Like a kid in a candy store.

When I was at university it was a pretty big deal to score a placement at the AIS as a student. It was definitely seen as “the” spot to be for most of the exercise science types.

Last friday I was lucky enough to spend the day in Canberra at the AIS. I was invited for the day to do some protocol training in relation to working as a soignie. I was like a kid in a candy store.The start of the day saw me meeting the fantastic Liane Wild, the current soignie for the AIS women’s programme and the Soft Tissue Therapy Coordinator of the AIS, Tony Bond. After a quick tour of the Soft Tissue Department we headed off for a presentation. Nothing too exciting, just ASADA protocols. ASADA is the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and is responsible for testing and monitoring of Australian athletes and events.

ASADA does a good job in providing the information to athletes in terms of being aware what is on the banned list, what requires a TUE (Therapeautic Use Exemption) and also guidelines in terms of being wary of supplements that may come from sources with poor qaulity controls. The main message for the riders is that they are responsible for what they consume, so while it may come down to common sense, the principle of “if in doubt, don’t” is a pretty good rule of thumb.

Lunch was in the residence hall. I don’t think you’ll find a better buffet this side of the equator. Copious amounts of food, and all healthy and delicious. Made me rue the fact that now I don’t ride a bike for a living anymore, I’m aware of portion control. Pity I don’t have the appetite that I used to, well maybe it was a good thing because I probably would have been late from losing myself in trying to empty the place.

The next course we were off to was a presentation on wound management by Bev Anderson-Tranter. This was awesome. There would definitely be some people who wouldn’t enjoy the accompanying slides, but I was fascinated. There were some great timelines of how wounds heal, or not, as the case may be. I have started to pack my camera every time I head out, just on the off chance I might be able to take some pics of fresh wounds.

Moist wound management is the current best practice option for wound care. There are some mighty products out on the market now, some that I had never heard of before. Then there are the little things like washing the betadine off after you have cleaned the wound and pressure cleaning with NaCl out of a 10ml syringe. I’m itching for a chance to practice some new skills, almost to the point of thinking it might be time I had another spill…

From there, we bustled off and sat in a patent review with all the physios and sports medicos. If you’re into that sort of thing, it’s great, and if not, imagine going to someone elses business meeting, how soon would your eyes glaze over with boredom? It was great to see the team in action.

Nutrition was next up, and we went through some of the basic principles of nutrition for athletes in terms of functional limits to carbohydrate absorption during exercise and beneficial caffeine intakes. This lead to a general discussion about what we currently provide riders with post race and different ideas in developing menu plans and the like to keep the boredom of the same same away.

The last item on the agenda for me was a quick tour around the campus. Bumped into the Reds using the recovery centre after a training session. Some of these guys are huge. I’m a fan of the Reds after their stellar year last year and was pretty pleased to see them tip past the Brumbies. Good job.

It was one of the best excursions ever. Lucky for me I was brought back to earth pretty quickly. The 3 hour delay to my flight home wiped the smile off my face a little.

Thanks to everyone in Canberra, you’re great!