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

Not what I was hoping for!

That is the only way to unfortunately describe my Kona experience in 2011. Yes, I am bitterly disappointed. It had been such a great build and lead up to the race with consistent training blocks, great racing and PB’s. I was ready for my best day yet on the Big Island.

I was getting in some great training during my taper, in the energy lab, rides to Hawii (not all the way!!) Massage, sleep, it was all coming together and I was excited!

Race morning after being numbered and listening to some motivational tunes, Guy covered me in suncream and I was ready to rock! A 6..30am Pro swim start was ideal and I made sure I was in the water 15mins early in my Blue Seventy speed suit ready to put all my hard swimming training into practice!

The gun went…bang, scratch, crash…the usual swim start, sprint, try and hang on, find some feet, sprint again…these ones might work. yep..I am working hard, now I just have to push it and try and hang on. Heading out to the turn around wasn’t so bad. I appeared to be in a group of about 5 all swimming single file, it wasn’t easy but I wasn’t anaerobic either. After the turn it became a bit rougher and the pace seemed to pick up.It was very on off on off. Sometimes I was stroking faster and kicking to stay with the group. Other times it was no worries!

When I exited the water in just over 58 mins I was so excited!! My best swim ever in Kona, never been under the hour before. This was a great start! Running through transition and to my bike and unfortunately a rookie mistake caused me some valuable time (one I won’t be making again!!)

Then it was out onto the Queen K for some wind, heat and 180km of cycling! I started well, got myself into a good rhythm and cadence starting my nutrition plan and settled in. It wasn’t long before I was feeling  little queasy in the stomach but like so many things I ignored it and continued on. But  unfortunately it only began to get worse and soon everything I was trying to keep done was coming up. Not ideal, but I was hoping it was only temporary.

I pushed through although I was beginning to feel weaker and weaker, I had no strength and I was becoming more and more frustrated. A little too much sea water during the swim was beginning to take it toll and I desperately had to do something about it.

150km into the ride I stopped at the aid station where there was also First Aid. I was hoping if I was not exercising then maybe I could digest something. By that stage I must admit I was pretty upset. This was not at all part of the plan. I know little things always happen during Ironman that is the nature of racing. And I have always considered myself mentally tough. But was I going to be beaten today?? I sat down for 10 mins took in some coke and banana’s and psyched myself up again for the last 30km plus I actually wanted to run. I was excited to see how far the run legs have come since my last Ironman. But as I got up to get back on the bike, the dizziness returned and so did the lump in my throat. I think this was the end of my day!

After another 45mins on the side of the road I was still contemplating continuing, with the new points system for the Pro’s there were good points to be gained but the question was at what cost?

I borrowed a phone from one of the amazing volunteers and called Guy in the middle of tears explaining the situation. I was devastated. But unfortunately that is the nature of racing, taking the good with the bad! I have had my fair share of amazing races the last 12 months and wouldn’t change a thing (except maybe the one last weekend

My family, friends, sponsors and supporters and have all been so amazing and I can’t thank you enough Those already mentioned above including K-SWISS, FELT, ROLF Prima Wheels, Novatron, GU, Blue Seventy, Ryders Sunglass, SKINS, Computrainer, Selle SMP Saddles, Lazer Helmets Swish Design, and off course mum and dad!!

Guy has been amazing, amongst his own training and work, he has still been able to deal with this emotional wreck after the race and we had a lot of fun with a bit of a vacation!

And to coach Jeff Shilt, who also raced in Hawaii and even having to deal with a broken bone in his wrist which happened the week before, still finished with a PB!! It may not have happened this year, but it will happen! There is another race just around the corner and I am super excited!!

http://www.katebevilaqua.com/

FTC Balance Sheet 2010 -2011 Sheet1

On November 12th in Baldivis there is a new 5km & 3km Family Fun Run.

Register on-line for this FREE event!!!

Check-in opens at 7.30am, race begins at 9.30am then Awards, prize draws and presentations at 11.

Check out all the details and register to participate online at www.parklandheights.com.au/register/funrun

Is is that time again and I am back on the big Island of Hawaii in Kona. After arriving last Wednesday I was a little tired after  a 2 hour delay in Seattle but really had nothing to complain about because it was not like my usual long haul from Perth!

But since then it has all about the taper, getting plenty of sleep, massage and some quality swimming, biking and running. The exciting thing is every day I have been feeling better and better. So by this weekend I will be jumping out of my skin and ready to go!!

I have had the opportunity to train with some amazing athletes here swimming with Linsey, Crowie, Luke and Belinda. It was fantastic swimming in an outside pool, I haven’t done that for nearly 6 months.

Off course my usual training partner has been around which means so much to me! But he has been putting the hurt on for a long time! Only a few more days to go now!!

Riding with the girls up to Hawi. Belinda, Linsey, Hillary..I could not ask for better company!

Amanda has been cooking up a storm and Guy and I have been treated to great food, Gluten free off course!

The past 12 months have been the best of my triathlon career so far. Just over 2 years ago I did not know if I would be continuing in the sport or if my body was able to hold up to the demands I had been putting on it day in and day out! But with the support of amazing friends, family and sponsors I still pinch myself when I realise I can now call myself a 2 x Ironman Champion.

Last year when I arrived in Kona it had been a tough road back, and was just grateful to be here. As I am every year. But this year I now have another full year of training and racing behind me and I can’t wait for the gun to go off Saturday just so I can see how far I have come!

My new K-Swiss uniform arrived the other day and I took it out in the Lava Fields for a test run in the energy lab!

And the new “mini me” FELT is so comfortable and feeling amazing coming down Hawi and ready to tackle the Queen K! Thank you so much to Jim Felt and the crew at FELT Bicycles.

Thanks to Rolf Wheels and Sram I am ready to ride!!

I am having trouble deciding which cool pair of Ryders sunglasses to wear, they all match my uniform so well!

But there these ones will definitely match my new Lazer Helmet!! Thanks guys!!

It is so easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing right now but less is more at this stage of the game. Being smart will lead to good things come Saturday with 12km left to run!!

I can register tomorrow then Wednesday is a day with sponsors and incredible supporters before another day of rest on Thursday. A short swim, bike, run Friday, bike check and then show time!!

Thank you so much for all the amazing messages of support. To get to any race is such a team effort and this year my team has been incredible!!

Those already mentioned above including Novatron, GU, Blue Seventy, SKINS, Computrainer, Selle SMP Saddles, Swish Design, and off course mum and dad!!

5 sleeps to go!!

ALOHA!!!