Bring on the heat!

SUMMER HAS COME TO ME JUST IN TIME!!




I did my first summer run yesterday! O.k maybe not exactly a summer run because usually, you don’t have to avoid snow banks on those !


To put you into the context (so you can understand why I'm so happy), this week’s weather was more winter style than it was spring. I had to bike inside on my trainer for two reasons: First, it was below freezing in the morning so I couldn’t go outside. Second, I had to acclimatize to the heat doing some crazy heat and humidity sessions where I got to count sweat drops hit the floor instead of minutes when things got harder. But I did it all for St-Croix and that was very motivating.


The weather was not better for the runs! On one of my runs this week, it hailed as I did my hill repeats!

But YESTERDAY!! I got up and it was sunny (good start), I walked downstairs, opened the door and felt heat and humidity hit me from outside, the thermometer made it up to 28 C. NO WAYYY! Summer had made it to my doorstep at the end of a winter-like week! SURPRISE!

I had a great time running along my favorite trail, trying to imagine I was on the course on the beautiful Island I am about to go to!

Only three more days before I travel to the race. Final preparation has begun!!!

Memories that make me strong...

The Canadian Half Marathon championships were held in Montreal today. On a little Island called ‘ïle St-Hélène’. An Island that brings me back into the past.


When I was little, the gym teachers at school had organized a school cross-country race which we had to compete in for gym class for two consecutive years.
At that time, I had a tom-boy friend, Myriam. That girl was a tough cookie and we would always challenge each other at recess. From push up competitions, soccer , hockey shoot outs to sprinting against the boys, we tried it all. When the cross country race was announced, we obviously challenged each other to win the race. In my little 12 year old world, that challenge took huge proportions! It was as if I had been told I was going to the Olympics with a one week notice.

Myriam was a wise one, the day before the big event, she told me how her parents had taken her to the Alps last summer and that she had trained up there, just to be able to kick my but. I wanted to win and shut out the reoccurring thought of Myriam in her new shoes, conquering the alps alone, through the poring rain. It was decided, I was going to fight for my life. On the day of the race, I ran like the devil was chasing me and came to my first taste of victory.

From left to right: Myriam, me and Tania. (I was very small so they put me standing on a plastic milk box.)

The next year, my gym teacher took us to the Montreal cross country championships for the regional school race. It was on that same little Island I ran on yesterday for the half marathon. That day, I truly discovered running. I discovered the feeling of being released into the unknown at the sound of a gun and start a chase.
I love how memories turn facts into beautiful paintings. When I think back at that race, it is still magic, to my little girl eyes, there were hundreds of kids lined up at that start line. The certainly modest grass field was like the vast battlefields you see in the best war movies. During the run, I suffered through a jungle of unknown places that I now would describe as the LA RONDE play ground and the drive along the St-Laurence river. I wish I could still have all that mystery in my runs. But there is only one first time. That was my second podium and my last race before a long time but I knew one day, I would be an athlete.

The LA RONDE amusement park...on the course.



Today's plan...

There I was yesterday, back again, standing at the start line of a big girl race. Trying to grasp that same feeling as in my first race. This time, I am anxious, I know my legs might be tired but I feel like a grass hopper on the warm-up, it smells like spring, the air is cool and I want to run. Mom’s voice distinguishes itself from the croud (she always goes crazy and sometimes I feel she should have been an opera signer!). Kenyan silhouettes line up in front of me, I think of how amazed and priviledged I am to be at the start line with these race machines! A friend gives me a patt in the back, it’s nice to be racing back home. No time for that, the count down is on!

The Kenyans lead us out...

The gun goes off. We are free!!!! Release the hounds! We are hungry for action! I start running, I feel like a grass hopper again and just want to go all out.
As usual, I went out too fast. At 10km, a coach yells 35:45, I look down at my watch, it is not a joke! I knew I might have taken a chance going out at that pace but I remember how Lucy Smith told us how great things can happen if you just decide one day to give it a try. Today was that kind of a race, I was allowed to take a chance. And so I tried, I ran my first 10k only concentrated on the long legs of the Kenyan girl ahead of me. There was not one image that could have motivated me more and I used it.
Of course, she got away at that point in the middle of the race, I realized that I still had 11km to go and looked at my watch, trying to stick to the pace that Lance had given me.

Running along the water, I was here, in the same state, 16 years ago.

Two of my local friends helped me through the windy section for the middle third of the race, that was a nice moment for me, running with the boys. Unfortunately, they also had to go and I was left to my own combat for the last three kilometres. They were very hard. I had to concentrate to get the legs going, everyone was screaming that we were almost there....I felt I was fading and started looking back to see if everyone was catching me. NO!!! NEVER LOOK BACK!! CONCENTRATE. I urged myself to look forward and try to catch that Kenyan girl again. Mom is screaming and almost running faster than me, there is less than a kilometre left....only 40 seconds left....20 seconds....here comes the moment THAT I LIVE FOR: Coming into the finish line, looking up at the clock.

The final kilometer...

I can’t believe what I see....is there a 1:17 in there? YES! 1:17:13, my best time ever by more than two minutes. THANK YOU COACH!!!!

This is a picture of my best friend Dominic, the first one to ever take me on a long run 4 and a half years ago in Quebec city. I will never forget that training run!

Now a triathlete friend and athlete of Dominic joins us...

I am greated by doping control, that announces to me that I am third Canadian. Great news! I thought I was fifth overall but had not thought of the Canadian ranking!

Mom (with her puppy) and doping control official.

To make a long story short. I had to drink five water bottles before I could be free again. It turns out I did not get the official third place because I am not a registered member of the athletic association but I sure felt proud getting back into the car after the race. I did what I had to do and was in running shape for St-Croix!

I AM A HAPPY GIRL!!! FLYING OUT VERY SOON...GOTTA GO TO SOME ACCLIMATION ON THE BIKE NOW...TALK TO YOU LATER!

Take me back to the waves!

Sitting in the kitchen this morning, looking out the window at the melting snow, I can hear the waves. I am being called back to the ocean, the sun and the sandy beaches.


Where my head is right now....



Where I am right now...

(Below is a picture taken on my favorite run at the top of Montreal (Summit circle))


Where I will be very soon...



Yes my friends! As my feet were freezing on my legendary snow ride the other day, there was not a frown on my face. There was a crazy grin! It posted the one thought that kept me warm inside: all that training, cold and burn was going to take me to the finish line of a race on the Island of St-Croix in a couple of weeks.

YES! It is decided and the plan is elaborated. I feel like I’m getting ready to leave for another big adventure!!!I have been curopted by crazy coach Lance to take the final decision. Well, it was not hard to convince me, as it was initially my idea (but then I had gotten reasonable...). Little did I know, coach was going to remind me later of my great idea. How about working on that tan again? SURE, O.K, WILL DO!


I’m also excited because other athletes from Lifesport will be there, including queen Bree, who had a podium there last year.

About the thermometer.....
Now, since I can’t be missing too much school, I will have to get to St-croix only a couple of days before the race. The acclimatation will be done, not in Florida, not in Hawaii, not in St-Croix, but rather in a heated room at home. Yes, you heard me. I will be the Lance Victim next week. I will be the little puppet who rides the artificialy induced heat stroke sessions. Sometimes coach scares me! To toughen up, I will imagine that I have just joined the navy seals. You know how they put the soldiers in pools of cold water and test their resistance, well those are my ice baths (o.k, from that perspective, the ice bath is like nothing!). And I’m sure that in the army, they have more than the equivalent of the bathroom heat stroke session. I’ll let you know what happens.

Home ice bath. I used the ice from the freezer but the water that comes out of the tap is all ready freezing here!! Here I am boosting the water level.

MARINONI

The other day, I visited my sponsor. My bike had a sore spot and I had to get the wheel checked out...O.k, o.k, it was an excuse to go and visit the Marinoni family!

To take this picture, I had to interrupt the hard work!
From left to right: Paolo Marinoni, Simone Marinoni,
just me, Giuseppe Marinoni.

I love visiting my sponsors, a family business like Marinoni has a unique flavour. Paolo and his mom, Simone, are from Quebec and his dad, Giuseppe, is from Bergame, Italy (that where the name is from!). I love how Giuseppe’s french is tinted with a beautiful Italian flavour. The latin blood flows within the shop. Passion and hard work are the secret recipe there. Why do I say hard work?
The frames are hand made (about 1000 per year!) and a lot of heart is put into their bicycle art. It is very personal, Simone paints the bikes herself!

Simone at work

And did I say passion? Marinoni IS bikes! Giuseppe is 70 years old and rides 12 000 km a year. He had a vision and made it come true. When he came to Quebec as a cyclist, no one made bike frames here yet. He is one of our pioneers!
Paolo was the one who gave me my first sponsorship! He started sponsoring me two years ago, when I was just beginning to really take things more seriously and I feel priviledged to have been supported and believed in, in that way!

From top to bottom: Raoul, Sylvain and Robert!
Robert is the man for bicycle positioning! He did a great job on my bike. He has been in the world of bicycling for a long time and is a passionate man that takes his job very seriously!

NOW BACK TO MY LITTLE RECOVERY DAY, I AM RACING A HALF MARATHON ON TIRED LEGS TOMORROW, I'LL REPORT ABOUT IT VERY SOON!

Skeleton in your closet?

They say triathlon is an extreme sport. I discovered more about another extreme sport this morning: If one day you are up for a thrill, I would recommend you try SKELETON RACING!!




Skeleton racing was permanently added to the Olympic program with the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, but for some strange reason, I truly discovered the thrill of it this morning. That thrill caused me to burn my lips on my coffee mug as I was watching the daily news.

So you are a skeleton racer, you are zooming down a windy track at speeds up to 140km/h, experiencing forces up to 5G with no brakes or stearing gear!! All this while you are head first, going downhill, only a couple of inches from the ground. Wow. They say you have to drag your feet to make the sleigh turn. (Sure hope they have some solid shoes on!).

The story behind the sport makes me smile! The swiss started zooming down village streets in dangerous ways, causing commotion among pedestrians. I guess that is how the sport evolved, as they decided to keep these crazy people away by building the first tracks. A bit on the cowboy side, hey!
For the men, by the way, you might also be interested to know that the women representing Canada also would undoubtedly have successful careers as super models. WAW!!!

Back to Mag’s little everyday life.

Yesterday reminded me of the ‘rush to Hawaii’.
When I started with Lifesport, in January, I was studying for a master’s degree in Kinesiology (biomechanics of running). The subject of which is cross-slope running. (Not surprising huh?). It makes studying so much easier to be able to relate it to a passion. I am on a mission since I got back from Hawaii and that is to finish my studies. My goal is to have it done in the next couple of months.
After that first trip to Victoria, I was more passionate than ever about starting to train full time. I started following coach Lance’s training plans which were very different than what I had ever done before.
I can just say one thing: My training regimen changed very suddenly and I started the Magali day by day boot camp, all the way to Hawaii.

A day in the Mag boot camp consisted of (on a hard day of the week):
-Waking up before sunrise to make it to the pool in Montreal before traffic. (This optionally includes shovelling the car out of snow banks or dealing with dead car batteries.)
- Nap in the car before heading to the lab.
- Add a run or bike training around lunch break
-Back to the Lab for the afternoon before heading to the pool for the final training of the day.
-Driving back to St-Sauveur to sleep. (I usually got back home just in time to eat quickly, do my training report and find my second pillow.)

Anyways, yesterday felt like a ‘back to the boot’ kind of day.


First, I had a one on one challenge on the bike with super mom at 7 a.m. It made my endurance bike training feel that much more exciting! It’s funny, mom never knows if she will get an easy day or a hard day on the trainer as her’s has a mind of it’s own. It seems to be some sort of a calibration problem some days the hills are easy and other days, she can hardly push the pedals. I found out there might be something wrong when she called me at school to brag about how she pushed 500 Watts average during her weekly hour ride and that it felt great! She got upset when I tried to explain that, as much as I wanted to believe it, there might be a problem with the trainer... heheh. Oh, mom...
Anyways, after that, it was time for a Lab visit. I have been seeing my long lost lab buddies after having been absent for six weeks!




Back to my desk!



While I am focusing on running biomechanics, my colleague Mohsen is studying walking based on the same project. I was happy to see he had done some breakthroughs as I was away! GOOD JOB!
The lab technician (Phil Dixon), has also been doing some great work while I was away. He helps develop the data processing programs and much, much more!
Don’t know what I would do without them.
I went running at lunch and After school, it was pool time!


Here in Montreal, most of the swim practices in the morning are designed by Lance. But I also train with Mike in the evening at the pool in Ville Lasalle. Mike is not only a great swim coach but also a great motivator for me. We have fun and I always get challenged.


Yesterday, even though I tried to protect myself by telling Mike that I had just returned from the race and was still a little sore, Mike had no mercy, he gave me the side smile. The set that Lance wanted me to do included a threshold 15x100 and some fast 50’s and Mike wanted the times to be fast! O.K THEN CAPT’N, I’LL GIVE IT MY BEST SHOT! (There is no saying no to Mike). It worked out fine! And I left the pool with a smile! Thanks Mike.
HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE!

Friends, I have let you down! I have not been on my blog for a while and the only excuse I can think of is that my life was going by at 1000 miles an hour!

Many things have happened since my last post, many incredible things! Life is exciting!

I am waking up this morning back home, in St-Sauveur, Quebec, with many great memories and stories to tell. It feels like the calm after the storm here. It is snowing outside, and there is not a sound in the house. All of a sudden, I feel like I have woken from a dream.

Here is mom greating me with a smile after my long trip. NOTICE THE SNOW!

Luckily, I was writing bits and pieces of my adventure on the laptop so I have plenty of stories to post but I still need to get it all together! There are so many things to talk about! Here it goes!

Just like a dream!

It always feels magic when life brings you more than you had ever wished for. Five weeks of hard training have gone by and had I imagined a perfect training camp, I could never have imagined such a great experience as Maui and Kona with the Lifesport team. In January, little did I know, I would soon be doing such incredible things as pushing myself through the energy lab with an amazing team mate (Lisa), racing up the Haleakala volcano with Linsey the great or surfing crazy side winds at 50 km per hour zooming down the roads of Hawi on the Ironman course, screaming the fun out of my lungs. How many epic trainings can you fit into a single training camp? This camp holds the record. Trust me.

The training was the hardest I had ever done, but it was so...comfortable at the same time:

I couldn’t have imagined that I would ever come across aid stations and smiley coaches on a long run or ride, that I would have a coach follow in a car or stand on the side of a highway just to help me push and stay motivated, (here, I have an image of coach Paul standing on the highway, holding up our whiteboard of motivational words for us, and coach Dan, almost into the ditch, holding on to be able to snap pictures as we flew by). I never thought I would have someone yell encouragements to me at every single hill repeat in a set, as if it was the last stretch at the Olympics. Lance and Marc did it in Maui.

The moments shared with the team were unforgettable. How could I have imagined that I would actually finish a training, racing through Alii drive and share a smile well worth 2 hours of hard running, with a happy team mate. I would have thought it would be hard to have a tired group of people work together in an optimal way for such a long period of time, but I was wrong. The hard training and personal challenges we each came across only drove us closer and, as my friend and team mate Bree has recently said: In the end I felt my team was also a family. That is when you know you are at the right place at the right time.

KONA

I arrived in Kona at 9pm on march 22nd, heading down the Queen K for the first time, in the dark (kind of exciting! ). I managed to get to sleep at 11pm and at 5:45 the next morning, I was at the pool, reuniting with my coaches and friends from the first camp in Victoria. I missed, them and hadn’t seen them since January! I was so excited to see coaches, Paul, Dan and Bruce, my roommate Liana...and of course... BREE! All those smiles would be back into my life for 10 days of fun!

Home away from home

Picture a smiley little woman flying way above the speed limit on a yellow scooter with a huge smile on her face and a wiener dog on her lap. That’s Kay .Kay has since then become mama Kay. To earn this title she has done more for us than any traveling athlete would have ever expected a host to do.

Lianna and I received the royal treatment. In the house, the only rule was not to feed George human food. The rest was all good with her. Fortunately for us, Kay liked to cook and was quite talented. One night, she made an Island Special for us: she cooked some –ONO- a very good local fish. In Hawaiian, -ONO- also means good. That candle light girl’s meal on the balcony, my friends, was very ONO. Kay also insisted to be our chauffeur certain times and she insisted to help out, we later realized that she was doing this for us, on her lunch break! Yes, Kay was devoted and she was lots of fun.

The training

The camp in Kona consisted of a week of very hard, Maui style, training

On the menu:

-The Swim with the dolphins open water on the Ironman course: That is the time we swam intervals on the Ironman course without even noticing the school of dolphins that followed us along the way!(Coach Paul only told us about the dolphins after the interval was over J)Awww.

-The Kaloko brick work out: Climb Kaloko from 1500ft to 6000ft in just 6.5 miles, with grades of up to 21 and we had to do it with the time trial bikes! Incredible experience my friends. Especially that when I got to the top, one of my dear friends had me believe I was not done yet, and I kept on going. Funny coaches didn’t say anything either...hmm. Once at the top, we flew down the hill as fast as we could and jumped into an interval workout. A hard one. OUCH.

-The Queen-K tare your heart and legs out, in the energy lab, long run of craziness with Lisa.(A progressive 2 hour run workout on the Ironman course that ended in a sprint!)

-The try not to get blown off your bike and scream like a crazy woman, windy ride on the Ironman course.

A fantastic day...

The highlight of the Kona camp was certainly the day of the Lavaman race!

We were going to do a race in the most beautiful setting imaginable and in a friendly lay back atmosphere. I loved it because it really felt like just a really fun training with my friends and there was very little pressure. Considering we were all very tired and just wanted to get the training in that day!

And off we were! The swim was an M shapped course, I loved how a man on a sea doo traced the course for us before the start in front of the chearing croud. It made it all so exciting and relaxed! I found a coral reef on which I was standing to get a good kick at the start, loved it!

I think it was actually Macca that did the true countdown, I have no memory of hearing the announcer say –GO!- To the water it was then. Did I say I was relaxed and happy before the swim...that is BEFORE the HEATHERNATOR found my feet. Little did I know, THE HEATHERNATOR, was exploring the field of underwater combat strategies in that race and I was going to be the unfortunate swimmer that she would experiment on. I struggled and gasped, swallowing sea water at every stroke and I couldn’t help but be impressed of how my training buddy was tough in the head. She is small but she is tough. I want to be tougher, now I’m starting to see how. Thank you master Heathernator.

Thanks to Bree’s feet and a green race cap ahead (some kind of sea creature Justin substitute), we had a decent swim and headed out of the water. I had a great bike, I was motivated by the thought that I was on the Ironman bike road and by the thought that I had placed myself a carrot on that one. I told Kay that I would be the first one through her aid station at the bike turn around. AND I WAS! I yelled so hard when I saw her and grabbed her water bottle she handed so perfectly to me!

I’m on my way. I was having so much fun as I pushed through the lead of the race, I remember going through a tunnel where a volunteer yelled: -slow down here, make sure you slow down. I looked at him and yelled! –Hey! ARE YOU KIDDING! I’VE BEEN WORKING TOO HARD TO SLOW DOWN NOW! -And we had a laugh!

I gained confidence on that bike ride, I stayed strong, pushed more than I would have ever before and arrived into transition in first place. Unfortunately, smart (and a bit mean) coach Lance had told me to only run the first 2,5km of the race, but I sure had a good time and a good bike split.

After Lavaman, THERE WAS MORE! First there was the lying in the sand eating burgers, so happy and relaxed that I didn’t care that I was still in my race suit and getting sand up my suit.

We then assisted to the crowning of our Lifesport champions of the day and then, we were off to the LAGOON ESCAPADE.

Lianna and I booked a hotel for the night of the lavaman. It was the hotel where the rest of the lava camp would take place later during the week. It was a special place. Kind of like a mini Disney world. There was everything there! To go to your room you could either choose to go by boat in a mini canal or to take a mini rail. The funny thing about it, is that you can walk the distance...and it was much faster. Trust me! Lianna and I were late at a meeting one day because our boat was too slow!

Oh yes....So the reason we booked the hotel is because our crew was going to put the cherry on the sundae that night. After all that action and a quick trip to the Hotel, we would head to the JOURNEY CONCERT! It took place right beside our hotel. That evening was magic! What a day to remember!! THANK YOU!!

The final stretch

Week six of the trip was all about getting to my first race of the season and trying out my new found fitness on a race course. I flew from Hawaii over night and it was a long trip! I would leave at 9pm Hawaiian time and arrive in New Orleans at 4:30pm local time. No need to say, I didn’t get much sleep that night!

Upon my arrival, I just knew one thing! I had to find a church and a pastor named Neale! I finally made it to the charming little church that was to be my home away from home just to find my six foot tall pastor host waiting for me with a smile. He kindly helped me to my room on the second floor. I was to stay at the- Inn at Bethelehem-the one that was to become my favourite room at god’s hotel. That church had everything to make us triathletes happy: Huge kitchen, showers, computer room, TV room, you name it. It was the perfect place to stay. And the fun began that night!

Here is Neale! Neale definitely has god on his side! He is not just your average pastor. He finished third in his division on sunday and in a very impressive time! WAY TO GO NEALE!

He's a very active guy, and he had plans for the night! (OUF, I was tired, but I did want to meet everyone, so I went for it!). We were invited to a diner party where I got to meet his friends, all involved in the race organization , participating as volunteers or competing in the event. I also got to meet the other athletes with whom I would share the homstay: Lauren, Chriss and Ben aswell as another Pro, Brian,from Ireland.

Lesson one of race one: THE MAGALI TISSEYRE FIELD STUDY.

Does prolonged sleep deprivation affect performance in a significant way? (You will like the answer to this one).

On the three days leading up to the race, there was one thing bothering me. Only one thing that made me nervous and that will never make me nervous again! That was getting some sleep in. I just couldn’t sleep! And the more I thought of it, the harder it was...sounds familiar?

Everything was fine, I had a comfortable bed, some fun friends, I was happy to be in another adventure, I couldn’t worry about my fitness with the huge camp I had done!. But It just didn’t seem to be getting in more than 4-5 hours of sleep a night. That scared me. I couldn’t sleep before midnight or one o’clock (probably because I was still at Hawaian time) and I woke up really early feeling tired but unable to sleep!

There was only one thing to do: Fight it! (the thing not to do)

I explored different strategies during the three nights leading up to the race: I started with the usual one: I think the key is to stop thinking! So I start imagining really strange things to voluntarily get all mixed up: Say..... a pink cow standing on a marshmellow,and let my imagination pick it up from there. That always work sfor me. But not this time. This time, I had to try a new strategy. After the lying in bed in the dark with your eyes wide open strategy took my patience, I tried the get up and play on the computer strategy and it did not do me any good! When I started reading articles about sleep deprivation and performance, I knew it was time to shut that evil computer and head back to my room.

Ben, my roomie, said I could try natural plant extracts but I didn’t want to try anything new before the race. At 3 a.m on night 2 before the race, feeling very lonely among my snoring roomies, I felt like shaking Ben out of bed and beg him for those plant extracts. Why had I refused such a magical remedy!! Ben! Wake up! Give me that magic elixir! I imagined the plant extract sitting on the shelf beside his bed, the idea tortured me! So funny.

The next day, we went for swim practice with Ben and Chriss, I think the exercise helped me with the sleep issue!

The strategy that finaly really saved me was the passive strategy, the simple COACH TALK! I let Lance know about my problem the day before the race. Lance was so reassuring. To him, 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night was not at all dramatic, everything was fine, I had to stop worrying. Some athlete had done great races on very little sleep (I’m lucky I have such an experienced coach!). As simple as it might seem. I WAS RELIEVED and forced myself to wipe the idea out of my mind! I slept a bit better the night before the race, the only thing making it harder to sleep now was that I was soooexcited to be racing tomorrow!!!!!!! But I had to wake up at 4 a.m to be to transition in time so I can’t say I slept alot either!

When he saw I was nervous, Lance instructed me to JUST HAVE FUN AT THE RACE. And that is definitely what I felt in the morning of the triathlon! Heading out to transition with Lauren, my roomie, I was soooo excited! I felt I was going out to the disco, I could see the party at the distance, they had those huge projectors shooting rays of light to the sky, it really did look like a party seen. I even saw my long lost friends from Quebec in the transition. Linsey was also there! I was so happy to see her! It was going to be Maui all over again (o.k without the drafting!). Come on Linsey! Let’s just tear our heart and legs out again! YEEEHHAA! It should be fun cowgirl!

As we lined up waiting for the gun, I thought of the new season ahead of me and how I wanted to make it memorable. O.k girl! I took a last look at Heather and Linsey, remembering the times in training when we said to each other: This one is for New Orleans! The clock is ticking. No time for emotions and dreams anymore. Put your head down, it’s time to PUSH REAL HARD!

And we were off on the swim course!

As I swam through the first part of the course, I was alone! Packs had formed along the boys or near the shore and I was concentrating on taking the fastest straight line. Not a good strategy, sometimes it’s better to stick with a pack I guess. They ended up catching me and I stayed with them for the remainder of the swim. Out of the water. I notice Lisa Bentley and Kate major were the other misterious swim caps I had with me. I kind of like getting out of the water with a pack. Last year, it was always the no man’s land swim! I stay positive though my legs are really burning as I run out of the water. As I grab my bike, I suddenly feel like throwing up. I tried not to get worried. That was just one of those moments of uncertainty that come and go during a race. Getting out of transition, onto my bike, I am worried again, my legs keep on burning! Two girls pass me very fast and everyone seems to be getting away. Should I wait for my legs to come back? I see coach Lance up ahead! He yells to go for it and to get a visual on the girls ahead, that will help me go faster. I turn on the engine and pray. Turns out the legs came back anyway and I started passing people. When Catriona Morrisson passed me, I let her and then kept my eyes on her at a distance, promising myself I would not use the visual on her.

First bike to run transition of the year. I came into it in 5^th place, I was kind of excited, my running had been going well and my training partner Lisa had posted an amazing run the day before at Oceanside 70.3. Maybe I could run up to top three??

Catriona started getting away very fast (she ran all the way to second place, not surprising!). I stayed positive, and started looking ahead. There is Lance again! He looks happy, I’ll use the positive energy. He gives me some technical reminders, it was hot and humid out there and I had to be careful and hydrate. At the first turnaround, I can see the leaders, I encourage myself. They are not so far away! Great!

Turns out the legs never really came around on that run. It got better but not so great. I lost the fifth place when Nina Kraft passed me. I tried to hold on but there was no way. The hardest part of the run was the last 3 mile stretch before the finish line. It seemed to last forever. I had to focus on takng it step by step and stop trying to see the end of the street. I heard a good trick was to count palm trees on the side of the road, no palm trees here, sorry. Before I knew it, I was going to turn right and head through the croud lined up on the final stretch through the French quarter. If there is one thing I live for, it is that final moment of the race, where the emotions are high, everyone is happy, you get to smile and see the finish line get bigger and bigger. You finally get to live the moment you have imagined so many times. And savour that moment. That was what I did. Lance was there again, telling me that it was now my moment to enjoy! High five Lance, I can’t thank you enough for everything (my coach lost his voice during that race). What a short but powerful moment shared with him. And I crossed the finish line, in 6^th place and in the money. I was a happy girl! Aaron crowned me with my mardi gras beads. Let the good times roll!

I also had a great moment hugging my Linsey at the finish line! What a great end to a beautiful story. GOOD WORK. It’s just the beginning. When do I race again?

No need to say (and maybe better not to say), how fun it was to party that night on Bourbon street. Mechanical bull riding and all. For this part, it is better not to get into the details. ;)

Thank you to Clarke Rodgers of www.sportzfoto.com for the wonderful pictures he took on race day!