On Thursday the 5th of July I left to go to Team Novo Nordisk’s Talent ID Camp in Athens Georgia for a 6 day training Camp. It was the first time I had flown over on my own so I was a bit nervous but thankfully it all went smoothly.
I arrived in Georgia just after 3pm and got picked up in the TNN van and we made our way to the Hotel. We had a meeting about the camp and details of the physiological and medical testing we would do the next day.
On Day 2 we had a ramp test and we talked to the medical staff about our Diabetes. the testing went well. This took up most of the day and we had dinner and had a meeting about diabetes management on and off the bike as well as discussing the results of the ramp test.
Day 3, we were on the bikes. We had a ride out and during this each of us were tested on a 4km time trial. This was the main test of the day and my time was 6 minutes and 13 seconds on a lumpy course. We also got photos taken before and during the ride to help promote the Talent Camp. We were out for 2.5 hours and then upon returning to the hotel, as a bit of fun, we played bingo (yes bingo) before dinner. After dinner we had a series of further meetings about training and diabetes management.
Day 4, we had 2.5 hours training. The CEO of the team, Phil Southerland, was there and rode with us. He has since posted a couple of videos of the ride out. After lunch we all went to his friends pool then back to the hotel for dinner. After dinner we had a series of bike skills games, including a bike football. It was good fun and a great way to mix with the other athletes from around the world.
Day 5 was a 3 hour ride. We then watched a movie after lunch and then more bike games after dinner.
Day 6 was the last ride out of the camp and involved a 3 hour ride after which we packed up the bikes. Once we had finished we meet with the team staff and had our closing discussions followed by dinner.
On the last day we all met up in the morning and left in various groups to travel to the airport to go home.
I had a great time and met a lot of people that I never could’ve, if it wasn’t for the amazing work of all of the staff at Team Novo Nordisk. It was also extremely helpful to benefit from their advice about racing and training with diabetes.
Report Ciaran Dixon
