Edinburgh Athletic Club

A band of intrepid EAC athletes headed out to Lanzarote’s Club La Santa for a week of warm weather competition and training. All had a very successful and enjoyable week and have arrived back fitter and healthier, read on for the daily diary:

Friday: After an early start with a 6.50am flight from Edinburgh airport, we arrived in the resort by lunchtime, quickly unpacked and headed out to explore the complex. After a quick tour to show the ‘newbie’s’ where all the facilities were, it was straight into action.

The afternoon consisted of a quick lunch, a spot of sunbathing, some swimming, a pilates class (which took place outdoors, of course, in lovely sunshine with a light breeze from the sea, just like all the other fitness classes later on in the week –a very nice change to stuffy indoor fitness studios!), then a fantastic training run along sandy trails with volcanic cliffs in the background and a brilliant red sun setting over Club La Santa. Although we had just arrived, there was still so much to discuss over dinner before heading out for a bit of karaoke and dancing. We really did hit the ground running, and even ended the singing with a group rendition of ‘500 miles’ although perhaps not everyone appreciated the quality of our singing! We were told by the DJ it had to go down as the worst he had ever heard! Then onto the dance floor and a 4 hour aerobic session to Black Eyed Peas, Kings Of Leon, Lady Gaga, Pink, …

Saturday:  Windsurfing lesson, lunch, windsurfing practice, easy time by the pool, Yoga class, 5k and 10k race. First diplomas picked up by Dermot and Katja in the 5k and by Jo and Garry in the 10k. A more sedate night in the bar with only a few making it to last orders.

Sunday: Most of the group did our own cycle tour to Teguise market (a fairly hard 1hr15-1hr30 cycle each way), while Dermot took on the advanced CLS bike tour (70k-90k).

A bit of sunbathing, a bit of swimming and a ‘stretch and relax’ class. On the Tennis court, we had a bit of an unfair contest, Garry and Kirk on one side took on Jo on her own on the other side, Jo having to cover the entire doubles court – yes, Jo won. Then the Concept II 2000m rowing challenge, I think we were due a few diplomas from that but alas they never materialised at the awards ceremony! After that, just enough time for a quick practice in the Olympic Pool to make sure we were capable of swimming 200m for the next days Aquathon. A nice dinner at the pool bar and a few drinks in the Sportsmans bar until closing time.

Monday: Another day full of diplomas- Early morning Duathlon kicked the day off at 7.45am! We had a minor panic when Jo and Garry realised that the tokens they needed to hand in to get bikes out….. were still tennis rackets!!!! A very ‘polite’ early morning wake up call to Katja and Angela (HHH) to quickly borrow their tokens, sorted the problem. Easy diplomas for Dermot, Jo and Vik and a fairly hard one for Garry since he had to run himself into the ground after a poor cycle to get on the podium (seventh going into the second run!). Then time for breakfast, a wee bit of R&R by the pool then a Stretch and Relax class. Which certainly didn’t stretch and relax Garry, it sent every muscle in his legs into cramp much to everyone’s amusement! Then Pilates Reformer Class and then came the afternoon Aquathon, Garry had to take the decision to scratch from this as cramping up in the swimming pool didn’t seem like a good idea! Loads more diplomas for the team, Dermot, Jo and Vik picking up the honours.

Pool Bar for Dinner, then watched the Green Team cabaret and a few drinks to finish the night off in the sportsman’s bar.        

Tuesday: Another early start, this time for the ½ Marathon race. Certainly no one eager to set any PB’s and content to use the first few miles as a warm up, the heat and hills waiting to take their toll later on! Still, we added to our diploma count with Jo, Vik and Garry getting the honours. Some (not able to face an early start and a high mileage of the half) were content with a sharp and short track session.

Pilates, Yoga, an easy Cycle to loosen the legs up, then Table Tennis where we discovered we have a bit of an expert in our squad, you should see how Kirk spins his balls on the table. Then a Step class for Jo. While for others it was relaxation in Jacuzzi, Sauna and Steam Room and several plunges into the cold dip pool to help sore muscles recover for the next day’s long-anticipated triathlon race.

After admiring a spectacular light show of incessant lightning in the sky from our balcony, we ventured out and walked to La Santa village to have dinner in a local restaurant, where we experimented with some Spanish dishes, such as Canary potatoes, local fresh fish and lovely sangria. Then back to CLS for a few drinks afterwards.

Wednesday: …and would you believe another 7.45 start!!! This time for the Triathlon where more diplomas were heading our direction, Dermot ran away with the individual prize and Kirk and Garry helped out by Susie, picked up a team award. Straight after the triathlon we hurried to the soft sandy beach to learn the fundamentals of beach volleyball and enjoyed a social tournament: even though we were all new to this particular sport and not all the serves went where they were meant to go, we still did a better job than our instructor who also played with us, and came up with a non stop list of excuses when his serves and volleys were less than perfect!

The Windsurfing race saw diplomas for Vik, Dermot and Gerry… (Gerry?? That’s not my name, that’s not my name, they call me Stacy!) Trail Run along the coast,  Putting and Crazy Golf! Advanced Step Class for Jo. Dinner followed by our second attempt at Karaoke…. Much busier this night so thankfully not as much opportunity to make a fool of ourselves and indeed they reserved the last song for Kirk who brought the house down with the best ever version of God Save the Queen (Sex Pistols version!). Then another 4 hour aerobic session in the nightclub! 

Thursday: Drills/Strides, Hill Run, Surf School. Cycle along the coast to Caleta de Famara where there was a super beach with enormous waves rolling in and spent ½ hour bobbing up and down getting battered by these, fantastic fun. Then cycle back in time for Yoga, Fitball, and our own decathlon involving Long Jump, High Jump, Javelin and Shot Putt!

Friday: Early morning trail run as the sun was rising, great start to the morning. Then finish the packing and taxi’s to the airport.

Final Diploma Count: Dermot 5, Garry 5, Vik 4, Jo 4, Katja 1, and Kirk 1. Quite an impressive team total.

Post Script: Saturday morning, Kirk was again up bright and early, this time to try out the Edinburgh ‘Park Run’ and promptly knocked 19 seconds off his PB which had stood for 3 years! How is that for immediate results from a week at CLS!! 

What was everyone’s highlight of the week? 

Kirk’s Highlight of the week: The Bike leg in the team triathlon – Great atmosphere and the middle leg was great for being in the centre of the action.

Garry’s Highlight of the week: So many…, Duathlon was up there, but I’ll go with Running leg in the team triathlon – Thought we had no chance of getting a diploma after the first teams of professional swimmers/cyclists came through so quickly. First two teams 6 minutes before us! But Kirk arrived just a minute after the 3^rd team to give me something to chase and we actually ended up in 2^nd place! Fantastic performance from the ‘Carlsberg Girls’ – Susie, Kirk and Garry.

 Jo’s Highlight of the week: Really really tough question about highlight of the week every hour was a highlight!!!! it was all just so amazing!!!!

Katja’s Highlight of the week: Oh yes, the highlight… very difficult to name one, as it was a great holiday with a bunch of great people, doing loads of great activities in a great weather If I have to choose one thing, I’ll go for the cycle trip to Famara – after cycling there going into the refreshing sea and bobbing up and down with the waves, letting the waves take you, enjoying the salty water and sun, without having a care in the world… wish I could go back to that moment!

Graeme’s Highlight of the week: Avoiding the Team Triathlon.

Vik’s Highlight of the week: I guess it was just generally going away with a like minded group because there was always someone keen to try out a particular sport, class or song on the karaoke……

Dermot’s Highlight of the week: It is tough to pick a highlight as there were so many! The sport, the competition & the company were really amazing and has left me itching to go back for more, maybe even early next year! The Thunder storm was spectacular, and I really enjoyed the walk to La Santa while the sky was lit up by the lightening. Learning to wind surf was something I hadn’t expected to do on the holiday and I really enjoyed, I’ll certainly be having a go again! Oh and not forgetting Tony’s rendition of The Goon’s ‘Ying Tong’ song at Karaoke which was priceless! Never have I seen so many people’s jaws drop in amazement!

There you have it, the only bad bit about it all….., we had to come home! Will we go back? You betcha! We are all looking forward to next years trip.