Thursday 23 August 2012

The Next Chapter....


As many of our regular customers know it is all change at ATHelite.
Following 8 years of trading, initially in East Kilbride and latterly in the bigger shop in Hamilton, we are saying goodbye not only to the world of retail but also ultimately to the Uk as we fulfil our long term goal of immigrating abroad.

We have loved having the shop and running what has been a very successful business in an environment where we were lucky enough to combine our passion & our working lives together.
We have had a great time meeting & dealing with all our customers, many who have become long term friends. We are also very excited about this next stage of our lives.

Below are a few details regarding different areas of the business that you might need to know about;

The Shop.
This Saturday 25th August is our last day of trading in the shop. Please come in and see us if you get the chance for a coffee and a chat. On top of that everything remaining is on SALE & there are many bargains to be had with many items up to half price so don’t miss out.

Whilst the shop is going we will still continue to trade online for a while yet and you can continue to find us both on the usual website at;


& on our eBay business at;


The Treatment Hub
This is the new name for the Hamilton Sports Clinic that we currently have upstairs.  
The great news is that Robbies Sport Orthotics Clinic & Grants Sports Therapy Clinic are staying in the same place upstairs and for the time being you will still be able to access these via the same shop entrance at 58 Cadzow Street.

This area will be undergoing a bit of an overhaul over the next few weeks and the team will be joined by more Physiotherapists & Podiatrists.

For more information see the following website;


Bike Fitting
Despite the closure of the shop downstairs, Colin will continue to operate the Retul 3D Bike Fitting Studio upstairs until the end of September. 

Any bike fits booked by the end of August will be 20% off (£140.00). Bike fits booked in September will be 15% off (£148.75).

We continue to be the only place in Scotland & the North of England that does Retul Bike Fitting. There is nothing else like it and we have yet to find anyone who hasn’t benefitted from it so don't miss out.

To book or inquire about Bike Fits please email us on


More details about Retul Bike Fitting can be found on the website;


ATHelite Triathlon & Running Club
We are definitely going to miss all our Club peeps. We have spent ALOT of time with you lot over the years and we have seen some incredible transformations & performances from all of you on some level. This is what we are passionate about & all you guys have done us proud.

The handover of the club has been ongoing for a few weeks & we feel we have left the Club in very capable hands. Please be aware that everyone is in a new position so be patient as the club finds it’s feet again. If it wasn’t for these people stepping up then you would not have a club so you owe them!!

You will find more details about the club here on the Blog and also on its new designated ATHelite Triathlon Club Facebook page;


And finally;

Thank you so much to everyone we have come in to contact with over the last few years.
We have had a blast.

HAPPY TRAINING and RACE STRONG!!!!

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Gullane Beach Triathlon - Race Report & PRESIDENTS NOTES


I've raced Gullane Beach Triathlon a couple of times before, in 2009 (Check Gullane Triathlon 2009 on Youtube to see why they cut the swim short) and in 2010. It's a great race with a beach start where all the senior men ran into the water at 9.00 am.
I had checked the weather report the day before and it looked like it would stay dry if windy. The organisers had issued a warning during the week about there being stinging Weever fish buried in the sand that had bitten someone in the previous week, not an exciting proposition. They also mentioned this in the race briefing and that if you get stung by them your race is over because of the pain. Apparently there are sometimes jelly fish too but to be honest in the times I've trained and raced there I've never even seen one let alone be stung.
So I had got everything ready the night before, even had a gentle swim with the club at Loch Lomond as I hadn't open water swam in a couple of weeks. I hung my wetsuit up to dry, packed my kit and headed off to bed knowing that it was just a matter of getting up at 5.30am and throwing everything in the car.
Some breakfast and I was in the car heading through by 6.10 as Gullane was roughly 90 minutes away and registration was 7-8. Why is triathlon always so early??
I managed to get to Gullane by 7.15, registered, was body marked and set up my transition area before the race briefing. This is pretty much a miracle for me as I'm usually running around trying to get everything ready. So I was feeling pretty smug as I headed to my car to put on my wetsuit. As soon as I got to the car I remembered I hadn't taken my wetsuit off the hanger, it was still at home!!! I spoke to a firefighter triathlete I know and then to the organisers at which point a race marshall (Gavin) who's role was to stand in the water looking after swimmers offered me his wetsuit. It was a little baggy but I'd have taken anything at that moment. Cheers Gavin!
I had a little dip before the start, they had said it was 13 degrees but it felt baltic and the water seeped into all the spaces inside the wetsuit. Besides feeling like I was swimming in my pyjamas, the start of the swim was awful. The water was very choppy, people seemed more violent than usual, I still have a sore jaw from one elbow and salt water swimming is very different to our tranquil loch on a Friday night. I checked my watch throughout the swim as I had been hoping to exit the water in around 29 minutes but I was a lot closer to 34. 4 minutes longer than 2 years ago. Could've been the wetsuit, could've been the conditions and apparently one of the buoys had been moved too. Your swim time for Gullane includes a 2 minute run up a hill to transition from the beach. So it was 36 minutes before I got near the bike. It was pretty easy to get the baggy wetsuit off though I still ended up sitting on my arse getting it off and bike shoes on. I had tried a bike attached to pedals at Gullane start before but it ended in disaster, having to stop the bike, tear off my shoes and put them on properly, so this time I took the easy option.
Once on the bike I knew I had been cycling pretty strong this season with lots of solid training. I had one aim to keep my av. speed as close to 20mph as possible. It was straight into a headwind and I was soon catching people who hadn't swam in their pyjamas. There is one main climb in the Gullane course which isn't too steep but lasts a while around 5 miles in. I tried to keep my cadence up and thoroughly enjoyed the bike. It stayed pretty windy but the sun even came out at a couple of points. They had shortened the course from 42km to 38km because of roadworks and as I headed up the final drag, through the headwind back into Gullane I was reasonably happy to see my av. speed was 19.6 as I was coming off the bike. My bike time was 1:06 and t2 was 0:36.
The run for Gullane is tough. Within 200 yards of transition you're heading up an off road hill, trying to catch your breath and get into your running form. Not easy. It then takes you through a couple of streets along by the beach and up another killer off road hill beside the golf course. I had walked this hill on previous years as do most people but I just set myself the goal of tiny strides but a fast cadence, using my arms to propel me up. I managed up to the top and then through the mud and grass and heading back beside the transition area where there was a water stop and a flat out and back finished the first lap. Dawn had given me some sort of rocket fueled gel that I decided to try on this run. It was unbelievably gloopy but I took small sips and stuck it in the side pocket of my tri top. I took a little water at the water stops to wash it down and continued that way through the second lap of the 10k.
I felt pretty strong on the 2nd lap of the run and great on the last out and back. I even managed to keep running the hills with my arms swinging furiously.
The last time I had run Gullane my 10k had been 49 minutes so I was pretty pleased to come in on 47 minutes for the run this time.
Overall a time of 2 hours and 32 minutes. Happy days. Roughly 20 minutes faster than 2 years ago though the bike today was a little shorter, but 2 years ago I hadn't been swimming in my pyjamas.

A Few Words on ATHelite Triathlon Club

Hopefully we'll be able to continue the great work and dedication that Colin and Gen have put in over the past few years. We should be able to see over the next few months how and if that works, but it seems that there is plenty of enthusiasm and willingness from tonights meeting. If everyone manages to put in a little and works together I'm sure we'll be fine.
I had a couple of thoughts while I was driving on my way to work. I spoke to Gen about this and I think it would be good to have a monthly training/social/instructive event. The Sunday long runs don't seem to be happening at the moment so we could have them one Sunday morning each month.
In August a number of us will be up at Aberfeldy.
I thought we could organise another Arran trip for the 30th of September before the weather gets too rough. I'll put up details on an events page on Facebook.
In October if Michael M and Gareth J (and others who are bike savvy) were available we could have an emergency bike maintenance day, we would just need to find a venue and date for this.
In November (the 18th provisionally) I am happy to run a Yoga workshop maybe with another teacher (or John Young?) to help out too. Again this would need a venue.
In December if people were willing, I could possibly speak to the main Chi Running instructor for the North of England and Scotland and we could have a short running form workshop. This may involve a charge but we would only need a park as a venue. He runs a full day course that I've attended that I would recommend.
We also need to organise a Christmas night out. If anyone (Shirley?) wants to take on the role of organising a venue and date for this that would be great.
Each of these days would give us a chance to do something constructive, hang out and eat together.
Warm regards,
Mark.