Has anyone completed the Coolangatta Gold? I am going to do it...I just wish that the women had the same course as the men, ours is about 16km shorter, and the prize money reflects this! I would be doing it this year but knee surgery will keep me out, next year is a definite! Anyway, I just have a question. I hear you have to have a crew. Is it best to have 2 people crewing for you? Or would 3 crew members between 2 competitors be sufficient? Or even 1 crew person per competitor?

Any training tips would be great as well...I'm all for 'bring on the pain'! I plan to build up to it, no last minute cramming here...

Cheers!

Hey Lex..
Oh my you have chosen one tough race!
If you want to pm me your number,i may be able to help..
I have a heap of mates who have done that and will be able to help you out
hopefully..
You will need a crew,i am just not too sure of numbers!!

It is a great time to start the build -up to next year!

Hello,

My friends say I'm mad however

at 45 just finished my Surf rescue certificate, do my bronze medallion test in July and already
doing life guard fitness times....

I'm planning to enter the Coolangatta Gold 2010.


If anyone has any hints they give me then I would welcome them
Cheers
Freddo

Hi Freddo,

I did my bronze in December 2007 and have been doing surf training with Michael King at Mooloolaba since then. His program for the 2008 Coolangatta Gold doesn't start for another 4 weeks. What club are you with? Most clubs have a coach that can help out with the training, whether they just give you advice so you can train on your own or join in with their squad. Michael is an awesome coach...he's also won the Coolangatta Gold before as well!

Lex

Hi Lex

Thanks for your reply
I am at Bundaberg SLSC, I'll ask around my club.
I found some trainers based in Melb but they charge $25 per week which I can't afford right now.

That would be brilliant to train with someone who not only competed but WON the gold !

Any hints or tips you get from Michael would be really appreciated.

Regards

Freddo

Hey Lex

Just did some research about Michael King on the internet, he must THE person to train for the Cool Gold with.

Regards
Fredddo

Hi Freddo,

Tried to send you a message but it didn't work...so here's a post

Yes Michael is a great guy to train with, really knows his stuff. Yeah I cold give you a few tips along the way. It won't be the same as being there with the squad, but it'll help. I know at the start all we do is do long slow stuff, as you need to get a really good endurance base, it's exactly what we do in kayaking.

Does Bundaberg SLSC have a club coach? Usually the surf clubs provide coaching, I know the clubs on the Sunshine Coast do anyway. I personally wouldn't pay someone $25 per week, especially when its not even 'in person'...It may be more beneficial to find someone with a similar goal and be training partners.

Lex

Thanks Lex,
Any help will be great.
With my swimming I started just going long and slow like you said.
3 months ago I could hardly swim 100 meters and run 100 meters.
I now swim 1klm twice a day and run 1.5klms a day.

I built this up by just going slow and steady.
I am now trying to quicken my times so I can meet the life guard test times.

For Cool Gold I was going to do likewise don't worry about time
just keep increasing the distance a little be each day.

I'll check with my testing/training officer about if we have a coach. I haven't
been with the club very long.

I haven't asked around the club yet. I have a few friends who are keen runners and like exercise
but so far all of them have declined my training schedule is too hard and they are too chicken
to swim because (que whingy voice) "it's too cold"

Regards
Freddo

Hi Lex,

I havent done the gold but have a few friends that have. I plan on doing it this year and cant wait. Have you started training yet? I see that your in good hands up on the sunshine coast.

Yes, since joining the surf club I have met many who have done it. There are a couple of other ladies who are also doing the whole distance this year from our club, so we will have a nice girlies group at training! Our training starts in 2.5 weeks (and counting!) I can't wait! We are on a 2 month break at the moment. I hurt my rotator cuff in my shoulder and am still trying to get it better, so I don't think I will be into the full swing of Michael's program when we go back, but will do everything I can. I just hope it holds up!

Which club are you with? Have you started training yet?

I'm with Wanda, thats one of the clubs in cronulla area if you dont know. There is a few of us doing it round here. I am running a bit at the moment but plan to jump in the pool in the next few weeks then get moving with the ski work. I did a relay last yr for the gold and got the fever to do it so i just cant wait for it. I really need to work on my ski leg so i think that will be my major focus. How long have you had the shoulder problem for? and are you planning on doing the whole distance?

Its good that you've got a few others there doing it with you! The ski leg is a big part of it as its half the race. So yes, put lots of work in to it!

I hurt my shoulder in January..got smashed when out on the board (wouldn't let go & got thrown around a bit) so thats when it happened. continued to train though (stupid, yes I know - didn't know until a couple of months later when I went to the physio that it was the rotator cuff...) still competed at states, I really wanted to as its my first year. Stopped training just before everyone went to Aussies. Yes, definately doing the whole distance! that is unless, my shoulder stuffs everything up & then I will do a team. i'm going to have a meeting with my coach tomorrow and talk to him about it, I think I will just have to take it a bit easier as I want to make sure it lasts the whole year :-)

We'll have to keep in touch and see how our training is going!

Whats going on in Coolangatta gold land?

How many out there are still keen?

Are there any other girls doing the race?

Is there anybody out there?

Hey PTP!

Yep I'm still here, I'm in week 11 of training for it. Is going great! I can't wait for the race! We are doing a full run through this Saturday, set up like the race :-)

Are you entering this year? How's your training going?

Lex

Please excuse my ignorance down here in antarctic Melbourne, but what are the distances you're racing and when is it? I'm starting to get interested in surf lifesaving but don't really know anything right now.

Lex, what sort of training have you been doing? How have you progressed over your 11 weeks so far? I guess you'll soon be able to tell us - post an update when you've completed the run through on Saturday!!

Hi Lex, glad it's going well - when is the race?

Hi Lex Glad to here you are sticking with it!

Im not doing the race too much water for me and not enough land but a girl I know is doing it.

The ocean is cold down here on the south coast and she always looks really cold when I see here training.

She is going to be in the new over 30's division I think. What division r u in?

PTP

Hi guys,

Sorry about the delay in my posting...

The race is on 19 October...2 months to go!!! The distances for the open ladies is: 15km ski paddle, 4.5km board paddle, 2km swim and 8km run. The guys course is about 15km longer than ours though...23km ski paddle, 5.5km board paddle, 3.5km swim, 10km run, and I think theres another 4km run in there somewhere too.

We've been doing a lot of endurance work, and are now just having a recovery week after the run through before getting into the race prep phase of the program. At points I think I haven't improved much, but when I stop and think about the first week, you can see quite large improvements. For example, I was falling off the board when I started in week 1 as I'd never done it before, and now I'm starting to see some bigger improvements. I'm a terrible swimmer so its nice to be able to look back and think in week 1 I wouldn't have been able to swim that distance on that time cycle.

The run through went ok. We were told to do it 80-85%. It took me approx 4hrs 20mins. Conditions weren't nice for it. Head wind for most of the ski paddle, then it swung around to a side wind which stuck around for the rest of the time. We did a 15km ski, 650m run, 5.5km board, 2km swim, 8km run - so pretty close to what we have to do on the day.

I was pretty dissapointed with my swim, it would have been quite eventful to watch from the shore...nearly got dumped once as I was in too close to shore, then I'd go too far out, the IRB swung around once to inform me I wasn't going in the right direction...I didn't realise I was that far off track, yes I must work on my open water swimming! It will be better on the day though as we get to follow a board paddler and the buoys are much bigger so we can see them! The water was quite chilly, so I wore a thermal rashie...big mistake, got serious rub on my neck from it. I will just wear swimmers next time no matter how cold it is. Board was annyoing as I have serious steering issues when theres a side chop! The ski and the run I was quite happy with.

I'll be racing in the 'open' category, one of the other ladies I'm training with is doing the masters category, the other girls are in opens as well. It should be a great day!

Is anyone else still doing it?

Lex