Mark Proctor
Fuelled by Zipvit Sport
Mark Proctor has been focussed on achieving as much as possible in canoe slalom since the age of 12. He's been a member of the Great Britain Canoe Slalom Team for the last 6 years. The 2010 season has been his most successful to date. Finishing 5th at the European Championships and 6th in the World Cup Series. 2010 was the first year Mark has been supported by Zipvit Sport. The products have definitely benefited Mark who uses the Recovery Drink Rapide, Whey Protein and Caffeine Energy Gels to ensure he gets the most out of every session
His aim now is to keep improving and to see where it gets him - Hopefully ending with an Olympic Gold and World Championship Medal!
A Day in the life ....
For those of you who don't know much about canoe slalom and what it means to be a full time canoe slalomist here is an insight. For those of you who do, then here is an insight to a typical Monday in the world of Mark Proctor...
Monday is normally my first day of training in the 6 days I train a week. This can change if I have travel days or illness and need to catch up my sessions on Sundays. I try not to be too religious at keeping my Sundays free, and just go by the mindset of I have a certain amount of sessions that I need to complete in a week, and if this means training half/full day on Sunday then I will do this to ensure that I keep on top of my training. But if possible I like to have my training finished by Saturday afternoon allowing me to do "other" things on a Sunday and get away from the training routine just to feel refreshed ready for Monday.
During the winter my Mondays have looked like this.......
7.00 Get up. Mondays always feel good because I feel excited about the week ahead. This normally fades out by Thursday/Friday where the fatigue has hit in from a high volume start to the week.
7.15. Breakfast time. I try to make sure that I get the right amount of food in here as it's vital to start the day full of energy. I'm also a coffee freak so religiously every morning i will have a "proper" coffee with my breakfast.
7.45 Leave for Course (HPP, Nottingham) 95% of the time I will drive down in the morning unless it's a super nice, wind free day and I will bike down.
8.00 Course walk for full runs. This can take between 10-25 minutes depending on the difficulty of the course and to the extent I feel I need to chat through the course with my coach Mark Delaney.
8.45-10.15 Will be the time of me starting my session to me finishing it. Over the winter I have been doing lots of volume so my sessions are longer than summer sessions where you will be tapering for races and doing a lot less runs. So a normal Monday in Nottingham will consist of between 6-8 Full runs. Each being roughly 90-105 seconds long (course dependent).
10.30-10.45 Following a warm down and getting changed I will debrief with Mark and analyze the session. Good bits and bads bits. Moving forward from the outcome. I like to keep this short to the extent that we don't over analyse and get drawn into too much.
11-13.45 After the session I will ensure that I consume the right ZipVit products to make sure that my recovery is the best that it can be. I use ZipVit recovery drink rapide following the session with a ZipVit energy bar. During the sessions I will drink ZipVit energy drink to make sure that I keep my body fueled up.
Once returning home I will then get stuck into my college work and catch up on emails etc. I find this a vital part of my day as it enables me to focus on something rather than canoeing and also to get an education. I am currently studying Economics A level. It is a home learning course so it fits perfectly around my training at home and abroad.
14.00-15.30 Gym Session. This has been my biggest area of improvement over the 2009/2010 winter. Increasing my Cleans from 92.5kg to 97.5Kg and my Over Head Squats from 87.5Kg to 90Kg. Every time I enter the gym I realise the hard work will be worth it in the long run, so by giving it 100% on every effort will mean the next time my testing comes around I will lift heavier again.
16.00-17.30 Paddle Session. After getting some more ZipVit products on board I get on the water for a session of 2 halves. The first being power on the flat. By this I mean 8-10 Second sprints with maximum rest. This is to try and take the power I have gained in the gym and transfer it into the boat. At the end of the day I am a canoeist, not a weightlifter. This will then be followed by a technical session with my coach. Since arriving back from Australia at the end of February I have become a big fan of repeat technique sessions. I set myself a relatively hard move and challenge myself to do the move 10 times. The challenge is to get 10/10 but being human this isn't always possible. So I allow myself 1 poor outcome and 3 okay attempts. If anymore than that then I restart from 0. The reason I like this session is because Canoe Slalom is all about what you do on the day. You don't get practice runs. You have to know the course inside out and have to be able to get the move 1st and 2nd time. If you don't you're out. So by doing repeats it's drilling in the consistency and giving me the confidence for tough moves.
18.00- From when I get back from my session I like to switch off. Whether that be watch the footie on the TV (Liverpool Fan) or watch a movie with my girlfriend. I also enjoy cooking, and I try to make my meals as healthy as possible. I try to add as much protein as I can to ensure I help muscle growth, along with plenty of greens. My meals are generally followed by some fruit. I have read alot of sporting autobiographies over the last 2 years, and I have the same outcome following every book and it's that the little things count; whether that be healthy eating, or balancing canoeing commitments with my social life.
22.00 I try to be in bed and attempting to sleep by 22.00-22.30 but sometimes you just can't sleep. I figure I won't fall asleep while I'm paddling so no need to worry too much about getting the correct amount of sleep but it is very important not to get too little sleep.
I don't like to leave things to chance and that is why I try to take care of the controllables as much a possible where I can.