Get Ready for Xterra Greece with Paris Fellmann
XTERRA Racing Team athlete Paris Fellmann looks ahead to XTERRA Greece where he won his age group in 2018 before going on to win the overall tour championship.
It’s fitting that we ask Pâris to share his experiences of Greece, given that his namesake was the famous prince who killed the great Achilles in Greek mythology, however our Pâris is only half Greek and currently resides in Luxembourg, but he did have his best result here last year.
XTERRA Greece takes place in the beautiful Athens neighbourhood of Vouliagmeni, an exciting suburb of the city with nice streets, great restaurants and plenty of ancient history to explore ahead of the race. The food in the city of Athens in incredible and perfect for athletes with lots of high quality and locally grown vegetables with just the right amount of olive oil Organicoach friendly. The ice cream on the other hand… maybe save that until after the race!
The XTERRA Greece swimming course is one of my favourite swims on tour; clear, blue and completely flat water for a two-lap swim in the bay with a perfect white sand beach for the Australian exit at the halfway point. The water temperature will be around 18-20°C so you will need to bring your wetsuit.
Once you finish your 1500m swim, you cross the beach to the transition area. Almost immediately you need to carry your bike down some stairs and through an underpass to get to the 2loop 30km bike course. The loop begins with a short section on the road before a quick hike a bike up some more stairs to reach the first fire road section. From here the course is made up of mainly fire-roads but with 3 short technical sections. Whilst every athlete will be able to ride these sections you need to be careful to control your speed and remain in control to avoid pinch flats on the sharp rocks. There are 3 significant climbs on the course, but overall the course remains one of the fastest courses of the European Tour. It will suit a powerful rider who can keep pushing hard for both loops.
After navigating the stairs for a second time to enter the second transition, it is time to put your running shoes on for the 10km trail run. For me the running part is the most difficult section of the race, but also the most fun.
You begin the run as you did on the bike, taking the stairs under the tunnel before a short section on the road. You then start the first steep uphill before a flat section where the first aid station is located. Make sure you do not miss this aid station, it is just before “the beast”, a very steep and rocky climb often sheltered from the wind and very hot! Once you reach the top be sure to look around as it offers the best view of the whole race. There is a lot of variety on the running course, some flat sections, some rolling fire roads and 2 very steep rocky climbs. It may be faster to alternate between running and walking so make sure you prepare your strategy before the race so you can save some energy on the steep climbs and run fast on the flat sections. After completing 2 loops you head back down the road, under the tunnel and into the finish arena. Once you cross the finish line you can enjoy the sunshine with some local souvlaki (meat stick!) on the grass at this beautiful race venue.
Tom Dureux, Pâris’s coach in OrganiCOACH gives some tips to prepare for the changes in running speed needed for the XTERRA Greece course. This is one of the run sessions he planned for Pâris approaching this race in early April:
Warm up:
15 to 20 min easy running at around 70% of your MAX heart rate
Main set: Find a flat area next to a moderately steep hill of 6-8% gradient.
3 x [ 4mins on the flat @ 80% of MAX HR
30secs of squat exercises
2mins running uphill @ 90-95% of MAX HR (XTERRA race pace)
Take 5mins easy running back downhill for recovery
Warm down:
15mins easy running
All athletes and coaches from The XTERRA Organicoach racing team, are always available to answer any questions you may have about races, training, travel logistics, race locations, or anything else that may help you to prepare for your next XTERRA event.
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