GKE Newsletter January 2019

It's been far to long since we've reached out with a GK newsletter. So with that said,  we will endeavour to keep you all up to date often with what's happening in the world of GK Endurance. 2018 was a great year and we are excited about what 2019 has to offer. Needless to say there is lots of exciting stuff going down, some of which we will highlight today! YAY

COACHES CORNER So what's happening in the Coaching Corner....We do have some new and exciting additions to the GK Program. As you all know we provide programmes that are individual to you. BUT we do know there is a strong social side to training and sometimes that brings out the best in you.  So in addition to the Thursday morning intervals, we now have the following sessions available thanks to coach Janine. SWIM - Monday/ Wednesday and Friday morning from 530-7am at Arena Joondalup. If you are interested in attending these, please contact Janine and she'll be able to give you the low down. You will have lots of company at these sessions!!  - Sunday: OWS morning in the shark net at Sorrento at 6am (45min-1hr) with wetsuits. Meeting in the carpark in front of the net. Followed by a long run along the coast per your personal plan BIKE - Tuesday AM  Cycling interval session starting from Hillary's Marina boat ramp side at 5:30am (See the map on the private facebook page) - Thursday AM: Shelley Foreshore Intervals (Meet at the raffles at 5:30 am) RUN - Thursday PM : Run session at MacDonald Park, Forrest Rd, Padbury at 6pm. Suitable for all levels and working on your speed and VO2 max   More details of the sessions can be found on the GK private facebook page or you can contact your coach for more info.  aThere has been a lot of talk recently about the "Keto Diet" and in particular for athletes.   Should you go zero carbs? We aren't dieticians, and if looking for professional advice, you should seek out a qualified Dietician. That said, we have had some experience in this area, and can tell you what worked for us and what didn't. Hopefully that will help answer some questions you might have. Try not to listen to everybody who has an opinion on dieting and the do's and don't. Listen to your coaches or as I said, seek professional advice. Keto: I write this from my personal experience. It totally sucked (this is Guy btw)  Straight to the point - I hated it! My muscles ached. I was grumpy. My training suffered.  I was just all round miserable for the entire 3 week experience. I would rather NOT do it again.  WHY? Well because my body relies on sugar to burn energy, and it wasn't very good at burning fat. A lot of you might think "but your skinny". Yes I am, but that doesn't mean I burn fat well. I burn energy at a fast rate due mostly to genetics.  So I changed my diet and kept to low carbs. Why? Well because I want to burn fat. But I also want to be able to train and not be grumpy all the time.  So how did I go about changing my sugar burning body to fat burning.  Here's what I did and I believe it worked: 1) For 1 or 2 sessions per week I would only have a black coffee before working out.  Now - I don't want you to get carried away here. These session are low intensity and if longer than 75min then I would incorporate carbs of some sort.  Anything of high Intensity I would eat before hand.  2) I swapped out my bad carbs for good carbs.  I eat a LOT of bread. I love it, but it doesn't help the fat burning process. Our dietitian recommended using Sourdough. So now I eat a crap load of that!! No white or multigrain anymore. I eat Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, cous cous etc.  3) I also time my carb intake.  Typically I will eat carbs immediately after training and limit them at dinner.  4) Snacks.  I used to go for a packet of Tim Tams or a loaf of bread (anything that had sugar in it), and I sometimes still do, because I have little will power! But now I try my best to snack on nuts and seeds, coconut yoghurt, avocado and I love Peanut Butter!  Kate and I make our own cereal with an assortment of nuts and seeds, and add almond milk, dairy free yogurt (as there is next to no sugar in it ) and crunchy peanut butter. It's super tasty and really filling.  These simple changes allowed me to keep training properly and also start metabolising fat better!! For me, this was a good compromise. A lot of triathletes have A type personalities and will take the fat burning diet too far so taking this approach was a healthy middle ground.  Side note: I also have a cheat day every week where I eat whatever I want. Why? Because life is too short not to have a Tim Tam.   G GKE ATHLETES OUT & ABOUT!  Great to see so many athletes representing GK Endurance during the off season and abroad. It's always brilliant to see a flash of red and black pass you by! GEAR THAT CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION The Obsessed triathlete website,  is a great resource to compare Ironman and 70.3 race course difficulty and overall trends. If you're a data nerd like me I promise you'll especially love the 'stats' element on the site. GETTING TO KNOW YOU 10 Quick Questions with Tracy Denning   How did you first get involved in Triathlon? My former boss’ daughter had signed up for her first 70.3 at Yeppoon in 2011 and my boss said ‘you can run and swim and you also teach spin classes - you can do it too!’ So I signed up several months before the event but only got a coach and an actual training program 6 weeks before!  I really enjoyed the 6 weeks of training with swim, bike, run up til the event and luckily for me I had some base fitness (through running marathons) so I was able to JUST get things together in time for race day. I had no idea about nutrition or gear - I cramped badly on the run (the one and only time I have had to actually stop and walk due cramps in a race). I finished it though! And I fell in love with the sport. What are your goals for the coming year? I am still in a bit of disbelief when I type or say ‘Im racing Ultraman Australia in 2019’. Ultraman is my one and only focus at the moment. I am not sure what goals I will set after that event but I have a lot of mini goals to achieve before May to ensure I get to the start line prepared. What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you at a Triathlon, running, swimming or cycling event? This wasn’t really an event but cycling related embarrassing incident. Very early in mine and Al’s relationship we decided to go for a romantic get away to Bright in Victoria. The trip was in June so it was winter, freezing and not suitable for riding up the mountains. I was still a very green rider (had been riding 9 months only) and wanted to impress my new flame by riding up Mount Buffalo while we were away. Long story cut short - I had to phone my new boyfriend for rescuing while I sat shivering at the top of Mount Buffalo. I got up the mountain ok - but the carbon brake pads didn’t work on the icy road on the way down! What is your favourite movie? Too hard to pick one movie! Favourite book is much easier - Tully by Paulina Simons Where is your favourite place to relax? Bright in Victoria What is your best characteristic? Committed What is your worst habit? Al would say not putting lids on things properly, but I would say my worst habit is stressing about time. I get so tense when I am ‘running late’ (even though running late means only being 5 minutes early) and I also get frustrated at others who are late. It exhausts me a lot of the time and I get annoyed at myself as I know I am highly strung about it! What is your favourite "go to" post race/event meal? Eating hot chips of course! Dad and I always get fish and chips after I race and share stories of the days events. Do you have any pre-race rituals? - Dad always buys me x2 mars bars before big races. They sit in the fridge and wait to be eaten after the fish and chips post race. - Braided hair (two braids) What are you most afraid of? Pooing my pants in a race and Spiders.  We are planning this for our next GKE OW session - any takers??