Along with my team mates, Rachael Smith and Tom Bruins we had a great trip to the Douai Duathlon in Nord-de-Calais region.

Jean Nido and the team at Triathlon Douai where well assisted by Eric Cattiaux to create a beautiful event and impressive organisation. The team raced over the sprint distance of 4.7k run/25k bike/2.8k run. Rachel and myself managed to secure good wins and Tom also raced strongly for 3rd place just narrowly behind.

This weekend, we have headed north to Holland for the final race of the campaign at the European Championships www.powerman.nl

Thanks for checking in,

Raf

The relationship has already run three years and it is fantastic to be able to finish my career with one major partner. With the passing of founder and former managing director, Kari Rummukainen last year, there is extra motivation to honour his memory and produce some great results in the future.

Last weekend, I organised a training camp with Aussie icon and former World Record Holder in the Half Marathon, Steve Moneghetti in the forests of Dwellingup south of Perth. The weekend included great guests lectures from leading experts such as Darryn Sargant (Podiatrist); Damian Oldmeadow (Physio and Bike Fit Specialist); Peter Mellow (Dip Ed), Ben Green (B.Sc) and Marc See (B.Sc Physio) and of course some very solid training in the beautiful forrest around town. It attracted a great group of runners of all ages and abilities and was a really enjoyable and inspiring weekend. I highly recommend it next year for any passionate runners looking for motivation and information.

This Tuesday, I participated in an inter-squad Team  Time Trial over 22km with the Front Runner team and some other leading training groups around Perth. Our elite team of Nathan Jones, Sean Ralph and Thomas Bruins, managed to take the chocolates with a really strong showing, averaging just on 44.8k/hr. I am really excited to see the continued success of the Front Runner training group and it is really encouraging for me personally to think that a few of my protégés, Thomas Bruins and Brandon Hargreaves, will be at the upper level of Professional Duathlon after I retire and get to see the world chasing their goals.

Due to a late announcement of the dates for the WA Athletics Championships, my race schedule has changed and I have dropped the  Darlington Half Marathon in favour of the WA 5km Championships on March 16^th. This looks set to be a cracker of a race and as such I am looking forward to being part of it as a lead in to the Bridges on April 1st and then European campaign from April 9-30th.

Thanks for checking in and all the very best

Firstly, I am going to start this update with a big thank you to the athletes who I travelled down with for the Busselton 5k/10k/Half Marathon and Jetty Swim this past weekend. It is such a great group of athletes and our group training system is starting to produce some fantastic results. The athletes whom I am coaching and training with, have given me a new enthusiasm in the past few months and I am really proud of the culture that is developing.

In terms of my race, I had set the goal of getting into sub 31.30 shape for this one and over the past couple of weeks I was confident that I was just ahead of schedule. I probably got a little too excited early on in the race and decided a sub 31 was possibility and pushed pretty hard from 3km. This proved a little ambitious for the legs and resulted in a tough last 3km. At the finish,  31.16 showed things are continuing to progress and we later learned the course was a little long and the run may have been worth a little quicker. Regardless, in the next two months I estimate I would need to crank things up and get into 30.30 shape for the Bridges 10km on April 1st to mount a realistic challenge for the European Duathlon title at the end of April.

Alot of hard work to be done but really excited to be working with such a great group of athletes towards our individual and collective goals

The picture, below, is from the inaugural post event “Busselton Flannelette Party”. Undoubtedly, this will develop a cult following in years to come and become a “must do” event for Perth’s A-listers

Thanks for checking in

Radar

The most impressive effort of the night was our EEP athlete, Brandon Hargreaves who ran a course record 15.07 on the slow and technical course along the Swan River. Brandon is a genuine talent and if he can keep his head down I believe he can be WA’s first ever distance running track Olympian. At only 18 years of age, there is a lot of water to pass under the bridge but watch this space.

Personally, the event certainly tested where things where at and with the quality field I managed to run around 10 sec quicker than I expected with a 15.16 for 3rd place.

I am a bit like an old boxer who needs to be clipped around the ear to fire up, so the little touch up is the perfect motivation for me at this point of my preparation for the European Championships in April.

Over the next 2 weeks a repeat 16km bike TT at Kings Park and then the Busso 10km are on the cards so starting to get into the thick of things and will keep you updated as the form starts to build towards some important races in March and April

Thanks for checking in,
Radar

Jan 15th Twilight 5km *
Jan 24th ATTA 16k TT *
Feb 4th Busso 10k (Goal <31.30) *
Feb 11-14th Perth Crit Series **
Feb 19th ATTA Hilly Classic TT **
Feb 26th Twilight 5km *
March 11th Darlington Half Marathon **
March (late) State 5km Track Championship ***
April 1st Bridges 10k (Goal <30.30) ****
April 9th -April 30th Europe with Tom Bruins and Rachel Smith- Metz
April 15th French Grand Prix ****
April 22nd Wevelgem Sprint Duathlon (Belgium) ****
April 29th Powerman Holland European Championships *****

I am fortunate to be staying with a great stable of athletes coached by Ken Green in Sydney and the quality of the group is really high both on and off the training track. My training has mainly been volume based and trying to take advantage of the 1700m elevation with good solid work on both bike and run.

The flat running trails up the top of the mountain are certainly easier than the bike, where climbs ranging from 7k-30k are abound. Training twice a day, it is not uncommon to see 60-100 runners at any given training session and the full range of ability levels from Olympic athletes to mothers and fathers up here with their children.

For more info on training up here, check out http://www.fallscreek.com.au/AltitudeTraining

Hopefully, in 2012 we can get a group of WA runners of all ages and abilities up here to share in the great culture that is present on the mountain.

Life is getting a little more settled here at the Baugh household, with Emma sleeping better and Lianne and I starting to get by with less caffeine and sugar. It is amazing how quickly things change every day with a newborn and it is a really enjoyable time seeing Emma grow more alert and engaged by the moment.

As things have settled, we have started some planning for 2012. The biggest change will be shorter trips overseas. With Sebastian due to start school, the family will stay at home and my overseas campaigns will only be for major championships. Therefore, I am unfortunately going to miss racing in my second home of the “Basque country” for at least the first part of next season. I have confirmed racing in one French Grand Prix with Metz Triathlon Club and then at the European Championships in Holland on April 29th. Thereafter, it will be back to Perth for some running events and Australian Duathlon Series and then a return to Europe later in the year for the World Championships in Nancy, France.

Training is starting to progress well and I am hopeful that some good results will come through after a block at altitude in the new year.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank my family, sponsors, patrons, supporters and friends and wish you all the very best for the festive season and the year to come.

Festive Greetings,
Radar

Although the run itself was far from spectacular, it was nice to be out racing again and competing with some basic fitness. In the end, I managed to ease away from my protégé, Thomas Bruins in the last few km to win in a time of 24.17, to his 24.30.

Most importantly, the new Elite Endurance Project has now come together and we have an outstanding core group of 15 elite athletes training very hard together. The group has a mix of long distance runners, duathletes and triathletes and our work is predominantly in the running and cycling components. It is a natural progression that an elite group is formed to add to our existing Beginners, Women’s Running & Fitness, Personalised Training Options and casual training groups.

Looking forward, I will be continuing with a running focus until the new year and trying to spend as much time as possible with Emma and the family

Thanks for checking in

Radar

Well just three weeks ago, Lianne, Sebastian and I welcomed little baby Emma Grace into the world.

It is an amazing time, with a mix of awe and amazement at new birth and the raw reality of sleeplessness and nappie changes. That said, it is the most amazing blessing and we are all having a great time at the moment.

On the training front, my calf has settled so I am resuming full training on the running side through until the end of the year and will then pick up the bike again from January. With the extra running volume, I am hoping to increase my form for 2-3 months and then set up a proper crack at breaking 30 minutes for 10km in the new year. The barrier is one I have always wanted to break and with the Duathlon focus I haven’t had the chance to focus fully on a 10k track or AA certified road race in the past.

I will have some lead up races on the road/track in the next few weeks and hopefully some solid results to report

Hope your all fit and well

Raf