Meet Merle…
BODYTEC Lynnwood studio owner, Merle Rautenbach, on how she fell in love with triathlons.
It was a visit to our BODYTEC Faerie Glen studio that got Merle hooked on EMS training, she confesses. “I trained with them for four months and I was so impressed I wanted to share the experience with others. We opened the Lynnwood studio in Willoway Centre in March 2016,” she says.
Merle is a chartered accountant who enjoys endurance racing, cycling, running and swimming, she says. A friend convinced her to enter the Durban 70.3 Ironman in 2015 and she was thrilled to be able to participate in all three of her sporting passions at once. Her love of triathlons was born. She’s also taken on other challenges. Whilst running the Comrades Marathon was tough, she says, the Wine2Whales Mountain Bike race was equally challenging and she is proud to have conquered both. “I partnered up for both with my husband and luckily our marriage survived the races!” says Merle, who is training for her first full ironman triathlon in Barcelona in September.
She credits EMS training with BODYTEC for her improved strength that has enabled her swimming and running times to improve. “I do not have a lot of time to spend on strength training because of all the cardio requirements and a hectic schedule – so BODYTEC fits perfectly into my training regime,” she says. It’s also a way to exercise when winter’s elements are against you, although Merle says she loves running the roads of Pretoria when it’s warm enough to. Merle says there is a runner inside everyone waiting to get out. “If you are keen to get started, just start! Enter events with relatively short distances and build from there. Even better, get a friend to run with you. This helps with discipline and is more fun!”
Merle is the studio owner of BODYTEC Lynnwood
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