Chocolate Race 10 miler Race Report

I am excited to say that my first official race of the season was successful. I was a beautiful, sunny day, just a light wind, and the perfect running temperature! What more could a runner ask for? The day started off just before 6am. I had gone to bed at 8pm the night before and was feeling great! I hopped out of bed to start getting ready. Unfortunately, Rikki had not been able to sleep. Add this to the fact that he is not a morning person at all and you get a very cranky Rikki. The best way to deal with this situation may not have been for me to poke and prod at his head and say in a high squeaky voice "Honey...honey...honey...time to get up!" For next time, and some advice if anyone has ever been in this situation: go downstairs, brew an amazing cup of coffee, come back upstairs and hold it under his nose. Had this have been the approach I used I probably would have been more successful at getting him out of bed in a good mood. Anyway, so by 6:15am we were on the road. I plugged in the address of the race site into the GPS...ETA 7:23am...at this point Rikki (who still had not had his coffee) said, "the race starts at 9:15! why do we have to be their so early?" to which I replied "I need time to get ready." Now, if you know me, you know that I only need about 15 minutes after a workout to get changed, hair blow-dried, makeup on (when I wear it) and go out. However, when it comes to pre-race its a completely different story and I do not like to rush. Luckily, Rikki got his coffee before he was able to argue with me for too long on this one.

After parking the car, getting to the race site, picking up our race kits it was around 8:15am. It was pretty warm in the sun and I decided on what clothing I would keep on for the race. My running room hat, gloves and friction free socks were a must, my wave precision 12 running shoes (best shoes ever: cushioned & lightweight for racing!), lululemon long sleeved top with my race shirt over top and lululemon running tights. The race was at a beautiful location - Port Dalhousie. So we had a nice (romantic?) walk along the pier and I did some running drills and Rikki took some photos. A nice relaxing pre-race routine. Maybe we could have slept in for another 30 minutes...I guess I am just used to triathlons and having to set up a transition area...

OK, getting to the actual race. It was a small, local race so there wasn't too many people. I think probably around 600-700 participants in total and just over 260 people in the 10 miler. All this just to say that the start wasn't too crowded and from the very beginning I started out in 3rd place over-all. It was a pretty technical course as it was mostly on a dirt/gravel trail with lots of turns. You were either going up or down a hill almost the whole time. This made it tough to get into a groove and as a result I don't think it was a particularly fast course. However, it was still a lot of fun. I stayed within about 100-200 meters of the 2 guys ahead of me until the 8km turnaround. I think I split just over 32 minutes for the first half of the race. I would have liked to have been under 32, but given the terrain of the course I was pretty happy with this. After the turnaround to the 11km mark was amazing. I couldn't see the two race leaders anymore, but so many people were cheering for me and this really was inspiring! I tried to cheer for all of them...they were so supportive and I wanted to be equally so. I was really having a lot of fun. The race got a little bit more challenging from the 11km to the finish line though. The trail was a bit more crowded from all the people doing the 5 & 10km race and I spent more time trying to dodge them than I did focussing on my time. I think I may have scared Rikki as I whacked him on the back as I passed. The look on his face was not a happy one and I knew that he was probably not liking the hills on the course too much. Add fatigue to trying not to run into people (and I am so so so sorry to the person I did run into) and my back half of the race was about 30s slower than my first half. Overall time of 1:04:36 (1st female, 3rd overall participant). I was definitely happy with my result...but I have a long way to go if I want to run a sub-1:25 half-marathon off the bike in order to finish with the other Pros!!

A little bit more info about the race: This happened to be called THE CHOCOLATE RACE (http://www.thechocolaterace.com/ ) and it was unlike any other race I have done...they had chocolate covered strawberries and marshmellows at the aid stations and chocolate croissants, truffles, chocolate milk, etc. at the finish line. I would highly recommend it to any chocolate lover! However, maybe pocket the chocolate at the aid stations...Rikki told me that eating chocolate while running was not a good idea.

Now a little mini-break from training! I am off to Mexico for my beautiful sister's wedding in MEXICO! ~ Miranda

Spring Races: St. Pats 5K & Masters Provincials!

It's been awhile since I have posted and these race reports are long overdue (at least the St. Pats 5K one). As you may or may not know my running was sidelined after a 25km run at the end of February...a Family Day run I will not forget...awesome and agonizing run at the same time! Due to running that distance with a "stuck fibula" caused inflammation in my knee. My chiro explained to me that the IT band rubs over a fat pad that sits on top of the head of the fibula. This inflammation was felt during swimming, biking and running. Thanks to constant care from my chiro and RMT I was able to keep cycling and swimming, but not able to run or do weights. Starting the week of March 9th I slowly started running again, 15mins, day off, 20 mines, day off, ...etc. March 16th I did a 30min run with no pain so my coach decided I should run the St. Pats 5K race...since I was already registered (I had planned to run it slow and with Rikki). He told me hold 4min/km...and in my mind I was thinking (WHAT!?! My PB is only a 19:27..so basically I need to race it). Come race day I was feeling OK, but highly doubted I could hold 4min/km since I had only run 4 times in the past month (2hrs total) and all those runs were at 5min/km pace! Anyway, the race started and all these women past me at the start. Oh well, I thought, this is expected...and I kept a pace that was just below what I thought was 5km effort (HR of abour 175bpm). At the 1km mark I looked down at my split...WOW-3:40! And it was an easy 3:40...I kept up that just below 5km effort (my GPS watch was going a bit crazy at this point...saying I was on 2:22/km pace. ya, right!) and started to pass a few women. At the 2.5km turnaround I passed some YorkU track runners. That was when I picked up my pace to actual 5K race effort. No way was I letting them re-pass me. GPS watch was still going crazy for the rest of the race, so I just tried to keep my pace up. I kept passing people throughout the rest of the race...ya, I'm definitely an endurance runner! Not going to lie, the last 500m of the race I was definitely feeling the lack of training and my heart rate was soaring (into the 190s!), but soon I was passed the finish line in a new PB of 18:49!!! woohoo...with NO INTENSITY TRAINING! this was a good start to the season for sure. The only problem was that I would have to tell Adam that I had not followed his training plan AGAIN. Shoot.



OK, fast forward to the end of March...Master's Swimming Provincials. A new challenge was ahead: PB in the 1500m, 800m and 200m free...first race: lead-off in the 4x200m Free relay...time: 2:25:29! Woohoo new PB and a silver medal in the relay.,,despite Chris feeling less than stellar. Awesome start. 1500m of 19:05.50 ... a PB by 22 seconds. Sweet!!! And I had an awesome cheering squad of Adam, Faye and her boyfriend, Mamma, Papa, Sara, Kevin (coach of Thor Multisport)! On Sunday I raced the 200m free (2:26), 50m free in the medley relay (32.75s-would you believe that's also a PB?!) and 800m free (10:01.03) beating my old time by 24 seconds. I credit my best times mostly to my coach, Adam Johnston. His advice (high elbow catch!) and training program were what enabled my to post these best times. Also helping me along the way: Linda and Byron from the U of T Varsity Team, Shareen and Mike from Granite Masters. Thanks for everything!!

I also wanted to mention some other highlights from the meet: Katie Osbourne won something like 9 medals (I think all were gold for her individual events), the 4x50 mixed medley relay (Sean, Henry, Sue, Katie) were 0.50 seconds of a record! Andrea St. Jules rocked the 100 and 200fly and beat her seed time significantly! Mike swam a 1:05 100m fly (gold medal) after literally arriving at the pool deck 3 heats before his race, still in his jeans and with no suit on. Sean swam a 30s 50m backstroke, beating his time from his last provincials by a second (this is HUGE in a 50m race!). Mel swam 20:50 in the 1500, which is almost as fast as her pre-2nd baby swim in London 2 years ago...she also had many other fast swims and medals! Karen swam to bronze in the 50fly, silver in the 50 and 100 back, 200 fly and and gold in the 100fly and 200 back. How many medals was that?! Awesome. Other medallists were Chris, Kelly, Jon, Mark, Henry, Sarah F, Nicola Tory, Shareen and sorry if I forgot anyone else!!!

New Lactate Threshold! In March! Bring on race season 2012!

Can you guess why my new nickname is "Bullfrog?"

Fighting my injury...1 week at a time

HAHA- JUST KIDDING!. Not with white wine.

Anyway...so I'm still unable to run since my epic 25km training run on Feb 20th...the problem started below my kneecap until 15km into my Family Day run I felt it in the side of my knee...I basically fought through the pain for the remaining 10km and since then have barely been able to get in any good training. At first it appeared my fibula was stuck, then my ankle was stuck and then my pelvic bone...but still...nothing has helped my knee. This past week I couldn't even bike or swim without pain. Of course the ultrasound results were supposed to only take 1-2 days to get to my doctor...but of course, they are taking longer so I am still waiting to find out the exact problem.



This week I did get to try a few new things.

#1 - Get a manicure for no reason. I had 2 hours to kill after being told that "NO, I WAS NOT ALLOWED TO BIKE TODAY" so I wandered into a Nail Salon in Leaside thinking about getting a pedicure. However, after being told by the lady at the spa that my toes were too rotten to be polished I opted for the manicure option. (spa lady: "you a runner?" me: "yes, sorry my toenails are black and blue, that's why they need polish" spa lady: "too rotten for polish" me: "*sigh*"). An hour later my nails were nicely painted a pale red/dark pink...fabulous. I was looking good and feeling good!! Until about 2 minutes later when I managed to take a nice little chunk of polish of my right thumbnail. oops. two days later...nails are decorated with bike grease and are becoming even more chipped by the hour as I move bikes up and down stairs and set them up on trainers....ahhh...there was a reason I hadn't had a manicure since my wedding!

#2 - Yoga (not a new thing, but it has been awhile). I was determined to get to this 9:30am yoga class at Fireflow Yoga. Shareen (www.manayoga.com) is the best Yoga teacher ever and I knew that nothing would ease my stresses like one of her classes (plus she has been telling me forever that it would be so good to compliment my training). So I raced over to Yonge/Eglinton in rush hour (all the way from the Beach)...it "only" took me an hour and I barely made it in time...only to realize that, duh, she was away in Ottawa coaching swimming (which of course I know, because we coach the same swim group!). Anyway, Jonathan led the class and it was still excellent. All the lunges and various stretches were a perfect compliment to all the forward movement I do on the swim, bike and run. It wasn't even too hard! (well, so I thought!!! until...but almost 72 hours later my shoulders are still sore). Next class is planned for Sunday, 4pm. Hopefully I will be recovered by then.

#3 - Making tacos. Yup, I had a craving for sour cream and minced meat...odd, yes, but the perfect excuse to make tacos for the first time! I even had the extra time needed to go grocery shopping for the necessary ingredients. Making tacos are surprisingly cheap...taco kit= $2.99, sour cream = $2.99, minced meat= $4.99, and cheddar cheese, salsa were already in the house. AND Rikki loves Mexican!!!

So 3 new things...what will I try next week?

Once last thing to write about...

The best thing to come home to on a Friday night is a yummy dinner with family and friends! After a hard week....injury fighting, dealing with lack-of-training anxiety, no sleep (due to lack-of-training anxiety) I came home after work to the smell of amazing food and the sound of laughing and banter from the sisters, the fellas, mamma, papa, cathy and norm. Of course, everyone was dressed in their Friday work casual-formal attire (Tom was even wearing a tie!) ... so of course I fit right in in my work clothes (spandex and lycra!). At least I was comfy :) Dinner consisted of a shrimp appetizer, steak, peas, potatoes... and of course Santa Margherita (no judgement...I'm not in heavy training at the moment...a plus to being injured?)





I made dessert...fruit salad...I would much prefer cake or ice cream, but unfortunately I don't need those yummy calories right now.






The night ended for me at 10pm...when I headed off to bed listening to the faint sounds of laughter and Norm and Papa playing guitar downstairs. For the first time the whole week I had a good nights sleep.

Injuries and Bowling

Since becoming a professional triathlete means I actually have to train really hard...that’s what I have been doing. But I really don’t get how these triathletes do it? 20+ hours of training per week and staying injury free?! If this is possible I want to know the trick. Following my OFF season...which was only 2 weeks, but really felt like forever...I have been plagued by injuries...first the hip flexor and groin, then a horrible stomach flu (OK-not really an injury but still mean a week off), then a bruised tailbone (yes-in this mild winter I had to find the ONE patch of ice on the ground and fall on it), then an adductor strain and a head cold...and now a “Stuck fibula”! Isn’t a bone supposed to be stuck? Patience is definitely not my strong point...so this has all been incredibly hard for me. And in the midst of all these injuries I have still been swimming, cycling and running better than I ever have! Imagine if I was actually injury-free?!

This winter I have been making a decent effort to keep up a relatively normal social life, while training..it has been hard, but oh so much fun. This has included two attempts at bowling...this first attempt started with my bowling granny style. You know...throw the ball from between your legs...although I had pretty good aim, the ball lacked any sort of speed to knock over any pins. So I graduated to the regular (?) bowling style...which still looks a bit awkward on me. My first game I think I got about 60 points and maybe more than 10 balls in the gutter. My second attempt was much much better. I think I got 4 spares in a row! And doubled my score from last time. However...attempt #1 involved much wine and ceasers while the second attempt I drank water and coke...so that left me to make a difficult decision...is it more fun to win at bowling OR is intoxicated bowling more fun. Hmmmm...

Well...I promise to blog more regularly..but I am off to the pool for a (hopefully) epic swim set!

My Energy Bar of Choice: Steve's Ebars

As a competitive triathlete, I rely on proper nutrition to adequately prepare me for a workout, keep my energy levels up during a workout and for muscle recovery. Nutrition could be called the fourth sport in triathlon. Whether or not you fuel yourself correctly can make or break your performance, even if you are properly trained. However, because adequate digestion relies on increased blood flow to your stomach and digestive organs and exercise relies on blood flow to your working muscles, eating and activity are in constant opposition. The sports nutrition industry has capitalized on this and now there are a ton of products available that are easily digestible and can be used just before and during exercise. Sports nutrition products contain energy-boosting ingredients and a lot of vitamins and minerals, so they can even be used by the non-athlete who leads a busy lifestyle and needs a quick meal on the go. The energy bar that I rely is Steve’s Ebar. 

Steve’s Ebar is an an all natural energy bar that contains no added flavour or preservatives and includes ingredients that are nutrient dense (high vitamin & mineral content per calorie), high in antioxidants and are easy to digest. The high nutrient density is optimal for providing enough fuel for your muscles and the high antioxidant content is great for sustained energy. When you exercise you produce free-radicals which damage the muscle cells and cause you to tire during a workout. Antioxidants “soak-up” the free radicals and allow you to exercise longer and harder. The fact that all these great benefits come in a easy to digest form means that you can get all the benefits from a full meal, without depriving your muscles of blood flow that would otherwise be needed for digestion.

Compared to other bars I have tried, Steve’s Ebar is not only nutritious, but delicious too! The Chocolate Peanut Butter flavour has been described by many as tasting like a chocolate peanut butter cup. Other bars I have tried have horrible aftertastes, but Steve’s Ebar doesn’t just taste great, but there is no chemical aftertaste that you find with some of the other bars. I would say that overall it tastes like a cross between a granola bar and a whole-grain muffin and, if you are just eating one as an energy boosting snack on a busy day, tastes great with coffee.

Another great feature of Steve’s Ebar is that can be easily consumed during exercise. There is nothing worse than being on a long ride, trying to eat some of those other bars and finding that you are chewing for about 10 minutes before you can actually swallow. The Ebar is fresh and very easy to chew, making it ideal to eat anytime, even when you are on the bike or during a long run. 

For these reasons, Steve’s Ebar is my energy bar of choice. Steve Forst makes these bars in small batches in Toronto. For more information or to order a batch for yourself, contact Steve at trainwithsteve@gmail.com.

~ Miranda Tomenson-Bhardwaj, MSc

Miami 70.3

Going to Miami I only really had one goal...which I really didn’t tell anyone but myself. I wanted to rank among the professional female triathletes. I had already made the decision to turn Pro next year, but I wanted to prove that I really deserved to call myself a Professional. I am happy to say that I did accomplish my goal. There were 13 professional female triathletes. I placed 11th female over all and had the 7th fastest swim time and the 5th fastest run time. Now I can say that I AM as good as the Pros! Read on if you want to hear the whole story of my Miami Adventure.

I flew down to Miami with my parents on Friday and we arrived at the hotel at around 4pm. I immediately unpacked my bike and set it up so that I could get in a 45 minute ride to loosen up my legs. Unfortunately, my ride happened to be right in the middle of rush hour and I spent the entire ride focusing all my attention on staying on the road and not getting hit by a car. I did notice that my balance was a bit off and I was even more shaky than usual on my bike. I have never been a confident rider, but this was worse than usual. It was quite possibly due to the fact that it had been 3 weeks since I actually rode outside. Half-way through the ride I did find a parking lot and practiced some figure 8s and my transitions to help me with my balance. This actually seemed to help a little bit and I was a bit more confident on the bike ride back to the hotel. Once back, I quickly unpacked the rest of my gear and I headed out with my parents to find a nice Italian restaurant so I could begin my carb loading. I was determined to eat A LOT of carbs before my race this time so as to prevent a repeat of Vegas where I completely just ran out of energy 70K into the bike. I chose Lasagna for dinner, took advantage of the never ending bread rolls that Ludo (the owner/waiter) brought to the table and polished off about 2 bottles (or 1.5 litres) of water. My parents enjoyed the equivalent amount of fluid, only their beverage of choice was red wine :) After dinner I headed to bed.



I was up at 7:30am the next morning to blue sky!!! Considering the predicted forecast was heavy rain from Saturday – Monday I was quite excited about this. I decided to take advantage of the time day and the weather and go for a 30 minute bike ride traffic-free, followed by a 15 minute run. The bike felt better than yesterday, but I was still a little shaky. My cadence was around 90rpm and holding 180W for 5 minutes felt pretty easy. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to hold that for 2-3hrs though. The run felt pretty good and during my 5 minutes at “race pace” I looked down at my Garmin and saw a 3:55/km pace and was in shock. It didn’t feel like I was working that hard. This made me happy. However, I did notice that the air was wet and breathing was a bit harder then I was used too. Not to mention the fact that by the time I got back to the hotel it looked more like I had gone for a swim than a bike-run. I knew I was not good in the heat and this worried me. After a big breakfast of cereal, yogurt, strawberries, coffee, 3 muffins, a piece of coffee cake and a few slices of turkey cold cuts and a few glasses of water, we headed to the race expo to pick up my race kit, attend the pre-race meeting and check in my bike. During the pre-race meeting I started to panic. Water temperature was hovering between 76-77 degrees...do I wear a wetsuit? Fears about dehydration set in. What was the plan for nutrition and fluids, again? There was no swim warm-up allowed, so what do I do for warm-up? Luckily, I have a great coach who had all the answers and the pre-race panic was gone. After I checked my bike I went back to the hotel, did a 20-minute swim in the pool (I am not sure that the other hotel guests in the pool appreciated my flip-turns) and had lunch. Lunch was a yummy Panini with grilled veggies, olive oil and mozzarella cheese and more water. After lunch my parents needed to walk off some of the wine they had drunk so we walked the 1.6 miles to Publix and back to stock up on plain bagels, peanut butter, bananas for my pre-race breakfast and a bottle of Santa Margherita for after the race! Then it was dinner time and I had a big bowl of spaghetti, more water and then went to bed nice and early.

I woke up on race morning at 4:30am after 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I made coffee and had my breakfast of a plain bagel with peanut butter and banana and a coffee. On the drive over to the race site it started to rain. This was not good. It was pretty light rain while I set up my transition area and did my warm-up (a 15-minute run, some running drills and 4x10” sprints) and then by the time I headed over to the swim start it was pouring rain and windy. People were sitting under truck-beds, lying under cars and standing under trees to try to stay dry. The start of the race was delayed by about 15 minutes while we waited for the sun to rise. Even with the sun up it was still pretty dark. The water temperature was 77 degrees and non-wetsuit so I didn’t even have a wet-suit to keep me warm. Despite my best efforts to keep warm (arm swings, leg swings, dryland simulated swimming) my teeth were chattering uncontrollably by the time my wave was on deck. For the first time ever I couldn’t wait for the race to just start! After the wave ahead of me started, our wave jumped off the dock into the water. It was warm and I felt the added buoyancy of being in salt water. I tried to position myself so that I would have a clean start, but once the horn blew I was out-sprinted by a few girls who then slowed down and formed a wall that I couldn’t get by! I was very frustrated as I watched the lead swimmer take off towards the first buoy and I was helplessly stuck behind a slow pack of swimmers. After I managed to get by them it was too late and the lead girl was out of sight. I pushed on, swam through the wave ahead of us, but I was on my own for the rest of the swim. The first half of the swim I was with the current and felt great. I kept my head down, sighting every three breaths and still keeping on course. However, after turning a buoy I felt the cross-current and I had to make sure that I was swimming 45 degrees to the current so that I would stay on course.  When I turned at the next buoy I was heading straight into the current. This was tough as the waves crashed into me and it was impossible to find any rhythm to my stroke. I made a technical error going into the swim exit since I wasn’t sure whether to swim directly towards it or whether I had to first head towards the buoy on my right and then to the swim exit. Worried about a possible DQ I took the long route around the buoy and then into the swim exit, which I later learned was wrong, but oh well. I exited the water in 29’16. The run to transition was long, but I was happy to see my parents cheering and waving me on.

I took my time in T1 and made sure I had all my nutrition with me for the bike. The rain had let up a little, which I was thankful for. The first 10km of the bike course was very technical and there were a lot of turns and the road was not smooth. As I approached a set of train tracks the volunteers were screaming, “SLOW DOWN! SLOW DOWN! YOU WILL CRASH IF YOU DON’T SLOW DOWN” so I did just that...I watched my speed slow to about 5km/hr as I crossed the tracks. Just as I did this I noticed a man passing me on the left crash AND at the same time a man trying to pass on the right crashed. I came to the following conclusion, “men on bikes can be idiots” and “oh god, I am so happy I slowed down”. This still made me quite nervous for the rest of the ride and I was happy that I reached Highway 27 safely. I would stay on this road till the turnaround. Unfortunately, I still had to battle cross-winds and rough road that nearly had me falling off my bike at some points. Highway 27 turned toward the north during the last 10km before the turnaround and so I was met with a strong head-wind. I knew this would turn into a tail-wind at the turnaround so I fought through it knowing it would soon be easier. After the turnaround was my favourite part of the race. I watched my power meter show my watts around 180-190W, my speed above 40km/hr and my cadence between 90-95rpm. I felt comfortable and strong and this made me happy. Then I passed a couple Pros and was even happier!  As I hit the 1hr 45min mark into the bike I started to feel the discomfort of riding in aero position. Even though I had made sure to get up out of the saddle every 5 miles and stand-up for a few peddle strokes my hip flexors were screaming, especially on my left side, and I could no longer stand the pressure that the saddle was placing on my crotch area. I started shifting my position so that I was to the left and then the right of the nose of my saddle and this seemed to help. My left hip flexor was getting tighter and tighter though and I was riding on the uprights more and more often to relieve it. I hit a bump about 10km out of T2 that caused my left aerobar to shift a bit to the left so that it was no longer tight and was slipping around when I was aero position. This was annoying as it meant I had to ride in the uprights for the last 10km. Also, at this point the wind had picked up so much so that if there wasn’t a head wind then there was a crosswind that was causing me to drift all over the road. I no longer cared about keeping my power up, I just wanted to make it to T2 in one piece and without suffering a strained hip flexor! The wind in the final stretch into T2 was like nothing I had ever experienced. You could hear it howling, you could see the palm trees swaying and when I stopped pedalling to slip my feet out of my shoes in preparation for my dismount, my bike almost came to a dead stop. I was so happy when I racked my bike! I didn’t care that my bike split was only a 2:38, because I had survived the most brutal ride I had ever experienced in a 70.3 event.


Heading out onto the run I was still in second in my age group. I had no idea how far back I was from the first place girl in my age group, but I felt pretty good. The hip flexor issue failed to bother me on the run and I was extremely thankful. The run course was two loops and involved running north, then east across the Causeway and then back. The wind was coming pretty strong out of the North and the headwind coming out of T2 was pretty brutal. I still posted my first few kms in 4’10 per km pace though so I was happy. Once I reached the Causeway though the combination of uphill + brutal crosswind + rain was very demoralizing. I knew that the faster I ran the faster it would be over with! That kept me going through that first loop. At the start of the second loop, when many of the athletes were starting their first loop, I used the additional number of people on the course to my advantage and tucked in behind some of the faster athletes so that they would block the wind a bit for me. Once I was at the top of the Causeway on my second loop I knew that the rest of the run would be easy in comparison. I picked up the pace and raced my way into the finish. I passed a bunch of female 25 – 29 age groupers on the way, but I had no idea if any of them were on their first or second loop. When I saw my parents faces as I entered the finishing shoot I knew I had done it and was the first female non-professional to cross the finish line (and I had beat some Pros)! I had made up 11-minutes on the first place 25 - 29 female during my run.

I was very excited to finish my last race of the season so successfully! In the process of achieving my race goal I also achieved my long term goal of running a sub-1:30 half-marathon in a half ironman distance event. I would not have been able to do this without the amazing support of my family (my parents, Rikki, my sisters and Rikki’s parents) who have always been there for me and put up with me, my RMT, Craig Dow (from Athlete’s Care King & Yonge), who was the main reason I got through the 2011 season un-injured, Bill Wells (my chiropractor from Urban Athlete), Dave Bialkowski for fixing my bike last minute for the race and for going out of his way to get me my race wheel, and especially my coach, who put up with my complaining and arguing all season, because there is no way I could have accomplished anything without his coaching. I also appreciate all the advice and support from Bill Durrant, the U of T Swim Team Coaches (Byron McDonald and Linda Keifer), Peter Oyler, Scott Judges (my bike fitter from Fitt 1st) and all my friends and fellow riders from WattsUp for their words of encouragement! Last, I want to thank my sponsors for this season: Turner-Tomenson & Associates, National Bank Financial,
Lululemon, Bialkowski Trysport and WattsUp Cycling.


I can’t wait for the adventures that next season brings!