Rebekah Keat's Blog

IM Louisville was a scorcher yesterday with 38 degrees and 90% humididty.
The water temp was 29 degrees so certainly a non wetsuit swim, saw me exiting with a slow start 5 min off the lead and in 5th palce.
The bike was scorching with hot winds and my heavy legs,I got going on lap two and felt ok coming off the bike.
I had an 11 minutes buffer off the bike,feeling very average i started out the run.
I didnt feel good on the run my calves screamed at me and I held it togther rather than pushing the pace.I crossed the line in 1st,losing around 2 mins to re known runner Kim Loffler who placed second.
I was happy to get my 4th IM win,its my 5th IM distance this year.
It was definately very hard backing up after Copenhagen and not having the ‘spring’in my legs.
All good preparation for Hawaii in 6 weeks, the ‘spring’will definately be back by then… I think its gunna be a good one!

After Roth I was lucky enough to have afew easy days and visit the beautiful paris with my partner,it was anamazing experience and one I will never forget!

Another experience i will never forget is the last 3 days of training.It did include a race, but for me it was more a survival and a good training day followed by two day tour de France with the boys!

The ”race” which I participated in (cant exactly say i was able to race it) was very tough , my legs felt like cement bricks for almost all of it,apart from the downhills.I managed to finish and still pick up 2nd and a decent prize so no complaints there!

The best part of the trip though by far, was the ride home to Leysin from Alpe Dhuez with my two favorite boys Batman and Robin(James and Scottie)!

 The three of us set off around lunchtime for our 180km day and managed to somehow suffer through untill 530pm for our lunch break!

We were all desperate to find the big golden arches but settled for a kebab and fries which was even tastier and bigger than a maccas meal..great decision!Batman mananged to devour two kebabs and it ”didnt touch the sides”!

So with about3 hours to go we texted our alliance Emma Smith to make sure she was meeting us with our bags and had booked a 5 star hotel for us to plonk into after 8 hours in the saddle.

We arrived in Annecy and it was 9pm at night, tired hungry and losing personality it was nice to see Em’s smiling face!

We loaded all the bikes and four of us, me and scottie in the front, Scottie doesnt take up too much room,except for his big gus haha!

Em got us back to our 5 star Formula 1 hotel, but not after afew wrong turns, broken head light and driving on the motor way at 30 km/hr we made it to the hotel!   

It was 11pm by the time we showered and we prayed to find somewhere serving food still!Thankgod we found a tavern and devoured some more steaks fries and a Shandy each…heaven ..it was just what our weary bodies needed!

Day 3 of my 3 days of  bike workout was alot easier,as we only had to cover 140km and then make it back up our 14km climb home to Leysin!

I was dreading the last climb but knew i really needed to get up it, it was the icing on the cake for 3 great bike days so I pushed on!

The boys just wouldnt leave me despite me wanting them to, as I knew how slow I would be!My quads were full of lactate my butt was cramping and my calves were so tight it felt like they would rip out of there skin! Scottie said ”we are a team,we are staying togther” and that we did.After  300km plus  I didnt want to let them down and despite me screaming at them to leave me, we were crawling, Batman and Robin got me all the way home!

I will never forget this experience, the pain well thats already forgotten!The  laughs and the amazing experience way out weighs the pain, good company and alot of fun is how I will remember this trip!

Thanks Jamesi and Scottie for putting up with me and for looking after your ‘Çatwoman’ , now its upto me to live upto that name.Off to buy a pair of black stockings now…haha

Run leg Challenge Roth

 Yesterday I competed in my 3rd challenge Roth – my favourite race of the year.  After a heat wave a few days before, we were lucky to have fairly good race conditions apart from some winds. 

The swim saw me exit in 52 minutes – 2 minutes off the leader Thereza Marcel & Wellington.  Onto the bike and I was feeling very average on the first lap and lost some time to the leaders and was riding in fourth position.  My legs started to come good on the second lap which I think was helped by a a recognized well yelling from the sideline.  “Concentrate and get after it” It was Doc.  Great to see him on the sideline.

I was really happy with the 2nd half over the bike where I made up 6minutes to Belinda and Tmac and rode into 2nd position.  Into T2 saw myself, Belinda and Tmac enter together…almost 18 minutes behind Chrissie who had torn the field apart and caught some of the pro men!!!

I ran out as hard as I could wanting to post the best run split of the day and hit the 21km mark around 10 mins in front of 3rd and feeling strong.  Doc told me to maintain position as I was quiet a way from Chrissie and I didn’t need to kill myself just to have a fast run.  Doc reminded me I possibly have 2 more Ironmans within the next 6 weeks.

I finished the run in 3:00hrs and maintained my 2nd position. 

A special mention and congrats to Tmac who finished a solid 3rd ,this was an awesome effort for no running for over two weeks with a slight knee problem.I cant leave out Jamesi who palced a solid 5th after 2 weeks of sickless ,terrible preparation thankgod he didnt get chicked!

The make my race even more memorable my girlfriend suprised me at the finish line flying in from Australia that day which was something really special for me and something I will never forget.   The atmosphere as always on the finish line was electric being greeted by Felix the face of Challenge family!  This is what makes the Challenge events so special as almost every athlete is greeted at the finish line by Felix. 

Thank you to Felix and the Challenge family for putting on another spectacular event that is second to none.  

Thank you to my amazing girlfriend for suprising me on race day – you are awesome!

Thank you to all my sponsors, especially my new Blue Seventy race suit which felt great. 

Thanks to my close mate James Parker and his wife Juzzi for great company during the weekend.

Boss :
” Rebekah are you listening?”

Beccy May :
”I think I’ll just go on my own”

Donna :
” So is James getting residency?Is that so he can get one of those discount card from Coop?”

Nic :
”That’s ridiculous”

Reto:
” Oh come o..o..n…”

James :
”Superheroes don’t get hurt!”

Scottie :
” Did someone say Starbucks?”

Tamsin :
”where”s the pharmacy?I need my script filled!”

Jodie :
”That was warm up pace!”

Matty :
”Well..basically…to make a long story short”

Amy :
”Ouch”

Brandon :
” H..E..Y…..Y ‘…A…L…L ”

Tez :
” My legs just won’t make it”

Lilly :
” Oh…..N..o..o..o..h”

Caroline :
”I am Zena”

Dave :
”…………”

Timmy :
” No serious..”

Bella :
”So Brett do you want me to…”

Stevie :
”I’ll have to check with the wife..”

Please feel free to add to these on our forums …think i might have to add to it each day…as there are some cracker lines that come out of our mouths eachday!!..lack of sleep and lots of training plays havoc on brain function and speech!

Boss :
” Rebekah are you listening?”

Beccy May :
”I think I’ll just go on my own”

Donna :
” So is James getting residency?Is that so he can get one of those discount card from Coop?”

Nic :
”That’s ridiculous”

Reto:
” Oh come o..o..n…”

James :
”Superheroes don’t get hurt!”

Scottie :
” Did someone say Starbucks?”

Tamsin :
”where”s the pharmacy?I need my script filled!”

Jodie :
”That was warm up pace!”

Matty :
”Well..basically…to make a long story short”

Amy :
”Ouch”

Brandon :
” H..E..Y…..Y ‘…A…L…L ”

Tez :
” My legs just won’t make it”

Lilly :
” Oh…..N..o..o..o..h”

Caroline :
”I am Zena”

Dave :
”…………”

Timmy :
” No serious..”

Bella :
”So Brett do you want me to…”

Stevie :
”I’ll have to check with the wife..”

Please feel free to add to these on our forums …think i might have to add to it each day…as there are some cracker lines that come out of our mouths eachday!!..lack of sleep and lots of training plays havoc on brain function and speech!

Sunday was my second half Ironman in just one week at Neiderbronn Les Bains in France.
I was a little worried I wasnt sure how i would pull up after a half the sunday before,but trusted Brett would get my legs feeling good!
Thankfully thats exactly what happened my legs felt great on the bike and in the run,even better than the week before!
This was the first time I felt like I could actually ride to my ability, it was agood feeling to lead off the bike and have a solid run to take the victory!
I think the hardest part was driving home Sunday evening after the race and arriving at 2am then not being able to sleep before the 7am swim session!
Thanks firstly to Brett for allowing me to trust that I would feel good , Jamesie for the company and my mum for the amazing support she has given me over the last two weeks!
Thanks also to Guy Hemmerlin and Challenge France for having me, and I look forward to coming back next year!

Myself ,James and my awesome Mum set off Thursday for our 4 hour road trip to the small German town of Kraichgue for our first Euro race.
It’s always exciting heading to any of the Challenge races, as the events are so professional and us pro athletes are treated like rock stars in comparison to some other events!
Once again the Challenge Family put on an awesome event, with over 3500 competitors these races are gowing fast and i can see why!
We were all housed at Villa Medici a beautiful hotel only 500 mtrs from the finish line.
The mens field was stacked with two Hawaii Winners and several top ten finishers and Ironamn winners,and ofcourse our very own James Cunnama!
The womens field was smaller and certainly no comparison at all to the quality of field in the mens race.
After a great nights sleep and afew easy days on the legs we were both ready to go…here is how the rae panned out :

Swim :
I tried to stay with james but the wave of 500…yes 500 athletes made it very hard to spot anyone but felt more like a hug washing machine!So i jumped behind the first pack and managed to lead out of the water not too far behind my fellow team tbber!
Bike :
The bike was a tough course mostly hills and not alot of flat, I felt terrible for the first 30km then began to warm up!I was caught by 2-4th place female along with several male age groupers and managed to stay within 130min of the big group into T2!
Run:
I excited the run in 2nd place with a fast transition and soon took over the lead by about the 2km mark.I ran steady the first two laps of the 3x7km loops.The last loop i knew i had it covered and managed to cruise home around 1min 30 ahead of the next female.

The finishline as all Challenge races was once again amazing and very crowded!
I was so happy to have my mum there and to see James had come second only 230min off Stadler ,running a huge 109…i was incredibly impressed!
Thanks to my beautiful mum for putting up with me and James,and ofcourse thanks to James for destressing me and for doing all the ugly driving on the way home!
Next weekend only 6 days away we are both off again to Challenge France…we love our challenege races!!Cant wait to back it up!
Thnaks to Felix , Steffan and Timo for making us all feel so welcome!

My original plan saw me being away from home for 6 months…and that was very hard to swallow,but they are the sacrifices you make as a pro athlete!
So off I set to Krabi heat camp again for another 4 weeks!As always Doc kept me on my toes and the camp has been really tough with temperatures soaring to upto 46 degrees and the humidity feeling like 100%…Hawaii is going to be a walk in the park…yeah right!
So im at camp in Krabi for 4 weeks and booked to fly either to the US or to Swiss training camp from here in Thailand.
Lookng at Visa resirctions though it meant i cannot stay in Siwtzerland for more than 90 days in a 6month peroid!That ofcourse effected my plans, as I was to stay in Europe until September…uh oh!
So Doc allowed me to go back to Ozzie Land and the beautiful Burleigh Heads for 2 weeks before heading to the snow capped Swiss mountains!
Here I am on my way back to the golden sands of the beatiful Burleigh and my amazing partner, my family and my adoring dogs…life couldnt be sweeter!
So i thought i would share some pics of why I love coming home…not for long, but long enough to realise how lucky I am!

Well its sure getting hot here in Krabi with the outside temperature hitting 46 degrees!
Some of us are struggling with the heat a little more than others, or maybe its also the intensity of the training!
Either way Brett gave myself and Reto our long(reduced) run and day at the Hot Springs to recover our very sore aching legs!
We both joked at how ridiculous it seemed to be going to ‘Hot Springs’ in temperatures of 45 degrees ouside, but Doc always knows whats best!
So a flat just 1km down the road and Reto said ”uh oh a side wall blow out, back to the office”.I have never seen anyone change a tyre so fast and with out tyre levers, very impressive!
So we head off for our short 25 km easy bike to the infamous Hot Springs! It was a head wind all uphill, so much for fun, thankgod I had Reto telling me some funny racing and training stories to pass the time quickly!
So we finally arrive and realise its not what I had imagined nor anything like what Reto had discovered on the pics on the internet.
We did a quick lap around the outside of the man made but natural hot springs and found the coolest of the hottest to try out first!
It was so hot in the water that both of us actually got goose bumps and went into shock,it honestly felt like a furnace and i swear it has to have been well over 50 degreesAfter afew dips in and out and constant pouring ice cold water over our heads,the legs really felt better.They seemed more supple and looser either that or they were numbed by the extreme heat!
It was pretty relaxing lying in the shade, a very slight breeze even seemed some what cooler although it was still 40 degrees at least!
The ride home was wicked all down hill with a nice tail wind and the legs felt 100 times better…well maybe the downhill helped?We finished off with a stop at the delicious Waffle House and had a banana waffel and the best iced mocha frappe i have ever tasted!
Back to work today,cant let the legs feel too good for long or they might go into shock!

hot-spring-50+ degrees