Race Report: 2011 Swisse Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge

“Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. Oh! The places you'll go!” 
― Dr. Seuss: Oh, the Places You'll Go!

The Race

The Swisse Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge is a five-day (stage) adventure race run annually in Tasmania by Mark Webber's Charitable Foundation. This year's race supported two charities being: Whitelion, a charity for disadvantaged youth and the Save the Tassie Devil Program. As a pairs race, I was fortunate to be racing with frequent training partner Mark Duncan under the banner of Team Rexona; one of the major supporters of the race.

This years course was set by well known hard man John Jacoby and was a true racers course. Each day was designed so that it was achievable for everyone, but with considerable time bonuses on offer for those brave enough (read: those wanting to win) to take on some epic extra kilometers that may or may not result in a nett time benefit at the end of the stage. This meant strategy and clean navigation were vitally important, and cut-off times and bonuses needed to be carefully considered when planning the day's route.

Mark Webber and Guy Andrews (Team Tasmania) planning their route on Day 1, Freycinet Lodge.

I simply couldn't to go into the full details here of the many head to head battles, nav errors, strategies, spills, thrills and hills that made up our race; it is simply too extroadinary an adventure. However, I will summarise some of the key moments of each day so you can get some appreciation of what its like, racing in your own Dr. Seuss style adventure. Or you could just sign up and race yourself next year..... ;-)

http://markwebbertasmaniachallenge.com/

Day 1: Freycinet Peninsula
Start - Freycinet Lodge.
2km Orienteering
9km Kayak
35km MTB
6km Run incl. 100m Abseil
13km Run
6km Kayak incl. 3km Run
Finish - Saffire Resort.

Race Time: 7:49 hrs; 6th Place

“Being crazy isn't enough.”
― Dr. Seuss

Good times:
The highlight of any race at Freycinet will always be the paddling. Crisp, clear water in simply beautiful surroundings. The paddling here is so serene on a clear day that it was once listed as #4 on a popular 'things to try before you die' list. But we were racing(!), and had a fairly clean run on the orienteering so were just behind the French Teams Renault #1 & #2 in the main chase group with Team Pure Tasmania (Jarad Kohlar and Emma Weitnauer), Team IronHouse (Mark Padgett and Mark Hinder) and Team Save the Tassie Devil ('Ace' Petrie and Sean Mennitz).

My nostalgia moment for the day was swapping turns on the front with Beijing Olympic K1 500 Gold Medallist Ken Wallace's team wash riding us for a while, and subsequently setting ourselves up well for the day with a strong paddle (as would later become our strength for the race). Also, for those of you that have been to Wineglass Bay, running along the beach there was pretty handy too! This is a beautiful part of the world.

Mark and Guy (Team Tasmania) on the paddle. Behind us :-D

Tough times:
The last 4km of the second (and optional) run definitely hurt lots of the teams that chased bonus time on day 1. Most of the leading teams hadn't gone back through transition after the abseil (we had) and consequently ran out of water, and nutrition. The running was constantly up / down across rocky gully lines and really hard on the quads after some significant climbing throughout the run. In the end, I was pretty glad when we hit the water for the final paddle!

Take-away from the day:

On the optional run leg I foolishly decided to leave the checkpoint descriptions behind, thinking the checkpoints were on really obvious features. However, when we got there it turned out one of the major features was mapped wrongly, and hence we spent ages looking for the checkpoint because we didn't know exactly where to look. Tomorrow Mark will look after control descriptions, I'll nav!

Day 1 Links:
Official Highlights Video
http://youtu.be/x_OTJCzNrF0

Team Red Bull's Video Blog
http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Video/swisse-mark-webber-tasmania-challenge-2011-day1-021243134543403

Teams Renault #1 & #2 ascending steeply to the start of the abseil.

Day 2: Tasman Peninsula
Start - Fortescue Bay.
100m Swim
11km Kayak
17km Run
20km MTB
7km Run (through the Port Arthur Historic Site)
6km Kayak
7km Run
Finish - Basket Bay.

Race Time: 7:48 hrs; 6th Place (after penalties, 2nd before)

“You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!”
― Dr. Seuss

Good times:
Day 2 was the highlight of the race for me. The opening paddle around Fortescue Bay was genuine ocean paddling and took in checkpoints at the Lanterns, the Totem Pole (a famous climbing area), secluded bays and shipwrecks. This was followed by an epic run/trek through wet rainforest to the top of Mount Fortescue, and down the other side, to collect some bonus checkpoints worth big time (or so we thought). We ended up in a tight tussle with the lead bunch again (with GAs, JKs and the French teams), but managed to pull into second with some hard running on the boardwalks over the plateau. To give you some idea how tough this leg was, it took us over 2 hours to complete the first 9km (for a 90 min time bonus), but only about 40mins for the last 8km (including another 90min bonus)!

Heading out of CP 1 at the Lanterns (us on the right).

Tough times:
Sitting in second place behind Team IronHouse, Mark and I made a strategic decision to skip the final bonus time checkpoint thinking it wouldn't be worth the long slog to the top of the hill and back for the 40 mins of bonus. We had a good gap on Team Pure Tasmania (Jarad and Emma) in third, and the French Renault Team (4th) were last seen bush bashing through some thick coastal scrub. Unfortunately, we overestimated the time it would have taken to get the checkpoint, and rather than taking a 5-10 minute hit (thinking it would take 30 or so minutes), we ended up losing about 30 on our main rivals (it took less than 10 min). This was further compounded by a 20 min penalty for an incorrect checkpoint answer at Port Arthur to leave us 50 minutes down after finishing 10 minutes ahead. This was pretty frustrating after racing strongly all day, but what do you do? That's racing!

Take-away from the day:

Today we learnt from the mistakes of day 1, but made an obvious (in hindsight) strategy error. I'm not sure there's much too take away from that, maybe we should have planned better the night before, but I think we were caught off guard with how competitive we were today. On the whole, I'm pretty happy, that was ace!

Day 2 Links:
Official Highlights Video
http://youtu.be/aAr8bb2_Nd4

Team Red Bull's Video Blog
http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Video/swisse-mark-webber-tasmania-challenge-day2-video-021243134907702

Team Renault #2, trying to run us down after they lost time in the paddle.

Day 3: Bruny Island
Start - Gordon Campsite.
13km Kayak
35km MTB
10km Run
25km MTB
7km Kayak
10km MTB
Finish - Allonah.


Race Time: 8:02 hrs; 3rd Place

“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”
― Dr. Seuss

Good times:
Day 3 we were determined to make up for the misfortune of Day 2 and were rewarded with a long first paddle leg that we could really open up on.  We pushed hard from the start and eventually formed a lead group that included Team Tassie Devil ('Ace' and Sean), Team Tasmania (Guy and Darren), Team IronHouse (Padge and Mark H) and us (Team Rexona). Ace and Sean did a lot of work on the front, and Padge kept us on our toes with a few hard attacks. They ended up somehow filling their boat with water, so dropped back and Teams' Tassie Devil, Tasmania and Rexona all hit the beach more or less at once with daylight in second. Out onto the bike this meant rolling turns on the front until we split on the way to the second checkpoint.... Padge can explain where they went after that ;-)

Team's Tasmania, Rexona and Tassie Devil hitting TA1 in the lead Day 3.

Tough Times:

I'll remember Bruny Island as a day for the strong men. Two thirds of the way through the run/trek/scramble we were leading the race, but got overhauled by Tasmania (Guy and Darren) and Renault #1 who were simply stronger in the terrain. Maintaining momentum whilst running through shin deep mud with sword grass above your head and fallen logs every 5 meters is not-surprisingly hard work and the strong men came to the fore. Not to mention the leeches...

Take-away from the day:

Anyone who knows me would be familiar with the fairly large and recent scar under my right knee. After over 5 hours of running on day two I was pretty keen to ensure my knee was operating as it should and do some 'pre-hab' by getting the race physio to check it out even though I didn't have any pain. Emily had a good look over it, and declared it operational, but ordered some massage for my calves that were very tight. I booked in to see Emma and was quickly sorted out. The girls from BodySystem (based in Hobart) were fantastic and by getting checked out I knew my legs were in good shape. No excuses now!

Day 3 Links:
Official Highlights Video
http://youtu.be/yzKOGX7oDIY


Team Red Bull's Video Blog
http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Video/swisse-mark-webber-tasmania-challenge-day3-video-021243135353437

Team Tasmania (Darren and Guy) in the lead after the swim-bike-paddleathlon.

Day 4: Hartz Mountains
Start - Kermandie Plain.
16km Run
35km MTB
4km Run incl. 100m Abseil
20km MTB
15km Kayak
Finish - Judbury Reserve.

Race Time: 7:46 hrs; 4th Place

“It's opener, out there, in the wide, open air.”
― Dr. Seuss

Good times:
Another long run leg, another epic. Day 4 opened with the entire field running past an indistinct track junction about a km into the first run leg and ending up more or less lost in the middle of nowhere. We relocated relatively quickly and along with Renault and the UK media teams, finding the junction first, and made good headway towards our run goal of the day on Hartz Peak. Its pretty amusing in hindsight though that a media team was actually leading the 'elite' race at that point in time. We again trekked strongly, through more shin deep mud and hit the plateau (over 500m higher than the start) along with IronHouse who had raced hard to catch us. In the end only a small number of teams collected all of the bonus CPs on the plateau before the cut-off and we exited the TA in second, just behind the leaders. 

Us (Team Rexona) and Team IronHouse leading the way across the Hartz Plateau.

Tough Times:
Day 4 was tough for me. I just felt 90% all day after missing some early food on the run. It was also the first day where the nav got more difficult. The area was extensively logged and the map was 1:100,000 scale so about 50% of what you saw was actually mapped, and not all of what was mapped was right. This saw Renault #1 and Red Bull both lose time, and me descend into a bit of constant paranioa always being a lttle bit unsure about exactly where we were. Add to that a flat tyre, and a small nav mistake that meant we had to wait at the abseil and I left the day feeling a little flat with my performance, and apologetic to Mark.

Take-away from the day:
Looking back at Day 4 I can't help but think of the old orienteering adage that you can't ever gain time in a race, only lose it. We didn't really have any massive dramas all day, but a series of little things like not being able to get my long tights off, flats, some minor nav errors, waiting at the abseil, jamming our boat into some rapids etc. all cost us time. None of these on their own were noteworthy events, but food for thought nonetheless. If you want to win, these are the things that make a difference. Small mistakes add up.



Day 4 Links:
Official Highlights Video
http://youtu.be/3_OHoMGv6RU


Team Red Bull's Video Blog
http://www.redbull.com.au/cs/Satellite/en_AU/Video/Navigation-issues-on-day-4-of-Mark-Webber-021243135542374

The French chasing, again, after losing time in the Kayak, again. (Bruny Island, Day 3).

Day 5: Hobart
Start - Henry Jones Art Hotel, Hobart Foreshore.
Run / MTB / Paddle to 9 Hobart Peaks.
At least one of each discipline.
6 Hrs Cut-Off Time
Finish - Henry Jones Art Hotel, Hobart Foreshore.

Race Time: 4:33 hrs; 5th Place
Total Race Time: 35:58hrs, 5th Place

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
― Dr. Seuss 

Good times:
The final day had arrived and so had the opportunity to actually do 'route choice.' Today's brief was a complete choose your own adventure where you had to collect checkpoints on 9 of Hobart's Peaks in 6 hours (or less) by boat, foot or bike. Each discipline had to be used to collect at least one peak, and that meant running in PFDs and carrying paddles to a 'peak' in order to prove you kayaked there. This was a real hoot and a great way to finish the race. Our strategy was to primarily minimise paddling, and run only those we could easily link together. The rest could be collected by bike; climbing early, descending late. Despite 6 different route choices across the top 6 teams we all finished within 10 minutes of each other, and we pipped JK and Emma by about 2 seconds. Classic racing.

Emma smashing it with the big boys on the Derwent.

Tough times:
Almost surprisingly Day 5 wasn't too bad. Sure, I was pretty heavily medicated for a skin infection I'd developed on Day 4 and I suspect Mark was hurting on the bike, but overall we were travelling OK. No injuries, major crashes, or serious illness. No dérailleurs held together with cable ties or gel wrappers in slashed tyres. Not even a stomach upset (the Shotz bars, gels and electrolytes had all gone down a treat). So for all of the things that could have gone wrong, fortunately none had.


Take-away from the day:
By now we'd backed up five consecutive days of racing, but Mark commented that he was feeling fresher in the mornings than he had the day after the Anaconda race at Lorne despite the previous days racing being tougher than Anaconda had been. We wondered whether the body knew it was racing again and modified how it recovered between the two events but, I suspect we'll never know! The other related take-away is the value of good sports nutrition and its effect on performance and recovery. We'd both relied heavily on our Shotz gels, bars and electrolytes for nearly 36 hours of racing without a single hiccup. As a person who has previously had problems with other products this reinforces that if you want to race to win, its getting the little extras right that often makes the difference.


Day 5 Links:
Official Highlights Video
http://youtu.be/fI1NTqjMioE


Team Red Bull's Video Blog
http://www.redbull.com.au/cs/Satellite/en_AU/Video/Team-Red-Bull-conquers-Hobart-on-day-5-021243135782757

JK (Team Pure Tasmania) exiting the TA in Hobart.

What we can take away from the race?

Positives:

What an amazing race! I think we paddled really strongly and equally had some really great run legs where we were able to compete with all but Team IronHouse. At an overall level we were also really competitive for probably four of the five days and if not for the bonus time damage on day 2 we would have been on the podium. Either way, our overall result is fantastic given the quality of the teams ahead of us (and behind us). This is even more special given both Mark and I have both had serious trauma injuries this year, and really only had limited prep for this race. Knowlesy has done a great job getting me in shape, and I couldn't be happier with how my fitness is coming along.

Its also worth acknowledging the wonderful opportunity provided to us by Rexona and Octagon to compete at this years race. The Mark Webber Challenge has been one of a small number of things on my bucket list since I very first started AR and I wasn't sure I'd ever be good enough to get a spot. So to Rexona and Octagon for giving us that opportunity: Thank you!

Areas for improvement:

Looking back there are lots of small things to improve that will gain minutes here and there, and really get the team motoring. Little things like working out faster transition strategies for mandatory gear, techniques for navigating on tourist maps (where you can't easily read the detail on the move), ways to communicate nav strategy with your partner/team when on the move etc. are all areas for thought. We don't get to experience racing in teams often so its important to make sure we improve on the little things. Practice, practice, practice.

Running across the Hartz Plateau, no time to take in the view.

Where to from here?

So, where to from here?  After a short amount of time off we’re again returning to Falls Creek in January for some altitude training and some equally serious coffee drinking. My trusty Merida 96 is definitely due for a clean and probably a service at MBC after taking a fair beating in Tas, but performing beautifully as always. Beyond that it'll be back into racing with the 28k Two Bays Trail Run, and the Silva DuO AR in late Jan.


Soph's also done her fair share of supporting me at races so it'll be lap scoring duties for me for a while now that the summer track season has started. At least 5 and 10k track races are over quicker than ARs; if only AV were on time ;-)

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”
― Dr. Seuss

Race Report: 2011 Anaconda WA

Forest Gump was onto something when he said “life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get.”

The Race

Anaconda WA is raced in Augusta, about 30 minutes south of Margaret River on the south-west coast of Western Australia. By participation, its the largest adventure race in the world with 1700 competitors.  This years edition also doubled as the Trans-Tasman Trophy so the field was especially deep and included five-time world champion (and 8:05 Ironman PB for those of you that don't speak AR) Richard Ussher. The WA race includes the standard Anaconda ‘legs’ being Swim, Paddle, Run and Bike but in the unusual order of Run, Swim, Paddle, Bike, Run.  My previous experience with this race was in 2009 and I remember clearly the challenges of crippling cramps in the cold Southern Ocean swim following a fast, but sandy run leg.  This year, all the talk leading up to the race centred on the Great White Shark(s) that had killed three locals in three months and forced the widespread cancellation of water based events in the region.

The Plan

My injury in July allowed me time to re-evaluate my plan for the season. My time goal of a 4:45hr race time was important to me, but more so I wanted to go back to basics with my training and achieve the consistency that had eluded me over previous seasons.  I believe the appropriate expression is “JFT.”

So come race day, I’d already achieved my goal. I’d missed only one session in 8 weeks and the instructions from the coach were clear “you’ve done everything I’ve asked; race hard, listen to your body and the result will look after itself.” My plan was set.

'Victory or Death' on the Rocks

What Really Happened

Remarkably, everything fell into place (but that’s a very short blog). The run was tough, and my HR was literally maxed out for most the leg (ave 185bpm) as I tried to fight for position through the rocky madness (see this video of the start http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5T7IYpX45Q&hd=1). Fortunately, I scraped through slightly quicker than in 2009, which meant I was on track for at least a par result. More importantly though, my knee had held out and this allowed me to relax knowing my best legs were still to come [BIG Relief].

During the week I’d deliberated about whether or not to do the swim in a wetsuit and after weighing up the pros and cons I’d decided to swim sans suit. This meant a lightning transition, gaining me back a few places, but a slightly slower swim and lesser likeness to your average fur seal. Out onto the swim, I felt comfortable and gained back a few more places but never really hit a good rhythm. I again had to fight back the cramps, but figured that was better than fighting back the sharks.  Mark Duncan and I gingerly exited the water together and set off down the beach toward our skis. 

Mark leading us into the Swim - Paddle Transition

 

I jumped in my boat, and promptly fell out the other side, but otherwise got away quickly in pursuit of Mark who had opened up a small lead across the inlet. In an annoying but convenient twist of fate my Garmin had decided to start doing 1km auto laps. Although it had been annoying me earlier it now meant I could keep track of my speed. What it told me was that I was averaging in the low 10’s (kmh) and that meant I was on track for a really strong paddle split.

By the time I exited the water I was 12minutes ahead of my target time (5:00), and feeling really strong. I knew the group in front of me had a few minutes, so place gains were going to be tough, but for the first time in months my pre-season time goal of 4:45 was becoming a reality. Now was the time where all that injury frustration could be overcome.

Ginormous boat replaces man's head

Mark and I had ridden the bike course during the week and apart from the two big hills I knew it could be ridden in a big gear. I quickly caught the pair that had paddled past me in a double ski and used them as a pace guide through the early part of the course.  I passed them at the top of the sand hill after deciding to run it rather than struggle in the sand and never really looked back.

The final stanza of the race is a 3km beach run back to Augusta. Not much really needs saying about that except that it leaves you with the feeling that you’re running in quick sand. One step forward, one step back.  I crossed the finish line in 4:41. 13^th Op Men, 10^th Australian.

Out on ze bike

 

What we can take away from the race

Positives:

My paddle split was off the planet.  I really didn’t expect to go that fast and it gives me confidence that if I can consistently nail a good paddle split, I can expect consistent overall results.  I was also super happy with my run split given it was the complete ‘unknown’ before the race.

Areas for improvement:

For the first time in as long as I can remember, there isn’t really an obvious area that let me down.  From now on, small improvement across each the legs will continue to progress me up the leaderboard. There's still lots of work to do though!

Progress from Previous Action Plan:

• Incorporate massage into pre-race shedule (Wednesday/Thursday) - Done
• Keep a lid on the pace until the legs have warmed up - Done
• Program time in the open water to polish the ‘specific’ skills - Done
• Properly establish target times - Done
• Use my support crew to keep me informed about my overall position - Done

New Action Plan:

The action plan from here is to:

• Keep training consistently
• Incorporate massage into pre-race schedule
• Avoid falling down hills
• JFT

Legs burning, must reach finish...

So, where to from here?  My racing schedule from here is a little up in the air, but will most likely consist of either the Swisse Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge or Anaconda Lorne in December.  Beyond that, we’re again returning to Falls Creek in January for some altitude training and some equally serious coffee drinking.

On a more sober final note, this season’s been a tough one already with a lot of ups and downs. I’ve had some great medical support in the form of Maria DiMichele (Massage) and Andy Stevens (Physio) returning me to operation; a fantastic coach (Simon Knowles) who has modified nearly everything to get me fit in literally 10 weeks; some solid supporters in Merida (Mark) and Melbourne Bicycle Centre – Clifton Hill (Warren) who rebuilt my bike after it was damaged overseas; and most importantly, a wonderful partner (Soph) who nursed me back to health and never complained once.  These are the people behind this result, and who are equally entitled to enjoy it! Next stop 4:30?

Goals and Winter Races: Just Don't Fall Over!

Well, this wasn't quite the blog I was expecting to be writing in the middle of winter, especially after having such a productive (and consistent) period of early season 'general prep' training.  However, it is as it is, and here we are. There's no point dwelling on what we can't change.

Goal Setting
At the end of the last summer season I spent some time reflecting on what had gone well, and not so well over the course of the previous season.  In general, I was very happy with my fitness, but felt that I had underperformed in a number of key races throughout the year. Whilst I could easily attribute my average performance at the Freycinet Challenge to being very underdone as a result of illness, my later season results were less clear. I'd mentally 'talked' myself out of a good place at Anaconda Lorne, and not given enough consideration to pre-race preparation for the Bullen-Merri Challenge. Notwithstanding, I'd had a great race with a 5th place at the King Valley Challenge in November.

Previously, I had spent some time with former ACT Academy of Sport (ACTAS) Psychologist Jason McCrae talking about the importance of race goals.  Jase pointed out to me that perhaps I was 'under-aroused' when it came to racing, and having raced so many times I was now 'going through the motions' on race day. I tended to agree, and had set out working on this over the coming season. In hindsight, what I hadn't done was set firm goals about the season; largely because I was doing a number of [new] races for the first time (so had no time goals to aim for).  In many ways my season goal had inadvertently become 'to do well in races.'  Its therefore, not too surprising I was feeling underwhelmed.

So, this season I've set a clear goal of 4:45hrs for Anaconda Lorne, my key 'A' race for the season. I've also made a clear choice to only race 'A' races that I've done before. I've also returned to the pool (partly to increase my kayak speed), much to the amusement of the squad, and each session is motivated by '4:45'.  I've also found a new level of consistency, equally motivated.  Where I do compete in new races, success will be measured by being within 110% of the winners time.

Training on the Salomon Trail Series course at Kew in May.

Winter Racing - XCR

Another take-away from last season was that I was lacking the ability to 'race' races out. I wasn't blowing up per se but I was definitely fading.  To address this we put two steps in place.  Firstly, I wanted to increase the specificity of my training, really working on aerobic power development and secondly, I wanted to do some 'tough' races over winter to practice shoulder to shoulder racing.  I set a race calendar that included three Athletics Victoria XCR races (Wendouree, Brimbank & Bundoora) and three Salomon Trail Series Races (Kew, Macedon & Ferny).

Wendouree 15k Road

Wendouree was first off the block after only a few weeks of 'transition' phase training.  The Wendouree course is flat and fast, and I was comprehensively shown out for being under prepared. I say this not because I was slow or felt unfit, but because my race brain wasn't switched on.  After the race I kicked myself for not doing what I'd committed to at the start of the season. A timely kick in the butt.

Kew 11k Trail

Like Wendouree, Kew was relatively flat and fast (for a trail race) with a number of short steep hills. This time I prepared carefully and raced well from the outset. If not for a hard road ride the day before I would have been closer to the front time wise, but because I'd 'raced' well I was happy with the result (finishing well in the top 10 with km rates as fast as Wendouree three weeks beforehand).

Brimbank 16k XC

Brimbank is known for its very soft course and the killer hill that you run up on two of the three laps.  Again I prepared well mentally, but forgot to grab my pre-race gel from my car. Thinking nothing of it I sailed around the first 4k loop in a very comfortable pace.  Unfortunately, I started to go flat on the second lap, and by the third was quite light headed.  In hindsight, I'd under-eaten on the previous two days (having been in all day meetings) and got caught out with the mid-afternoon race start (ie. no lunch). Despite this, I was reasonably happy with the outcome as I fought the race out to the end. This was another reminder about how important race preparation is.

Brimbank XCR, Second time up the hill...

The Crash

In preparation for the second Salomon Trail Series race Soph and I headed up to Macedon to run the specific course of the race. We have run a lot at Macedon and know the trails well, but equally wanted to run the course in order so we had some idea about how the hills would feel, and make an informed decision about shoe choice. The trails were quite slippery after a wet month of July and a couple of sections in particular were quite innocuously dangerous. If I can give any advice to someone running this weekend at Macedon, take some trail shoes that like mud (Inov8 X-Talon or Salomon SpeedCross), and get in a decent position before the single trail starts at the Camels Hump car-park.

After about an hours running we returned back to the main car-park at the Cross and had a short but steep descent down the north face of the mount before a slow climb back to the finish. This downhill section is always slippery, even in the dry, and Soph encouraged me to slow down before we got to the steep section so I didn't go tumbling over. Just as I started to half turn around to tell Soph not to worry I slipped on what otherwise was some fairly moderate, but rocky trail. My brief lapse of concentration was enough to have caught my toe on something and I stumbled, landing heavily on my right knee.

Soph pulled up my tights and went pretty white after looking at my knee telling me only that 'you don't want to look at this' before covering it up again. We carefully straightened out my leg, and Soph supported me slowly walking back up to the main path where there would hopefully be some help. I felt like I was going to vomit.  We asked some girls passing by to stay with me while Soph went back to the car to get the first aid kit and some blankets. Soph raided my car and came back with a tarp, my GoreTex jacket, my first aid kit (with space blanket) and a woollen blanket. In the meantime, I convinced one of the girls to call an ambulance as I didn't think I'd be able to tolerate the pain for too long.

The damage. The bottom cut was estimated as 20 x2 x4 cm.

By now I was shaking pretty bad, but despite the close to zero temperature, fog and rain I wasn't too cold. The girls wrapped me up in the blankets, and put an umbrella over my head to keep me out of the rain. The shaking must have been from the panic because every time I started shaking the ex-Ambulance officer that had now emerged put his hand on my shoulder and kept telling me that it was OK, and to relax and that seemed to stop the shaking. After a while the pain started to subside and I was starting to wonder if I was being soft, and whether we should just go back to the car, and drive to hospital. Having said that, part of me also remembered Ailie's experience and I decided I'd let the ambulance decide what to do, that is why I pay them after all.

After about half an hour the Ambulance showed up, and they loaded me into a wheelchair. I couldn't bend my leg, so Soph had to walk along holding it out whilst we rolled back to the car park. Once in the back of the Ambulance they cut off my tights so they didn't restrict blood flow. I still hadn't seen my knee, and was a bit delirious from the green whistle so asked the officer whether I'd needed to call an Ambulance.  Her response was along the lines of 'are you kidding?' which was closely followed by 'can I take a photo? it'll help get you processed faster in emergency.'  Off to hospital we go then...

Race Report: 2011 Baise Outdoor Quest (China) - Day 3 (4/4)

Day 3.

Start – Dongla

9km Kayak

20km MTB

3km Orienteering

100m Tyrolean traverse

20km MTBO

22km Run

Finish – LeYe Town

Day 3 arrived about three hours too early. The bus trip back to the hotel after day 2 had been a genuine experience with a few athletes vomiting in the bus as we drove flat out along windy mountain roads in the dark. By the time we got back to the hotel we only had about 90 minutes to clean and re-pack our race gear for day 3 before the 2200hrs cut-off. Fortunately, even though I was still adjusting my derailleur at about 2230, they still hadn’t come to take our gear away. By the time we got to bed it was nearly midnight, so a 0530 breakfast and 0600 depart wasn't exactly ideal recovery after two tough days of racing.

Almost expectedly, day 3 began how day 2 ended; on a bus at breakneck speed. I was paranoid about getting bus sick on the way to the start so moved up the front and chatted with the Aussies on the Chiru Endurance team until our bus got lost, and our driver attempted to do a 50 point turn on the side of a mountain. Eventually, he gave up and drove on to a village further up the road but the delayed start made us nervous as the closing ceremony wouldn’t be moved and, as such, we were expecting the cut-off times to be brought forward to account for the delay.

The endless sun through the fog. Start Day 3 (Courtesy Jocelin)

All of the talk at the start was about the final run to the finish, given how brutal the previous two had been, but with the organisers using the word ‘steep’ for the first time today. I was quietly glad that we weren't at the pointy end of the field because there were mini battles going on for 3rd, 5th and 7th places. Peak Adventure and Chiru Endurance were separated by less than a minute for 3rd and the thought of driving hard to the line was pretty tiring in itself (even if its what I enjoy most about racing).

Day 3’s racing started with a 9km mixed flat/white water kayak down the Builu river. This was one of the highlights of the trip for me as we paddled short sections of flat water interspersed with grade 2-3 white water rapids. I didn’t have any of the problems with my flexors that I’d had the previous day and I really enjoyed the challenge of crashing through the rapids, powering the paddle through the water and surfacing upright on the other side. It was also one of the most scenic parts of the trip, paddling through the jungle with ancient pagodas on the waterfront.

Pavel (R) and I enjoying some flowing water down the Builu (Courtesy Jocelin)

The bike leg started up, and stayed that way for about 5km @ ~10%. I was in a comfortable gear and glad we were on probably the best made road we had ridden on for the duration of the race. Today was Maria’s turn to struggle and she was suffering from stomach problems from the start, still feeling unwell from the bus trip the night before. Each of today’s climbs were steep, particularly the final one just before the TA that was only short (~2km) but well over 12-3%.

When we arrived in the TA, the race ahead of us was well and truly on. Peak Adventure and Chiru Endurance were literally shoulder to shoulder, fumbling through transition boxes, desperately trying to get an edge over the other team. Champion System (NZ, Spain, Thai), Thule (Sweden) and Adidas TERREX (UK) were also having a red hot battle just behind them. We grabbed our climbing gear and headed off down the road with Pavel ‘navigating’ to the tyrolean traverse. Unfortunately, for us the nav was pretty much non-existent so we really didn’t benefit from having four highly competent navigators in the team.

The Builu. We paddled under the cave in the arch (bottom right) (Courtesy Jocelin)

I hadn’t done a Tyrolean traverse for a good few years, so it was fun to have a crack at one again. For anyone not familiar, a Tyrolean traverse is like a flying fox, but where the rope is level, and you pull yourself across rather than going with gravity (or alternatively, made famous during the opening scene of Cliffhanger http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKqlwKfH8R4 @6:40). We were only crossing a small river so it wasn't nervy, but my puny runners arms had their work cut out for them once I past halfway and started pulling myself uphill. Then, in true adventure race fashion, we then had to wade back across the river before the run back to the TA, jingle jangling with our climbing gear still on.

Back onto our bikes at the TA for some MTBO that really lacked the O. Pavel was navigating again, but a quick look at the aerial photo showed we basically just had to follow the road along the river through a few towns until we reached the TA. The road was undulating and rough which made for a tough 20kms on the body. I was eternally grateful to be riding a Merida dually as a few days of racing started to catch up with me and the aches set in.

The run was the last stanza of the race. We were well under the cut-off time so headed out into the paddy fields with some local children following us, jai-yo, jai-yo. We followed a stream up a long gully, climbing slowly over some more rough terrain of narrow single trail cutting through the heavily worked farmland that was surprisingly tough going. Eventually, we reached the base of the ‘steep’ hill and began the long trek to the top pushing out a solid tempo. As we climbed through 1100m, we knew we had reached the highest point for the day.

Poor Jamesy. Spent, but in 3rd Place :-D (Courtesy Guy Andrews)

Unfortunately, it wasn’t all down hill from here but we were able to get back on a good run again through the last few villages. We arrived in LeYe, at the opposite end of town and ran with a Police escort all the way back to where the race had started three days and about 25hrs of racing beforehand. The legs were heavy, but that didn’t seem to matter, we were running on pavement for the first time in three days and that was exciting enough!

We were the last team to officially finish in 13th place, but with 7 experienced teams (30% of entrants) withdrawn or retired before the finish that was no disgrace. The main goal of the trip was to gain some valuable international experience and I had certainly done that. You don't take it to the pro's in your first race at this level. We'd had an unlucky race, and everyone had suffered at some point but we'd pulled through and toughed it out. A big thank-you to everyone who has supported me this season, its been a bit of an epic. Merida and MBC Clifton Hill for the best bikes in the business, Melbourne Uni Sport entrusting me in their Elite Athlete Support Program, and Coaches Foz and JK from Fluid Movements and Peak Adventure respectively. Thanks also to the guys at Bogong Equiment in the CBD for their quality service and advice.  Finally, a big 'danka' to my coffee buddies, without you and coffee training wouldn't be much fun.

Rest time!

Guy Andrews' (Peak Adventure) Blog for Day 3

http://www.guyandrews.tv/?p=1246

Dougal Allan's (Chiru Pro) Blog for Day 3

http://www.sportzhub.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12192

Race Report: 2011 Baise Outdoor Quest (China) - Day 2 (3/4).

Day 2.

Start - Luo Sha
3km Run
53km MTB
8km Run
20km Kayak
Finish -  Ya Chang


Well, day 2 was here. I'd spent the night night before stretching out my left side in the hope that the pain would be worth it for the range of movement the next day, and lathered myself in Voltaren gel. I seemed to be OK, and some soluble Panadol worked a treat to take the edge off. We arrived in Luo Sha for the start and didn't have more than about 20 minutes to get ready. One of the locals had opened up their house for use as a toilet, and walking through really reinforced to me how lucky we are in Australia to have the homes we have. Guy [Andrews] fell through a grate on the way out of the TA and as I gave him a hand out we both muttered about the lack of OHS in China.

I love this photo. Guy with one of the locals (courtesy Guy Andrews)

The day started with a 3km run through the paddy fields, and again we found ourselves mid pack along with the Peak Adventure (Jarad et. al.) guys, knowing there was no point busting a lung on a short leg designed to split up the teams before the first bike leg. I didn't feel too great, but my pack was fully loaded for the next 6hrs of racing and I've come to learn that you never seem to feel awesome when you weigh 10% more. Into the TA we were just behind Czech AR and with a number of the Chinese teams.

On the bike we quickly climbed out of town, and after a short descent lobbed onto our first 'Tour de China' climb of about 10km @ 7%. Pavel and I got into a good rythym but the road surface was too rough to put anyone on a tow as you had to often dart from one side of the road to the other. The climb was clearly visible ahead of us as we snaked around the valley and it was really interesting to be able to see the teams in front of and behind us on a different switchback, or up ahead. In many cases you could work out how far away a team was based on how long it took between the locals all cheering Jai-Yo, Jai-Yo for the team in front, and then for us!

Luo Sha town. Start day 2. Hows the fog? (courtesy Jocelin)

After a good battle with a few of the teams around us (including the ever smiling guys from Malaysia FTA), we rolled over the highest point of the day (1600m) and commenced the long, undulating descent down to 400m. The descent was quite fast in parts, and my dual suspension Merida 96 just sailed down, soaking up all of the bumps and allowing me to save a fair bit of energy and have a bit of a smile on my face. We were in tea growing country, and most of the terrain was the typical 'stepped' growing fields that you see in the photos. I couldn't get too carried away admiring the terrain though, because the drop-off to the left of the road was a loooooong way down and there's no such thing as a safety rail in China.

We arrived at TA 2 just in time, as a few of us were bordering on being out of fluid after nearly 4 hours of racing.  I learnt from the previous days disaster and took my undershirt off, and then took the opportunity to pour some water over my head and arms to 'pre-cool' before we headed out on the run.  I opted for straight water for my second bladder so as to avoid stomach problems after taking in nearly 3L of Gatorade on the bike. With my trusty Fluid Movements cap on, we checked out of the TA nervous about what today's run was going to unleash.

Initially, the run wasn't too bad, ranging from undulating to steep. But only about 2km in we realised we had our work cut out for us. The official race book showed about 400m of elevation gain in 3km (13%) however, by the time we got to the top, Sergey's GPS showed we had climbed over 600m. The trail was so dubious I'm sure someone had just hacked it the day before with a machete and laid out a few red tapes. We passed one Chinese team taking a break about a quarter of the way up, and then the highly experienced Kolumb team who informed us they had pressed the 'rescue' button on their GPS tracker. I was at my HR max despite  really only walking fast and Sergey was starting to look pretty shaky on his feet.

As we started to descend down the other side I was hoping for some relief but we really just seemed to be falling in a semi controlled way and we had to be right on our reflexes for most of the way down. Despite moving pretty quickly, one of the lower ranked Chinese teams passed us like we were standing still on the descent, taking all sorts of risks. I've honestly got no idea how they were able to move so fast.

When we arrived at the bottom of the hill Serge was looking pretty uneasy on his feet, and eventually just fell down as we were walking taking in some water. We happened to be right near the medical car that I think must have been brought in for the Kolumb guys and a Chinese doctor came over to see Serge. After a bit of a fuss Serge got given some glucose and that seemed to bring him around. We weren't far from the final TA for the day so once Serge was back on his feet Pavel put him on a tow and we made our way slowly down to the kayak TA.

We arrived into the last TA at about the 6hr mark, and the sun was well and truly high in the sky. I was partly expecting them to pull us out for exceeding the advertised cut-off time and because Serge was in a bad way, but the TA was completely un-manned. So we unpacked our boxes and kitted up for the long paddle. The boxes had been sitting in the sun for hours and my PFD was super hot, so I poured a bottle of water into it to try and cool it down. Our boats were a pretty standard sit on top plastic number not too dissimilar to the fishing style kayaks people buy these days. I'm sure they're not too bad for fishing, but they're a long way from the K1 I've been training in. Maria and I were shared a boat to start with, but I couldn't get the bathtub to steer (without a rudder) so we swapped over and I paddled with Pavel.

Day 2 Paddle-slog-athlon. We seemed to paddle forever (courtesy Jocelin)

Initially, I had a lot of trouble in the boat as our feet were higher than our bums (the opposite to a ski or K1) and that was causing my hip flexors to cramp almost continually. I'm not sure Pavel quite knew what was going on, as I kept having to stop and stretch out every few minutes. I realised Serge's camelback was still in the boat so I tried sitting on that just to lift my bum a few centimetres. It seeemed to make a difference and pretty soon I was able to get into a good stroke rhythm and even had some nice leg drive.

We passed the finish on our way down the dam to the turnaround checkpoint and I was feeling pretty comfortable. Likewise, we then progressively passed each of the teams in front of us going in the opposite direction. We cheered Peak Adventure (Aus) on, as they were locked in a real battle with Chiru Endurance (Aus/NZ/France) for third place behind Chiru Pro (France / NZ) and Vibram LaFuma (France). Seeing the other teams kept our spirits high, but as we turned for home the last 8km was just a slog.

We rounded the final headland of the dam, and headed for the waving flag on the beach. Standing up for the first time in over three hours is always a fun feeling and we really only mustered a trudge up the short hill into the village for the finish in 9:21hrs. I was pretty spent, and really didn't feel like eating at all. I mustered a bottle of coke (because in China we were provided bottled water or coke), some chocolate and a winners bar. Serge and Pavel both tried the Chinese Spam style sausage; I wasn't so brave.

One day to go....

Day 2 Finish TA. LtoR Chiru Endurance (red/black kit), LaFuma (red kit), Chiru Pro (white kit) (Courtesy Guy Andrews)

Guy Andrew's (Peak Adventure) Blog for Day 2

http://www.guyandrews.tv/?p=1239

Dougal Allan's (Chiru Pro) Blog for Day 2

http://www.sportzhub.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12188