Race Guide: Falls Creek LongCourse Tri

Hi there sports fans! I'm just back from my second trip to Falls Creek for the summer and lots of people have been asking questions about the conditions for next weekend's Triathlon at 'Falls' so I've put together a bit of a commentary that should help you prepare. I've sourced a fair bit of info from the SuperSprint website and added some personal experience from training at Falls to provide this analysis so feel free to use as much, or as little, of this info as you care to. Read on....

The Course:
Swim
The swim course is in the Rocky Valley Storage Dam, and the water quality is excellent. The water is quite cold by triathlon standards (~17 deg), but by race day I would expect it should be fine for a wetsuit (full) swim. If in doubt, simply use an extra swim cap. Also, for those of you that haven't raced in a lake before, expect relatively flat conditions, even when very windy the lake doesn't get too choppy. This should make buoy sighting very easy.

Rocky Valley Storage - Out on the lake

Bike
The bike course is a scenic multi-lap course on an out and back loop along the Bogong High Plains Road. The course could be described as twisty with moderate undulation over the middle section of the loop. I would expect to be in and out of the aero quite a bit over the first and last 3-4 km of each lap. There are also couple of small hills of note each about 5-6% but only a few hundred meters in length, so no real concern.

I've received lots of questions about the road surface (in lieu of all the flats at last years 3Peaks ride) but I have to say its quite good. I have ridden it with no problems and likewise others who train at Falls have found the same.  I was speaking to a guy from the resort management board during the week and he also said the road would be swept before the race. No concerns here.

Bogong High Plains Road - Surface

What should be stressed is the narrowness of the road. Mostly the road is only about 6m wide which means you can't legally fit two cyclists (per lane) going in opposite directions on most of the course. The twisty and hilly nature of the course means people will be in and out of the saddle a lot and I expect the hilly section will become quite congested. Be very careful here as the corners in this section are fast down-hill but steep enough on the ascent to mean lots of people will want to pass, under no circumstances should you cross the centre line of the road (if its painted before the race). Drafting WILL be a BIG issue (my prediction) so do your best to stamp it out.

Bike Course ~ 4km mark, Basalt Hill

Run
Again, the run course is a multi-loop out and back predominately on the 'Village' Aqueduct Track. Like most aqueduct trails the course is very flat with the climb up the Aitkens Trail the only real climb. Get out and have a look at it once you're in Falls. The main trail is a grassy, but mown, 4WD style trail so is a little softer and more uneven under foot than somewhere like the Tan.

Like the bike there has been conjecture about footwear choice for the run.  I am comfortable with racing flats and have run with the likes of Collis Birmingham and Michael Shelly on this trail in flats.  If you've run any X-Country over the winter, racing flats should be adequate as a footwear selection. Try and run in the tyre marks (avoiding the grassy centre) as its more even and quicker underfoot.  Be aware that on this type of surface you will naturally run a little slower than normal.

Typical Aqueduct Trail at Falls

The Conditions:
Altitude
As I explained in my previous blog the air at altitude is less dense and as a result there is less oxygen available in each breath for your body to absorb. This makes exercise at altitude more difficult as the body struggles to get enough oxygen to efficiently metabolise energy in working muscles.

The good thing is that the body adapts by producing more haemoglobin (amongst other things) to counteract this phenomenon. Unfortunately, the general rule of thumb is that it takes 11.4 days to fully acclimatise to every 1000m of elevation gained. Falls Creek Village is at 1600m so in theory you should already be at Falls if you wanted to fully acclimatise.

My experience is that after about 2.5-3 days you start to feel OK when exercising and I would recommend that you look at getting to Falls on Thursday (or earlier) if you want to perform well.

Five Star Accommodation - Fitzgerald Hut

Weather
The other important factor at Falls is the weather.  By way of example, in a 4 hour period last week the conditions ranged from about 10 deg, torrential rain and gale force winds to nearly 30 deg, sunny and still before going back to rain and wind another 4 hours later.  In the alpine areas weather can simply blow in and ruin your day very quickly.  The bike course in particular is quite exposed (especially as you cross the dam wall) and I would pay very close attention to the BOM forecast for the specific period of the race. My experience is that the high plains are windy more often than not.

To get the best forecast for the important conditions use the BOMs new Forecast Explorer tool and look specifically at wind and rain estimates for the 3 hour period to 11am. Use the following http://www.bom.gov.au/forecasts/graphical/sectors/VIC.php The BOM updates their forecasts at about 0600 and 1600 each day so check in after those times and before you set up transition to make an informed choice about race wheels and extra clothing items such as arm warmers or an extra jersey.

Finally, if the weather is looking like being warm, make sure you keep hydrated and apply plenty of sunscreen. Because of the elevation, you seem to get more dehydrated and sunburnt than usual. The sun has real bite up there, even on overcast days.

Looking East from just past the Bike Turnaround

Environment
Aside from altitude training, my other more educated interest in Falls and the Alpine area is the environment. The Bogong High Plains are a highly sensitive natural ecosystem and one you compete in as a guest. The general ethos you should follow is 'without a trace.' Please don't litter, be aware of native animals such as snakes (which you may well see) and make sure your equipment is clean before you arrive and after you leave. 

Unfortunately, Falls Creek Village has one of only two significant infestations in Victoria of a highly invasive weed species known as Hawkweed. When at Falls you will see a number of Orange or Pink survey flags that indicate historic or current infestations. Please do not disturb them in any way.

Orange Hawkweed

The Summary:
Get to Falls early, acclimatise and familiarise yourself with the conditions as it is the altitude and weather that will have the biggest influence on your race day (other than the training you should have done by now).  I suspect times will be slow (relative to sea level races) so set realistic expectations about times and perhaps pack some contingency nutrition.

Most importantly, enjoy yourself and have fun in the great outdoors!

References
BOM (2011). http://www.bom.gov.au/forecasts/graphical/sectors/VIC.php Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Accessed 5/2/2011.

DPI (2010). http://www.land.vic.gov.au/dpi/nrenfa.nsf/LinkView/7157B82C7ECBF5CCCA2575BE0024551C2B72296A5108C4FFCA25734F0009F96F/$file/hawkweed.pdf Victorian Department of Primary Industries, Accessed 5/2/2011.

Rupert, J. L.; P. W. Hochanchka (2001). "Genetic approaches to understanding human adaptation to altitude in the Andes". Journal of Experimental Biology 204 (Pt 18): 3151–60.

Supersprint Events (2009). http://www.supersprint.com.au/ Accessed 5/02/2011

Wehrlin JP, Zuest P, Hallén J, Marti B (June 2006). "Live high—train low for 24 days increases hemoglobin mass and red cell volume in elite endurance athletes". J. Appl. Physiol. 100 (6): 1938–45.

Training Diary: a week at Falls Creek

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between the training you do, and what an Olympian or World Championships level athlete does? Well, Soph and I headed off to Falls Creek for a week of altitude training to find out.

Falls Creek Village is at 1600 m elevation in Victoria's High Country, about 5 hours drive from Melbourne.  Each year many of Australia's elite endurance athletes (distance runners in particular) head to 'Falls' from Boxing Day for anywhere from one to eight weeks of altitude training. 

The simplest explanation of why people train at altitude is that at high elevations there is less oxygen in the air, so the body adapts accordingly by increasing the amount of red blood cells and haemoglobin in the body. The theory is that when you return to sea level, increased levels of these factors leads to a competitive advantage.

Adding to the mystique of Falls is that none of the sessions are coached, or even programmed, but rather have evolved through years of athletes training there with names such as Moneghetti and Bideau guiding the sessions.  By 2010 groups of up to 100 athletes now congregate each day at 0930 in the morning and 1730 at night for the same sessions each year.  A full week at Falls is about 130-160 km of running, and is not for the feint hearted.

Being a multi-sport athlete I didn't want to only run for a week so, taking a typical multi-sport program, I replaced recovery runs with sessions in different disciplines. My week in Falls was as follows:

Day 1:
1800 - Run 'Recovery' (Village Aqueduct - Roper's) ~ 9km
45min @ 70% MHR.
Moneghetti's National Altitude Training Centre (NATC) Run 1b

A quick recovery run with Soph after the car trip, didn't feel too flash.  I'd forgotten how amazing the landscape is up here.  It's going to be a great week.

Day 2:
0930 - Run 'Kilos' (Langfords Gap - Wallace Hut) ~ 16km
25min WU, 6x 1km @ LT2 w 90sec recov, 25min WD
Moneghetti's NATC Run 3a

My first group session.  The warm-up along the west aqueduct track was pretty quick (~4:30 min/ks) and I wondered a little what I'd gotten myself into.  Everyone assembled at a ski pole out on the aqueduct and the session started itself.  I felt OK but the legs just got heavier and heavier each rep.  Mona gave me a "great work" halfway through my fourth rep.  Running at altitude is hard work.

1700 - Paddle 'Easy Fartlek' (Rocky Valley Storage) ~ 15km
15min WU, 90min un-structured fartlek, 15min WD

Set out on the lake looking to do an easy session with some moderate efforts.  Paddled a full lap of the lake, hard into the wind, easy with it.  It was quiet out on the lake, just me and a few fisherman :-)

Day 3:
0930 - Run 'Tempo' (Langfords Gap - Fitzy's) ~ 20km
1:45hrs @ 80-85% MHR
Moneghetti's NATC Run 4c

The group split at the start and we ended up in the bunch doing another session so we had to play catch up for the first km or so to get back onto the other group.  I doubt I'll ever run down Collis Birmingham ever again.  It was a really windy morning but the views from top were fantastic.

1730 - Bike 'Neg-Split' (Mt Beauty - Falls Creek) ~ 65km
2:30hrs @ 70-80% MHR on descent, 85-92% MHR on ascent
http://cycle2max.com.au/bike-hill-climb/Falls-Creek-(Full).aspx?id=178

Rolled down the mountain into Mt Beauty then turned and rode threshold the whole way back up.  Felt really good through the first 25 km of the climb but really started to work once the gradient picks up at the Park Gates.  Starting to feel like I'm getting my climbing legs back!

Day 4:
0930 - Run 'Quarters' (Langfords West Aqueduct) ~ 13km
25min WU, 6x 400m @ LT2 / 200m float recov, 25min WD

S-T-Ruggled to get out of bed but glad that I made the effort.  Mona organised everyone into groups after the warm-up with the fast boys off first.  Felt OK for the first two, but felt the ks in the legs after that.  The really fast boys started to come through after about 5 efforts. Probably my worst session for the week. Soph was on fire though and did 8x 400m then 6x 200m. Madness.

1700 - Paddle 'Pyramid FtLk' (Rocky Valley Storage) ~ 10km
12min WU, 12, 8, 4, 1 w next interval recov, 5min WD

Simple descending pyramid across the lake.  Paddled easy downwind, then turned and did an effort into the wind.  Felt pretty good given the weeks volume, starting to feel like I'm adapting to the altitude.  Two other's were putting in racing ski's as I left.

Day 5:
0800 - Bike 'Easy Halves' (Bogong - Falls) ~ 90km
3x aerobic climb of 15km @ 80% MHR, recover on descent.
http://cycle2max.com.au/bike-hill-climb/Falls-creek.aspx?id=150

Sammy Rix and I headed out for three repeats of the Bogong - Falls Creek section of the climb to finish the week.  It was a fantastic mild morning, with the sun glistening through the trees.  We climbed steadily chatting most of the way up.  A great way to finish off the week.

So, what did we take away from the week?
Falls was fantastic; it's a great place to train and there's plenty of coffee to be drunk when you're not training.  However, training at altitude is much harder than it is at sea level in Melbourne and Soph's coaches' advice was right; "you don't go to Falls to get fit, you go to get fitter." If you want to join in the sessions with the elite boys you'd want to be able to run say a sub 37-38 min 10k at sea level.

Also, after trying to train hard at altitude I strongly reccommend anyone going up for the Falls Creek Long-Course Triathlon gets up to Falls as early as possible if they want to do well.  It takes a good few days to even start to adapt, and almost two weeks to fully adapt, to the conditions.

Finally, about those training secrets of Olympic athletes. Unfortunately, they do the same sessions as you or I.

We'll be back next year!

Race Report: Anaconda Lorne 2010

What to write about Anaconda Lorne….

Anaconda Series Adventure Races, or any race set by legendary racer John Jacoby, can be described as simply never letting up.  If you’re having a bad day there is no where to rest, slow down, or even catch your breath; you are moving or you are stopped.

Anaconda Lorne is probably the second hardest race of the season behind the relentlessly hilly Gold Coast course.  The format is as follows:

1.9km ocean swim, 400m beach run, 13km ocean paddle, 15km trail run, 24km MTB & 1.5km beach run.

I was unusually organised for this year’s race and got in the water early to do my warm up.  The water was surprisingly calm and I swam out to the first turn can to work out I was going to sight for the long 1.2k straight section.  That sorted I swam back into the shore straight over the top of my old friend from 2006, a stingray the size of a double bed that must live somewhere near the pier.

A mass beach start was the order for the day and I settled in a few rows back behind the fast team swimmers who go out like rockets.  You need to be organised at AR starts, as most races start early as they go once the group looks like its ready, or all the boats are in a line.  The gun went and we were off, and around the first can I was feeling ok.  The swim was pretty uneventful, but I could feel the swell picking up the longer we were in the water.  At the swim exit I was a minute or so slower than expected but Jarad (Kohlar) was about 10 m in front of me so I wasn’t too concerned.

Down the beach and out onto the paddle my heart rate was pretty high and I was having trouble balancing in the swell that had picked up a little bit since the race start.  As we rounded the point break and left the sheltered conditions of the Loutit Bay the swell really picked up.  Making forward progress was really difficult and at one stage I wondered whether I was actually going backwards.  Despite having put in a power of work on the flat water of the Maribyrnong River over the past four months I just couldn’t get going as I was working hard just to stay upright.  The moral of the story was that flat water training doesn’t equal open water speed if your balance is rubbish.

I rounded the bottom can and felt almost immediately more comfortable, I got into a good rhythm and was getting good leg drive through the stroke.  I made an executive decision and kept close into shore rather than going out very wide as the majority of the paddlers had.  As I made good progress downwind my confidence picked up and I looked on track for my target time for the paddle leg despite the slow going early.  I approached the break again and took what I thought would be a wide enough berth to miss the waves that break onto the reef.  But as I got parallel to the reef, I got caught up in the middle of a big set and had to pick up my rating to get out of the danger zone.

This was not a place I wanted to be.  The back of my boat started to lift and I accelerated trying to ride the wave out but I could feel my boat start to turn to the right and I knew I was going in.  I popped up and looked around to see where the reef was, and whether I had enough time to get back in before the next wave came through.  I didn’t, so I grabbed the foot straps, wrapped my legs around the ski and hoped.

I got back up onto the ski, and paddled my little heart out.  We were still paddling downwind and I was confident I was still more or less on track for my target time.  Around the top can and back to the beach I tried to pick off paddlers in front of me and I pulled back a few individual places as well as a couple of teams.  Up the beach I was a couple of minutes behind a very ambitious target but more than that ahead of my paddle time from 2009.

The Lorne run course starts out along the foreshore and I quickly got into a good cadence.  Along the rocky sections I was moving well, and I reeled in probably 20 places (including teams) in the first 4-5 kms.  At this stage I was feeling good, but not great and tapping out a reasonable tempo.  By the second long up-hill burn I could feel the fatigue setting in but ground out the hill and tried to maintain the strongest pace I could.  The race was now becoming more mental but I just couldn’t force myself to push harder.  I felt like I was stuck in fourth gear.  As I exited the forest the FM guys were there to cheer me on and I kicked on for a spurt.  This was great timing as the next section of the run is a super technical 500 m stretch of large loose rock.

For those of you that know Lorne, you will know that it sits at the bottom of a very steep escarpment.  So this means the only way out (other than along the coast) is up.  Consequently, the MTB leg starts with a 2 km climb at 10% with two 300 m sections of 17%.  The climb then eases with the remaining 10 km ranging at about 5%.  By now I had the punch knocked firmly out of my legs and lacked power rather than aerobic capacity.  I rode onto the top wanting more, but just not having the legs to deliver it.

Mentally, I also wasn’t in an ideal position.  In hindsight I’ve realised that the targets I had set were too ambitious (and not carefully enough considered) and consequently as the race had gone on I was falling further and further behind time (even though I was on a PB time).  Because I didn’t know where I was in the race, I didn’t have that balancing force to push me on and my mind was translating slow times into low places.  What I didn’t realise was that I was actually only a couple of minutes down on my main rivals and that the race times were slow across the board after the tough paddle.

Fortunately, the back half of the bike leg is a series of steep descents on fire trails punctuated by short power climbs that you can knock over with a bit of grit.  This year on my new Merida 96 I was able to really power on the down hill and let the suspension absorb the noise in the trail, for the first time in the race to that point I had a smile on my face whizzing down some hairy trail at well above 60 kmh.

The final stanza on the bike is a very steep and narrow section of single trail that has been the site of many, many accidents over the years.  With my new found confidence I thought I’d have a crack but soon collected a tree and gave up riding down so shouldered the bike and ran down.  You then pop out of the Stony Creek and ride on the coastal rock and soft sand to the final TA and then run the final 1.5 km beach run to the finish.

So what do we take away from the race?

Positives:

My pre-race organisation for racing is really coming together.  I’m now comfortable in my pre-race routine and this has translated in to a less stressful lead up and more time on race morning to get a good warm-up done.  Similarly, I’ve got my nutrition types and intervals down pat and resolved the stomach cramping issues of last season (thanks to Luke Bell for some great advice there).  I was also really happy with a three minute run PB.  I’d spent the time to recon the course and knew exactly where to run fast, which hills to grind and where the good lines were through the technical sections.

Areas for improvement:

A quick look over the splits shows that the main damage to my overall hopes was still in the paddle leg.  Despite being faster than last year it is still a clear weakness and although paddling well on the flatter days at the Freycinet and King Valley Challenge Races I haven’t improved enough in the rough of the open ocean.  My main take-away though is the importance of the little mental tricks that I normally use to push myself in these sorts of races.  As I said earlier I hadn’t put the same thoroughness into my target setting and consequently this put me behind a mental eight ball for most of the race.  In hindsight, I was actually having an OK race but my bad pre-race decisions had led my brain to convince me otherwise.

Action Plan:

The action plan from here is to:

1. Program more time in the open water to polish the ‘specific’ skills
2. Properly establish target times
3. Use my support crew to keep me informed about my overall position

So, where to from here?  After a week off I’ll be looking to Marysville to Melbourne Multisport (http://www.marysvilletomelbourne.com.au/) in April as the final ‘A’ race of the year.  Between now and then Coach Foz and I are looking to rebuild and I’ve got two five day camps planned for Falls Creek and then Torquay over January.

Until then train smart.