A week at falls creek – by Caitlin Murdock – Runner’s Tribe
Falls Creek training guide
A “runcation” at Falls Creek is a must do for all running enthusiasts.
Training at Falls Creek is not just for the elites but is suitable for runners of varying abilities. That said, if you plan on following the informal schedule of the training week, I would recommend a base level of running fitness as many miles tend to be clocked up during a week at Falls.
In late 2018, intraining’s head coach and founder, Steve Manning told me he was planning a trip to Falls Creek with his daughter Zoe to get her in shape for the World Cross Country trials on Sunday 27 January 2019 of January. “You should come” he said.
At first I was hesitant due to the cost of getting there from Queensland coupled with having to take further annual leave from my job to attend. However due to a very stressful last week of work in December 2018, I thought a week in the mountains is just what I needed.
Falls Creek was the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of the city and life’s chaos. The air was fresh, the people were friendly and with not much else to do other than run, relax and play board games it was a great way to de-stress.
Our group from intraining arrived late on a Saturday night in early January and started our training week on the Sunday.
Set out below are details of what a week of training at Falls Creek looks like.
Day 1: Sunday
- 9.30am long run (out and back) starting at Langsford Gap.
Our group did 18km. The track was mostly flat with a few obstacles such as a creek crossings and a 1km hill climb at the 8km mark.
- Downtime following the long run (we all had a nap).
- 5pm group easy jog – 5km.
Day 2: Monday
- 9am easy 10km run from Falls Creek Mountain accommodation along aqueduct up Mount McKay and back.
- Downtime.
- Early afternoon – core and mobility exercises.
- 5pm group easy jog 5km.
Day 3: Tuesday
- 9.30am 1km reps at Copes Hut. This session started with a 4km jog warm up + drills followed by the main session of 8x1km reps with 60 seconds rest. This was a great session as there were hundreds of runners doing this session together so we were easily able to work with others and find people who were running around the same pace.
- Downtime.
- Early afternoon – core and mobility exercises.
- 5pm group easy jog – 5km.
Day 4: Wednesday
- 9.30am 60min run consisting of: 30 min easy, 20 min threshold and 10 mins cooldown starting at Langsford Gap.
- Downtime.
- Early afternoon – core and mobility exercises.
- 5pm group easy jog – 5km.
Day 5: Thursday
- 9am speed session “quarters” at Langsford West. This was a killer session of 8 x 400m with 200m float. Following this we did 4 x 200m at 100% with slow walk recovery.
- Downtime.
- Early afternoon – core and mobility exercises.
- 5pm group easy jog – 5km.
Day 6: Friday
- 9am 1 hour easy run up Mount McKay and back.
- Downtime.
- Early afternoon – core and mobility exercises.
- 5pm group easy jog – 5km.
Day 7: Saturday
- 9am hill session. Different people did different hill sessions dependent on what they were training for. As I run the shorter distances (400m-1500m) I did 6 x 45 second hill sprints with walk down recovery followed by a 1km hard effort on (relatively) flat surface.
- Sadly after this session it was home time for our group.
Despite the larger than usual volume of training, my body felt great for having the week on the mountain. We enjoyed the trip so much we have already begun planning another one for next year for a minimum of two weeks.
