#whywerun - Mitch Baker

We recently had the pleasure of chatting to Mitch Baker ( @iambeagle_ ) or as some know him,“Beagle”. It didn’t take long to realise this man is not afraid of some hard work to achieve his goals, but still maintains the lifestyle balance we all hope for. When he isn’t training the house down he is growing his business as a Massage Therapist. A man of many talents as you’ll read below…

“I am 29 years old and have lived in Brisbane for 2 and a half years after growing up in Sydney. I compete in triathlons with a main focus on the Ironman distance. 

I grew up playing team sports my whole life but i knew my talent wasn't going to let me represent my country in any of my loved sports. Long story short I wanted to test out my passion for running and took up triathlons. I had watched triathlons my whole life and knew that it wasn't how much talent you had but how much grit, determination and commitment you put in was how you would improve and succeed. In 4 years I have come a long way, where I have been able to qualify and compete at the World Ironman Champs in Kona Hawaii this past October. I was helped by a lot of people but mostly thanks to my coach and training partners from Swift Multisport. 

So here is my Why! Triathlons, but in particular running is one of the hardest things to master and one of the main reasons I love it. Literally running hurts 90% of the year but when you have put in the work there’s those couple of days a year when running feels easy. To me there is no better feeling. Whether it’s crossing a finish line or in the middle of a hard track session, that feeling of actually being light on your feet and being able to push harder is unreal. For me to get to that stage it takes so much hard work including eating right, being consistent and know when to push but also knowing when to back off and recover right! My next goal will be to qualify for Hawaii Ironman next year at Port Macquarie in May and hopefully I’ll have one of these special days on the run. With a swim and ride first it always makes the run much harder so it’s definitely a challenge I love at the moment.

A perfect run for me would be starting the run in the dark early in the morning than seeing the sunrise over the coastline. Being able to jump in the ocean after my run would simply top it off.”

Couldn’t agree more mate. It’s the simple things. Can’t wait to see you take on Kona again next year and reap the rewards of your hard work!

#whywerun #infinitepossibilities