In this week’s issue of the Bindi Athlete Interview Series, I had a chat with Brenden Wheeler, a long course triathlete who also works in the Air Force. Brenden did his first triathlon on a whim back in 2018 and was hooked from there.
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ACHIEVING THE IMPOSSIBLE – MATT MACPHERSON
I had the pleasure of interviewing Matt for this edition of the Bindi Athlete Interview series. Matt is a hard-working and honest athlete, who often works 14-16 hour days and still manages to qualify for Kona. He achieves the impossible every day and here is how he does it….
THE SAND RUNNER – KATIE LOVIS
I had the thrill of interviewing, Katie Lovis last week, an incredible and inspiring ultrarunner who lives in Margaret River, Western Australia. Katie recently completed the entire Cape to Cape trail in Western Australia in a single day and broke the female record for the 129km in 17 hours 23 minutes.
I BELIEVE I CAN FLY – WITH JESS WALDRON
It’s impossible not to be in awe of Enduro rider, Jess Waldron, a young, fresh and fair faced 18-year-old rider with guts and a gorgeous smile, from Albany in Western Australia. Today I had the fortune to interview her for the Bindi Athlete Blog and as the first athlete I interviewed for the series, we sure did hit it off to a great start!
Top Things to do in Busselton in Ironman Week
There is no doubt that Busselton in December is absolutely buzzing. The town is fills with Ironman athletes clad in compression gear… the foreshore bursts with marquees and red carpet… and the atmosphere is electric. Although this year may look a little different in Busselton, it is sure to be an exciting week. Here is a list of the ‘go-to’ places to visit in Busselton… so you can spend more time with a long black in hand and your feet up!
PLAN FOR THE WORST, EXPECT THE BEST: MANAGING RACE DAY EXPECTATIONS
Next up on the endurance race calendar is Ironman Western Australia. As you all probably know, Busselton is home to Bindi HQ and we can’t help it, we are totally in love with this beautiful part of WA. But as IMWA race day grows nearer and triathletes are making final adjustments to their race plans and nutrition, we thought we’d talk about the elephant in the room – or in this case – the sharks in the water.
Race day Nutrition Plan for Ironman
Racing an Ironman can be one of the most exhilarating and incredible experiences of your life. It can also be a totally awful day and a lot of this comes down to your nutrition choices. If you’ve watched or raced an Ironman you’ve seen it before; athletes blowing up on the bike, vomiting on the run, cramping, collapsing at the finish line and being carted off into the medical tent. Ironman racing can get messy at best and dangerous at worst. This can happen to a lesser degree in other sports, but Ironman is a day when you can’t hide from your nutritional decisions.
Is carb-cycling right for you?
Athletes commonly vary between easy and hard days in training. It can be an advantage to plan food and nutrition around these training cycles and use a technique called carb-cycling. As sports nutrition shows us, some diet changes can help enhance our athletic performance, particularly in weight sensitive sports. They can even help us lose fat and improve performance, which is particularly helpful as we get closer to a race or competition.
How sugar affects your body
We all know sugar tastes good and it’s hard to stop at just a small sample of anything deliciously sweet. But are you addicted? It’s certainly possible, as sugar activates opiate receptors in your brain to make you feel good emotionally, even if only in the short term. But once the sugar high wears off, you can be headed for an energy crash, headaches and fluctuating hormones which becomes a vicious cycle as you reach for the next quick ‘pick me up’. There are clear benefits of quitting sugar on performance for athletes, so it’s time to get real and look at what happens to your body when you give sugar the flick for good.
Fluids versus solids for race day fuelling strategies
During a long endurance event such as an Ironman race there is no question that you will need to fuel yourself well throughout the day. You body has limited stores of energy, and we know that consuming carbohydrates during exercise can improve your performance. We also know that not all carbs are created equal, and so when planning a race day strategy you may use a combination of drinks, gels, and solid food to get the nutrition you need. No one wants to run out of energy or have gut discomfort, so here are some solutions to keep these problems from affecting you on race day.
