MICHELLE SHARLAND
Discover how an Njinga remote coaching plan helped Michelle smash her PB in the Cape Town Cycle Tour.
ACHIEVEMENT HIGHLIGHTS
20 MINUTE FTP SCORE
FTP score of 236 Watts - Joint highest female FTP score we have seen in the Njinga Lab.
POWER-TO-WEIGHT
3.7 w/kg - Within the top 10 female power to weight scores seen in the Njinga Lab.
HEAD RIDE CAPTAIN
Head Hot Chillee Ride Captain for the Cape Rouleur (four day stage race) in South Africa.
CAPE TOWN CYCLE 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.
Enter Njinga
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.
Michelle in action on her bike during event.
Michelle ride Captaining for Hot Chillee at the Cape Rouleur.
Michelle in the pen before the start of a race.
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.
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.
Michelle ride Captaining for Hot Chillee at the Cape Rouleur.
Michelle climbing during a racing event.
I hadn’t even been targeting a place – just a time! I had done better than I ever could have anticipated by smashing my PB by a huge 31 minutes.
Train Smart with Njinga Cycling
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 her daughter.
Michelle at the end of the Cape Town Cycle Tour with her medal.
Michelle with Njinga Head Performance Coach Togo
Like most cyclists this year, I’m not sure what my next plan is because of the huge covid curveball but I’ll still be a Hotchillee Ride Captain for their 2021 event (assuming it goes ahead).
As for my personal goals, they’re simple: ride consistently through the winter and ensure a solid base for any flashes of inspiration that come my way next year. The Njinga Academy has come at the perfect time for this and I’m excited to dive into some of the programmes on offer!
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– Togo Keynes, Head Performance Coach at Njinga Cycling Academy