Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Pace Theory is run by co-founders and head coaches Sami Merhi and Seth O'Donnell, based in Melbourne, Victoria.

Privacy contact: sami@pacetheory.com. Write to us there about anything in this policy.

2. The rules we follow

We collect health information (injuries, heart rate, training load, how you're feeling), so we treat ourselves as covered by the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles, whatever our size. Health information you give us in Victoria may also be covered by the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic).

3. What we collect

• Identity and contact details: name, email, phone, age or date of birth, location and time zone.
• Health and training information: injury history and current niggles, heart rate, HRV, GPS and pace data, session notes and comments, race results and PBs. This is sensitive information, and we only collect it with your consent.
• Payment details: payments are processed by Stripe. Stripe holds your card details; we never see or store them.
• Messages: WhatsApp, email (including through Kit), Calendly bookings and Instagram or ManyChat messages.
• Call recordings: coaching and intake calls on Zoom or Google Meet may be recorded and transcribed by note-taking tools (Loom, Gemini), with transcripts stored in Google Drive. We tell you before we record.

4. How we collect it

• Our application and intake forms (Google Forms).
• Final Surge, our training platform, which syncs from your Garmin, Coros or Strava account if you connect it.
• WhatsApp, email, Calendly and Instagram or ManyChat when you contact us.
• Calls with us.

5. Why we use it

• To build, run and adjust your training program around your week, your history and your goals.
• To keep an eye on your training load and injury risk.
• To communicate with you, take payment and manage your coaching.
• To improve how we coach, using data and notes in a way that doesn't identify you.

6. AI tools

We use AI tools, including Claude, to help analyse training data and draft parts of your program and messages. A coach reviews and approves everything before it reaches you. AI is never used to diagnose a medical condition. You can ask us not to use AI tools with your information, and we'll coach you without them.

7. Who we share it with

We never sell your personal information. We share it only with the services we use to run your coaching, and only what each one needs:

• Final Surge (training platform)
• Stripe (payments)
• Google Workspace: Gmail, Google Drive, Google Forms, Google Meet and Gemini
• Zoom and Loom (calls and call notes)
• WhatsApp (messages)
• Calendly (bookings)
• Kit (email)
• Instagram and ManyChat (messages)
• Anthropic, through Claude (AI assistance, see above)

8. Overseas storage and athletes

Several of these services store information on servers outside Australia, including in the United States. We coach some athletes who live overseas. If you're in the European Union, you can ask us to delete your information and we'll do so, along with the copies held by the services above where we can.

9. Junior athletes

For athletes under 18, a parent or guardian gives consent and is our privacy contact for that athlete. We ask for a parent or guardian's consent again before we share any junior's results publicly or message a junior directly.

10. How long we keep it

We keep your information for about 7 years after your coaching ends, then delete it.

11. Access, correction and deletion

You can ask to see the information we hold about you, have it corrected, or have it deleted. We'll respond within 30 days.

12. Complaints

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, please tell us first at sami@pacetheory.com and we'll try to put it right. If you're still not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.

13. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top and let current athletes know.