IM Cozumel Race Report

Before i start my report, let me just say that Cozumel is one of the coolest places i have ever been. And the whole island came out to cheer us on. It is a really special Ironman. I could go on about the place, but this is a race report, not a travel guide and I suspect the report itself will be long enough!

I have a lot to say about this race, about doing 2 Ironman races 7 days apart, what i did in between and what i learned about myself and my sport. I thought i would start with the race itself.

I arrived in Cozumel on Friday afternoon, a bit late in the week compared to my norm, but in time to register and get settled. The legendary Ben Cotter (a fellow pro from Victoria) had hooked us up with amazing accomodations right by the finish line. We each had a rooftop bedroom overlooking the water. The rooms were simple and "mexico" all-over, but they were 1/3 the price of the regular hotel rooms below.

Saturday I got myself aquainted with the swim course, walked through the transition areas, did a quick interview with TSN and generally felt ready to go. I was feeling recovered and very relaxed. My legs weren't as fresh as they had been the previous Saturday, but they weren't too bad either.

Race morning came and I was so relaxed i almost fell asleep in the taxi on the way to the start. But by the time i set up my bike and waited in line for the porta-potties, i had built up plenty of nerves. As I stood with the other pros in the starting area I realized that this was the first time in long time that i really didn't know if i was going to be able to complete the task I had set for myself. And to be clear, the task was as follows;

To compete at 2 Ironman races in 8 days. Note the word compete. I was not there to complete the race, but to compete in it. I was not looking for a 12h finish, i wanted to race. And i have to say, it felt really good to step into the unknown. It felt good to be in that grey area where i knew i was going to be tested physically and mentally. This was the challenge i was looking for and I knew i would get it.

We got in the water for a quick warm and then we were off. Almost immediately, I got dropped by the first pack. I was swimming ok, but just didnt have the sharpness required for the sprint off the line. This didnt really phase me, i just got into my groove and trusted my own swim ability. It quickly became apparent that i was one of the better swimmers in the group I was with, so i made my way to the front and started to chase a small group that was about 100m infront of us.

The swim in Cozumel is non-wetsuit and the water is as clear as you can imagine. You can see every ripple of sand of the ocean floor. Its beautiful. Even though i led the pack most of the way, I came out of the water feeling good.

On the first lap of the bike I felt great. My legs felt strong and fresh. I overtook a couple girls without much effort and started to get excited about how well the day was going. On Thursday before the race, I had a last-minute tune-up with Bob from Sportexcel via Skype. Bob told me that when we feel fatigue or pain, our vision starts to narrow and darken. So everytime i felt myself going into "the cave", I would consciously expand my vision by focusing on the periphery and "brightening" my field of vision. This really worked!! It kept me in the moment and time was just flying by.

At some point during the second lap, I started to feel really uncomfortable on by bike. My shoulders were hurting, my butt was sore, and worst of all, lots of age groupers were blowing by me. I started to get the impression that i was losing ground. The course in Cozumel is 3 loops, bone flat and windy as heck. By the third lap i knew i was really slowing down and had become incredibly uncomfortable. I kept trying to pull myself out of the cave, but it was a battle now. It was also very hot by this point in the day. A number of women passed me on the 3rd lap.
In 19 Ironman races, I can honestly say that i have never been so happy to see T2. The time on the clock said 6.38 which was exactly 30mins slower than i had entered T2 the week before. Feeling lightheaded, discouraged, hot and grumpy, I entered T2 and really had no choice but to take my time. Some cute, 12-year-old Mexican girls lathered me with suncream as I gathered myself and tried to face the marathon. The thing that actually got me out of my funk was a fellow pro woman who was in T2 at the same time as i was. She was cramping up and being carried away on a stretcher. It was a good reminder that things could be a whole lot worse. Her pain became my gain (Ben called this side of me "cold Sara"... I secretly like her).

So out i went onto the run course. At this point, I was reassessing my goals. I came into the race looking for a top 5 finish, but at this point i thought I would be happy just to finish under 10 hours. So, with this new mindset, I set out. At first, all i could do was jog.

I jogged out the first lap and the heat and wind continued. I don't think i mentioned, but Cozumel has a similar climate to Hawaii, but with more humidity. Oh, and windier. I usually hold off on drinking Coke until halfway through the marathon, but the way things were going i thought, screw that, I need it now. So, at about mile 9 I took my first sip of coke and it might as well have been cocaine. It was ice cold, still fizzy and absolutely awesome. Sometime, not long after this, the clouds rolled in offering some much-needed respite from the heat. I continued to take Coke at almost every aid station and life got a whole lot better. Then the skies opened and torrential rain poured about as much as rain can pour during hurricane season on a small island off the coast of Mexico. And not long after it started, a section of the run course flooded and we were all wading through knee-deep water. Other parts just turned into big puddles. It was actually kind of funny.

I spent most of the run thinking I was out of the money placings and was just trucking along trying to get my sub-10h finish. The route was 3 out-and-back loops and I hadnt bothered to count the number of women infront of me. As i started the third loop, I was really starting to come around. Marino Vanhoenacker was standing by the side of the road, looked at me and said, You are in 8th and you look good. 8th? Really? I was pleasantly surprised to learn that i was that far up the field. And so i ran faster. The last loop of the run was definitely the best part of my day. I was feeling human again and really running. I overtook 2 more women and ended up just one spot shy of my goal of Top 5. I got a little choked up in the finishing chute as i allowed myself to remember that i had done 2 Ironman races 2 weekends in a row and was about to finish the 2nd one. 9 hours and 56 minutes.

It was an interesting experiment and I look forward to expounding on what i learned. I will save that for another day.

I wont repeat my list of thank yous since you can find them below in last week's race report, but i will say this: Thank you to everyone who supported me the last few weeks in big ways and small ways. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me on email, Facebook and Twitter. I appreciate you all.

Sara



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Ironman Arizona and Stuff

I knew i was fairly fit going into this Ironman and coming out the other side I feel that my 9.18 finish is about right. I ran a 3.07, a PB for me (my previous best was 3.10) and I swam and rode solidly. The only time I've gone faster was in IM Western Autralia in 2006, which was not only a long time ago, but also pre-baby. The course in Arizona is a bit more challenging than WA, so 9.18 is pretty darn close to my best race ever. And i finished 8th. 8th. Yes, you read that correctly, 8th. The last girl to get a paycheck that day. It reminds me of the time I broke the course record at Ironman Florida, but unfortunately, so did 6 other women infront of me that day. Sigh. So I am content with my performance but the fire in my belly has also been stoked.

As for the race itself. I felt good in the morning when i woke up. I had been sleeping well in the week leading up to the race, so i was healthy and strong. I had virtually no warm up for the swim, but felt confident. I got in with a good group and was swimming well, at the right intensity. After the turn around at about the 2k-mark, the guy infront of me fell off the group and a gap opened up. I was lucky enough to be right there and see what had happened. I put in a hard effort for about 200m, swam around him and got back on the pack. Phew!! I was not surprised to learn i had swum a low-54. Thats what it felt like.

I left transition pretty quickly and felt good starting the bike. It always bodes well if the first few kms on the bike feel strong. Then i know i am in for a good day. The 3-lap, out-and-back bike course is well-paved and fast. There is a slight uphill grade going out and coming back is fast. There was some wind out there, so it was not without some challenges.

I was riding strong and girls just kept coming by me. The good news is that most of them weren't blowing by like i was standing still, but still A LOT of women passed me. The weird thing is, i was riding well. Going into the race, i expected to ride about 5.10 on a good day and i knew i was doing that. So many girls were riding under 5h out there! Its great to see, great for the sport and great for woman-kind in general, but WAIT UP GIRLS!!! It took me about 30mins post-race to start plotting how to improve my ride for 2012.

Starting the run, I saw Clint and knew he thought i was having a bad race because of the sheer number of women in front of me off the bike (i think i was in 17th or 18th then?). I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't feeling great about it (Clint would not do well in a game of poker). If i there had been time for a chat i would have explained that i was actually having a decent race and that i cant really control what everyone else is doing, but keep the faith. Its going well!!

Out on the run and I started at about 3h marathon pace, which i knew i was fit enough to hold. At mile 6, a salt tab exploded in my throat. I know, stupid right? It was the most painful bloody thing. It was like someone detonated a small bomb in my larinx. ouch. I walked and coughed and walked and coughed. White powder was blowing out of my mouth. Water just made it feel worse, but i knew i had to drink it!! Two women ran by me while i was having this little episode and just as the paramedics reached me, i came good and started jogging again and then running properly. My throat still hurts as i write this.

Once that nonsense was over, the rest of the run went by without a hitch. I felt strong and enjoyed striding my way past 10 or so women to finally grab that last paycheck and 8th place overall. HUGE kudos to the 7 fantastic ladies in front of me who continue to set the bar higher and higher! I love how fast the women are going these days. Special thanks to Linsey, Meredith and Amanda for their encouraging words post-race. They are classy girls and great competitors.

In October, when i was in Kona, I sent out an email to my support crew saying I wanted to do a training camp in Tucson and take Rosalee (my 11-month old daughter) with me. It sorta seemed crazy at the time, but I had a simple mantra in my head "lets make this happen," and so we did. That means that after all is said and done, there are a number of people without whom i couldn't have even raced and another group without whom I would not have raced as well as i did. Unfortunately, the $1000 paycheck is not enough to share, but if it was, a number of people would be worthy of a cut. Here is a short list (apologies to those who didnt make the list... I appreciate each and every one of you, I just dont want to bore my readers):

Shelley Thomson (without a "p")- Nanny, friend and swimming partner extraodinaire. There is no one kinder in this world.. at least not that i've met.

My Mom- My brave mother took the plunge and bought a condo in Tucson, allowed me and my crew to take over the place, babysat during some long training days and trips to Mt. Lemmon. Thanks Grandma D.

Rachel Kiers- This girl was all things when required, training partner, babysitter, chef, laundry folder, cheerleader, smoothie-maker, the list could go on forever. I have never known anyone who can figure out how to read the needs of others and help them more than Rachel. And husband Mike is not far behind. Thank you. Thank you.

Marilyn and Chris McDonald- Now here is a fabulous couple. So generous in every way, they helped myself and Clint dozens of times over the last few weeks. I am lucky to know them.

Angela Naeth- Angela showed me where to ride, and put up with me knocking on her door with a sheepish face saying "Can i borrow this? Can i borrow that?". Much appreciated.

Bill Kruse- Massage therapist to pretty much every pro in Tucson. Bill will talk your ear off about everything under the sun and you leave feeling not only physically good, but having learned a thing or two as well.

The Husband- My dear Clinton always makes sacrifices for me so that i can race to my potential and for that I am extraordinarily thankful. Without him there would be no triathlon.

My Sponsors- Zoot, Rudy Project, The Trek Store (Victoria), Sportexcel and Altitudetech. Without their ongoing support i could not afford to chase my dreams.

Mercury Rising Triathlon- Thanks to the team for all the pre-race wishes and post-race kudos! Its great to share my tri-journey with such an enthusiastic group. Lets go flaming squids!!

And lastly, thank you for reading my report. I also love comments and questions.

Sara
 
Photos above courtesy of Zoot Sports.
Photos below courtesy of Rachel Kiers.
 

Rosalee and Grandma D.

 

Shelley and I after a swim workout

 
 

A view from a training ride on Mt Lemmon

 
 
 
 

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Subaru Ironman Canada Race Report

Ironman Canada 2011. I am not sure what to say really. I swam, i biked, I ran. It was a day.

I dont want to mince my words and i have made an effort to be honest and straight forward in this blog, to be "real", if you will. So let me say first that I was happy with my day. In 2009 i collapsed while running in 3rd, so it was better than that. Last year, i was pregnant, so i had to be patient. Earlier this year i DNFed at IM Brazil. But at Ironman Canada, i had the best day i was capable of and i ended up in 4th place, only 5mins shy of my best time on that course. Not bad really.

My day started out with a sub-par swim. It was ok, but not great. The intensity was lower than i am used to (even for IM!) but i couldnt seem to get going. The bike and the run followed suit... i said to Clint after that i knew i wasnt going to blow up because i couldnt go hard enough to be in danger of that! On the run, maybe the fact that i couldnt exert myself saved me from breaking down in the heat like so many did. Maybe.

How's this for consistency; I came out of the water in 4th place (all placings are amongst the pro women, since the age groupers are in an entirely different race in so many ways), had the 3rd fastest T1, 4th fastest bike, 5th in T2 and 3rd fastest run, finishing finally in 4th. These stats say as much about my day as anything. I was consistent. And strangely, I was by myself ALL DAY! I passed one girl on the bike and one girl passed me. Other than that, i was just out there, chugging away, doing my thing. Its almost funny to think about now.

Most women have a couple days a month when they wont perform as well as they would on the other 28 days. Ironman Canada fell on one of these days for me. I actually had no idea why i was so lackluster during the race until the next day!! Aha!! Since having Rosalee things have been a little topsy turvy when it comes to girlie bits and hormomes and such.

 

Anyway, I am not complaining. I am not saying "I would have gone faster if only..." I dont know that for sure. What i do know is that i look forward to more racing. 9 months ago i gave birth to my little girl and I am awfully pleased by how fit i managed to get over the last 7months or so!

Now for the thank yous, there are so many people to thank, but i dont want to bore you so i will keep it short. David McColm was out there with his camera and captured some great shots as you can see. I was delighted to see that ProCityCycle had set up a tent on Yellow Lake and Bill was even out on the run course giving me splits! Thursday before the race i visited the Zoot tent and got some sweet new kit. The new endurance 4" tri shorts are the most comfy shorts i have ever worn. And thanks to Bob Palmer from Sportexcel I have improved my ability to stay focused and perform at my best on race day.

Thanks to the Mercury Rising team who continue to be my inspiration. Thanks to Carrie, Shelley, Clint, Pearl, my mom and all the other people screaming there heads off out there! You guys are awesome.

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Francis the Conductor

When i was 19 years old I had a mentor called Francis. She was in her fifties, strong, independent and smart and I looked up to her.  She was married to my Master's thesis supervisor and I frequently looked to Fran for advice in those angst-filled years between childhood and adulthood - when i was trying to figure out who i was and what my place might be. As the years went by I didnt see Fran as much, but whenever i had a problem, my friend Meghan would ask me, "What would Fran say?" And so, over time, I developed my own "internal Fran", a kind of mind coach who would help me get perspective when making a decision.

Everything i've learned from Bob so far has been somewhat natural and intuitive. He doesn't throw crazy ideas at me that i find hard to understand or put into practice. Likewise, this past week he showed me how to create and use a mind coach, much like my internal Fran of past years. Its been many years since i've called upon internal Fran for advice and now Bob has helped me create a new version of her.

The new Fran goes way beyond the old one, to whom i would look for advice on the big, important questions like "Should i break up with that guy or not?" The new Fran knows all about all my activities, hopes and goals and helps me to transition from one role to another. For example, when i finish a training session, Fran can say, "Triathlete-Sara, your turn is over. Mom-Sara, you're up." And thus, i can move quickly from athlete to mom helping me to be present in each moment and each role and not miss a thing in my own life. This brings us back to my first Bob-blog when i talked about the Buddhist principle of mindfulness and being present in each moment of one's life.

If you are a triathlete, imagine your last race. Remember coming out of the water, going through transition and getting on your bike? How long did it take you, once you were on the bike, to shed your swimmer and become a cyclist? Did it take awhile to get your legs working and in the groove? How much time do you think you would save if you could transition faster from swimmer to biker? If the moment you pushed the pedals you were ready to rock the bike? 6 seconds perhaps?

The mind coach that Bob encouraged me to create can speed up the transition process by saying "Step aside swim-Sara, its bike-Sara's turn." Likewise, in day to day life, the coach can just nod at whatever part of you needs to be in action and voila! you are in it and ready to tackle the next challenge. The place where i have used my new Fran most effectively is with sleep-Sara. At bedtime when i lie down i think, "Step aside everyone, its sleep-Sara's turn".  Its amazing how such a simple concept can actually help me sleep with such great effect.

So here's what to do. Remember the 3rd perspective from a couple weeks ago? Create a mind-coach who can oversee all your activities and make sure that you are focused on the right thing at the right time. This will help ensure that you will meet your goals in all aspects of your life and also that you will enjoy each aspect more because you can be fully present in all roles at all times knowing that each aspect of your personality will have its time and its place in due course.  Because the conductor is turning the notes into beautiful music!

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Calgary 70.3 Race Report

The pro race started at 6.10am mountain time with the sun not yet over the horizon. Even on a beautiful summer's day, its still cold at 6.10am in Alberta! I kept warm by hiding in one of the race buses while i put my wetsuit on, then did a longer dry-land warm up than usual followed by a short warm up in the water. On the start line i was cold but ready to go. I tapered more for this race than my other races this summer and i felt ready to "unleash fury" as Clint would say.

 The swim was ok. I found myself in a small group of pro men who i later noticed were friends Trevor Wurtele and Kyle Marcotte. Thanks for the draft boys! I was the 2nd woman out of the water and was pleased with that even though i lost 1min 47s to Tenille. T1, however, was a gong show. I was so cold coming out of the water that i stumbled and fell right there on the boat ramp. I still wonder if the TSN guys caught that graceful moment?! And that was only the beginning! My hands wouldnt work, so i couldnt get my wetsuit off or put my sunglasses or bike shoes on! It was a bit of a comedy show. Check out the photo below... I clearly have no blood left in my face or hands. I recognize that it was the same for everyone, but it was pretty funny!

 

Out on the bike course I was all alone. Three pro men passed me and i didnt see anyone else until Mackenzie overtook me with 10k to go. I had a solid bike ride, made good use of the mental skills i have been learning from Bob and treated the solitude as good practice for Ironman Canada. I rode strong and solid and felt good about it. The only other mishap was that i punctured coming into T2. 37th street needs to be repaved! After such a smooth ride, it was a bit of a shock to have to deal with brutal road surface, especially riding on my rim!

Starting the run i was in 3rd place, almost 9mins (gulp!) down on Tenille and just a minute behind Mackenzie. I knew Mackenzie was a good runner, so i had to think tactically. I ran solidly but made sure i had a little in the tank. I approached her slowly from behind and as i passed, listened to her breathing and could tell she was working quite hard. I moved past her hoping that would force her to run at my pace instead of hers. I am not sure if it worked, but i do know she held strong and with 4k to go was still just 50m or so behind me. I tried to pick up the pace but had very little left at that point. As we approached the finish, i felt certain that second place was mine. Then i saw her. Tenille. Suffering. I rallied whatever energy i had left and ran harder. As we got closer to the finishline i started to sprint, but it was too little too late. She won by 6 seconds.

6 seconds. Yes, 6 seconds after 4.5 hours of racing. It really puts a little perspective on things. I sat down and wrote a list of all the times during the race that i could have saved 6 seconds. I came up with 10 times. That's 1 minute total. I've never looked at a race like that before, going over every single detail in my head, looking for 6 seconds here, 6 seconds there. It was an extremely valuable learning experience that i will take with me to future races. 

I want to note further that there was lots of talk about my close finish with Tenille, but that until about 100m to go, Mackenzie had also been running strong and pushed me all the way to the finishline. Also, Danelle Kabush, a mother of two herself, had the fastest run split of that day finishing 4th. These girls deserve much credit.

There are many many people to thank. My mom let me sleep on her floor all week. Her and my sister fed me every evening and got up early on race morning and cheered their heads off in the their matching "team gross" t-shirts! My sister's son Oliver (picture below) was also part of the cheering committee. My BFF Carrie and our Mercury Rising Team were out in full force. In the women's race we took 3 of the top 10 spots! Carrie is the best BFF a girl could ever ask for and she was smart enough to marry a guy with the skills to take beautiful photos like the ones shown. Thanks Kaz! Thanks to Zoot who have supported me for years and also ProCityCycles. Rob Hasegawa from Cedar Hill Sports Therapy has been keeping me injury-free for many months. His help is irreplaceable. My husband Clint and daughter Rosalee couldnt make the trip, but without them, none of this would be worth the trouble. Clint keeps me consistent in training (not to mention sane), and i couldnt be more grateful.

 

My post-pregnancy return to racing has been a great adventure so far and i look forward to more. If you want to watch my close finish with Tenille, the race will be aired on TSN on August 31st, time TBA, probably in the evening. 

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Changing Perspectives

 

This week I was in Calgary preparing for the Ironman 70.3 race and catching up with family and friends. Bob and I spoke early in the week which set me up to have a good “mental week” and as a result I was able to enjoy race week more than I usually do. I was able to feel the excitement of the upcoming race without my usual nerves and fears. 

 

In our meeting, Bob and I talked about perspective. We talked about the importance of being conscious about the perspective from which you see a situation. We also talked about how I can use perspective to my advantage by moving between mental “positions”.

 

Here’s what I mean; there are 3 basic mental positions that we tend to “think from” and usually we move between these unconsciously and often get stuck in one position. The first position is when you are seeing things through your own eyes, you have decided on an outcome for a situation and you will not be swayed by that. For example, you feel that you know the best route to a certain destination and no matter what anyone says, you are going to take that route. Second position is a position of empathy, when you hear someone else’s story or feelings and you feel them too. You start to see the world through their eyes. Third position is when you step back and see the situation from the outside, like a third party observer. This position is underused by most people, but can be very helpful. For example, imagine you are racing and someone passes you, what should you do? Try to keep up with them? Let them go? Overtake them again right away? This will depend on the circumstances. Take a moment to look at the situation from a third party perspective. It will be much easier to make a decision now. And, it takes the anger or frustration of being passed out of the equation and allows you to make the best decision for your race. 

 

The day before my meeting with Bob, something happened with a fellow competitor that got under my skin. It was nothing this person did on purpose, but it rattled my confidence. I felt negative about my ability to race well. I took a moment to think about the situation through my competitor’s eyes (position 2). Did she question my ability to race? The answer was no. Once I put myself in her shoes, I realized that she respected me as her competitor. And then I looked at the situation from 3^rd position. How does someone on the outside see us two girls as we stand beside each other. I realized that to the outsider, we look like two professional triathletes, each with strengths and weaknesses, ready to race. AHA!

 

In essence, by simply stepping out of myself and seeing things from another perspective, I recognized that my 1^st position perspective was quite inaccurate and was driven by fear and insecurity. By consciously guiding myself to see things from another perspective, I could quickly get out of my negative frame of mind and get back to a race-ready way of thinking. Taking control of where my mind was going quickly snapped me out of that dark place. This reminds me of something that happened at our recent training camp in Penticton. One of the girls at the camp saw herself as being under confident on the bike because of a bad crash she had a couple years earlier. Conversely, the rest of us saw her as being a very brave person for getting back on the bike and on the road so quickly after it happened. When we pointed that out to her, she quickly took the information on board and by the end of the evening was radiating confidence! I saw this girl recently in the pool and she was still glowing. It is simply amazing how quickly we can change our minds about things. 

 

Bob has taught me that our minds accept positive thinking very easily, and that steering ourselves in that direction can be simple and rewarding. Being aware of, and making use of various perspectives is just one way we can make this happen!

 

 Calgary 70.3 race report coming soon!

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Controlling the Rush

  In my most recent meeting with Bob we talked about adrenaline. He showed me a technique to help me "wire in" an adrenaline "hotspot" which allows me to access adrenaline when i need it for a training session or a race. Throughout the week, i looked for an opportunity to try out my new adrenaline "button" to see if it would really work, but i found that there was never really an appropriate time. In fact, what i learned is that i spend a fair bit of time controlling my adrenal responses. If anything, I am naturally over-excited and need to reel myself in in order to perform. This is something that i had never really reflected on before.  

I noticed that there were a number of times in training that my adrenal system kicked in;  at the start of any interval for example, whether in the pool, on the bike or running. Also, the exhileration of descending on the bike, or a near-miss with a pothole or a vehicle bring on an adrenal response. Group training situations tend to get me fired up more than training alone, which is a good reason to train with groups, but also a good reason not to sometimes. 

Further, i cant think about a race at bedtime or else I will get too excited and have to calm myself down. In fact, i found that throughout the week, i had to calm myself down from the excitement of upcoming races, even races that are weeks away. Every time i thought about testing out my adrenaline hotspot, i got a shot of adrenaline just thinking about thinking about it. I never knew i was such and adrenaline junkie! 

Reflecting on this has been eye-opening for me and made me realize that i need to harness my excitability if i am going to unleash it successfully on race day. They say that dogs immitate their owners, its no wonder my dog is so spastic! And my last dog was excitable too... 

In the process of wiring in my hotspot, Bob talked me through a wonderful exercise in which i had to think of 6 qualities that i possess that will help me win races. Then, i thought of each of them as i let adrenaline rush through my body and wow it sure made me feel excited and confident. The purpose of the exercise was to wire in the hotspot (which i still havent used!) but in this case i found the process itself was quite powerful. What a wonderful way to get excited about racing, to reinforce the idea that i possess all the skills required to reach my goals.  I highly recommend taking some time to get excited about your abilities and how things can play out on race day when you execute your master plan and finally get to show off your fitness!

Over the last couple weeks, i think Bob has been slightly taken aback by my focus on pain (I forget sometimes that we endurance athletes have an unusual relationship with pain). He told me to make sure I reward myself from time to time. It was a welcome reminder to step back and acknowledge the little accomplishments along the way. Thanks Bob!

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Pain, Perspective and the Past

During my last meeting with Bob we started with a long talk about pain. In previous sessions, Bob told me that when you are in the Zone, there is no pain and i did not question him until i really started to reflect on how i experience pain in training and racing. In fact, I often use pain as an indication that i am going hard enough in training. During some sessions, my specific purpose is make use of and acquire better skills for dealing with pain, so i am prepared for race day. AND, on a couple of occasions, I felt sure that i was feeling pain and also in the Zone. This sparked a long discussion between myself and my mental training mentor on the question of pain in the Zone.

We talked about good pain versus bad pain. Good pain being that nice burning you get in your legs or your lungs when you are working right on the rivet, in that place that tells you that you are doing your very best. Bad pain could be caused by injury or could be the outcome of losing the Zone and giving in to the negative voices that will inevitably fill your head when you lose focus.

A few things stuck with me after our discussion. Bob said, you need to shift your metaphors, reinterpret the wall, learn to love it and enjoy it. He talked about euphoric pain (it all sounded a little too S&M for my liking, but i knew what he meant!). As with so many things in life, it's all a matter of perspective.

From here our conversation shifted to the issue of fatigue. Bob told me that tiredness is natural, but fatigue is a learned behavior (Aha!). We used some visualization techniques to "clean up" the past and unlearn fatigue. I learned to brightened up the memories that were clouded with pain or fatigue so these experiences will stop effecting my current experiences. In the 2 weeks since our last meeting I have been using any down time i have to clean up all kinds of bad performances and experiences and change them in my mind to things that will make me stronger and better today.

In the last few minutes of our meeting Bob talked a little about how i look at my competitors. If you can see them, Bob said, they have already beat you.... ummm what? Of course i can see them, you just asked me to bring them to mind! Slowly but surely, I was able to see that my competitors need to blend together in my mind and not one of them should stand out as an individual, because the one who does is the one who will beat me. Bob helped me understand that i am the leader of my race and they are just pawns in my performance game.

As soon as i got off Skype, I tested Bob's theory by choosing the most competitive female in long course triathlon and trying to make her disappear. And poof! She was gone. As i've said to anyone who will listen since then, I made Chrissie Wellington into a girl i have never met! Of course, i know on a conscious level that Chrissie is a woman who has smashed records, won world titles and basically left a trail of destruction in every race she enters (amongst the men too!), but i was able to let go of all the emotional ties i had to her performances, including awe, fear and disbelief. Now Chrissie is just a girl i have never had the pleasure of meeting.

What i have taken with me since our last meeting is that i can clean up any past experiences, feelings or thoughts that are effecting my current reality by simply brightening the memory in my mind's eye and imagining myself in the Zone during that time. Something as simple as improving the weather during memories of fatigue has really changed my perspective on past and present. Times when i used to feel burdened with the weight of training tiredness have become brighter memories of times when i did the work required to succeed in my sport and i can bring all those miles with me into my next race and my next season. In this way any bad memory can be cleaned up whether you used to be fat, or in an abusive relationship or you once lived  life of crime. Its very freeing indeed.

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Subaru Vancouver International Half Iron

Rosalee, Clint and I traveled to Vancouver this weekend for the Subaru Vancouver International Half Iron. Clint was volunteering and I was doing a "relay".

I recovered from the Victoria Half Iron pretty quickly and after the race, we launched into two pretty tough training weeks, at the end of which i was planning to do a hard 90k bike as a relay. As the race got closer, i thought, it would be better training to do the swim and the bike. And then Clint added a transition run. And so, it emerged as a half ironman.

I was pretty relaxed going into the race because my expectations were low. My swim was strong, controlled and solid, i didnt want to go into the bike ride completely trashed! Starting the bike, my legs were pretty roughed up. I knew i could still manage a solid ride, but it would be more painful than usual. Sorry Bob, but i struggled to stay in the Zone. My thoughts were more like "F**k the Zone, this is bloody painful." It got better as time went on, I warmed up into it that's for sure.

Onto the run and it was the same story, i started out jogging for my "transition run" and in all honesty, couldn't manage much more. After the 7k mark, i started to feel better and loosen up a little. I overtook a couple girls and it looked like 2nd place was mine. This kept me going to the finish line. Huge kudos to Rachel McBride who was completely uncatchable out there!

Thankfully, a photographer friend, David McColm was there and took some great shots including the one of Rosalee above.

Thanks to everyone who supports me in small and big ways. I couldn't do it alone.

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My New Shoes

Last Monday, I left my meeting with Bob very excited indeed - not just about how the new ideas could help me, but about how they could help my athletes as well. Carrie can attest to this, as she had the misfortune of calling me right after and got an earful of what i learned!

So, while we covered lots of ground in our meeting, i will focus on the things that effected me most, my "aha moments" as Oprah would say. (Sorry Clint- i just mentioned Oprah in my blog.)

The first point that stuck with me is that all along i have been talking about "mental training" though the Zone is very much a physiological experience. So, in relation to my injury, I have been focusing on the injury, trying to imagine the healthy image of it that Bob helped me to create the week before. But Bob said, Don't focus on the injury, just focus on the Zone.... Aha! So, for the last week, while i've been crazy busy and in need of simplicity, this type of thinking sure fit the situation. In any given moment, if i realize i am not in the Zone, I just bring myself back. I do this by looking for physiological clues, like relaxed shoulders, good posture and a general feeling of centeredness.

Secondly, Bob and I did an exercise to help me work on my perceived weaknesses and learn from my fellow athletes. In short, i put myself in the shoes of people who already have the skills that i would like to possess. For me, one thing i would like to improve is my bike handling. So, I thought of 3 uber-bikers and then imagined myself stepping into their shoes. As i did the exercise, thoughts and images started to flood my mind, positive things about cycling. I felt strong and powerful, I felt excited about riding, as if i could own any bike course. I felt the exhilaration of riding fast and well. The best part about it was that, like last week, these thoughts came to me. I didnt have to conjure them up myself because i was trying to be positive. The positive thoughts just arrived in my head. Aha!

And so, once again this week, I feel like the missing pieces of my mental game are being found. We already know how important it is to think positively, and i know from my experience as a coach that people who are naturally positive improve faster. But if you are not naturally a positive person, this is hard to learn. Or if you have negative experiences about certain aspects of your sport or life, then it is hard to change your mindset, even if you want to. Many of the exercises that i have done with Bob help to accelerate the process of literally, changing my mind about something.

This is the revolutionary aspect of Bob's program. It helps you change your mind, and your physiology by using the Zone experience as the central focus of your everyday activities.

Some of you have been asking about how to get in touch with Bob. The series i am doing is called the Ignition Series and Bob and I meet every week for 6 weeks on Skype. Each week, i also receive follow up information by email that helps me to remember everything we covered in the session. Mercury Rising athletes receive a 10% discount. Also (this is the best bit), Bob offers a free session on Skype to anyone who is interested, so you can decide whether you would like to continue with the series or not. Obviously, I highly recommend it.

Bob's email is: bpalmer@bell.net

His website is: www.sportexcel.ca

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Part 2: Bobbing for Wisdom

During my first session with Bob we mostly talked about theory, what the Zone is, how to know if i am in it or not and how it can help me be a better athlete and coach. I really had a handle on what we were trying to accomplish, and in all honesty, felt like we were building on skills that i already possess. Now, after our second meeting, i am aware that i have a long way to go. New experiences and terminology were flying at me so fast that i am not completely sure that i really got my head around all of it!

Bob has a large toolbox filled with tricks to help change my unconscious mind and ultimately, always bring me back to the Zone. The first thing we did was an exercise called Fusion in which we integrated negative memories with positive ones, effectively taking a bad memory and making it good. Or, in Bob's terminology, we take a Zone experience and apply it to a no-Zone experience.

I was asked to think of a time when someone had effected me negatively so i chose an occasion on which someone had said something negative about me that made me feel bad. Then I thought of 3 times when i had good experiences with that same person. After that i was told to "fuse" the good and bad experiences and was amazed by what happened next. Almost immediately, my unconscious mind began to give me reasons why the person in question said the negative things that he did. I didn't have to try to understand him, i just did. Even more amazing was that the whole process was entirely unconscious. And over the last couple days, whenever the person in question comes to mind, i find myself feeling endeared to him, completely unable to feel hurt by what he said.

I have always been a believer in the power of the mind and my previous attempts to change how i think about something could be called "the-little-engine-that-could method", i think i can, i think i can, i think i can. Or likewise, i love hills, i love hills, i love hills, etc... And this method does work as long as you can control your mind enough to keep the positive thought train running and the negative one in the station.

What i learned from Bob is that there are easy methods that we can use to change our minds on the unconscious level that will actually stick! In another example, we used a similar approach with my Si joint injury. Once i got my mind to imagine a healthy image of my lower back, i couldn't even conjure up the injured image. My whole mindset about the injury has changed and I now see it as an opportunity to teach my body to function properly again. I now see that i can use my mind to do this.

This effectively means that changing our perception about something that is holding us back can be done swiftly. The challenge then is to recognize those things and change them one by one. I am excited and curious to see how Bob and I are going to build on this during the coming weeks.

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Subaru Victoria Half Iron Race Report

Well now that's a relief.

I needed to have a good race. I needed to know i could sleep the night before. I needed to test my fitness and I needed to finish my first triathlon since Rosalee was born. Thankfully i managed to accomplish all these things on Sunday. Winning was just a bonus. Check, check, check and check!

For the most part, my own personal race was won before it started. I slept. Not a lot, but some. When the alarm went off i knew i had definitely been under and a huge smile spread across my face. I get to race today.

If i am honest, i knew this race was make or break for the rest of the season. Clint and I and our families have made many sacrifices so i can train as much as i do, and if i hadnt slept again, I am not sure what we would have done next. It would have gone from a small problem to a big problem very quickly. I am so relieved that things went the way they did.

Onto the race. I had a solid swim, a solid bike and a solid run. Nothing special, just solid. I wasnt sure how my bike and run fitness would hold up in a half ironman, but the pieces seem to be falling into place. Another relief.

I am hugely grateful to so many people, now more than ever because the opportunity to race comes at a greater cost when you have an infant daughter!! Most of the sacrifices come from my husband Clint, who also writes the smart training program that i need to balance my training with motherhood and coaching. Clint's mom Pearl had Rosalee for the whole weekend, allowing me to get some rest before the race. It couldnt have happened without Pearl.

Thanks to Zoot who have continued to support me through my pregnancy and now during my comeback to racing. ProCityCycle set me up with that beautiful Trek Speed Concept which is so aero it takes care of the descents and flat sections practically on its own. I just have to point it in the right direction. Thanks to Shelley, babysitter extraordinaire! And also a big thanks to Paul and the Lifesport gang who are so great about taking care of the pros at their races, who always make sure we have a little money to fight for as well! Also want to give a quick mention to Bob from Sportexcel. Though i have a lot to learn, after only 2 sessions, Bob's advice helped keep me in the right mindset for most of the race, or at least made me conscious about what my mind was doing while i was out there!

Additionally, i want to give huge kudos to Rachel and Christine (2nd and 3rd place finishers). Rachel, who is also coached by Clint, stayed with us this past week and besides being her usual helpful and smiley self, also put in a solid training week leading up to the race. And Christine, who i know was not having the best day, challenged me (as she always does) on the bike course, which kept me riding strong. It was great to share the podium with these girls.

And last but not least, thanks to Rosalee for being the best baby ever!!

Moving forward.

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