Training Camp

One should never underestimate the importance of oral tradition and story telling in inspiring athletes.  Indeed a snap shot can create a life time of motivation.

As young teenagers and adults begin to discover the challenges of endurance sport, you may hear or recall stories of the brutal Kenyan training camps led by coach Patrick Sang before the annual World X Country Championships, the pilgrimage of Rob De Castella, Steve Moneghetti and Australia’s best distance athletes to Falls Creek each Christmas or perhaps most profoundly, Percy Cerutty testing the physical and mental limits of his young charges, including future Olympic Champion and World Record holder, Herb Elliot on the sand dunes at Portsea.

On the journey as an athlete myself,  I sought out similar environments and was fortunate to have many experiences enjoying the great camaraderie and discipline of training camps. Firstly, with friends from “Club Helena” in the beautiful forests of Pemberton in the 90’s and then as a professional athlete far and wide in places like Alpe D’Huez, Falls Creek and the Basque Country of Spain. In those monastic places, you are removed from the standard comforts and distractions and are able to focus and fully commit to the process of eat, sleep, train; with the more of each the better. But perhaps most importantly, in those places of isolation and monastic focus, the mind became more open to new possibilities and as an extension of that, deeper self belief and character developed.

Approaching this now from the angle of an endurance coach working with runners of all ages and abilities who juggle work, family and various other commitments, it has become increasingly apparent that to keep them beating their best, achieving new milestones and creating new benchmarks, a little bit of time to focus more completely on their mindset, training and recovery was necessary. Looking from a longitudinal sense and seeking to create a pathway for West Australian runners to reach their full potential, it is also important there is a place where training can be completed in fantastic natural surrounds where majestic trails are the norm and concrete, cars and congestion are non-existent.

On the backdrop of the majestic Meelup National Reserve in Old Dunsborough, we are very excited to be providing a range of training camps for West Australian runners and triathletes to chase their own goals and dreams. As these athletes continue to improve on their current capacities and beat their best, we hope that this will be the basis for many a personal best in the future and perhaps, looking deep into the crystal ball, the breeding ground of our next Olympic hero.

Meelup2

Running Regards,

Raf Baugh

B.Sc Physio

Managing Director

Front Runner Sports

www.frontrunnersports.com.au