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……

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!

The foot is well and truly on the mend.  I’m still on walk/ run workouts for the run, but it’s way better than it was a week or so ago, and it feels GREAT to run, even if it’s just for short little bursts at the moment.  I even felt a bit like my old running self this week, a huge boost

I had 2 days with the respirologist in Calgary this week too – 2 days of tests to review my asthma and confirmed the medications I need.  Feels great to start breathing properly again – because, believe me, 8 weeks off training, back to 1000m above sea level and no asthma meds makes starting back a bit of a challenge

While I was in the UK I had a swim technique session with my coach, Michelle Dillon.  We worked on a couple of things, which of course at first always feels a little strange to say the least.  Well, happy to say, that after a few more sessions in the water, it’s feeling more normal and the times are showing it – here’s to lots of happy times in the pool!

As the snow hasn’t quite hit us here yet in BC, I’m also making the most of biking outside while I can.  When we landed from Australia last year, it was already -10 or something ridiculous on 1 October, so I never biked outside again until Spring.  I’m determined to make the most of the snow free conditions until it’s no longer possible.  Today took me up to one of my old routes, near Surveyors lake.  My fitness isn’t quite where it was before the foot broke maybe, but feeling that breeze against your skin was superb.

So, all in all, everything’s feeling chipper, things are in place to get what needs to be sorted sorted, and I’m excited for a solid Winter of training ahead.  And, having just watched the pros race for Kona, who couldn’t be inspired by that kind of racing!

So, as the title of blog says “Here we go, here we go, here we go……”  time to rock ‘n’ roll

Happy training (and racing for those that still have some left!) everyone x

We went over to Budapest as a family of spectators for the Worlds (the folks were originally coming over to watch me, but as I was sidelined and we’d paid for everything, we figured we’d go and have a good holiday whilst watching some world class athletes at the same time!)  The weather for the first couple of days was pretty dire, but after that the sun came out, and the racing was unbelievable.  My wonderful buddy, Liz Craggs, was racing and knocked a whopping 20 minutes off her pb – fantastic to watch and cheer and be a part of.  My coach, Michelle Dillon, also had 11 other athletes racing and came home with 3 golds – not bad going eh?  If you’re looking for a coach, definitely worth considering   The only downside was that with all the shouting I managed to lose my voice, which then became a throat infection – oops!  Well, I did say I’d cheer as hard as I would have raced……

My cast finally came off just over a week ago, the day after the World’s race (oh, the irony!)  Anyhow, it’s feeling stronger by the day.  I’m not running fully on it yet, but should be back at it in full swing in a week or 2 I reckon (post x ray confirmation when I get back to Canada)

I spent last Wednesday with coach Michelle – as my fitness was what felt like near zero (!) after 6 weeks of doing nothing, we spent the day focussing on technique for swim, bike and run – what a fab day   Hugely informative and a heap of fun at the same time – what more could a girl ask for

So, Canada calls tomorrow.  Jase and I are both looking forward to it, though as ever, it’s with mixed emotions – saying goodbye to our folks is never easy, but my Mum and Dad will be out visiting late Spring, to conveniently catch my first 70.3 race at Boise, Idaho, next year – handy, eh!  Jase’s Mum is flying back with us too, so that’ll be fun.

Winter training is ready to kick off full steam ahead – can’t wait to get back into action, and give it some welly – pain and joy here I come

Happy safe training everyone

Cath x

If I did race and it re-broke, there’s a high risk that next time it would not heal and would cause a non-union – and this would undoubtedly limit my future enjoyment of both triathlon and the good ol’ outdoors – which of course is why we moved to Fernie in the first place.

So, what next?  Well, I’m in my cast for another 3 weeks (my right calf will be stick thin by then for sure!).  I’m still going to Budapest – my very wonderful buddy Liz Craggs is racing for GB in the same race, and I’ll be cheering as loud and as hard as I possibly can.  My family are still flying over, so we’ll have a little holiday and see some fantastic athletes in motion at the same time.

Now of course, I did qualify for the half ironman Worlds in the race that I broke my foot – I let the spot go as I figured I was off to Budapest – there’s an incy-wincy part of me that wishes I’d taken it   But then, that may push the healing process, so d’you know what, it’s probably a good thing…..she says, trying to think positively

So, yes, I’m gutted.  I tried my best, but it obviously wasn’t meant to be.  It’s not life and death, and I’m going to enjoy a LARGE glass of wine tonight to help numb the pain – I know it’s not the answer, but hey, sometimes it helps a little

So, the postiives, a solid Winter season of training ahead.  I also have my respirologist guy to see in Calgary when I get back, so hopefully we’ll iron the blue lips thing out.  And I’ll also be looking into some kind of orthotic to support the flat feet.  And I’ll go kick butt in 2011 instead when I (probably) move up to half ironman – onwards and upwards

Happy SAFE training to everyone

xx

Anyhow, in the meantime, I’m off the bike and off running (obviously!) – so it’s swim, swim and swim again!  To make sure I don’t go and injure my shoulders or anything silly like that (!) I’m not going crazy, but swimming enough to keep the fitness up.  I’m hoping I’ll be water running by the end of next week and just maybe also turbo biking too – we’ll see!  I have a check up with my own doc next Tuesday – someone I totally trust – so it’ll be good to talk through the options.

As if by magic though, today, my Worlds race kit arrived in the post – the kit consists of: my race suit itself, a cycling top, a pair of tracksuit bottoms, a tracksuit top, a pair of socks and a pair of cycling arm warmers.  I think my race suit says it all though – have a look at the photo below – Liversidge CAN – I’m taking that as a sign – who can heal the bone – Liversidge CAN – made me smile !!

So, how did it go.  Starting with an alarm call at 3.15am (ouch!!), we set off from central Calgary to be bused to the swim and bike start in the rain!  We’ve had fantastic weather here for the last few weeks, but Sunday wasn’t starting the same way – shame!  Everything set up and now ready to go.  I was excited to start, all women starting together.

I had a fantastic swim, wasn’t pushing it particularly hard as I knew I still had 5hours-ish of racing/ training to go!  To my surprise, there were 2 women ahead of me (about a minute ahead – the lead kayak was within easy sight, so that was my sighting spot!) – and I exited the water with one other woman in 29mins 25secs, feeling great.

Off on the bike ready for the 93/94k ride.  I enjoyed the ride, it was rolling, the weather generally good (a bit of rain, but most had gone by then)  I got my nutrition bang on right, good for my first longer-distance race.  Pulled in on 2hrs 58mins

Time to run – I love to run.  My back was twinging a bit, so it’s always a relief to get upright!  I was feeling GREAT on the run, blowing Jase a kiss as I ran past at 4k – although I did have to stop for a loo break at 4.5k!  At this point I knew I was first in my age group, and was loving the race.  After 6k my right foot starting hurting a little, but just thought it was muscular.  At 9k it really hurt, and hurt with every step – but still thought it was muscular.  I obviously slowed down, but carried on running.  I was still enjoying the race, but was in pain for sure.  At 18k (3k before the end) I was passed by someone from my age group – so the top spot had gone.  I couldn’t put any more pressure on my foot, so a pick up of pace was out of the picture.  Crossing the line having completed my first half marathon (let alone first half ironman) in a split on 1h 46mins and a total time of 5hrs 19mins, I was a VERY happy person.

So overall, I was 2nd in my age group, just 2mins behind 1st.  I was 10th age group woman overall out of 250ish.  I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing.  I think I also secured a 70.3 World Championship spot – didn’t take it up, but kinda good to get one   Not bad for a first go, eh?!

BUT, the day didn’t stop there.  I spoke to the medic guys as I came through – they iced and strapped my foot, but suggested an x ray as they suspected a stress fracture.  We decided to head back to Fernie for it, rather than wait for hours in a Calgary waiting room.  Several pain killers later on the way home, and a couple of x rays at Fernie, no it wasn’t a stress fracture, it was fully broken in my 3rd meta tarsal!  So, I’d run for 12k with a broken foot – explains the pain I guess.  I’m in an air cast for 4 weeks, but can still swim, maybe bike after a week, and maybe water run.  It should be fully repaired by Budapest in 6 weeks.

On the asthma front – everything felt fine, probably means that half ironman might be better suited to me, as the intensity is less, and I can maintain the same pace for twice the Olympic distance.

So, what have I learnt?

• I thoroughly enjoyed the race.

• Having a high pain threshold is not necessarily a good thing – having never broken a bone in my body before, I would have expected the pain to be way way worse!

• Did I think it was hard core to carry on with a broken foot – no

• Am I frustrated that I’ve potentially put back my race in Budapest – yes

• Would I have carried on running if I’d known it was broken – absolutely not

• Half Ironman vs Olympic – equally difficult, 2 different racing requirements.

And now for an interesting fact:

There were 9 pro women racing – my swim split would have beaten 4 of them and only 15 secs behind the 5th!  It might only be one leg of the race (and the shortest one!) but made me smile!!

Jase and our friend, Col, were there to cheer.  It was fantastic to have them both there.  Col was “tweeting” throughout the entire, so some of you were able to follow the race there – but, just to say thanks to both for being brilliant – even after VERY little sleep the night before  – you’re both the best xx

More photos in the gallery