NTA Hosts Training Camp in Falls Creek

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NTA coaches Jan Rehula and Keiran Barry recently held an altitude training camp in Falls Creek.  The camp was for NTA athletes and those pushing for selection into the program from VIC, TAS, NSW and the ACT.  Athletes also had the opportunity to train alongside the NSWIS U23 athletes and London Olympian, Brendan Sexton.

NTA VIC/TAS was supported by Peter Robertson during the first week of the camp who conducted evening mental and race strategy workshops and VIS exercise physiologist and coach Danielle Stefano,  while NTA NSW/ACT was supported by PTC / Tri ACT head coach Corey Bacon and Newcastle University exercise physiologist Chris Stephens. 

Athletes were monitored daily by the coaches and physiologist to ensure that they were adapting to altitude and the training load, as many athletes were being exposed to altitude for the first time.

Aside from altitude, weather conditions were also a challenge for athletes and they faced everything from hot sunny days in the 30’s to cold winds, rain, sleet and even a day of snow.

Falls Creek is a great venue for training with an endless variety of trail runs, great rolling hills and some killer climbs. Mt Beauty is only 30k down the mountain and has a 33m outdoor pool which is usually warm (except the day it snowed!!) and some great riding and running.

One of the best training sessions of the camp was a 300m/6k/1k x 2  Super Sprint triathlon held at Mt Beauty. Athletes raced hard on the challenging course and it gave them all a chance to work on their skills as well as race strategy to see how they are going next to their peers.  Jan got some great footage on his GoPro and he now has clear evidence that he can still ride after he rode though the pack up to Marcel who had broken away and then still kept going. At the finish line Danielle Stefano masterfully captured Lactate levels of all the athletes.

The video footage from the tri and other sessions was a great way the coaches could highlight athletes’ strengths and weaknesses and provide each athlete with individual focus points and detailed time split analysis provided by Chris Stephens gave athletes precise indication of the areas that need more attention.

A great add-on to the Falls Creek Camp programme was the visit from Bobby McGee who devoted immense amount of time to sessions focused on fine-tuning of individual running technique on one to one basis.

Camps like this one are an important stepping stone for young athletes and another way that the NTA is helping Australia’s young athletes develop into world class competitors.

For more information about the National Talent Academy see here.