Last weekend I did my second Ironman and it was my first Ironman racing as a professional. The professional field was one of the biggest and best outside Hawaii with over 40 males including the likes of Crowie, Cameron brown, Luke McKenzie and Eneko Llanos racing.

The morning of the race we were happy to find that the weather had calmed down after a few days of crazy wind and huge chop. Before we got in the water we were introduced to the spectators and we walked into the water as our names were called out, it was really cool to be lined up and introduces together with some of the best athlete’s in the sport and a really good start to the day. The swimming conditions were good; the only problem was that we started about 20min before the sun went up which made it almost impossible to see the swim boys. Tinted goggle didn’t help either. I did about a 10 min warm up before lining up for the start. The gun went and we started it was pretty frantic in the beginning and the group split up pretty quickly and I could settle in in a pretty big group and I found a good rhythm and some good feet to sit on and I felt pretty comfortable. I didn’t try to do sight the swim boys because starting out I couldn’t see them and it would be safer to just swim with the pack anyway but I don’t think the other guys in the pack could see the boys either because the first part of the course was a straight line for maybe 1 km and I think we must have done 3-4 sharp turns in that distance as we were swimming “blind” and corrected by the paddlers. After the first turn it started to get a little lighter and we appeared to swim straighter. The rest of the swim was quite uneventful I just stayed with the pack and found a good rhythm. Running out of the water was the first chance I got to look around and see the pack I’d been swimming with and I was at the back of a group of 8-10 guys.

My swim time was just over 55 min, which was 3-4 min slower that I’d been hoping for. But I think the slower time might just have been a result off zigzagging all over the course in the beginning and not because the pace was slow. So overall I was happy with my swim and before the race the swim was my biggest concern because I was afraid I wouldn’t have anyone to swim with.

T1 was less of a success. I struggled to get my wetsuit of and lost about 45 seconds, which in a 9hour race might not seem like much but it meant I missed the group going out on the bike. By the time I got on the bike I could see the group up ahead and I went pretty hard the first 10-15 km to try to catch them but by the time I caught up all the fast guys were gone and it was only 3 of the faster female swimmers and two guys. I couldn’t see the rest of the group so I wouldn’t have a chance of catching them. I decided to sit in for a bit and have a bar and some water. But they were riding a bit slow for my liking so I picked up the pace and one of the guys came with me. At this point I felt all right and was going at a pretty good pace that would get me close to my goal of a 4:40-4:50 ride.

Unfortunately it didn’t last long, another 15-20km later my left leg started playing up. I started to get a shooting pain down the back of my leg that wouldn’t go away. I tried to stretch it out by getting out of the saddle on the little rises and tried to stretch out the back of my leg going down. It only helped momentarily to come back after a few minutes and I had to try to stretch again. I also tried to change they way I was pedaling but nothing seemed to work and I was starting to get really frustrated. I haven’t had any problems like that in training and I’ve done a number of long rides at Ironman pace and shorter rides at higher intensity without any problems. As the ride went on I got into some kind of rhythm of stretching it out every few minutes but I started loosing power in that leg. I kept riding knowing I would be a fair bit slower than planned. But tried to make the most of it and focused on my nutrition for the remaining painful 150km. About 20 km from the end I got caught by a small group of the fastest age groupers and a few pros. I jumped on about 20m behind and paced of them the last bit and my pace went up slightly. I finished the bike in 4:58 and apart from my left leg I felt pretty good and I was looking forward to getting off the bike.

T2 went smoothly and it felt good to finally be running. I started running at a total time of about 5:59, which means if I could hold the pace I’ve been training for I would just make it just under 9hours. I might have gotten a bit to excited in the first few km as I was doing about 3:45min/km but this meant I ran past all the people in the little group I did the last part off the bike with. Quite quickly I settled into a more sensible pace at just over 4min/km. My left leg still felt weird on the run and it slowly got a bit better but never completely disappeared and also my feet got cold on the bike but I didn’t quite realize until the run when I couldn’t feel my feet. It’s the weirdest feeling running with numb feet but the feeling came back around the 20-25km mark. That was a good lesson for next time. If it looks like it will be cold I’ll definitely put toe covers on my bike shoes. A few km into the run one of the guys that had been close to me on the bike most of the way caught me. We ran together for quite a while and it was good to have someone to pace with. The funny think was that he’s Swedish so we chatted in Swedish for a bit as we ran together before he ran away close to the half way mark. It was pretty random that the only person I ran next to for a while happen to be Swedish. I went through the first 10km in just over 40 min and was happy with that. And for the next 10 I manage to run just under 4:17min/km (3h marathon pace) I went through halfway in about 1:28 so if I could keep my pace up without fading too much I should be able to make it under 9hours. At that point that seemed doable, I felt alright still had energy and my legs felt fine except for my calves that had started stabbing which concerned me a bit cause in training my quads are usually the first part of my legs to get sore and they were fine. I put it down to my numb feet I felt like I ran really uncoordinated with my feet and I couldn’t control how I landed. A few km later the possibility of a sub 9hour race went out the window cause over about 4km my pace just kept dropping and I don’t know why, I just couldn’t make my legs go any faster but they didn’t really hurt apart from my calves. My pace went from about 4:20 down to 5:40 pace. From that point I just wanted to get to the finish and it must have been the longest and slowest 15km I’ve ever done. With about 10km to go I started to get past by a lot of people: the top age groupers a few pros guys and some of the pro chicks and it was just really depressing and I just wanted to get to the finish. Before that I also manage to stack it. I was just running/plodding along and all of a sudden I was on the ground. I tripped on a perfectly smooth concrete path. In my defense it was a little branch that stuck out about 15cm across the path and I don’t know how but somehow I tripped over it and ended up o the ground. I was only down for a few second before I got up and I didn’t get hurt just a few scrapes on my knee and shoulder and a bruised ego. But in the end I made it to the finish in 9:21. Not to bad in the end, I felt like I was going slower but it was just frustrating when I was expecting to go a lot quicker but that will have to wait for another day.
When I crossed the finish line I couldn’t really walk with my left leg I couldn’t lift the heel of the ground and that’s when I figured that something a little bit more serious than just muscle soreness must have slowed me down in the last half of the marathon. I think it was a small tear as I can still feel it now 2 week after the race.

All in all I didn’t have a good day but It was a great race and I’m happy I did. And it’s made me more exited and hungry for my next race, which will be Busselton 70.3 in 4weeks. And then I’ll hopefully have another crack at the Ironman distance in Busso in December.

THANKS
To Felt and Attadale cycles for setting me up with an awesome bike even if the legs didn’t work like they should have the bike did.
To Stuart of Eclipse fitness for getting me to the startline.

We arrived in Karri Valley with plenty of time to spare, racking our bikes above the soft grass. There was tension rippling through transition while everyone waited to hear the verdict of whether the wetsuit was permitted or not. Luckily for me, they were allowed for both age group and open competitors.

After briefing everyone started heading towards the lake I had heard so much about, and I couldn’t wait to see where we were swimming. And it was beautiful, so calm and pristine with the sun shining strongly through the clouds. I remember thinking that these conditions could not get any better! But how wrong I was.

After the sprint distance athletes completed their swim and were well into their bike leg, the open competitors were called to the start line. It was a diamond shaped swim course (2 laps) and with one of the turning buoys almost right at the sand it was an extremely accurate 1500 metres. The small open field toed the line as we were counted down to start. AND WE WERE OFF!! I was surprised that I got some clean water in the middle of two small packs at the beginning, but of course everyone converged at the first turning buoy so copping a few whacks over the head was unavoidable. After the first turn I found Katey Gibb’s feet and we swam side by side for most of the first lap. I looked up to sight the next turning buoy and thought “geez, we are making a lot of splash from our arms,” and after a few more sights I realised that it was pouring down with rain! This was certainly going to stir up the bike leg! On the second lap of the swim the pace lifted as we realised there was a group not so far in front of us. I dropped back to Katey’s feet and tried to rest for a while, but as the adrenaline kicked in I couldn’t stay there for long and came back alongside her. We put on another surge as we turned the last buoy and caught the group in front, and with the group coming up behind I came out of the water just trailing Stuart Denton, Andy Tyack, and Scott Pontague, along with Katey Gibb, Brynt McSwain and Justin Ghosh.

After the long run into transition I was dropped from my swim group, but my quick transition pulled me out in front of Katey again! Once on the bike she caught me and dropped me in no time, but I was happy sitting in fourth. It had thankfully stopped raining while we were heading out, but did not take long to start raining again. It was a really nice bike course, it had changed from previous years taking out some of the steeper hills. We went straight up out of transition – a few reasonably steep hills in amongst the huge, lush trees. We then did a sharp left hand turn onto a road that took us out around the farms. This section was nicely undulating with some flat sections too which was nice for a bit of variation. It was out here that the rain picked up again, and heading back down that awesome descent was very exhilarating! There was no other option but to lock in, get low and rigid, and just soar. I was surprised to still be sitting in fourth place at this stage, but I was very aware of Renee Baker coming up behind me. And fair enough, just as I began climbing the first section of the second lap she caught me. I was still happy though, my nutrition was going down well (even though I hadn’t began to run yet which is where the problems could start), and I still felt like I was riding fast and climbing well. It rained for almost the entire second lap, resulting in another risky descent into transition and some very wet and muddy athletes beginning the run.

For me, the run was definitely the highlight of the race. It was a ‘T’ shape, where we had to run across the beautiful soft grass out of transition and up a sharp incline onto the road. From there we ran to the lake and across the dam wall onto a dirt track. This lead up another bit of an incline and onto a section of the Bibbulmun Track. We ran uphill some more to a turn around and came flying all the way back down, across the dam wall again. Instead of running back to transition we kept running along the lake onto another small off road track for a small flat section, then all the way back again. We ran downhill to transition, then turned and ran back up to complete one lap of the three lap course. I really enjoyed this run because of the hilly off road sections. It was great to mix it up and really test out the legs. To add to everything, my nutrition had finally fallen into place and I had no stomach cramps and no pains!

In the end I held my position to finish in fifth place in open. It was a really nice feeling to get to the top of the last hill and turn onto the soft, wet grass and come flying back down again. Although it is not my best placing, with such a strong field and tough course I was still over the moon. To finally have my nutrition fall into place during my last race before the Busselton Half Ironman was simply magical, so it felt like a victory to me. It was my first time competing in Karri Valley, and I will definitely be back!

A big thanks to Fremantle Triathlon Club for all their support this season. The club and its members have been such a great help to me and has made all the difference for this season. The athlete assistance program gave me the opportunity to go down and race in Karri Valley, and as a result has helped me tremendously with my Busselton preparation. It is really good having club get-togethers again to give everyone a chance to get involved. I’m looking forward to more club races! See you all in Busselton!!

Paige Bowman

Well, what an experience. My first age-group (70.3) win in one of the most challenging races of my short racing career! Here comes the novel.

I flew out to Singapore Wednesday night with a sore throat and a cold, awesome start. To be honest I was really worried as on Thursday I wasn’t any better, no training and a day of rest was in order. Friday and it was swim and ride day down at race site. Luke, Ollie, Blair and myself headed down to race start for a dip. I felt ok however running out of the water (practicing) I had a massive head spin and had to stop. I calmed myself down with the fact I still had another recovery day ahead.

Saturday and I was feeling better. We checked the bikes in, registered and relaxed for the rest of the day. It was hot and in classic Singapore style it was HUMID.

Race morning:

Up at 4 for some brekky and prep. We all met downstairs at 5 and waited for the bus I had booked the day before to take us down to race start. As it rocked up, it was clear Luckin had come through with another winner. I wish I had taken a photo, but it basically looked something like this.

I’m almost certain it had been pimped by X-hibit himself. It was a great start to the morning.

Down at transition and I got Chrissie (Cannondale) ready with no problems. She told me she was keen for a good one and I was keen to oblige. (yep my bike can talk – jelly?). After no fuss I was out of transition and onto the beach. I spent some time getting my head right, forgetting about my sickness and focusing on all possible outcomes for the race. I was ready.

The Pros went off, then the women. Next it was my age group. I lined up on the right hand side of the start near Luke and Scott (two other WA boys). We were given then 30 second warning then BOOM we were off. It was more of a hooter but writing honnkkk looks silly, even though I just did it…

A quick run down the beach and we were in the water. The brown, murky, hot, petrol tasting water – yum. Scott and Luke set the pace and I tucked in behind. Swimming directly into a current was tough work but the three of us split from the rest of the field in the first lap. Yep, Mark ‘Hackett’ Luckin was swimming well (a self appointed nickname).

Coming out to run around the beach and back into the water after the first lap, I decided to take the lead from Luke. Call me silly but I felt as though I needed to at least make an attempt to do some work heading back out rather than tap feet for 2k. As we headed back in Scott swam past me. I proceeded to jump on his feet and as we exited the 2nd lap we had a small gap on Luke. A smooth T1 and I was onto Chrissie.

Scott and I were the first two age groupers onto the bikes. As we mounted I was reminded by my old man (the family was over to support) at the start line, ‘race your own race’ a plan I intended to stick too.

Onto the bike and I settled into a rhythm. To be honest, I didn’t feel as though I was riding 100% and I think it showed. I buckled down though and continued to press on. After completing the first lap a couple of strong riders came past – I decided to latch on and see how long I could hold my 7 meters for. Turns out about 50k. It was a nice lift and I felt strong. But boy it was getting hot. I was getting hot…ladies…

With about 10k to go the boys dropped me. I mean I let them go. Yep… I had stuck to my nutrition plan and downed all of my SIS gels and salt tabs. I timed my caffeine gels to give me a kick just when I needed it. I wasn’t too concerned with the boys getting away and entered T2 feeling ok. It was time to put on the On’s and let rip. Let rip running I mean, geez mind out of the gutter..

I felt great on the first lap and moved up into 2nd in my age group at about 2k. One thing I loved about the run was the fact I could keep my sunnies on the whole way. Just before I left I got in contact with Ryders Eyewear and got my hands on a sweet green and gold pair of the Cadence model for the race. The water just beads and runs off the lenses which was awesome in a race where I was throwing water over myself at every opportunity. Get onto them people!

Onto the 2nd lap and I moved into 1st. I was psyched but kept focused there was still a long way to got. At this point it was hot. Real hot, 33 degrees and 98% humidity, seriously. My On’s were moving me along beautifully. But people were melting, including me. The only real relief we got were from two of the aid stations that had ice sponges. However using these had dire consequences (please see graph below)

Ok, so I tried to make a graph in paint and it was an epic fail. Lets just say running as a women was an experience!

Onto the last lap and I was in a bit of trouble. I noticed with about 2-3 k to go I had stopped sweating, major problem. I had possibly (definitely) neglected my hydration over the last part of the run and I was beginning to suffer. The last 2k were a mess but finally I rounded the final corner into the finishing shoot.

Lets just say I was super psyched. The family and friends were there to cheer me over after supporting me over the whole race. It was my first age group win at a 70.3 and the first time I could show some real emotion over the finishing line. It was one of the best moments of my life!

Not the best photo but I really think it captures the emotion of the moment

Afterwards it was fair to say I was pretty wrecked and grateful to have the fam and others there to take care of me. We supported the rest of our squad coming over the finishing line and it was great to see everyone finish on a super tough day

I have raced in Singapore three times now and I can say with out a word of a lie that that they were the toughest conditions I have ever raced in. So kudos friends!!

Afterwards I got to realise a dream and accept my spot for the 70.3 World Champs in Vegas in September.

The race was a real war of attrition and I was really glad to come out on top. Massive thanks have to go to Total Triathlon the boys helped me out with any little thing I needed before the race, it was out of this world thank you guys! On shoes these bad boys are amazing and are conducive to my consistently solid run splits. SIS nutrition no cramps and no nutrition flats - need I say more? Finally Ryders Eyewear I got in contact with Neville the day before I left for the race and his help was incredible. The glasses were the best pair I have raced in and I can only encourage others to test a pair out. You won’t regret it.

I also have to thank Fremantle Triathlon Club for their help and assistance in my build up to this race. A few months ago Freo Tri Club introduced an athlete assistance program to help out members who were travelling overseas and interstate with racing. I put in an application and was lucky enough to receive some assistance from my club. This was a MASSIVE help as we all know how expensive training and racing is and can become when travel is entered into the equation.

Fremantle have really stepped up their game this year with some fresh new leadership and it is great to see them getting the club back together, so thank you Freo!!
Finally my boys that I train and race with Sean and Jono have consistently push me further and further. My family who flew over to support. Always there thank you. Brian Kempson my coach for guidance and support. Guy Crawford and Kate Bevilaqua thank you so much for your pieces of advice and help, helps more than you know! My girlfriend Paige, even though she couldn’t make this one, her constant contact made me feel like she was there. The result was as much yours as it was mine.

What’s next? Thanks for asking one of three readers! I am having this week off yay! Then a 5 week build for the Busso half. After that, 2 weeks then a winter of Vegas prep. More to be explained in a further blog.

Until then…

Sport 4 All is a new $20 million state government initiative, which aims to build stronger, healthier, happier and safer communities!  The initiative has four parts, KidSport, Community Volunteer Project, ClubTalk and Nature Play WA.

KidSport will assist eligible families to receive up to $200 annually for each of their children aged between 5 – 18 years, to subsidise fees to join a sport and recreation club.

Eligible families include those with health care cards or pension concession card, or those referred by other community groups, such as schools, juvenile justice teams, government agencies and health practitioners. These groups are known as referral agents.

The process for accessing KidSport is simple!                                                

Kids and parents/guardians can obtain an application form from their participating local government office or their website, or from a sport or recreation club, a referral agent or anywhere local governments make them available.  The parent/guardian fills in the application and takes it to be validated at the local government they reside in.  A photocopy of the health care card or pension concession card must be attached.

Alternatively referral agents may assist in filling out the application, complete their section on the back and give it to the parent/guardian to sign.  The parent/guardian will take the voucher to the sport or recreation club for processing when registering their children.  The club will then invoice the local government. It’s that easy!

Not all local governments have signed up for KidSport yet, so you will need to check with them.

Parents can also benefit from participation as a club volunteer, taking on roles such as a coach, club secretary or to help in the canteen.  The Community Volunteers Grants are now available for clubs to apply for! This initiative will ensure the next generation of volunteers is trained and motivated to serve the community. Volunteers will be trained with the life skills needed to be a coach, an umpire and help administer clubs.

For more information regarding KidSport and the Community Volunteer Grants go to the Department of Sport and Recreation website http://clubsonline.dsr.wa.gov.au/sport4all or contact your local government.

WA Members Benefit Scheme #2 – Novice Bike Skills 10 Dec 2011

As we all know life as an age grouper in the world of triathlon is not always testing just on oneself but also our partners that have to endure alarms going off at crazy times and the never ending washing of lycra. But just sometimes it can be rewarding for our partners too and this race report is one of those stories.

For my beautiful supporter, my wife, my decision to do a 70.3 in France and her invitation to be be my travel partner and supporter was one of those occasions. After chatting to my coach Bill Scanlan who was already in France, it was an easy decision and I registered, booked flights, accommodation and hire cars all within a week. This was also to be a big event for France as it was their first branded 70.3 and was run by the same group that organise Iron Nice. And it was also shaping up to be a huge event with 33 professionals and it was going to be live on French television. My wife Belinda now researching exactly where we were going, was very excited never having been to Europe. Now the logistics of doing a 70.3 in France and travelling from Australia is no easy task to get yourself and gear there. I decided to get to France a week early to settle in and acclimatise. Emirates was the airline of choice and it was a great decision as we arrived in Paris on the 17th September at 8 pm with no delays and all baggage intact and present.

We stayed in Paris for the evening beside the Gare De Lyon (the main train station) at the Mecure Gare Lyon and the following morning caught the TGV direct train to Marseille where our hire car from Avis was waiting. We then travelled the 40klms to Aix En Provence where the 70.3 was to be held. This was an exciting drive as I was driving on the wrong side of the road and had the gear stick was on my right side instead of my left. But after doing a few loops of Marseille whilst working out how to get out of the city, we found the motorway and within 40mins had arrived at our hotel in Aix en Provence.

Aix en Provence is a gorgeous city set in the Provence area with tiny streets and lots of heritage. We settled into quickly with our hotel once we arrived and I started unpacking my bike and reassembling to make sure there were no issues. We were also in the centre of the city so set about investigating the city and surrounding areas including a trip to Ventabren to look at an ancient roman aquaduct. I also began to get the legs moving again after the long travel by fitting a few light runs in and some amazing rides. The best way to investigate places I have found travelling is by foot. My coach has also told me a swim would be a good idea so I located the local pool and headed off for a swim. The pool in the city was an interesting place where you showered before entering the pool and then walked through a foot pool to make sure your feet were clean. Then there seemed to be no rules of slow, medium or fast lanes, but I managed to turn my arms and get 1500 meter under my belt before heading off to a cafe for a baguette and coffee.

Wednesday I took a drive out to the swim location with my coach and we did a training swim. The swim takes place in an abandoned mine that is now full of water. The swim is actually around 25 klms from Aix en Provence at a location called Peyrolles-en-Provence. A very beautiful place nestled between mountains which I was admiring until I came to the abrupt realisation I would be climbing over these on Sunday.

So anyway fast forward to registration day – Saturday as I could talk about Aix en Provence all day. Saturday, Bill, Belinda and I took the drive out to Peyrolles again to register and drop off my bike. The bike course was one loop of 90klms with 5 major hill climbs and finished at the Routonde (roundabout) in the centre of Aix en Provence. With the bike dropped off including my bike bag with all the kit I needed for the bike leg, I headed into town to drop off my run bag. With all the registration complete, I settled back and relaxed with my wife trying not to think about race day. Saturday night I found a restaurant amongst the masses located in Aix en Provence and settled into a double portion of pasta whilst watching all the other competitors with their high viz orange wrist bands doing the same.
Needless to say I was in bed by 8pm for an early start.

The alarm started telling me to get up at 5am but I had been awake since 4.30am listening to an unfamiliar sound of rain. The week we had already spent in France has been sunny with an average temperature of 25 degrees. By 5.20am I was out of the Hotel with swim bag in hand, rain jacket on heading to one of the buses the event organisers had allocated to get all the 1600 triathletes out to the swim start. Once we got there and I entered the bike transition to put gels and water bottles on my bike I was pleased to see that the race officials during the evening had put plastic sleeves on all the bikes to protect them from rain – go the French!

7.55 am I was on the start line in my wetsuit getting prepped for a mass start. The first 400meters was crazy and was just a mass of white water as the swim channel was a little tight. But within the first 600meters I was in a rhythm and pushing nicely. I had done a session with Paul Newsome at Smooth swim earlier in the year and had done some work on my technique and was feeling good. I exited the water with a 34:25 swim – 10 minutes faster that my previous 70.3. The run to transition was around 800meters and I felt good as I grabbed my bike bag, changed and exited transition.
The bike was always going to be an unknown for me as I had brought my road bike (Cervelo S2) to France and kept my standard crank but changed to a 11/28 rear gearing to assist in the hill climbs. I settled into the ride and 12klms in was into my first hill climb, which was 5 klm short sharp hill followed by shorter descent to begin another hill climb at 24klms which went for a further 16klms. I am sure everyone gets the picture as this was pretty much how the rest of the ride went. The ride is amazing though though mountains, valleys, small towns and wine country. My ride was not the best with me finishing 3 hours 58 mins and considering I normally do a 2 hour
45min comfortably I was disappointed. I did have to climb of the bike at 75 km mark to stretch the quads out.

I arrived into town and collected my run bag, rapidly changed and headed out into a reasonably hilly course. I would describe the course as hilly as the Perth City to Surf 1/2 Marathon. I felt strong going into the run but soon felt fatigued. By the time I saw my wife on the 2nd lap I had settled into a nice rhythm and was looking comfortable. The streets were closed and the run was through a beautiful parks and through the streets of Aix en Provence. I walked a little through the 2nd and third laps as the cycle definitely had
taken its toll on my legs. Finally the end was near and the crowd was great and brought me across the finish line screaming an Australian was across the line. I had definitely left nothing in the fuel tank and crossed the finish line in 7 hours 27 mins – under the 8hour 30 min cutoff. Still a little disappointing but a finish never less and injury free.

The dinner to celebrate that night for the 70.3 was at the Casino and finished the event of in style with the awards ceremony also being quite spectacular. Belinda and I headed home soon after picking up a set of rims from my coach to take back to Perth for him. We packed, hit the pillow, and was on our way at 6am the next morning back to Paris! Thanks Triangle Events for a sensational experience.

In conclusion, the 70.3 France was an amazing experience. The Europeans definitely know how to run a event. I can fault nothing with this event and would recommend it to anyone wanting a challenge and holiday in a awesome location. I found the French people very inviting and friendly especially once they realised I was Australian and not British. Now to settle back into Perth and finalise my plans for Ironman WA.

Suresh Sivacolundhu

Suresh is the Director and Senior Podiatrist at The Foot Clinic. His expertise lies in the field of Sports Medicine and lower limb biomechanics. He has had extensive experience with treatment of elite athletes from the Australian Institute of Sport, the Academy of Sport, the Australian Wallabies, Canberra Raiders and the Canberra Kookaburras. He was also selected for the SOCOG Medical Team to provide podiatry services at the Sydney 2000 Paralympics, the 2000 ITU World Triathlon Championships and the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Suresh has also provided podiatry foot care and footwear education for The Athlete’s Foot, members of the Australian Federal Police, Australia Post and ALCOA. He is currently an active member and previously a director of Sports Medicine Australia (SMA) and has also presented at national conferences for the Australasian Association of Podiatric Sports Medicine (AAPSM).

Raf Baugh 

Raf is a coach, physiotherapist, duathlete* and motivator. He brings 14 years of personal running experience, 11 years of physiotherapy and 3 years of coaching to the Front Runner team. Over the past three years of coaching he has accumulated a PB rate of over 95% with athletes of all ability levels, due to an intimate understanding of sport and careful attention to individual goals, musculoskeletal system and lifestyle. He is equally adept working with beginners or elite athletes and works by the motto of “dream-believe-succeed”.

* Raf is Western Australia’s highest ever ranked male ITU athlete, having finished #3 in the world for the sport of duathlon in 2009. He has won over 17 professional races internationally and is a Western Australian Athletics Champion in track, road and cross country running events www.rafaelbaugh.com

Lactate Threshold Testing

What is it?

• A scientific test to determine exactly where your anaerobic (lactate) threshold lies.

• Your lactate threshold is the point at which your body produces lactic acid faster than it can remove it. As a result of the increased lactic acid concentration, you cannot hold this intensity for long periods and the body is forced to slow down.

Why is it useful?

• Training at, or slightly above your threshold causes your body to adapt to this intensity, meaning that you will be able to perform better at this intensity and therefore increase your “threshold”.

• This will directly translate to improving your performance in events lasting longer than ~5 mins.

Please keep this night free and come to Prinz of Vienna at 6.30pm (for a 7pm start).

Everyone who comes will receive a voucher to The Running Centre!

Please RSVP to admin@ftc.org.au by 22 November

Bayside Triathlon Club

Bayside Triathlon Club is a community based, not-for-profit Triathlon club, located in the Melbourne bayside suburb of Hampton.  Positioned on the beachfront, the club is easily accessible by car or public transport.

We currently have a membership base of over 100 members and a history dating back 20+ years.  Bayside Tri Club has always been extremely community focused with strong representation at the various metropolitan sprint-distance races held throughout the summer.

Our club is run entirely by volunteers with all sponsorship dollars invested directly into club operations, club equipment and member benefits.

Bayside Triathlon Club offers Fremantle Triathlon Club all the benefits available to our members:

• Special attention and discounts from our sponsors
  incl discounted items from Omara Cycles
• Bayside race day marquee;
• Beach front clubrooms with open access;
• Social events and functions;
• Group training sessions with qualified coaches provided by Mercury Multisport
• Assistance with accommodation (billeting) and race day transportation;
• Monthly newsletter
• Plus on course support from fellow Bayside members and important local knowledge…like where to get the best coffee!

So, if you are going to Melbourne get in touch with Bayside Triathlon Club so make the most of our new partnership.

Bayside Triathlon Club – Adam Walsh 0423 072 688