ITU Asian Duathlon Championships and The Running Centre

Well only 10 days till my final race for the 2009 season- a good result will see me move up from my current world ranking of 4th and I can reach my all time highest end of year world ranking. The past few weeks have lacked consistent routine with the Our de Freedom and lot's of work but overall volume has been good and in endurance sport volume is far more important than intensity.

Work has been exceptionally busy as we are setting up a new specialty running store - The Running Centre- in Hay Street, West Perth in just one month's time. The concept is to provided runners with the best available fitting service for footwear and use our staff's expertise in running to provide the very best quality of both products and service. We will also be doing coaching, technical gait analysis and massage therapy from the centre. It is a very exciting time and we are focussed on bringing the community a first class running retailer

Running Regards
Raf

Tour De Freedom- what a week!

Howdy Folks

Just back from the inaugural Tour De Freedom ride in aid of Teen Challenge. The ride- which went from Esperance to Perth over 5 stages, covered a total of over 900km.

Teen Challenge helps young people addicted to drugs and alcohol to escape the viscous cycle of despair and addiction and return to living full and rich lives in the community. It is a great cause and Malcolm and the team deserve as much support as possible to help the organistaion to continue providing quality services....if you can add to the over $100,000 alreay donated please visit http://www.teenchallengewa.org.au/

As for the ride, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences of group spirit and comeraderie I have had in a long time. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of the ride in the company of a great group of organisers, support crew and riders. It was an absolute pleasure to be part of and I encourage any keen rider to take up the challenge of this event in 2010 and help the noble cause of Teen Challenge

Regards
Radar

Front Runner Quinella at Surf to Surf

Well the Front Runner crew had a great weekend down in Bunbury for the annual Surf to Surf Fun Run. This year over 600 competitors braved strong winds to help test their fitness and raise money for the Bunbury Surf Life Saving Club.

There were some great efforts including many PB's and victories to Nathan Doig in the 5km (The Body Station Massage Therapist and AFL boundary umpire) and myself in the 10k

Media and Reports should be up soon

Regards
Radar

2010 Planning Commences

Howdy Folks

Planning is already underway for 2010 and I have decided to avoid racing in France in 2010 in favour of focussing on returning to train and race in the Basque Circuit and selectively at other major events in Spain and Switzerland.

Urdaitri will be my Spanish Club and I am very grateful to Cesar and the team for the opportunity to return next year. The key reason for the decision is the great people and the ability to find a comfortable social and living environment for my family, where I can get a large base training block with a competitive and financial stimulus.

With 2 of the biggest races in Europe- The Gernika International Duathlon and Bilbao International Duathlon, smaller races every weekend, a plethora of fantastic training partners and a close major airport in Bilbao, Gernika it is a perfect logistical destination.

I will also be racing again for the Wildcats when participating in Switzerland and the Swiss races are always amongst the best organised in the world.

On a final note, a big thanks to Patrick and Mulhouse for the time racing and training in France. It was a fantastic experience.

Running Regards

Radar

Back in Town

Howdy All

Well after a long drawn out flight back from the USA it is great to be reunited with Lianne and Sebastian. Lianne had her 32nd birthday yesterday, which surprises alot of people to realise that she is the craddle snatcher!! People are often thrown by her youthful good looks and my hereditary crows feet (or smile lines as I call them)

After the World's, my World Ranking moved from outside the top 10, up to 4th place. This has meant that I have had to restructure my goals for the remainder of the season and I will continue training to try and win the last World Series race of the year and finish the year as World #1.

I will take this week super easy because the motivation and adrenal system have both bottomed out after the high of world's and travel. It is important to allow mood and motivation to dictate the training response after such a big race.

Although it is not ideal timing, I am committed to do the Tour De Freedom, a 900km ride from Esperance to Perth over 5 days at end of October. I have seen first hand the effects of drug addiction and the effect it can have on families and I feel that whatever compromise the ride has on my training it will be worthwhile and justifiable to support the Teen Challenge organisation. If you want to donate to the ride please visit http://www.teenchallengewa.org.au/donate.php to find out more about Teen Challenge and support this worthy cause.

After that I will do the ITU Asian Duathlon Championships and then pull stumps completely on racing until Feb 2010 to focus on family, business and base training

Hope you are all fit and healthy!

Regards
Radar

6th at World Champs

Howdy Folks

I finished 6th place today at the ITU World Championships here in North Carolina

I executed a solid race but missed a break late in the bike which saw me enter transition 10 sec behind a group of 9. Only eventual winner Jarrod Shoemaker got past me on the final run and I recorded the 4th fastest last 5km. The medallists all ran quicker than my split so I was not quite physically ready to claim a medal even if I got on the right side of the break.

It is clear that my strength running off the bike is getting better and better and I was very happy with my first 10km split- which apparently was accurate for once- of 30.30.

I must say a huge thanks to Lianne and Sebastian, my family, sponsors and supporters, plus my fantastic homestay here in NC (Cody and Jana) and Matt Blackwell who flew down from Virginia to give his vocal and much appreciated support.

My improvement curve will hopefully continue next year in Edinburgh and I can realise my dream of being World Champion which is now less than 30 seconds away......thanks for tracking my progress

Regards
Radar

Arrival in North Carolina

Howdy Folks

Well quite a journey to finally make it here to North Carolina and after delays in Atlanta it was over 36 hours of total transit time. I was however impressed with Delta airlines who are now flying out of Sydney to LA and it was comfortable flying with decent food and excellent inflight entertainment.

My bike and bags didn't arrive with me but hoping they lob up shortly so I can get out and test the bike and start to zone in on Saturday's World Championship. With a few triathletes in the mix I am sure the first run will be very quick as a couple of new faces always stirs things up

It is very humid here but thankfully with only moderate temperatures in the mid 20's. The town I am staying in is Belmont on the western fringe of NC and the small town feel is really nice. In the heartland everyone seems to say hello and the door to the house stays open all day due to the low crime rate....a throw back to the good old days!!!

For those interested I expect there will be live coverage at www.triathlon.org

Running Regards
Radar

Off to the USA

Well crew it is game time!

After training solid since late last year the big show has arrived and the World Duathlon Champs are on next weekend in Concord, North Carolina. I am actually excited to get to the USA and get a cultural feel for the place again as alot has changed since I was last there in 2006.

In terms of the race I have had a great build up and trained very hard so I am excited to race hard. The biggest difference this year is the cumulative miles of the preceeding 3 years and the ever increasing base and strength.

Running Regards
Radar

Pemberton Training Camp

Greetings all

Awesome effort to all our Front Runners at the World Tri Champs on the Gold Coast- some outstanding efforts across the board and super proud of everyone....on the weekend Paul Mackay came down with my family for a small scale (2 participants) Powerman Pemberton and we didn't dissappoint Lianne and Sebstian with a great display in torrential rain!!!! Macka is a tough cookie and we got some solid training done on the weekend. I am very excited for the World's now and will hit the race in the best shape of my life.

Very much looking forward to the contest now

Running Regards
Radar

City to Surf Media Coverage

Howdy Folks

I have been amazed at how many people have asked my opinion on the quality of journalism and general media coverage of this year's City to Surf.- particularly the Sunday Times lift out last week.

Summarising, in my opinion the coverage was the lowest quality I have ever seen or encountered in an event of that size, anywhere in the world. Simply put, it was completely unprofessional. There was no research on athletes, little historical or relevant comparitive data and overall I thought it reflected negatively on the event, sponsors, athletes and the publishers.

After plenty of discussion on the training track, the top WA's top runner in each event (Hamish McElwee, Steve Stingemore and myself) will be meeting organisers to discuss how this can be improved in the future for the benefit of this great event.

Running Regards
Radar

Weekly Update- 3 weeks till Worlds!

Howdy Folks and Happy Fathers Day to all the Dad's out there!

With 3 weeks to go till World's this week ended up being relatively light on quality as my legs were very beaten up from the race last weekend and are just coming good again today....that was until 23km at Helena Valley beat them up again. In total, just over 100k of running and around 300k on the bike dodging showers. The key ingredient between now and world's is a little extra rest and race specific work and I will head down to Pemberton this Thursday to start to focus on the race. I then fly out to USA on a Sydney-LA-Atlanta-Charlotte schedule on September 21st.

I will not have any scheduled racing until the event so the sharp training and extra recovery will now be the primary focus to tune up the final 1-2%.

Good luck to all the Front Runners and other West Aussies racing on the Gold Coast next weekend....I hope it is a great success and your hard work pays dividends

Regards
RADAR

2nd City to Surf

Damn...I think the photo sums it up....I was hoping to add the title of City to Surf Winner to my resume and for 10k it looked good...unfortunately in the last 2km I was passed by a British athlete out training/racing in Australia and he was finished on stronger to take the win 37.44 vs 37.55....I was probably too aggressive early in the race and was maybe fading ever so slightly in the later stages which he capitalised on over the final long hill....regardless I was happy that my legs are coming good again after a tough couple of weeks and the time was 1 minute quicker than I have done for the course previously....there are alot of positives despite my dissapointment at not taking the race I have dreamed of winning since I was a boy...at the end of the day though running is the fairest of sports- the strongest person always wins and that reflects training/sacrifice and dedication over a sustained period...if someone beats you in a running race it is as fair as it comes in life....I will cop it and 4 weeks to World Duathlon Champs.

Well done to all the Front Runners and thank you very much to everyone on the course for their support and cheers, it was really appreciated

Finally, massive thanks to RGIS for their sponsorship. It was very nearly a great quinella in the 1/2 and 12km. Your support is greatly appreciated and hopefully we can move forward to more mutual success in the future

Running Regards
Radar

Training Camp

Howdy Folks,

It has been very busy since returning back from Europe and it is important to be honest with how things are going and make the necessary adjustments in training. There is a definate need to get away for 5 days or so and focus solely on training and visualising the race plan for the World Championships.

With Lianne, Seb and Paul Mackay we will head down to the forrest near Pemberton between September 10-14 and train very hard, eat well and rest alot. This location is perfect for training and I just love the fresh air and rolling hills.

The City to Surf should be a good hit out this weekend and will be great to see the every increasing crowd of "Front Runners" doing their best and achieving their goals.

All the best for race day!

Regards
Raf

Tour De Freedom

Thanks to Kari at Broad, I am going to be part of a huge fundraiser for Teen Challenge WA- the Tour De Freedom, this coming October. We will be riding from Esperence to Perth and covering around 200km a day. I love any opportunity to assist in a broader context and this is a genuine chance to get involved in positive, successful programme for young at risk youth. Below is an extract from the website http://www.teenchallengewa.org.au/

"Teen Challenge is a Christian based organisation which started caring for troubled youth in New York City in 1958. The program now has over 500 autonomous locations in 90 different countries worldwide.Teen Challenge strives to help the 'whole person', not just the substance abuse. The Teen Challenge approach is to teach a whole new way of living by addressing family relationships, work attitudes, self image, peer pressure, temptation, community relationships and a variety of other life skills.With a documented success rate of 86% of those who complete the program, Teen Challenge is regarded as one of the most successful drug rehabilitation programs in the world"

More details soon about the event and how you can help

All the best
Raf

2nd National Duathlon Championships

Unfortunately the National Crown will have to wait another twelve months.....................The National Duathlon Championships were held today in Canberra and I had to settle for 2nd place after being out raced by Daniel Green from Canberra. He raced well and on the day I couldn't match his performance. On the first run he opened up almost a minute on me and I waited to make my move on the last lap of the bike/start of the run to close to within 100m 1km into the second run. Victory looked possible but he managed to find his running legs and maintain the gap over the next 4km of the run. While I was hoping to claim the title, I didn't quite hit the race perfectly and was beaten by a better athlete on the day. Onwards we go....next stop City to Surf

Running Regards
Radar

HELENA VALLEY/ KENYAN SECRETS

This Sunday run has been a regular for Perth's elite long distance runners ever since Rob DeCastella lived in Perth during the early 80's. Rolling hills, soft pea gravel underfoot and beautiful fresh air. Today, we had no less than 14 runners- including Joel and Gilbert from Kenya who are here for the City to Surf Marathon- but more importantly, junior runners in their late teens who represent the future of middle and long distance running in WA.

I have been fortunate to come through an era where running 23-30km with Ray Boyd and other members of the Club Helena pack was the weekly Sunday norm. Unfortunately, since the late 90's I have noticed our top up and coming juniors have never followed the right of passage and been initiated into the hard yards and massive benefits of running at Helena. The fact that this is changing is going to result in a watershed of improved distance running in years to come.

Running with Joel and Gilbert is also a classic example of the work required to be a world class runner. Too often, runners from East Africa are viewed as having some genetic advantage over the rest of the world. While altitude may assist, I think it is far from the secret to their success.
The secret is HARD WORK. No where else in the world will you find as many athletes (we are talking thousands of athletes) willing to run160k-240k per week/every week, rest after training to ensure full recovery (Often in racing periods abroad barely leaving the house) and following a strict high carb and protein diet with little or no saturated fats.

At the end of the day, distance running is a simple sport and the simple things in life take the most dedication and commitment to excel at.

Till next week

Running Regards
Radar

www.duathlon247.com features rafaelbaugh.com as site of the week

The crew behind the UK’s biggest Triathlon website www.triathlon247.com have expanded their product range with the creation of a new global Duathlon site www.duathlon247.com

Their aim is to boost the profile of Duathlon both in the UK and abroad. Basically, transfer and availability of information has been a big problem for Duathlon with a lack of support from the regulatory body, the ITU. At a regional and national level, the sport is run very well but unfortunately at the highest levels of governance, the sport is largely neglected.

This website takes a huge step in providing information, race schedules and international news on the sport of Duathlon and with such a strong and informed team behind it, I am sure it will be a great success and groundswell for duathletes.

The site was launched this month and my site was recently picked as website of the week.
Check it out for yourself and make it a favourite on your browser

Running Regards
Raf

Getting out the Slice

Well today was a chance to get on the Cannondale Slice and do the ATTA 20k TT around Champion Lakes. I was not a huge fan of the sand along some of the path but it was the same for everyone and it was an otherwise perfect day for racing with little wind and a cool, crisp morning. Some alterations to the course meant comparison was not possible with other races on the course but I finished in 6th and was quite satisfied with the effort. The equilibrium between bike and run is always a delicate balance and I am happy with where I am at leading in to the National Duathlon Championships in 2 weeks time.

Regards
Radar

Win at Asics Run for Gold

Well what a perfect morning for running at the Asics Run for Gold!

The temperature and still day was conducive to fast times and all the Front Runners seemed to knock out PB's or very quick times.

I was very happy with my form and ran 31.04 to take the victory and race record in the process.
Special congrats to my brother Ryan who after only a few months of running smashed the 40 minute 10k barrier.

Finally, last Wednesday was a fitting tribute, celebration and goodbye to the late and great coach Vic Nolan. May he long enjoy watching down on the successes of his many athletes as they continue to embody the discipline and values he instilled.

Running Regards
Radar

Great to be Home

Howdy all

It has been three weeks since arriving home in Perth and I must admit I enjoy the balance of returning to The Body Station Physiotherapy and coaching with the Front Runner Group.

While I was away, the Front Runner group continued to grow under our awesome Woman's Only Coach, Kathy Garnett and WA's best ever distance runner (2.13 Marathon) Ray Boyd. The group has the perfect mix of structured and periodised training, quality company and co-operation. We have now expanded to South of the River training so check out www.sebsports.com.au/frontrunner for more details.

Personally, I love getting back and training with mates like Paul Mackay, Ray Boyd and others here in Perth. They are great company, consistent, motivated and hard working. I was also lucky in Europe to have fellow Aussie, James Attard, Spanish Long Distance Tri Champion Mikel Elgazabel and the PEC Team in France. No individual can achieve their best without collaboration and I feel lucky to have such quality company on the training track.

I will gauge my fitness this weekend in a 10k Run for Gold and then continue the push for my first Australian and World Title in August and September respectively.

My advice for winter- commit, share the work and get it done rain, hail or shine

Regards
Radar