Race report from top of the world....... Nearly. A big congrats go's out to Falls Creek and Supersprint Events for an epic race in an amazing setting at 1600m.
As mentioned the setting is amazing in the Alpine Narional Park, VIC. Views a plenty. Swim takes place in Rocky Valley Dam (15deg), Ride is a hilly 3 loops across the top of the Bogong High Plains and the run is 2loops of the aqueduct trail atop Falls Village with a stinger of a hill. All this being played out in dry conditions at a balmy 7-9 deg C = logistical nightmare!
Ben's take
Nervous for this one! For the 2 weeks of being here it has been an amazing place to train but knowing how chilly it could be and how helpless I am in it was playing on my mind. Why on earth in AUS am I going to the coldest place to do a bloody race!?!? Drinking coffee in the morning with the heater on under the covers.... What was I getting myself into!?
Once on the bike, riding to transition those thoughts all go out the window as the adrenaline kicks in. Before you know it transition is set up (Inc arm warmers, gillet & gloves) and down to swim start. It looked epic with the sun rising over the lake .
Plan is always to have a solid start in the swim. Usual smash and grab at the start and exited the lake with a pretty average swim. Felt fine throughout though and can take some positives away from it. Just glad to have my Sailfish on to keep me warm and make me faster..... Long run to the bike after that with T1 perched on top of Falls Creek. (no. 1 transition destination on earth)
Another thing I always aim for and what everyone should aim for is the best ranked transition times. I am usually not far off the mark and historically has made me up many positions in races. This one was a disaster for T1 with the logistical nightmare of layering. (note for next time) Once I fumbled my way through, it was onto the bike across the beautiful Bogong High Plains. For this race, T1 cost me a podium!!
On the bike things were ok. Altitude lowers the top end speed and amplifies the exertion.... but that is generally the same for everyone. Was enjoying the ride holding pace and loving it. Demanding course with lots of climbing. Lap two the right side of my abdomen was in a knot. You can only imagine what come out of my mouth! Couldn't work out if it was muscular or fuelling problems. Sipped water took salt tabs but a end of day I had to turn to a Lance Armstrong TdF style cadence and limit what I was putting into each pedal stroke. At this time you could panic (Which I did).... The bike is usually my best leg...I soon calmed down and just kept doing all the right things in fuelling and getting as much 'free' speed from the course as I could (Spin up the hills and speed down them). Getting to T2 I had EVERYTHING crossed that I would be ok as things were coming good......
T2 better than T1 but still not perfect, I set out to catch everyone :)
Things were ok and I just kept focussed all the way around, keeping all the hard training sessions in back of my head. I was pumped as i was able to transfer everything in training to the course....Gained a lot of confidence from that run as it was my best to date on any Long Course race with rankings overall. I ran myself back into 4th for age category, so not quite enough for the podium aim.
A lot to take from the race, although it didn't all go my way for 100% of the time the lesson is to never give up and trust your training. The recipe in training for a triathlon is a fine balance and the first time my reliable bike leg was taken away I had to try and use the run and it worked. Maybe it is the training or maybe it is how I cycled the race!?!
My aim now is to go with the running confidence to Jervis Bay LC tri this weekend and cycle hard and run harder off it. See if I can pull it off .
Cat's take
I echo and ditto all the above, the end!!!
Only joking but I won't write war and peace! My race was similar to the course profile, had it's up's and down's.
The up's: I rode my bike like a demond, only 2 guys got past me, was able to draw strength from many of our killer training sessions, finished In the same spot as Ben 4 th in age cat and bagged a top 10 finish amongst the lady age groupers.
The down's:
Swim still not clicking podium positions had sunk within a few strokes of my unvarnished nails entering the water! 2 nd lap on the run I lost my " bronze" podium position and my breathing at times resembled the grunting noises those noisy female tennis players make!!
We are backing up this race with another long course tri, I am just banking on all those extra red blood cells I produced at altitude to get a little helping hand!
Friday, 17 February 2012
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Road Trip
Since we last blogged we have done more than just swim, bike, run Team BenBen have hit the road and travelled 1,193km’s to get to our new home for the next few weeks, Fall’s Creek in the Snowy Mountains. Sat 11th Feb is the first big race of the year, we have hit the mountains a few weeks out to get some training in and get acclimatized as we are at altitude, the dizzy heights of 1800m above sea level.
Our journey down south gave us the opportunity to pit stop half way at Nan’s and have a yummy feed with Aunty Di and Uncle Ian. I was very excited to meet Nan, she is a stunning 97 years old and did not disappoint.
The landscape on the second half of our journey looked more like I expected Australia to be, drier, a little more barren and 110km highways where you are often at times the only car in sight, you got to be very unlucky to be a victim of road rage here!!
The final leg of our journey was a winding 30km climb from Mount Beauty to the Falls Creek. (During winter Falls’s Creek is a ski resort, still no flat running or riding for us!).
Without wanting to sound a typical “pomme” and talk about the weather but it’s been extreme, extremely wet. Many areas on the East Coast of Aus got flooded from local rivers bursting their banks. Coff’s got its fair share of rain, I can only describe it as monsoon stylee rain that just did not stop for days. Going out on the bikes was a big no no! That did not mean a non no to training!! We hit the gym who had bikes in the dry! Ben loves running in the rain so our 2 hour run (or any run) was not postponed! Let’s just say there was not an inch of me that was dry!
It was still raining when we hit the road and I think it followed us. We arrived in Falls Creek to blazing sunshine but as the sun fell the rain showed us who’s boss, once the rain started it did not stop for nearly 24 hours. That meant a run in the rain, a journey down Mount Beauty to the local pool for a tough swim set then a gym session in the dry!
Tuesday the sun was back with us, although some UK winter cycling kit was needed to keep the chill off. We took the bikes for a spin, a rather breathless one at times over the course we will be racing on. Race day we will be putting our bodies on the line for a 2km swim, a 80km bike and a 20km run. This is the first time we have trained and raced at altitude and thank goodness we have a few weeks to learn how to breathe!! Ok so it’s not that bad but you definitely notice more panting! Panting hit a high when on day one, having had about an hour or so to get used to the conditions our ride home was a 37km ride up the mountain in sweltering heat!! My dad was right….it should be called “Fool’s Creek”!?!
I have just asked Ben if I have missed anything and did he want to add anything, I have clearly over looked the following:
How stunning this place is ….. a definite oversight, thanks Ben for the prompt. The pictures will be better than me at trying to convey just how beautiful this area is and soooo worth a visit. With no snow hiding the true landscape you can see just how dramatic the views are.
Our cute studio ….. picture a cozy studio apartment with a big bed piled up with faux fur cushions and blanket for warmth! All mod con’s come as standard too!
The Aqueduct Trail ….. this will be where we do the final leg of our race pounding the trail for 20k’s, I will be pounding and panting! Throughout the summer months when the snowboarders and skiers are in hibernation the resort attracts lycra clad runners and cyclists. The resort has a great network of trails to get fit on , keep fit on or get fitter on.
We swam in the highest body of water in Austrialia ….. the 2km swim is in Rocky Valley Dam lake, which is situated above the resort. We ventured in Tuesday for a 40 min dip, the locals had kept saying it was freezing in the lake, maybe they thought we were going in in just our speedos! Suited in our Sailfish wetsuits we were ready to get ice cream head from the cold…..it was fine, we are used to swimming in the UK after all.
After a short car journey through this breathtaking place, passing the aqueduct trail on our right and left we were back in our cozy pad, where, Ben found the “guests folder” which gave us that gem, the lake is the highest significant body of water in Australia!
I did not get round to uploading the blog yesterday, (tues) so I must mention our training or attempts to this morning! Up just before 7, lake swim on the agenda, shake and coffee, fuelled! Looked very cold outside, was cold outside 4 degrees. Ben had the brilliant or bonkers idea of putting our wetsuits on inside before we leave to save stripping off in the icy wind! Driving up to the lake visibility is about 10 meters, arrive at the lake visibility about 1 meter! Still suited in our wetsuits we pose for a few pics, wait to see if the mist will lift in 5, very wishful thinking, have to admit defeat and head back home.
Running kit on and we were off for a 90 min ramp run along the trails, Ben went exploring and looked like he reached the top of the world!
We waited 5 mins this morning for the mist to lift and it did not even budge a mm, 5 hours later we were back for take 2! It was worse, the wind had whipped up, the mist was thicker and even though I have gone to Specsavers visibility was way too poor to swim!
Determined to swim we remembered we saw a lake half way up Mount Beauty in Bogong. Bingo, we could swim and got our swim done with the ducks.
Fingers crossed for better weather for everyone, ciao for now x
Our journey down south gave us the opportunity to pit stop half way at Nan’s and have a yummy feed with Aunty Di and Uncle Ian. I was very excited to meet Nan, she is a stunning 97 years old and did not disappoint.
The landscape on the second half of our journey looked more like I expected Australia to be, drier, a little more barren and 110km highways where you are often at times the only car in sight, you got to be very unlucky to be a victim of road rage here!!
The final leg of our journey was a winding 30km climb from Mount Beauty to the Falls Creek. (During winter Falls’s Creek is a ski resort, still no flat running or riding for us!).
Without wanting to sound a typical “pomme” and talk about the weather but it’s been extreme, extremely wet. Many areas on the East Coast of Aus got flooded from local rivers bursting their banks. Coff’s got its fair share of rain, I can only describe it as monsoon stylee rain that just did not stop for days. Going out on the bikes was a big no no! That did not mean a non no to training!! We hit the gym who had bikes in the dry! Ben loves running in the rain so our 2 hour run (or any run) was not postponed! Let’s just say there was not an inch of me that was dry!
It was still raining when we hit the road and I think it followed us. We arrived in Falls Creek to blazing sunshine but as the sun fell the rain showed us who’s boss, once the rain started it did not stop for nearly 24 hours. That meant a run in the rain, a journey down Mount Beauty to the local pool for a tough swim set then a gym session in the dry!
Tuesday the sun was back with us, although some UK winter cycling kit was needed to keep the chill off. We took the bikes for a spin, a rather breathless one at times over the course we will be racing on. Race day we will be putting our bodies on the line for a 2km swim, a 80km bike and a 20km run. This is the first time we have trained and raced at altitude and thank goodness we have a few weeks to learn how to breathe!! Ok so it’s not that bad but you definitely notice more panting! Panting hit a high when on day one, having had about an hour or so to get used to the conditions our ride home was a 37km ride up the mountain in sweltering heat!! My dad was right….it should be called “Fool’s Creek”!?!
I have just asked Ben if I have missed anything and did he want to add anything, I have clearly over looked the following:
How stunning this place is ….. a definite oversight, thanks Ben for the prompt. The pictures will be better than me at trying to convey just how beautiful this area is and soooo worth a visit. With no snow hiding the true landscape you can see just how dramatic the views are.
Our cute studio ….. picture a cozy studio apartment with a big bed piled up with faux fur cushions and blanket for warmth! All mod con’s come as standard too!
The Aqueduct Trail ….. this will be where we do the final leg of our race pounding the trail for 20k’s, I will be pounding and panting! Throughout the summer months when the snowboarders and skiers are in hibernation the resort attracts lycra clad runners and cyclists. The resort has a great network of trails to get fit on , keep fit on or get fitter on.
We swam in the highest body of water in Austrialia ….. the 2km swim is in Rocky Valley Dam lake, which is situated above the resort. We ventured in Tuesday for a 40 min dip, the locals had kept saying it was freezing in the lake, maybe they thought we were going in in just our speedos! Suited in our Sailfish wetsuits we were ready to get ice cream head from the cold…..it was fine, we are used to swimming in the UK after all.
After a short car journey through this breathtaking place, passing the aqueduct trail on our right and left we were back in our cozy pad, where, Ben found the “guests folder” which gave us that gem, the lake is the highest significant body of water in Australia!
I did not get round to uploading the blog yesterday, (tues) so I must mention our training or attempts to this morning! Up just before 7, lake swim on the agenda, shake and coffee, fuelled! Looked very cold outside, was cold outside 4 degrees. Ben had the brilliant or bonkers idea of putting our wetsuits on inside before we leave to save stripping off in the icy wind! Driving up to the lake visibility is about 10 meters, arrive at the lake visibility about 1 meter! Still suited in our wetsuits we pose for a few pics, wait to see if the mist will lift in 5, very wishful thinking, have to admit defeat and head back home.
Running kit on and we were off for a 90 min ramp run along the trails, Ben went exploring and looked like he reached the top of the world!
We waited 5 mins this morning for the mist to lift and it did not even budge a mm, 5 hours later we were back for take 2! It was worse, the wind had whipped up, the mist was thicker and even though I have gone to Specsavers visibility was way too poor to swim!
Determined to swim we remembered we saw a lake half way up Mount Beauty in Bogong. Bingo, we could swim and got our swim done with the ducks.
Fingers crossed for better weather for everyone, ciao for now x
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