On the triathlon road to Las Vegas!

After Boise, I spent a bit of time re-evaluating.  I agreed with my coach, Michelle, that we would aim for Austin 70.3 in October.  There were a few reasons for this – it was a relatively flat course, so would be easier on the back, it would be a bit of warmth before we hit the Canadian Winter, but importantly, was also a qualifier for 2012 Vegas worlds!!  Now, wouldn’t it be nice to secure a Vegas spot in advance of Winter…..great motivation whilst on the turbo and treadmill!!

I wasn’t the best prepared going into the race – having got only 4 weeks full training in before heading to the start line (including taper week!) – partly due to the back, but also I took a nasty bike crash only 6 weeks before the race with concussion and a ton of road rash – ouch!!  It wasn’t ideal for sure, but I very much believe that a huge amount of triathlon success comes from mental strength – and I believed in myself – perhaps naively, but I did!!  Also, I have now 3 years or so of training in the bank, and that counts for sure J

Austin has been going through a drought, so the roads weren’t great, but the organisers had done an amazing job of filling in the cracks where they could.  After the bike crash, my confidence had been knocked on the bike, but stay focussed and I’d be fine.

Race morning – feeling good.  This was going to be a real challenge, but if at all possible, I was still aiming for my 2012 Worlds spot – if you don’t try, you don’t know…..

Got to the start line ready for the 7.30 start to see the pros go off.  My wave was heading off at 7.50.  There were about 2500 competitors and 150 in my age group.  It was going to be competitive….  My swim went well – 5^th out of the water.  We caught a lot of the men who’d set off 5 mins ahead and some from the wave ahead of that.  Rather than swim through them, I chose to swim to the right of them – this meant quite a swim back to get on course – however, I think it was still a good decision – swimming through the guys would have also taken up a lot of energy.

Out the water and off on the bike.  I was feeling good, overtaking 2 women from my age group in the first 5 minutes – niiiccceee!  I knew this was going to my “challenge” leg with little bike training in advance.  The sciatica didn’t kick in until mile 15 – so better than Boise J  As I’d kinda expected, I did lose a few spots on the bike.  Each time, I told myself to focus on my own race.  Today was about the World’s spot.  It’s been a while since I wasn’t on the podium, but I had to be realistic with this one and not beat myself up over it.

Bike over – nice stretch up as I hit the run, that always feels soooooo good.  Did take the same 6 miles to get rid of the sciatica, as in Boise, though L  I just telling myself it’ll go, focus on one step at a time, concentrate on form and KEEP TAKING ON WATER AT THE AID STATIONS – it was in the mid 30’s by this point – jeez, that was hot!!

This was a 3 lap course so I got to see Jase twice before coming in to the final straight.  I love seeing his face, he’s such a huge part of my triathlon and lifts me enormously when I see him in the crowd J Mile 6 done, pain gone, felt fantastic.  I knew I wasn’t in the top 3 for a guaranteed Worlds spot, but as I’d told myself beforehand, if that happens, never ever give up, go for the best finish possible.  I overtook a couple of women from my age group through the run.  I had to balance the effort put in with the heat – I knew I was bordering heat stroke, I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up – one of the first signs for me.  I was wearing my Newton race suit for this one – one VERY comfortable suit!  It made me smile, as I’m running along, and hear shouts of “Go Newton” J  It was the finishing straight, I could see someone ahead from my age group.  I was exhausted, but after hearing my coach Michelle’s voice in my head shouting “SPRINT” I went for it, forgot about any pain, and overtook her in the final straight.  I was 8^th in my age group, so not a guarantee for Vegas and now the wait for the roll-down…..

2 hours later (that felt a long time!) the roll down starts – and I get my spot!  One very, very, very happy camper!  Although I didn’t get on the podium and it was my lowest finish for a few years, it was probably one of my best races that I’m most proud of.  Things hadn’t gone to plan, I never ever gave up, there was nothing left out there, I gave it everything  – AND came home with a Worlds spot – perfect!

So, after a few weeks taking a break, I’m now absolutely ready to go into a great Winter’s training.  I’ve just invested in the TRX strength and conditioning system to help get my back sorted – I’m determined it won’t beat me!!  I’ll be working with my physio and massage therapist to keep on top of any pain.  I WILL be hitting the Vegas start line ready to race, ready to race hard, and go for the race of my life.

A few thank-yous though – my amazing coach, Michelle, for standing by me no matter what, and always putting a smile on my face.  To my sponsors for also sticking by me – after Boise I obviously let them know that the race season ahead was going to be pretty non-existent – they were very supportive to just concentrate on getting in shape, thanks!  And, of course, my wonderful and hugely supportive husband, Jase.  couldn’t any of this without him – there’s never any questions for training, for the travel, and that smile as I round the corner in any race is just priceless!!

Here’s to a fabulous Winter of training and see you on those start lines next year – let the games begin….:)

So, I guess the more years you spend competing in triathlon, the more you learn and understand that you need to work with your body, and adapt to its strengths whilst building on the weaknesses.

Last year I had to drop out of the ITU age group worlds, having broken my foot only 6 weeks beforehand.  I was aiming for the top spot and certainly for a podium finish – I was gutted, absolutely gutted!  The absolute positive was that the race I broke my foot in was Calgary 70.3 – which I loved from beginning to end, including running on a broken foot for 10k.  Anyhow, so coming in 2^nd, and having a blast, I was convinced this was the distance for me going forward.

New focus for Winter training – the bike, evidently longer (!), would need a strong back, so something for me to work on over the Winter.  The only problem was that my back REALLY didn’t want to play.  I spent all of the Winter (until end of May) in physio – having over 50 needles in my back, butt and legs on a weekly basis trying to sort the sciatica out.  The training was minimal.  To say that it was a difficult time would be a huge understatement – and yes, not often, but there were tears of pure frustration at times – no matter what I did, it just didn’t seem to want to budge – biking sitting up for 5 minutes with firing pain shooting through your hip and down your leg ain’t much fun!!

Anyhow, we did what we could.  I had Boise 70.3 already in the race calendar mid June.  To get into race mode, I ran a triathlon here in town at our local lake, which was superb!  We had an absolute blast.  Over a dozen local triathletes racing and getting ready for the season – all finished with a BBQ on the beach – can’t beat that!

So, onto Boise, and down to Idaho we headed.  My target was to get my worlds spot in Vegas in September.  It was going to be a challenge for sure, with little Winter training done, but I wanted to give it my best.

It was a gorgeous, gorgeous day.  Forecast to be 25 in the day.  The race site for the swim was simply outstanding.  Now the only thing that wasn’t quite so fantastic was the temperature of the water – yikes, 11 degrees really isn’t very warm!!  The wetsuit helps for sure, but when you lose all feeling in your hands, feet and face, getting out to 25 degree was very welcome indeed!  The swim went well, came out of the water in the top 3, ready to hit the bike.  The bike course at Boise is rolling – beautiful scenery.  The disappointing part for me was that my sciatica kicked in at mile 5 of the bike.  This was going to be a loooooonnnnngggg race, with a lot of pain L  I was still determined to get my worlds spot, so I tried to put the pain out of my mind, and get on with racing J

To say I was happy to get off my bike would be an understatement J  The run was a 2 lap course.  My sciatica stayed with me for the first half – ouch – it normally goes within the first 10 minutes of getting off the bike, but not to be today….. Sooooo……I crossed the line in 3^rd place, both on the podium and my worlds spot secured.  We left Boise feeling very chipper indeed J

There’s a “however” here…..after much thought, I decided not to go to Vegas for the worlds after all.  My back was in A LOT of pain.  Although I’d done a lot of dry needling and massage leading up to the race, my core and back were nowhere near strong enough yet for a 90km race effort.  When I race, I want to RACE, I don’t want to do anything half heartedly.  So I decided to give the Worlds a miss, re-assess my race season, try and get my strength going, and consider an end of season race somewhere before I headed into the Winter.

So, yesterday was the first of what will hopefully be more informal triathlons run locally here near Fernie!  It was an idea that Jase had at the end of last season – we could run a local race, down at one of our nearby lakes, where you could do from a full distance competitive Olympic distance triathlon, to “give it a go” swim/ bike/ run to get an idea of what it’s all about, but with the support and comfort of knowing that you had friends nearby for safety and encouragement and without all of the extra hassles of entry fees, travel and accommodation.

Triathlon, for me, is a fantastic participant sport for all.  It’s not just about the guys that want to break the winning tape, it’s about getting out there, getting fit, enjoying yourself, and feeling like a rock star as you cross that finish line, whatever your time or place is!

So, yesterday, was the first go for us.  We had word of mouth around, Fernie, as well as one of our good friends from Calgary, Keith join us.  I had no idea how many would turn up, so was really pleased, when as we all gathered at the swim start to chat about the course I counted up a dozen people – not bad, eh, for a small mountain town!

The water was still a little on the chilly side (no surprise really when you think the snow only fully melted on the lawn a couple of weeks ago!)  We therefore decided to stick to the shore line for the swim where at least it was the warmest possible, and it also gave people the confidence, that should they get too cold, it’s not far from the shore.

Jason and I had marked out the turn around points for the bike and run, for both Olympic Distance and Sprint Distance races, for anyone that wanted to do a full distance race. After a course briefing and a few hints and tips from yours truly, we all got into the water, ready for the off

After the great mass start of 12 people, the first Kikomum race was off.  The first race is always an interesting one, of course, as your body remembers how to do things it hasn’t done all Winter, and for me, hasn’t done since July 31 last year when I broke my foot!  Everyone managed the swim really well, and all finished safely.  Out onto the bike, we had a lap course out and back, so it was great to be able to see all the faces as we went.  All smiling and having a great day – perfect!  I was having a ball!

The run followed the same road, so again, we could support each other as we went.  At the end, everyone said what a great day they’d had, and how it was perfect to be able to get in there, and get ready without the added pressure (and cost!) of a formal race – music to my ears, and just what Jase and I were aiming for!

So, yep, as well as serving the purpose of getting myself race ready for the Boise 70.3 in 3 weeks, I had a great day watching people get together, all from our own town (and Keith too!) – getting out there, having fun, and feeling on top of the world – round that off with a BBQ and picnic on the beach afterwards, a top top day all round

With local photographer, Jason Liversidge (!) on hand, we got some great shots too that really captured the atmosphere of the day!

Well, it’s not that I haven’t had anything to say, more that there’s been no time to say it in!  So a bit of an update on life in the mountains in the Liversidge household…

We’ve had an amazing Winter with the B&B – with just 3 days off between mid December and end of March, business was great.  Crazily busy, but great!  We had some guests come through our doors, and feel very happy and lucky to say that we made some great friends in the process as well   We finally waved goodbye to our last guests, a fun family visting from Wales for their daughter’s/ niece’s wedding.

This year, I’m really lucky to have 2 sponsors behind me, which I’m really grateful for.  Newton Running will be supporting me again, as will TriSports.com.  TriSports are a great triathlon on line retailer – they have a great range of kit and very competitive prices.  If you’re interested in anything there, make sure you get an extra 10% discount by quoting CATHL-S in the promo code box when you’re checking out!  Feeling very lucky to have the support – cheers, guys!

On the training front, things haven’t quite gone to plan (!) as I’ve struggled with back issues all Winter, trying several different things to try and solve the problem.  Although we know it’s definitely sciatica now, it’s taken a good few months to really get to the source of the problem.  Having had very many needles stuck in all parts of my back, hip, bum and leg (!), I’m pretty confident we’re now on the speedy road to recovery.  I’m now working with the guy that runs our physio clinic here in Fernie, and we’re working on a technique called IMS, Intramuscular Stimulation (no comments!)  It’s deep needling using the trigger points of the muscles.  We are working on the muscles either side of my spine (which are super taut), the attachment of my glutes to my hip bone (which are super tight), my hip flexors (which, yep, are super tight), my inner thigh (ouch, that one really hurts!), my outer thigh (that one twitches like crazy) and the outside of my lower leg (not a lot of muscle there, but, guess what, yes, it’s super tight).  Anyhow, within 2 sessions I can feel things relaxing enormously.  I even managed a whole 45min bike session pain free this week, which is a huge accomplishment for me.

As for this season – well, I’m still entered for, and racing in, the Boise, Idaho, half ironman – I’ll do my best for my World’s spot.  Is it realistic – I have 3 years good solid training behind me, I have the best coach in the world, Michelle Dillon of www.teamdilloncoaching.com, and quite frankly, you never say never, and just go out there and give it your absolute best!  My folks will hopefully be over too during June, so it’ll be a real family affair.  9.5 weeks to go to get some decent work in – exciting times!

The snow was still falling slightly today, but there’s a definite feel of Spring in the air, so I’m REALLY looking forward to running and biking outside, feeling the wind on my face, and getting up my favourite climb up to Fording River Mine, which I recently checked out is officially a category 2 climb – yehaaaa baby!

Bring on the Spring and Summer, and bring on the racing!!

The next update will be a much shorter gap, I promise……

So, training in Canada Winter time equates with lots of indoor miles – especially when you’re asthmatic!  Call me soft, but running outside in minus 20 doesn’t do a great deal of good to the ol’ lungs!  So, turbo timmy and teddy treadmill become my great friends for the Winter months.

I’m lucky to have a great coach, Michelle Dillon, who has the immense ability to make every week’s sessions interesting, different, challenging and downright fun!  So, yes, Winter time right now is a case of head down and get the miles in, but not boringly so.  We can still stick intervals in there, as well as the steady miles – and without that, it’s fair to say, I might go a little stir crazy!

All is now good on the foot front.  It’s completely repaired and I started running HARD 2 weeks ago.  I’ve never felt so good running hard – my times might be quite up there just yet, but having not been able to “give ‘er” for 4 months, it was like unleashing a caged animal when I hit that treadmill – hahaha!  Great fun!

Right now, my only niggle is the return of some back issues.  Nothing like last year, but enough for me to need to get them sorted.  It goes back many years, so I’m actually off to see a chiropractor, Paul Attalla, here in Fernie on Thursday for an assessment.  He comes with a great reputation and is also an amazing endurance athlete – a couple of years ago he rowed solo across the Atlantic – no small feat!  So, I reckon I’m in safe, knowledgeable hands…..it’ll be interesting to have the conversation.  The idea of being able to push equally hard on my left leg as I do on my right is an exciting one

So, right now, no major news.  It’s head down, focussing on the New Year goals of the 70.3 world, and enjoying the sweat fest on the way!!

Have fun and train hard!