Michelle Sharland
Smashing the Cape Town Cycle Tour thanks to 1-1 VIP Njinga coaching
“For the first time in my life I was overtaking fellow cyclists on the climbs.”
Read on to discover how an Njinga 1-1 VIP Coaching helped Michelle smash her PB in the Cape Town Cycle Tour.
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Achievement Highlights
20 MINUTE FTP SCORE
FTP score of 236 Watts - Second highest female FTP score achieved at Njinga.
POWER TO WEIGHT
3.7 w/kg - Within the top 10 female power to weight scores achieved at Njinga.
Official Photo from Hot Chillee Cape Rouleur Event
HEAD RIDE CAPTAIN
Head Hot Chillee Ride Captain for the Cape Rouleur (four day stage race) in South Africa.
CAPE TOWN CYLE TOUR
Finished the 109km race in 3 hours 7 mins (average speed of 35kmph), beating old PB by 31 mins.
Before Njinga
I first met Togo whilst I was preparing for the Cape Rouleur, a four-day, multi-stage event in Franschhoek, South Africa where I would be riding as the Head Ride Captain. In fact, it was this event that I had asked Njinga to help me prepare for.
But Togo, being Togo, felt that the Cape Rouleur was already within my capabilities and that I needed to strive for a bigger, better goal: the Cape Town Cycle Tour, a gruelling 109km race and 1220m of climbing along the Cape Peninsula.
I have no idea how he did it but Togo knew exactly what type of training was going to work well for me. He helped me discover that I’m a power athlete: The harder Togo worked me, the more I loved it.
He intuitively knew the physiological changes I needed to make in order to get stronger, a distinctive departure from every other coach I’ve ever had before.
Some days I smashed my training goals. Other days were tough and I couldn’t train. Whatever the day I was having, Togo was there, supporting and encouraging me whilst pushing me to achieve what he knew I could.
"My goal for the Cape Town Cycle Tour was 3h15 at 33.4 km/h."
The day of the big race When the day arrived, I huddled in my start pen with 150 other riders. Though my nerves were shot, legs heavy and stomach churning, Togo had prepared me well and I told myself that all I needed to do was sit on the wheels.
When the gun went off and we surged forward, my legs screamed at me. Luckily I knew my body well enough to know that it takes about 50km to warm up properly, so I just dug deep and pedalled.
Riding in a huge peloton of 300+ riders, we maintained speeds of around 37-40 km/hr.
When I reached the climbs, for the first time in my life I was overtaking fellow cyclists on the climbs.
"It felt comfortable, manageable and I was in great form."
Michelle with her medal after completing the Cape Town Cycle Tour.
At the top of the last climb, with 15km to go, I began to attack; some riders came with me and we formed a group riding well together until the last kilometre. I looked at my time – I was on track for a sub 3h10! I changed gears, went on my drops and pushed hard all the way to the end and over the finish line.
Later on, I discovered that not only had I achieved a 3h07 finishing time at 35 km/h, but I was eighth in my age group and the 31st female overall out of 3,200 female participants.
I had done better than I ever could have anticipated by smashing my PB by a huge 31 minutes.
"I hadn't even been targeting a place - just a time."
All that I achieved, from the moment I started training with Njinga to the moment I crossed the Cape Town Cycle Tour finish line, was undoubtedly due to Njinga’s coaching plan and Train Smart philosophy.
Togo not only loves seeing his riders achieve their goals but surprise themselves by doing more than they ever thought they could.
"Togo and Njinga, you ROCK!"
Michelle with Njinga Head Performance Coach Togo.
IMPROVED FTP SCORE
Improved an incredible 66 watts from 174w to 240w in just 18 months.
POWER TO WEIGHT
Increase from 2.46 to 3.59w/kg. An increase of 46% in less than 18 months.
RIDE LONDON 100 MILES
Completed first 100 miles in July 2019 in a time of 7h47m.
MALLORCA 225
Took on the Mallorca 225 cycling challenge and conquered it in tough heat conditions.
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