned to camp HQ where more appropriate equipment could be located. To her credit, she got back on the bike, rode back to the hills and made sure she put in some effots. Tough work by our American friend!

Meanwhile the fellas were also revisting the hills as part of a brick session designed to get them used to transitions and changing from riding to running. With the testosterone flowing, the boys put the pace on and each had the opportunity to ride or run with Justin alongside them pushing the pace. BPM coaches love nothing more than witnessing campers achieving what they thought they couldn’t during these sessions thanks to the help of our guest pro athletes.

Back with the girls group, Karen’s tyre finally gave up the ghost and another motor bike was accosted to take her back to camp HQ – thank goodness for people on motor bikes in Bintan!!

With the riding done for the weekend, it was time to cool off in the ocean with an open water swim set. With the boys and girls happy to combine for this session, the groups were split according to ability and taken through open water drills, skills and some fun with Belinda and Justin…..while enjoying the beautiful sea life that swam beneath!! People are stil talking about the enormous grouper and many fish that were watching “the humans” swim by.

With the camp coming to a close, it was time to check out, head back to Singapore and get prettied up for the BPM-Sport Awards Dinner. As the bus pulled out of the resort, the rain started to fall again and all were glad to not be on their bikes. Thanks to the crew at Pizza Capers, hungry athletes enjoyed a variety of pizzas washed down with beer and wine while telling stories of the weekend. No awards dinner is complete without the giving of awards and thanks to our friends at K-Swiss, Powerbar, Trix-gear.com, The Bike Butler and Lazer Helmets, all participants walked away with something that was chosen especially for them.

As the last beer was drunk and final mouthful of gelato enjoyed, it was time to say good bye to new found friends and training buddies.

On behalf of Belinda and Justin we would once again like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their efforts over the weekend and we are certain there will be some great results following soon. We have already heard reports of Personal Best’s coming in from campers which is an absolute pleasure to hear of given your efforts not only at the camp but throughout the year. Well done to everyone!

BPM, Justin and Belinda all had a great time training, teaching and mentoring you and hope that you managed to pick up a few new skills along the way. It was fantastic also to see girls fly in from Hong Kong and Australia for the camp and we look forward to welcoming more international guests in the future.