Happy Mothers Day

To the BEST mom in the whole wide world.

Vancouver Sun Run and HOME!

I made the short trip to Vancouver last weekend to race in the famous Sun Run 10k road race. My mom came with me so it made for a fun weekend hanging out in a fancy hotel and shopping downtown. The race was only a week after Sydney so I was still feeling a bit jet-lagged and sluggish, but I love the energy and atmosphere of the race so I was very keen to do it! My only goal was to run faster than last year, which would be a PB for me. There were 2 African girls competing, one from Kenya (Lucy) and one from Ethiopia (Emebet), and I found them sitting on my shoulder for the first 4 km. It was a quick pace, but I was fairly comfortable. I felt silly running ahead of them since I was expecting them to be significantly faster than me. At about halfway, Lucy surged ahead and Emebet dropped back quite a bit. From that point, I maintained the gap of about 6 seconds for the rest of the race. I really regret not trying to close the gap and run with her, and looking back I feel like I could have. I was satisfied with being so close to a Kenyan that I just settled in and accepted that she SHOULD be ahead of me. I settled for second place instead of racing to win. Bad decision. I still managed a PB, 33:47, which was faster than last year despite a less-than-ideal lead up to the race. I was the first Canadian and second overall- but man I hate losing!

After the race I travelled home to Edmonton to visit with my family and friends that I haven’t seen for a few months. I also had to sort out lots of grown-up stuff that I shouldn’t have to worry about for at least another 5 years! I don’t want to deal with taxes and banks and corporate accounts and lawyers and accountants. I don’t want to have a ledger books and keep track of all of my receipts. I don’t understand any of it... but my mom says I have to pay taxes or I’ll get thrown in jail. So I sat at the accountants office and wrote a cheque for a ridiculously large amount of money to the Government of Canada. Major down-side of winning prize money. I’m lucky that my mom is helping me so much with this, I basically just have to sign on the line and write cheques, but it’s definitely not fun! Welcome to the real world.

On a more fun note, a got a new Macbook Air yesterday and I love it! I’ve been thinking about getting one for a while and I finally decided to do it. It’ll be nice and light for traveling and it’s so much faster than my old one.

I’m heading back to Victoria tomorrow morning, with a little less money but a lot more happy! Definitely needed that little break.

Happy Easter everyone!

Paula

Sydney

Wow, really wasn't expecting that!! Here's how it went down...

The swim took place in the Sydney Harbour right in front of the opera house. It was a spectacular venue but the water was really choppy which made for another difficult swim. I chose to start on the far left and I took a bad line towards the first buoy, so I was in the middle of chaos going around the first turn. I was much further back than I would have liked after the first lap. For the whole swim I was thinking about how bad of a swim I was having, really not the best mind set to be in, but I put my head down and managed to make up quite a bit of ground on the second lap. I came out in a much better position than I thought I was in, and quickly rode up to the leaders. Relief!

The bike course was very technical with three 180 degree turns on each of the 9 laps. Specialized gave out a $500 prime on every lap at the top of a hill, which made for lots of surging and chasing and bridging gaps. It was a deceivingly difficult bike course because of the hills and sprinting out of each turn. Specialized gave me my brand new S-works Amira with Zipp wheels the day before the race, so thankfully I had a speedy machine to get me through it! I had a good knock to the head during the swim which made one of my contacts slide out of place, and it eventually fell out on the second lap of the bike. The same thing happened to me in Kitzbuhel last year so I had some experience riding with blurry and distorted vision! It was difficult to see the pot holes and I spent more time focusing on seeing properly than I did on staying in good position, so unfortunately I was in the middle or back of the pack for most of the ride. Again, I was so relieved to start the run, definitely the safest of the three sports, not much can go wrong there! Except maybe getting hit in the head with a water bottle?..

I had a bad transition, same old story, so had to make up about 20 seconds to the leaders right off the bat. I settled in with them by the first turnaround. Everyone is telling me how comfortable and in-contol I looked on the run, but it certainly did not feel like it at all! My legs felt good, but there were tons of surges on the up and downhills and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to respond to every single one. I felt like I was on the verge of getting dropped the whole time. Everyone was relentless and it was a very fast pace. On the last lap it came down to Barbara, Andrea and I, and I was really expecting them to run away from me. Barb made a gap on the uphill, which I somehow managed to close, and I went by her on the last corner. I didn't look over my shoulder, just ran as fast as I possibly could, but I did't think it would be fast enough to hold off those charging girls. I definitely doubted myself too many times in this race! Man, sprint finishes are stressful. I was so shocked when I crossed the finish line.

So although this race wasn't completely smooth sailing, I couldn't have started off the year any better. I'm not letting the result get to my head as it's a very long season and I have lots of racing in front of me, but it's a great confidence booster to know that I'm on the right track. Everyone is going to get fitter and faster from here, so I have to try and do the same!

I couldn't have had this success without the help of so many people, too many to name, but I have to give a special mention Patrick, Sam, and John. They were with us for our month-long adventure in Australia and they did so much work to make sure that our group was healthy, happy, and training hard. I'm not always the cheeriest person to be around, so thanks for putting up with me :).

I'm back in Victoria now and racing the Vancouver Sun Run 10km next weekend. This is a really fun race and it's where I got my 10k PB last year, so I'm excited to see if I can improve on my time a little. My mom is coming with me to do the race, and then I'll go back to Edmonton for a few days to visit my family and friends. After lots of discussion and debating I've decided not to race in Yokohama this year, so my next triathlon won't be until June 4th in Madrid. Lots of time to get in a good bunch of training!

Thanks so much for the massive support everyone. I know I haven't responded to every single message but please know that I appreciate it so much and couldn't do it without you all.

Paula

Mooloolaba World Cup

As I dove in for warm up in the choppy surf yesterday, my goal for this race completely changed: just survive the swim. Come out alive, and I'll be happy. This may sound dramatic to some of the Aussies who are ocean swimming experts, but this was my first beach start swim and I was really scared! It was the choppiest, waviest swim I've ever done and the girls were really rough, as usual. It was one big 1500 meter loop, out 300 meters through the surf, along the beach, and back. I don't think I saw one buoy the whole time, I was just frantically following feet in front of me, and lucky I had lots to follow! I was so relieved when I came out of the water and saw that I wasn't actually too far behind the leaders. There was a 200 meter run through deep sand to get back to transition so I tried my best to make up as much time as possible, but running all out in sinking sand after that swim was not easy!

I jumped on my bike and could see a lead pack of 6 about 10 seconds up the road, so I got to work with a few other girls and we caught them by the end of the first lap. The bike course went up and over a big hill, out and back, 7 times and there was a huge headwind on the way home. Daniela Ryf and Nicky Samuels made a break uphill on the second lap and we made the mistake of letting them go. We worked pretty well together as a group, but were still loosing time to these 2 super-cyclists. To make the day even better, a torrential downpour started on the 5th lap, which made the turnarounds very slippery and my breaks were not working AT ALL. New goal: survive the bike. Just make it onto the run without crashing. The winds also picked up and our group slowed down quite a bit in these last few laps. I think this is where we lost the most time to the 2 leaders. Again, I was very relieved to get off my bike and start chasing those girls down!

My legs felt very heavy and flat on the run, but I imagine everyone was feeling quite similar after the challenging bike. The run was equally as difficult, up and over the same hill 8 times. I tried to use the downhills to get my leg speed up and bridge the gap to Emma and Barbara but my legs just weren't working! I was running solo for most of the way and could see Vendula Frintova making up time on each lap, she was flying! On the 3rd lap, Patrick told me that I had a penalty, so I checked the board as I ran by and stopped to take my 15 seconds. They looked at me funny and didn't start counting, so I started counting for them. After about 8 seconds, they told me that I actually didn't have a penalty and they didn't know why I was there... it said "4 1" on the board with a huge gap between the 4 and the 1, so it looked like number 4 had a penalty when it was actually 41. They really need a better system!! So I charged out, slightly frustrated, with one lap to go. I guess the bonus of my fake penalty was that I got a 10 second rest. Frintova caught me on the last turn around and we ran side-by-side for last km. I out-sprinted her in a nearly-photo-finish, and crossed the line in 4th place. Most importantly: I survived!

So needless to say, this was definitely the hardest course I've ever raced on. I'm happy with where I finished for this time of year, although never completely satisfied with 4th place! It was my first race since Budapest last September, so it was good to go through the motions and put in a good effort before the WCS starter in Sydney in a few weeks. We are staying in Caloundra, where we have been training for the past 2 weeks. It's a great place to be and we have an awesome little group here: Patrick, Sam (massage therapist), John (physiologist), Jeff, Kyla and Alex, who it leaving today to go back to school. We'll miss her!

Thanks to everyone for the nice messages. It makes a big difference to have so much support from back home!

Paula

Victoria Life & Bazan Bay 5k

I’ve been in Victoria for about a month now and enjoying it for the most part, but there are lots of things that I’m missing about home! One major plus side are my awesome roommates, Julia and Danika, and our cute little house. Julia (Wilkinson) is a swimmer on the national team who has a busy training schedule like me, so I’m not the only one in the house going to bed at 8pm every night. Poor Danika. Really, these girls are a lot of fun and it’s great to live with other athletes who aren’t triathletes. We understand each other’s weird habits but there’s no competition or anything. Love it.
Another major plus side of Victoria is being able to ride outside, however we had a freak snowstorm last week that put that on hold! It was back to the trainer and treadmills for a few days but lucky for me I’m very used to it. The snow disappeared within a week so although it’s a bit chilly we’re back to training outside.

We’ve had the great opportunity to swim with Randy Bennett’s group these past few weeks (Julia, Ryan Cochrane and lots of other speedsters!). These guys are seriously FAST and we get about 2 seconds rest after each interval, but it’s fun to change up our workouts a bit and learn from these world-class swimmers.

Not to be a downer, but there are some things I miss about home too. For one, commonwealth pool is REALLY cold and I spend almost every workout shivering, and then I’m cold for the rest of the morning. I miss the short-course normal temperature pool at U of A! And my friends. And my family. And my dogs. And my house. But maybe this is just a phase and I’ll get over it soon.

On another note, I raced for the first time since Budapest yesterday morning. It’s hard to go through 7 months of training with no competing at all, so I was very excited to race again. It was a 5km road race in Sidney on a flat course with lots of fast runners in attendance. I got dragged along by the guys for the first km and heard “3:04, 3:05, 3:06” as I was running by… may have been a bit too fast but I was feeling good. The last few km were pretty tough into a head wind and there were a few guys tucking in behind ME to be blocked from the wind. No fair! I finished in 16:33 and surprisingly a course record. I haven’t done many 5k races so I’m not sure if this is a good time but I’m happy with the effort! I almost forgot how much racing hurts so it was good to get this under my belt before Mooloolaba.

7 more days ‘till we head down under! YAY, Let’s get this triathlon season started!

Paula

Maui Camp

I’ve been in Maui for exactly month now and it’s nearly time to go back home to the land of snow and cold! The training has been going great for me, it’s nice to have no outside distractions and to be able to rest properly between workouts. I was training in Lahaina with the U of A swim team for my first two weeks here, doing lots of double swim days and some really good work. It took me a while to start feeling normal in the pool again after Christmas break, but the second week was much better and I definitely improved my swim a lot in those 10 days. Here’s the good lookin’ group of kids that I was training with- I love these guys! So much fun.

Sadly they all had to get back to school (ha!), so I packed up and moved over to Paia where I’ve been training with Sam McGlone and super-twins Kyla and Alex. All three of these girls are great training partners. They are always happy and get the workouts done without complaining. Patrick has also been awesome, following us around in the van for hours and hours with cold water and food and spare wheels.

My running is coming along surprisingly well since I’ve been here. I was having some knee pain before I left, but the warm weather combined with lots of treatment has loosened me up lots and I’ve been getting some good workouts in, so I’m very happy! The riding is amazing here, tons of hills and lots of technical roads that I am very nervous on, but I’m slowly getting better. I love my new specialized bike, it fits me perfectly and it’s so comfortable to ride. Our swims are at the Kihei pool beside the national team swimmers who are also in Maui for a camp. This morning their coach told them to move over a few lanes to make room for the national team triathletes “lean-to-swim” workout. Hahaha, ok we’re not as fast as them but we’re not THAT bad. They can join us on our run workout and 3-hour ride this afternoon and then they're welcome to make fun of us :)

3 more days of sunshine and then it’s back home to pack up and move to Victoria. I’ll miss Maui but Victoria is my favorite place to train so I’m excited to get back there for another season. Also I can't wait to meet Carolyn and Dean's new baby girl Cadence!

Thanks for reading,

Paula

Merry Christmas!

After 2 weeks of sitting in a stinky, sweaty library, Christmas is finally here! This semester really went by quickly and I enjoyed most of my classes, but exam time is by far my least favorite time of year. I hate sitting all day long and having almost no time to do any training. I basically did a lot of hot yoga, some hard swims, and set my trainer up in front of my desk to multitask. I don’t think I learn very much while I’m reading textbooks on my bike but it makes me feel productive at least. I’m so happy to be finished and to be in Canmore for Christmas! My dogs are in paradise here.

I drove down on Tuesday with my mom and sister and we had a pretty serious crash into the ditch about a mile away from our Canmore house. The roads were good for most of the drive, but the last stretch of highway was covered in black ice and we lost control going around a curve. It was very terrifying and we almost rolled over, but smashed hard into the mountainside and came to a halt. I don’t remember much except my sister screaming at the top of her lungs like it was the end of the world. Drama queen. We were all pretty shaken up for a while, but lucky my dad was close by and came to the rescue! I think the car is totaled, but at least we are all uninjured, and, most importantly, the Christmas presents are safe. Phew!

I stopped in Calgary on the way to Canmore to do a bike test and a run gait analysis at the Canadian Sports Centre. It was very beneficial and I learned a lot, so thanks a lot to Dr Smith, Dr Furber, Patrick, Linda and everyone else who was there to help me.

There’s just 5 more days to go until I leave for Maui for a good 5 weeks of training. My new Specialized bike is being shipped straight to Maui and I’m so excited to try it out! Thanks so much to Garth for putting this all together for me in time for the camp. After Maui I’ll be moving back to Victoria. I’ll be living with swimmer Julia Wilkinson and my friend Danika who’s also moving to Vic for the summer. Julia found a place for us about 800 meters from the pool, it sounds perfect! I’m really looking forward to the year ahead.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Paula