Victoria Pendleton: Interview

Less than a year to go till the Olympics 2012, and the excitement is already starting to build.

Victoria Pendleton, the gold Olympic winner and World Champion track cyclist tells us about her training schedule, how she will pick herself up once the Olympics is over and what her ultimate training tip is.

So we have less than One Year to go now, how much is the excitement already starting?

Oh well, erm not really, for us it's just a long process of training, so it's still a long way out really. It's nice to see the venues, it's quite exciting to see the venues and see what they're like. It's still a long time really in terms of getting excited. Staying as calm as possible is the best option.

What does it mean to you to be riding for your country, in your home country?

It's such a rare opportunity to be able to compete on home-turf, I mean athletes don't usually get that chance. It's going to be much bigger than anthing we've ever had to do before and for me it'll be the most important event that I've ever competed in. So it's a real special opportunity and if you manage to do well, it'll be life changing.

How's training going?

Good, thanks. Well, I've been working on a basic two year programme towards the Olympics and I am well and truly into that. I've been doing lots of strength training, trying to build lots of muscle - not very easy to do. It's going really well, I'm about where I need to be at the moment, I'm definitely not behind schedule. I'm happy, really happy at where it's at.

How will you're training change in the next six months?

Competitions start for us in October, European Championships and we have to go to quite a few events to qualify points to get to the Olmpics. So it'll get less weight training, more track based training. More speed specific, at the moment it's all about building strength and later in the season it'll be about converting that to power and speed, but you can't try to do that all at once because it's kind of ticking too many boxes at once, you have to focus on one thing at a time - just try and get stronger a bit more power.

So how confident are you heading towards the Olympics then?

It's a long way out, so it's difficult to say. But in terms of training I'm really happy with the way that everything's been going. Touch wood, I don't get any injuries. I couldn't ask for anything more really.

You obviously follow a strict diet, how will this change in the run up to the race and just before?

It won't change at all really to be honest. I tend to eat quite healthily anyway and enjoy cooking, as it is. I have a nutrionist, so we have a lot of support on that respect on the cycling team. There's somebody who works as a full-time nutrionist, so it doesn't really change that much. I mean I don't have to eat like a lot of calories, more than a average person, more than Scott actually, my other half, but not for me it's more about post-exercise recovery, getting ready for training the next day. Post-nutrition, so getting the right protein and the amino acids that will help recover and rebuild the muscles for the next day. So, for me post-exercise nutrition is the most part important for me, rather than carbohydrate loading.

How do you manage to stay so motivated?

I really, genuinely enjoy training see, I don't find it a chore. The thing is, most people see difficult exercise a a kind of chore and something that they have to do to stay in shape, but it's my main priority, so I'm really lucky that I don't have to squeeze it in around anything else. That makes a big difference. It's my main day job and I really love it, I love going to the gym and putting two-and-half kilos more on the bar bells, and thinking 'Yes, I'm better than I was yesterday'. That really drives me and motivates me.

What's your ultimate training tip?

Don't get stuck in a rut, really. Change your training, if not just slightly, maybe in terms of venue. If you get too bored, your body doesn't adapt as well and your body gets bored and tired and you don't get as much out of it. So it's just making small tweaks, to keep it interesting. And if you're really struggling, get a friend to train with you - that's always really helpful. Drag someone else along.

I've been reading a lot about people saying that you're not really or up to the Olympics because you only got a silver and bronze medal at this year's World Championships - what do you have to say to this?

The Olympics is harder than anything you will ever have to do because it's a World Class field and the fact that the pressure, the media, and everything else that comes with it, makes it a lot harder to produce the performances. With added external pressures or performances, those sort of things, and you can't; the amount of physical and mental effort it takes to be in that shape, at that time is too much to ask of your body and your mind every single year.

It's hard, year in and year out, to keep pushing at that level and if you do you tend to break. You either get burnt out mentally or phyically you get injured, so you have to kind of pace yourself, almost: plan it. And last year, I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself, because the next 12 months is going to be so big and I didn't want to go into it tired in any way. So I took the pressure off a bit, and as a consequence I came away with a silver and a bronze - which I think I don't think is too bad actually. (No, we don't either!)

A lot of people think that you have a certain amount of talent that's always there and you can turn up on the day and win a race. But it's a lot of prepartion, consistency and planning to get to where you need to be and managing injuries and other things. There is a lot that goes into producing that one small performance. You can't just call on that any day of the week - I mean, if you asked me to race today I'd be terrible. It's hard and people don't realise that you can't just replicate that by going, 'Oh ye, I'm going to win today'. It's hard, it's difficult and you've got to get it right.

You're engaged at the minute, but you're not planning the wedding till after the Olympics?

No.

So, you've not thought about it at all then?

We've almost came to a conclusion on where we are going to have it, in which country. Because my other half is Australian - so logistically, it's turning out to be quite confusing. But I'm really not going to plan much until after the Olypmics. Mainly from my experience though, because after a big competition, you hit a real low, even if you've won. You kind of feel a bit lost, because you spent four years aiming for one day - if not a whole life-time - and then it's over and you're like 'well, I'm just a bit depressed'. Everybody, the whole team, the coaches the lot. It's a really weird situation.

So, what I'm doing is, apart from not wanting the distraction now, I thought it would be something really good to pick up on and get involved with to give some sort of momentum to everyday life. And enjoy something else, it's something else to do and focus on.

My life without goals would be an abolsute nightmare. I'm very much somebody who sticks to the rules.

So, you're currently EDF's Team Green Britain Ambassador - what does this invovle?

Well, basically what I do is - apart from all the promotional stuff, media wise, I promote Green Britain Day, EDF's Green Britain Bike Week. I've gone into a few schools, to speak to kids about sustainabilty. Because in some schools, they have this thing were the kids can join this pod. And the pod is something, it's sort of a group that gives lots of information on being environmentally friendly and basically integrating it into their school work at a really early age. It's really enlightening actually, some of the things that these kids already know is really phenomanal, just to start off as that being the norm for them and understanding and appreciating what it is to be environmentally friendly so they can take it home to their parents and nag them to switch the lights off.

What sort of changes have you made to your lifestyle to become more sustainable?

For me, I've always been very environmentally conscious. I recyle everything and I've got a compost, and I turn off all the plugs, to Scotts annoyance, actually, and I try not to make unneccessary car journeys and I'll join things together so I don't have to drive here, there and everywhere. And I'll cycle to the shops if I forget something. So I try to think about these sorts of things.

But I haven't really changed too much. I've got an eco-manager at home and it gives you up-to-the-minute feedback on your energy consumption, which has been quite enlightening, because you'll be quite surprised what kind of appliances in your kitchen and around the house use energy and I think it's good for people just to know. I've always been quite green and that's why I felt enthaustic about the whole project - because it's something that I genuinely feel is quite important.


Olympic gold medalist and multiple world champion cyclist Victoria Pendleton is an ambassador for Team Green Britain, founded by EDF Energy, the first sustainability partner of London 2012. For more information visit www.teamgreenbritain.org

Taryn Davies

Less than a year to go till the Olympics 2012, and the excitement is already starting to build.

Victoria Pendleton, the gold Olympic winner and World Champion track cyclist tells us about her training schedule, how she will pick herself up once the Olympics is over and what her ultimate training tip is.

So we have less than One Year to go now, how much is the excitement already starting?

Oh well, erm not really, for us it's just a long process of training, so it's still a long way out really. It's nice to see the venues, it's quite exciting to see the venues and see what they're like. It's still a long time really in terms of getting excited. Staying as calm as possible is the best option.

What does it mean to you to be riding for your country, in your home country?

It's such a rare opportunity to be able to compete on home-turf, I mean athletes don't usually get that chance. It's going to be much bigger than anthing we've ever had to do before and for me it'll be the most important event that I've ever competed in. So it's a real special opportunity and if you manage to do well, it'll be life changing.

How's training going?

Good, thanks. Well, I've been working on a basic two year programme towards the Olympics and I am well and truly into that. I've been doing lots of strength training, trying to build lots of muscle - not very easy to do. It's going really well, I'm about where I need to be at the moment, I'm definitely not behind schedule. I'm happy, really happy at where it's at.

How will you're training change in the next six months?

Competitions start for us in October, European Championships and we have to go to quite a few events to qualify points to get to the Olmpics. So it'll get less weight training, more track based training. More speed specific, at the moment it's all about building strength and later in the season it'll be about converting that to power and speed, but you can't try to do that all at once because it's kind of ticking too many boxes at once, you have to focus on one thing at a time - just try and get stronger a bit more power.

So how confident are you heading towards the Olympics then?

It's a long way out, so it's difficult to say. But in terms of training I'm really happy with the way that everything's been going. Touch wood, I don't get any injuries. I couldn't ask for anything more really.

You obviously follow a strict diet, how will this change in the run up to the race and just before?

It won't change at all really to be honest. I tend to eat quite healthily anyway and enjoy cooking, as it is. I have a nutrionist, so we have a lot of support on that respect on the cycling team. There's somebody who works as a full-time nutrionist, so it doesn't really change that much. I mean I don't have to eat like a lot of calories, more than a average person, more than Scott actually, my other half, but not for me it's more about post-exercise recovery, getting ready for training the next day. Post-nutrition, so getting the right protein and the amino acids that will help recover and rebuild the muscles for the next day. So, for me post-exercise nutrition is the most part important for me, rather than carbohydrate loading.

How do you manage to stay so motivated?

I really, genuinely enjoy training see, I don't find it a chore. The thing is, most people see difficult exercise a a kind of chore and something that they have to do to stay in shape, but it's my main priority, so I'm really lucky that I don't have to squeeze it in around anything else. That makes a big difference. It's my main day job and I really love it, I love going to the gym and putting two-and-half kilos more on the bar bells, and thinking 'Yes, I'm better than I was yesterday'. That really drives me and motivates me.

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