The busy athletes guide to training

This article is for the busy athlete who has little time for fuss, let alone endless training. They want the best results from the least training...and they don't care too much for fluff and waffle. So let's get straight into it!!

1. Make it a team project
Most busy athletes will be busy due to family and/or work commitments, which means family and/or work also need to be part of the solution...part of your team. You need them to work with you, not against your goals and dreams.

Top priority is being 110% comfortable that your family supports your quest to be an athlete, and the time and energy your sports will take away from home life. Redeemer that being selfish does not equal balance, and without balance and harmony at home then things will crumble terribly. Sports are a healthy indulgence, not an obsession, so make sure your family team is part of the journey so you can share the experiences it brings.

Close behind family is work where you need to reach an agreement about how much training you can fit in without compromising your career. For all but a few people, sport does not put food on the table, so your training needs to fit in your work commitments...also as part of your supporting team.

2. Have goals
Goals are the things that give you direction and motivation, as well as guiding the training you do. Without knowing your goals it's not possible to define an effective training program to give you the most benefit from the training time you invest. The more specific your goals, the more specific the training plan to achieve those goals will be. Busy people will recognise the SMART criteria for setting goals - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-based. Once you've defined your goals you can go forth and build a plan and schedule to achieve them.

3. Identify your constraints / available time
The best training program is one that you can do, because it fits in around your constraints and available time. Whether your constraints are family duties, shift work, work, etc, they need to be factored in before you build any plan. Write out a timeline for each day of the week to see where your available training time is and if there is any opportunity to shuffle things around - this exercise is fantastic for seeing where all your times goes!! Your constraints will also include your preferences, eg, that weekly session you do with friends that you really want to keep doing. For busy athletes, training should fit around your lifestyle, not dictate it.

4. Develop a routine
The next step on from identifying your constraints is developing a repeatable, sustainable routine which fits into your lifestyle. Routine breeds consistency, which is the most important aspect of any training program, and for many people a weekly routine is most workable...notwithstanding that there will be exceptions from time to time. Given this routine will include which sessions fit in on what day / time, it is important to plan this out being mindful of the principles of a balanced training program, eg, not book-ending hard sessions back-to-back, and so on. A routine also needs to include sufficient recovery, which includes sleep, all of which may take a couple of weeks to fine tune into an effective routine for you.

5. Benchmark
Busy athletes like to see progress and results from their training, to know that they're heading towards their goals. This gives reassurance and motivation to continue on. Benchmarking is the way of measuring your performance at a point in time, to then compare against as training progresses. Hopefully you'll see continual improvements, or at the very least the feedback from each benchmarking session provides a subjective assessment of progress. Benchmark tests need to be repeatable under similar conditions - environmental, emotional and physical - so as to be a fair measure, and tests should be specific to the goal events.

6. Train
Finally you need to do the do!! By this stage the busy athlete knows what session they're doing, when, and for how long. With the guidance of a coach they'll also know the details of the session - how to execute the session - and what to do if circumstances dictate that there's less time than anticipated, or conditions (eg, weather) are not conducive for the planned session. Having training so tightly planned and scheduled may take away some of the impulsive enjoyment, but that is an unfortunate compromise the busy athlete must accept. At the heart of any weekly training schedule, for riding and running at least, are two key workouts - a long session and a tempo / interval / threshold session (depending on your preferred terminology). Your training should be tailored to meet the goals you set.

7. RaceMost likely it is a race that has been the goal, and primary motivator for the busy athlete. This is a chance to throw off the shackles of such structured training and let it all hang out on the race stage!! For the busy family athlete, a goal race can also be an opportunity for a trip to somewhere new, be it interstate, overseas or otherwise. The race is the reward for being diligent and dedicated to the (mostly) thankless process of training. A race is like a victory lap...enjoy it and reap the rewards of overcoming a busy lifestyle. Most importantly, share the emotion and excitement with your team...because without them you wouldn't be there.

Rules of training

Do you ever stop to wonder why sports seem so complicated? Do you wonder what changed from when you remember just heading out the door to enjoy the beauty of being fit, outdoors, pumping adrenalin and just going hard? At times they can seem like the long lost days of the past - the "good old days" - with the freedom to do what you want and still front up on race day and put in a good showing. Crazy to think, but some people are still like that!!!

Sadly, this article is not here to take you back to when things were simpler, but rather to add some more rules to an already cluttered headspace. However, these rules will hopefully help to simplify your training, because the bigger part of training is not so much the physical work you do but the approach and attitude you take to training.

These rules are aimed at giving you a clear approach to training, and make your training and racing most effective. So here goes...

1. CNN (Consistency, No Compromise, No Doubts)

If you train consistency, with no compromise in the things you do during training, then you'll have no doubts about how you'll perform on race day.

2. JFT - sometimes just training is more important than the details of what you do.

JFT = Just F***ing Train. Remember that at the end of the day training is how you improve...and sometimes the specifics are less important than just getting out to train.

3. You can't overtrain, only under recover.

Read that again. Recovery is what allows you to keep on training, and it's during recovery from sessions where you adapt and improve. Plan recovery with the same diligence as you plan training.

4. Plan the work, work the plan.

Have plan for where you're heading and how you're going to achieve your goals. Then work to the plan...and be prepared to update your plan at any time.

5. Train today so you can still train tomorrow – consider a 72hr training window.

If you train so long and/or hard that you're unable to train tomorrow - fail. Consider your training session in the current 24 hr window in the context of what you did in the previous 24 hrs, and what you plan to do in the next 24 hrs -a 72 hr window. Aim for consistency from day-to-day, week-to-week, etc.

6. TUF – Technique Under Fatigue. Practice in all sessions.

The athlete who holds their technique best under fatigue will slow down least, especially when running. Practice technique in every session, whether slow, medium or fast.

7. Specificity is the key to your best performance.

Training to meet the specific demands of your target event is the best way to be prepared for the specific demands of the event.

8. When things are going well, be conservative.

If you're having a great day / week / month of training, don't be tempted to do more and/or harder training. Stick to plan and be consistent. Single training sessions don't make champions - consistency does.

9. Consider metabolic vs. structural conditioning.

If your metabolic fitness (ie, aerobic capacity) exceeds your structural fitness (ie, muscles, bones, tendons, etc) then be careful to only train as hard as the weakest aspect can cope with, so you don't break down.

10. An educated athlete is better prepared.

Learn about your sport, it's history, the events, equipment, training methodologies, other athletes and more. The greater your understanding of the sport and it's intricacies the better your grasp on how YOU can best prepare for and race.

11. Be honest with yourself and have a passion for being your best.

If you're not honest with yourself then you're only fooling yourself. Be honest and humble, and see every session as an opportunity to improve and learn more about yourself and the sport.

12. Do the minimum amount to achieve your goals.

Train with an objective and make sure you get the most effectiveness from each session - the most benefit from the least time/effort.

Finally…

13. There is no answer.  Sport is an on-going journey of learning about yourself.

No one has the best answer for you. You are a work in progress and the more you know about yourself the better you'll be able to decide what is best for you. Keep on experiencing and learning.

Switching to triathlons

This article was written on request for publishing on www.firstoffthebike.com

So you wanna take up triathlons? But you're not doing it just to make up numbers...you plan to be a contender at the pointy end...a part of the real game. A successful career as a single sport athlete - or even in an alternative multi-sport - has convinced you that you've got the 'engine' to make the transition to triathlon, and to be successful. And now you're asking me whether I think you can make it. The answer is that it depends...

See, triathlons are not as simple as swimming, biking and running. Especially at the elite level it is the fastest triathlete who wins...which might sound obvious, but actually highlights the importance of being a whole triathlete, and not just someone who swims, rides and runs well. Alistair Brownlee is not just the fastest runner in triathlons, he's the fastest triathlete. Chris McCormack is not just the strongest Ironman, he's the best Ironman racer. Chrissie Wellington is not just a phenomenon, she's a supreme triathlete.

The challenge that new triathletes face, regardless of how well they swim or bike or run, is becoming a triathlete who competes in the one, single sport of triathlon rather than 3 sports tacked together. The difference is the fitness, skill, knowledge and experience of being a triathlete...which is not to say someone can't make the transition to being a champion triathlete, but rather that they need to be realistic in their expectations and timeline to success.

Even professional football players who switch between rugby union, league and AFL are not guaranteed of success...and they often have the support and resources of a club behind them. Someone switching to triathlons is usually on their own...let's look a little closer at what is involved.

There's two ways of looking at the transition to triathlons, first is to understand the demands of the events, and second is to assess the ability of athlete making the transition. Also, we'll define successful as being top-20 in the ITU World Championship series, and top-20 in Kona (top-10 for women).

Demands of Triathlons
Triathlons are one sport, not three. The fastest person over the swim, bike, run course is the winner - they don't hand out prizes for individual split times (sorry to all you uber cyclists!!). Being the fastest triathlete also includes transitions, race tactics and the equipment you use...and for longer events, race nutrition. Regardless of the race distance the requirements to be successful have a similar profile - swim fast, ride well, run very fast.

To achieve our definition of success you need to aiming for the following ranges...in a triathlon:
ITU

Swim - 17-18min (men), 18-19min (women)

Run - 30-32min (men), 34-36min (women)

Ironman (Kona times)

Swim - 50-52min (men), 54-58min (women)

Bike - 4:30-40hr (men), 4:50-5:10hr (women)

Run - 2:40-3:00hr (men), 2:55-3:15hr (women)

The mistake make athletes make in assessing the criteria to succeed is to forget that these times are in a race, and not stand-alone, and that there's tactics alongside the times - the top triathletes are racing to win so simply just looking at times does not reveal what unfolded during the race. In particular, ITU athletes run a fast first and last km, and in IM the first and last hour on the bike are the hardest (and usually the fastest), and the start of the run.

There's an evolution currently happening in how endurance events are won. Marathons are now a head-to-head race over the last 7km. ITU triathlons come down to the last 2km, and Ironmans are a tactical battle which begins at about 120km into the bike leg. If you're not in position and able to respond at those times, then you're out of contention.

Ability of the Athlete
Great athletes are the ones who adapt to changes in their sport, and how success is achieved. Superstar athletes are ones the who define how to win...look at people like Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Chrissie Wellington. These people were seemingly born into their chosen sports, and set the bar for the field to gradually close in on. Being part of the field requires a high level of talent, ability and experience.

Many successful athletes who consider switching to triathlons have talent and ability, which is to say that these athletes have demonstrated their talent and ability in their first and primary sport, which they have honed over years of specific training. In the book called "Outliers: The Story of Success", author Malcolm Gladwell proposed the "10,000-Hour Rule" which says that it takes 10,000 hours to shape and develop your talent to be a success...whether it be music or sport. Further, the principle of specificity says that your performance is specific to the field in which you practiced / trained.

All this suggests that athletes who switch to triathlons from other sports will need some time to develop their performance - fitness, skill, knowledge, experience, etc - although each athlete will inevitably progress at different rates. The age at which an athlete switches over is also a factor, considering the general age profile of the top triathletes.

Then you need to look at the physical characteristics of the athlete switching to triathlons. Most commonly they will come from the single sports of swimming, riding or running. Each of these sports develop great fitness, however swimming and riding are non-weight bearing so adding running to the program is the wild card that will cause most problems. As Chris McCormack says, swimmers do their shins and bikers blow their knees, which is to say that their metabolic fitness far exceeds their structural fitness. These athletes often fail to acknowledge that, try to train as hard as they did in their single sport and boom, they get injured. Badly.

Having said that, history has shown many swimmers who made a successful transitions to triathlons, not the least of whom includes Dave Scott and Mark Allen. Fewer cyclists have been successful in triathlon, most notable being the late Steve Larsen and Karen Thurig. Runners are even fewer in number, perhaps because of a distinct lack of muscle mass for swimming and riding.

Aside from swimmers, riders and runners, often successful multi-sport athletes make switch to triathlons - adventure racers and surf ironmen. Very few (if any? - Richard Usher perhaps) of these athletes have been successful in triathlons, perhaps mainly because these guys are either built for extreme, multi-day endurance (adventure racers) or built like tanks (surf ironmen).

Summary
Athletes tend to drift into the sport they are most suited to, and which they enjoy most...perhaps because they are suited to it!! It's self selecting. So the best triathletes are self selected into the sport because they match the characteristics required by the sport...and the same for other sports. There's no "right" or "wrong" sport for an athlete, just the choice they make along the way and which then defines them further based on the meeting the demands of the sport.

Switching to triathlons and being successful is certainly possible, but this will depend on many factors and not just the determination of the athlete. Triathlon is a single and complex sport to master in its entirety, which perhaps only those who do the sport really appreciate. To outsiders triathlons appear somewhat of a novelty, with an associated belief that it's something you can do - and master - on a whim. The reality is far different.

3Fest Melbourne Multi-Sport Conference

Just a quick plug for a conference I'm presenting at this weekend, on Saturday, which features a fantastic line-up of speakers...Craig Alexander, Jason Shortis, Tony Benson, Naantali Marshall, Pita Cedaro...and little 'ol me!!

My presentaion is "Training Like a Triathlete", which is a very broad topic that I could speak all day on...however I'm limited to just 60mins, followed by Mr. Alexander. I hope to get a photo with him!!

Here's a little summary of the conference from the 3Fest web-site (http://www.3fest.com.au/). 

 

MELBOURNE MULTI SPORT CONFERENCE

TRIATHLON - ADVENTURE RACING – XTRI - MULTI SPORT

Dates: Fri 21st – Sun 23rd January
Venue: Sandy By The Bay (Sandringham Football Club)

3Fest is a 3 day event brought to you by Xosize and Wet & Dry Events covering a wide range of topics relating to Triathlon, Xtri, adventure racing and Multisport events. The event will take place at the Sandringham Football Club (Sandy by the Bay).

Sessions cater to all levels of athlete from the beginner to the professional who want to get the latest knowledge and information from some of the country's leading coaches, professional athletes and industry experts.

3Fest starts Friday with a fortunate group who get to train exclusively with Craig 'Crowie' Alexander and then in the evening come together with 200 people for a 3 course dinner who get the opportunity to hear and ask questions of a panel consisting of 2 x Hawaiian Ironman Winner Craig 'Crowie' Alexander and Steve Moneghetti and some of Australia's leading Triathlete's, Adventure Racers and the voice of Australian Triathlon, Pete Murray.

Saturday and Sunday you get the opportunity to learn from these same elite athletes and many other coaches and industry experts such as Rod Cedaro.

The weekend will consist of lectures, practical and theoretical sessions on sports nutrition and medicine, swimming, cycling, running, training, planning and timetabling, exercise physiology, kayaking and sports diet that will provide invaluable personal and performance development for any athlete, coach or industry professional looking to improve themselves.

Falls Creek training camp - day 5

Well, it's taken until the 5th and final full day here, but I think we now have some idea what other parts of Australia have been through in terms of rain. It's been wet, wet, wet here...so an early call was made to change plans for the day and pack up the bikes and head to Mt Beauty for a ride, swim and run...with possibly and ride back up the mountain to Falls Creek at the end. This would be a full-on day...I'm kind of glad I'm not a triathlete any more!!!

So down we went and I hopped out of the car early to run the last part down into Mt Beauty - the rain had stopped down at that altitude - as the others went on and set off for their ride. I had a lovely run, which was timed as such so I would get to the pool in time to catch up with Jono Hall, who is head triathlon coach of the VIS, which was really interesting and valuable. I've got a lot to learn.

Anyway, the rain had started by the time the riders got back to town, and they quickly decided to skip the swim and run and head on up the mountain - a 32km climb in rain. All power to them, as Cam, Terry, Tony & I waved them off and drove the vehicles instead!!!

Falls Creek is a great climb, broken into two parts - the first which while being a climb includes some downhill parts for brief relief. The second part, the final 14km, is all up and kicks up even further in the last 5-6km - it's a great climb if you enjoy that kind of stuff.

As we went up in the vehicles we gradually caught up to each rider, one of whom pulled the pin, but the others who were riding strongly and steadily alone or in groups of 2 or 3. We gave encouragement, took photos (see below) and then wound up the windows to keep the rain out...not to mention the fog and the wind as we went higher. They all rode well, looking strong and smooth - a good ride. Not content, a couple headed out for short (and wet) runs afterwards.

The rain had settled in for the day, more than just the drizzle of earlier days - this was pouring rain - but still not too cold. Realising the fun of the week was winding down, several guys and girls headed off back to Melbourne, leaving only7 of us here now for massive BBQ for which there's juicy steaks in the fridge waiting to be cooked!!! However, it will have to be indoors since this rain doesn't look like stopping...except once we leave and there's sunny days over the weekend, alas...

So we're nearly over for the weekend. I'm planning a final run in the morning - I've had the best week of training since the achilles op - before we drive back tomorrow, and put the interstate guys on the plane. It's been a really good and worthwhile week.

 The cyclists about to head off for the final leg up the mountain.

 Young Jacob, 16yo t oday, put in a big effort.

 Andy was all smiles, as usual.

 Luke and Brad getting a bit of help from the car...not that they really needed it!!

 Gabe, Luke and Liz rode together.

 Liz, Gabe and Luke a little further on...can't see far here.

 Liz, having the ride of the day from the group.

Gabe was a fantastic help for the triathletes during the climb.

 Luke pushed the final 5-6km and finished strongly.

Brad wasn't looking too sure of things at this stage...but was nearly home.

Falls Creek training camp - day 4

We're getting into routine now with training, and most people seem to be coping with the sessions quite well. This morning wasn't wet for a change, but there was fog instead and more rain forecast although the temps are still quite comfortable.


Today began with a run over the mountains, up to Mt McKay which I saw on Tuesday but took a wrong turn in trying to get there. It was the highest peak in the vicinity and has a communications tower on it which looks imposing from a distance. So I wanted to get up and led the group in my/our quest to "summit" it. Problem was the fog limited visibility to about 60m...

Nonetheless, Luke, Vicki and I set off from the village while others took the mini-bus up a little distance and ran from there. It's a good climb up to the ski tows above the village but once there the roads go along the ridge so the hills are just rolling ones rather than steep climbs.

Fortunately I could remember the roads to take because we sure couldn't see where we were running to, and hoping the final steep uphill to the summit was the correct road!! It was and although we could barely see our feet through the fog, it was a good run. We took a few detours on the way back with Luke and I ending up with 20km.

After some down time we were out for an open water swim in Rocky Valley dam, which I had personally been fearing after my previous attempt at a swim there 3 years ago ended in less than 1 minute because it was so damn cold. The rain didn't help my enthusiasm for it, as we stood on the lake shore and surveyed where we planned to swim...urgh!!!! The first few minutes were rather unpleasant - cold face, hands and feet - and just feeling frigid. But it was swimmable and despite the temptation I wasn't going to the first/only one to bail out. So on we swam, and swam, and swam.

40-45min later we completed the planned course without casualties, and actually found the water not to be too bad...after a little while. It was good to get out, though!!

It's been an easier and shorter day, which has been good to have some down time between sessions. Tomorrow the triathletes and cyclists are off for a long ride, but I'll stay in the lodge to do a short run and hopefully a walk up the hill and around the ski runs...if the rain stays away. Things are going well, surrounded by a good group of guys and girls.

 About to start the run up in the fog - can't see much!!

 On top of Mt McKay - the view would be great on a clear day...

 Heading down from Mt McKay into the fog.

 Nervous anticipation before the swim...in the rain. A couple of guys already in the dam.

 Post swim, me executing a perfect forward dive!!!

 A display of flesh post-swim, trying to warm-up again.

How athletes spend their down time...reading books plus TV in the other room.

Happy Campers - training camps

I’m writing this article from Falls Creek, a well known Victorian ski resort that is a bustling centre of activity during winter…except that it’s mid-summer (and it’s currently raining) and most of the activity is from trades people doing off-season maintenance. However, if you go to the right places at the right times you’ll see why I’m here…for a training camp with a group of triathletes. We’re also sharing the mountain with many of Australia’s best runners who’ve been here for several weeks on their annual pilgrimage for uninterrupted training over an endless array of tracks, trails, mountains, and more. They’re on a training camp, also.

Training camps are an increasingly popular things for athletes to do in range of sports, and for good reason – they are a fantastic way to get some great training done, go away on a trip to new places, get to know fellow athletes, and more. But training camps can also break some people – physically and mentally – so they need to be planned and approached with care.

Because training camps are a focused block of training, they need to be planned with the same care as any training block, which is the first part of the trick with holding camps – how to cater for the needs of all “campers” with different training needs. Inevitably there is some compromise required where athletes put themselves in the hands of the camp organiser – hopefully a qualified and experienced coach – so they get the benefit of group training. However it is really important that campers know their limits and are careful about how much training workload they undertake.

An example of these are the well known “Epic Camps” organised by some Ironman coaches in various places around the world. As the name suggests, they are epic in terms of the volume – and intensity, at times – of training completed, and being surrounded by equally motivated and high achieving people. For athletes who complete it they can be rewarded with a huge breakthrough in their training and fitness, but a friend of mine once did an Epic Camp…had an amazing experience…but which perhaps compromised his performance at Ironman Australia in a year where he was looking good for a Kona spot. So the moral is for athletes to take responsibility for the training load they actually complete during camps.

But putting words of warning aside, training camps are a great place to share knowledge and experiences, learn from coaches in an environment where there are few distractions, and focus on the training task at hand.

The location of the camp has a huge bearing on its success – there needs to a good selection of training options which are easy to navigate, and importantly, the location needs to be appealing enough for athletes to come along, however far the amount of travel is. For example, coming up here to Falls Creek is a large investment in time and travel, but the appeal of the camp scenario and the location are strong and hence why it has become a popular venue for camps catering for the elite through to age group athletes.

Where you stay also has a bearing on the camp, since without the usual distractions the downtime between training sessions can drive athletes nuts, not to mention getting on the nerves each other if there isn’t enough room to relax in or things to do. And if the weather is bad, “cabin fever” can test the patience of even the most relaxed person. For our group of 15 up here, the layout of the lodge we’re in is fantastic…not to mention kitchen facilities and the catering planning that was required. So there’s a lot to think about when planning a camp.

But once you’re on camp, the most important thing is to go with the flow and adapt to the circumstances you’re in. Accept that things will not be the same as when you’re back at home, and you’ll need to change your routine somewhat. Stepping outside your comfort zone is critical to taking steps forward in your fitness at a training camp, so while being mindful of managing your training load, going with the flow of the camp helps to get the most from the experience and effort of going to the camp.

Perhaps the most memorable parts of training camps – apart from great training sessions – are the social side of the camp. The fun and good times you can have will be memorable, the banter, jokes, games and more. And as always, what goes on camp stays on camp…except that one time at band camp…

So training camps are great for many reasons, and benefits you get from them are endless as long as you’re adaptable and immerse yourself in the camp experience and be part of the camp. Happy campers are happy athletes.

Falls Creek Training Camp - Day 3

Not to complain given what's happening elsewhere in the country, but it was wet here in Falls Creek today. It rained overnight and was still drizzling this morning as we rose to head down the hill to Mt Beauty for another swim. It's not particularly heavy rain, but wet nonetheless and lifts the humidity close to 100% most of the time, but since the air temp is only about 15 degrees it's actually quite comfortable just wearing shorts and t-shirts.

Three more people arrived late last night - Cam, and then Bev & Vicki - who I've known well for a number of years so it was good to see them this morning...after they had a sleep-in!!! Nick arrived later bringing our total numbers to 15 - a good size group.

We started with another pool session, and speaking for myself, I swam like a brick - my swimming is nothing like when I was racing tris. Oh well, if it means I'm running well then I don't care!!! The session was a bit shorter (3.5km) than yesterday (4km+) and we hit the supermarket and coffee shop before driving back up, where it was still wet.

The wet weather kept us indoors eating, talking, watching TV, eating, reading and some more eating!! The afternoon held in store a bike and run session and we kept a close eye on the rain radar to pick gaps to head out for these sessions...but the intevitable happened and we all got wet at some stage...

We split into two groups - short course and long course athletes - for slightly different sessions. Cam & Gabriel took the bike sessions and I took the runs. First up I had Tony & Jacob for a short but tough session of 10 x (1min Hard / 1min Float) back-and-forth along the dam wall. Tony felt a bit off but I rode alongside Jacob and he did a good session - he's only 15 and here from Sth Aust, and fitting in well. The long course athletes did a bike session first...and got very wet except for Liz & Lisa who did an indoor bike session, in front of the TV, but I think their sweat equalled the rain the others caught!!

Then they switched modes and I took the long course guys for a run along the Great Alpine Road. I joined in this time as I got us all to do a 25min tempo session...my first bit of hard running since my achilles surgery...and geez it felt good!!! However we did get very wet.

Perhaps the best thing about the lodge we're in is the drying room, aptly named, and is generating a bit of a stink with all the wet and sweaty clothes in it!! But it does a fantastic job, drying shoes and things overnight - I've got a bit of stuff in there tonight. the forecast is for more rain tomorrow, but we're planning a trail run in the morning, hopefully to get up Mt McKay...I'll post photos tomorrow!!!

 A group shot before swimming this morning.

 The cyclists heading out for a ride - it was raining...

 Some of the snow vehicles up here - these are like little busses.

 Brad massaging Luke...and he seems to be enjoying it!!

 Liz and Lisa doing an indoor session - sweat fest!!

 A nice shot down the valley from the dam wall, with wispy clouds in the distance.

 The second run group, very wet and about to start our main session.

Off we go into the rain...

Falls Creek Training camp - day 2

So here we are at the end of day 2 up here, and so far there’s no casualties to speak of, and no one has hit the wall yet…but we haven’t even done anything hard yet!!! The day started with the pitter patter of light rain on the roof, and 99% humidity making the 11 degrees feel a little sticky and muggy…and nothing like as cold as 11 degrees. Fortunately it was only light and the weather radar showed some hope that it would pass within a few hours.

In reality we had nothing to complain about given the incredible floods in QLD – the pictures and TV of it is like from a movie, and not in our own country. Just amazing, and we really feel for the people affected.

The training schedule for the day included a swim, run and bike (in that order) so our first moves were in the mini-bus and down the hill to Mt Beauty for a swim session in the pool. Mt Beauty is well named as it’s a lovely little town, and fairly quiet but gets a lot of passing traffic as the last petrol / good coffee / bakery / supermarket stop before the mountains. The pool was really nice although was a quirky 33 1/3m long that threw us all, being used to either 25m or 50m pools. But being grown-ups we adapted and got in a good session, me being in a lane with some pretty damn good swimmers!!!

I’ve finally got the names of everyone here sorted out – I was bit hazy when writing last night(!!) – which includes the following: Tony (the boss and initiator of the camp), Brad, Terry, Luke (QLD), Lisa (QLD), Liz (QLD), Andy (WA), Jacob (15yo, SA), Gabriel (cyclist), Luke (cyclist). A few more are arriving tonight – Bev, Vicki, Nick and Cam (cyclist). We’re a happy group of campers, and eating like kings!!!

So after the swim we drove back up the mountain to find the rain had stopped, the wind was calm and it was really pleasant – the temperature has a funny feel up here, not feeling as cold as back in Melbourne. I had a walk around Falls Creek village and found it very quiet, except for some workers doing a bit of general maintenance. No sign of the runners we saw yesterday…I’m keen to see them to be among equally skinny and hairy legged athletes!!!

Two sessions this afternoon started with an easy run around the edge of the Rocky Valley dam, past ski tows and in the midst of mountain peaks devoid of trees except for the dead snow guns standing like eerie skeletons in scattered patches on the hills – the fires came amazingly close to Falls Creek village. I rode my mountain bike while the triathletes ran along on a lovely dirt track – very nice.

The second session sent them off on their bikes along the High Plains Rd, over the plateau around the lake where it’s undulating rather than hilly. I left them to it and strapped on my running shoes for my OWN run along some tracks, up a ski run (*&%# steep!!) and along a ridge at the top of ski runs – a magnificent run in the sky around Falls Creek resort, but whether it was lack of fitness, the steep hills or thin air...it was hard!!!

Dinner is just about to be served – spaghetti bolognaise – so that’s enough for now. Similar sessions tomorrow, but I/we will turn up the intensity dial a little in the sessions…haha!!!

Dinner last night - beef gourlash!!

Getting the mini-bus to go swimming in Mt Beauty...a bit drizzly.

Outside the Mt Beauty swimming pool - a nice pool.

On the pool deck - nice water and 33 1/3m long!!

A nice view on the way back up the mountain - cloud hanging over Mt Bogong.

Lots of ski-doos all around Falls Creek, going rusty during summer!!

The runners along the aquaduct trail - really beautiful running.

Brad working on his bike - he knows his way around a bike very well!!

 About to head off on a ride...

...and there they go!!

Falls Creek Training Camp - Day 1

I'm writing this from Falls Creek, in the Victorian Alps, on day 1 of a 6 day training camp with the LSD Sports age group team of triathletes (and a couple of cyclists). I'm here on a coaching capacity, being honoured to be invited to come along and help out the guys and girls who've come from various states of Australia. All up there will be 19 of us by tomorrow night - right now there's just 10 of us. It will be a great week of training and socialising.

Anyway, it started today as we met at Melbourne Airport to pile into a mini-bus plus car to do the long trip up the Hume Hwy. Melbourne's recent dry weather gave way to rain as we left, but by Seymour it had stopped and the weather cleared up and warmed up. Between our conversations it was dead quiet due to a crappy radio and forgetting to bring a cable to connect the iPod to the stereo...but that was rectified during our lunch stop in Benalla and we made up for it by blasting the music for the remainder of the trip!!

Driving here is always a picturesque, through the country side and the towns of Mytleford, Bright and Mt Beauty in the valleys surrounded by big mountains. The final 30km up from mt Beauty is spectacular, through the the beautiful bush and skeletons of dead trees, burnt in fires in 2003 and 2006 and still standing almost as a memorial to the devastation of the fires. The temperature dropped as we went up, probably about 10 degrees, but still quite happily in shorts and t-shirt. It was good to finally get here about 4pm'ish.

We're staying at the Myrtleford ski club lodge, which is fairly basic but fantastically set-up and has heaps of room for us and some others who are staying here.

Our first training session was one that I took, an easy run with drills and circuit exercises. We ran along the aquaduct to the Rocky Valley dam, and it's soooo nice to out in the country running again - I love running out from Melbourne. Apart from a little rain it was a good session, althought I think a few guys will have some sore abs tomorrow!!!

Tomorrow kicks off with a swim session in the morning at Mt Beauty, then a run and ride later in the day. I've bought my mountain bike up so I'll do a bit of exploring while they all ride their road bikes. It will be a good week, and I'll aim to post each day, including some photos. Here's some from today.

 Stopped for lunch in Benalla.

 In the mini-bus...

 We were heading through Mytleford and Bright.

 Down the main street of Bright - it was beautiful outside and lots of people around.

 The view from Tawonga Gap, between Bright and Mt Beauty.

 Tawonga Gap.

 Mt Bogong covered in burnt trees, but still looks magnificent.

Our digs - the Myrtleford Ski Club lodge.

 A couple of our guys prentending to be James Bond.

 Our run along the aquaduct - beautiful.

 Doing drills.

Doing circuit exercises.