Better late than Never

Entering the finishing shoot Ironman 70.3 Eagleman 2016

Busy seems to be the theme of my life, as it is for many others.  "I at least got in 30 min of that 60 min run today", is not unusual to hear from me.  Since I've returned home from Ironman 70.3 Eagleman two and one half weeks ago it's been non-stop.  Business meetings, presentations, kids activities and school year end, it's just now that I am sitting down to write my race report on Eagleman. Better late than never, right.   I had written down each section of the race and what happened with in it, then changed my mind.  Instead here are my Top 10 experiences from the event.  

Eagleman Top 10 List

Cody Beals

10. The highlight of the awards ceremony was Canadian Pro Triathlete, Cody Beals.  He won the event overall.  He was asked to say a few words about his race.  He didn't speak about "his" race; he was humble and articulate. He spoke about the race itself. The people watching, the volunteers, the organisers.  He had a way of commanding the stage and endearing the crowd to him.  I'm proud to say Cody is representing Canada.  He is a great ambassador for triathlon in this country.

9. While racking my bike in the Silver All World Athlete area (which is really cool) I met two amazing ladies from the Betty Designs Team.  Both were incredibly talented triathletes and both were kind, supportive and encouraging women.  After the race they both came over and congratulated me. I'm hoping to see them both again at another race this year.  What I'm learning is the triathlete community is an amazing and positive group to be
part of.

8.  The Volunteers! It's 4:45 am.  Most people are still asleep.  The volunteers at the Ironman event were lined up at the entrance of transisiton cheering for every athlete coming in to prep their bikes for the event.  They set the tone for the day.  They helped all of us to make it through the sweltering heat of this race and remain upright and positive.  Thank you.

Finish line

7. Coming across the finish line thinking that I'd come in 2nd place for my age group and learning that I actually won!  Then finding out that I did a best time and actually placed 6th overall for women.

6.  Watching other athletes in the race persevere after having bike crashes.  I rode by one gentleman who had blood pouring down his arm. He was riding on and determined to make it to the end of this event.  Another man I saw come into the finish of his race, he had fallen from his bike, he had blood and gravel all in his face! He continued on the bike and finished the 21.1km run.  The perseverance and determination is beyond inspiring.

5. The drive to Eagleman.  Yes the drive.  My friend Christina and I drove together.  We left on Wednesday night and stopped in to visit my dad in the Fingerlakes.  We stayed the night there and after a short morning run and a nice breakfast continued our trek to Maryland.  We never turned  on the car radio.  We talked to whole trip!  Coach Lee and Natalie met us along the way and we were able to stop for lunch and socialize.  It truly was a great road trip to Maryland (and back).

Front: Natalie, Cindy, Diana
Back: Kevin, Bernard, Sheila,
Lee, Christina

4. Going to this race with the team.   There were 8 of us from Tri-Hart that competed at Eagleman.  We all stayed in the same hotel.  We went out for lunch and dinner together, and did our race prep together.  It was a lot of fun.  There is an amazing energy that is created when the team is together.  It really helps boost the morale and keep the nerves in check.

3. Tri-Hart placed 2nd overall for Team Division V! Three of our team mates were the fastest out of the water for their perspective age groups!  Yes, we have a large swimmer contingent on our team.

Coach Lee, Bernard, Sheila, Kevin

2. Watching my teammates perform their bests at the event! It was a hot day, to say the least.  If you read any of the race reports or the forums about Eagleman, that is the one common thread you will see in every commentary.  Although there were many athletes that dropped out due to the heat, everyone of our team finished the race and finished well!  We all could pick each other out on the course in our new team gear and cheer each other forward and keep each other going.  There is no underestimating the power of TEAM.

1. That every time I race I go out thinking I'm going to do my best and whatever happens happens.  That I was satisfied thinking I'd placed 2nd and surprised and elated to learn I was 1st.  I am grateful for the ability that I've been given, the opportunity to try my hand at this sport, and the support I receive from my family, friends, teammates, and coach.  My win is really our win.

Leaderboard results from Eagleman.

Next up?  

Ironman Mont Tremblant.  And yes, I am terrified.

That Girl

Me and my 3 girls

Who hasn't looked around the room and seen "that" girl. You know the one I'm talking about.  She comes across cute, bubbly, nice looking, fit, great career, attractive spouse, she's had 3 kids, and to you looks like she couldn't possibly have eaten anything in her life but carrots and celery, yet comes to the soccer potluck with a delicious, homemade, cheesecake and eats 2 pieces. On facebook and instagram she posts pictures of what looks like a perfect life, with the odd funny mishap that happens along the way, just to show that perhaps she is a little fallible.  You look around at the mess in your house, the inablilty to find time to get to the gym, the marker all over your kids face before they have to run out the door to catch the bus for school and wonder why you can't be like "that girl"! You hate her and want to be her all at the same time. 

Let me reassure you, you don't really want to be her;  "that" girl's life is not as rosy as you may think.  Just like you, she has struggled with her post baby weight, fights with herself to not eat the extra cookies when packing the kids' lunches, and sacrifices certain pleasures so that she can be in the shape she wants to be in. She throws laundry in at 4:30am before workout and switches it over at 6:30am when she gets back so the kids have something to wear to school.  She works hard to be as fit as she is; gets up early and goes to bed late. She fights through injury and exhaustion;   if she can get a minimum of 5-6 hours sleep per night that's enough to make her happy.  Every few weeks or so she crashes and then she cries when the number of tasks she has on her plate become too overwhelming and she feels that she is failing everyone around her when she can't fit it all in.  "That" girl, wants to help everyone and when she can't solve the problems of others, she blames herself.  She struggles with balancing her own goals with the needs of her children, husband, and those she has around her.  She takes on the extra projects at work, and has a hard time saying NO, when sometimes she really would just like to have a bottle of wine, half a chocolate cake and watch 3 movies on the couch in her pjamas.  

Although she is grateful for all of what she has, and accomplishes, it is stressful.  She wakes before 4am most days to get started so she can fit in work, life, kids, etc.   She forgoes the wine and almost never watches TV.  But that doesn't mean her life is terrible, she has much to be grateful for. She also possesses many good time management strategies that she puts in place. The pressure, she puts that onto herself.  Take the good qualities and attributes you like of "that" girl and see how you can start to integrate some of  those positive

My Kitchen Counter at times....like every day!

attributes into your daily routine.

When you are looking at her and saying "look at "that" girl,"  what I've recently discovered is someone else is saying that about YOU!  So what can we do to bring our life into balance? Where are you willing to make some additional sacrifices and be a bit uncomfortable to make time for what you truly want?  

Here's a few ideas to get you started:

1. You can start by looking at your calendar and saying "where will I schedule in 30 min of exercise 3-5 days per week"?  It may mean you wake up at 5:30 am to do it.  You will feel better about your day if you start it with something positive, like exercise.

2. Everyone has a different body, a different internal drive, and a different goal.  Maybe you don't want to win a race or win the Miss Fitness crown, perhaps your goal is to accomplish finishing a 5k, fitting into your favourite dress from 2 years ago, or having more energy throughout the day.  Your fitness regimen will be different from hers, allow for a more balanced life approach that still allows you to reach your  goal and rock that sexy dress. 

3.  Learn to be okay with who you are.  It's okay for your kid to have marker on their face and cake in their hair, for the room to be a bit dusty and dishes to be on the countertop.  Sometimes this has to happen for you to have time to fit in something you want.

4. Everyone has to work at change;  make time for yourself to get fit, race a swim meet,  or take a cooking class, whatever it is that is your personal goal. 

Remember, you are "that" girl to someone else.  Be a role model, do what you can, and remember, just as you do, "that" girl struggles with the everyday too.

Around the Bay Road Race - A Great Addition to Anyone's Race Schedule.

2016 Around the Bay 30km Road Race Start

The Around the Bay is an iconic race. This year there were 6000 runners in the 30km. It's an odd distance, too long to run it like a half marathon and too short to pace it as a full marathon (or so I've read).  It's biggest claim to fame is that it is the oldest road race in North America, even older than the Boston Marathon.  This year was the event's 122nd anniversary.  Listening to others speak about the race, who have done it many times, I would have to say there are a few other things that give this race it's charm.

1.  The Weather:  You never know what you will get.  It could be warm and sunny or freezing cold and damp.   You may be running in your long johns or your tank top.  Actually, who am I kidding, from what I've witnessed the last two years, it could be -10 degrees Celsius and there will  still be a number of people running in shorts and a tank top.

2.  The Hills:  The first 20km are deceiving; there are a few hills while running over the overpasses on Burlington Street, but nothing too crazy until the last 10km.  At this point it feels like the hills never end!  They are rolling hills, but far from easy.

3.  The People:  The many volunteers are well organized and friendly keeping the race moving and the runners safe. All along the 30km course their are numerous supporters of the race and the runners participating in it.  They are out with pots and pans, music, and additional aide stations for the athletes.  Then there is the Grim Reaper, waiting with 3 km to go to the finish, telling you how awful you look and there's no need for you to keep going. What race is complete without the Grim Reaper, right?

 So how did I fair at the race? Here's the recap:

This is the second time I've run the Bay, last year being the first.   My coach, Lee Hart, put out an aggressive goal for me to target.  However, knowing my personality, he also provided me with a time range that he'd consider really good.  The range was under 2 hrs - 2 hrs 8 min.  Last year my chip time was 2:16.36. 

Me and my teammates
running the first 9 km
together.

The first 9km down Burlington street was deceptively warm.  I ran this section with three of my team mates.  We watched people throwing off their mittens, hats, and extra shirts along the side of the road.  I only took off my first layer of mittens, but held them close to my chest.  With having Raynaud's Syndrome, keeping my mittens can feel like a life saver.
At the 9.5km mark I said good-bye to my running partners and scooted around the exit ramp off Burlington Street and right into the freezing cold wind. I was betting that for the next 20km there were a lot of people wishing they could get their clothing back!

Running up the first long hill on North Shore

My team mates told me at this point they could see I had 5 men on my tail and I was pulling them through the wind.  The next group of runners was about 30m in front of me and I desperately wanted to get to them so I could tuck in and take a bit of a breather from the wind and the chill.  It seemed to take forever.  While running along the lake shore I was amazed and inspired by all the spectators and cheerleaders on the side of the road.  They really are so supportive and keep the runners morale on the positive side of things, even 15km into the race. I'm one of the runners that waved, gave thumbs up, and thanked them for their support.  It really was nice.

Thank you for helping me up those hills! Your encouragement
was truly appreciated!

 I also want to give a shout out to the two guys that provided me with positive reinforcement while struggling up those North Shore hills.  Thank you!  And at 21km, I was surprised to hear a GO SHEILA! It was from my friend Mark Miller who had come out to watch the Bay.  There is nothing better than a shout of encouragement when your legs want to quit.

GOLD!!!

Finally the last 5km.  It's flat, thank goodness, however the damage had been done.  I was concentrating on form as best I could to will myself to the First Ontario Centre, which by the way, you can see from a couple kilometres out of the finish line, and it never seems to get any closer!  

Somehow it did arrive, and one of the great parts of this event is you get to finish inside the Coliseum.  The announcer is there calling out your name, where you are from and the volunteers are there making sure you are okay and handing you your Gold, Silver or Bronze finisher medal.  

Team Tri-Hart, Around the Bay 2016
Kevin, Bernard, Thomas, Me, Mark, Natalie
 (missing, Coach Lee, and Diana)

My final Chip time was 2:03.25, and I finished 10th woman overall;  a big improvement from last years 80th.  I also made it in the top end of my coaches range and earned a Gold Medal time at the Bay!  This looks positive for the upcoming Triathlon season. My teammates finished not far behind and we all went up to watch the rest of our crew and the 6000 other inspiring runners out there completing The Around the Bay race on a very cold and windy, yet sunny Sunday morning.
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As an addition to this post, a week after the race I recieved a surprise cheque in the mail for $100!  I won 3rd place Masters athlete 40+ and I didn't realize there was a prize for that.  This was an awesome event and I definitely recommend it for your list of races to do. 

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