It has all been amazing! Our camp with the Quebec girls was legendary. These 15-17 year old ladies are the most dedicated, polite, hard working and talented girls that I have ever met. We did some terrific sessions – hills on the bike and run, form runs, bike intervals, swim intervals, swim relays, open water swim practice at Typhoon Lagoon (with some bonus fun thrown in!!) and then a final bike/run/bike/run/bike/run/bike/run transition workout in Lake Louisa Park. They soaked up all of the information and they never complained and were always eager to learn. We capped off our week with a lunch at Olive Garden and then the girls went to Cocoa Beach and they all got LBT tattoos … I love it!!!  A big thank you to Christian and Linda for organizing the camp and giving Dave and I this incredible opportunity to share! And of course, to Little Miss Sunshine for bringing her special smile to each of our days!

Then it was off for the big drive home from Florida. It had been a great 4-week trip; my health had improved, I felt happier than ever, I felt fit and certainly did not want to leave. But we had a new chapter to begin – the new puppy chapter!

Yes, Fenway was born on the first day of the Vancouver Olympics and she joined our family on April 10th at 8 weeks of age! She is a bundle of energy – very determined – stubborn but smart – cuddly and happy – loves people and other dogs – playful .. particularly at 12 a.m., 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.!!!  Gone are uninterrupted sleeps but she is worth it! Now we are all-rounders – we have taught high school, we teach athletes of all ages and now we are teaching our pup! Lesson one – day 1 – was that the crazy leash and collar is her new accessory and it is here to stay!! Her first day at home, she could not walk up the stairs .. then, 3 hours later, she could! By Day 3, she could ‘sit’! By the end of day 10, she could walk on a leash (although she does take some coaxing to go for a walk – doesn’t she know we are athletes and walking is not optional!!). After 1 week, we were wondering if we would survive ‘puppyhood’! Our vocabulary had become an infinite loop of “out”, “off”, “leave it”, “stay”, “sit”, “down” and “let’s go” and of course “good girl”. But then she snuggles up and cuddles and all of her naughtiness is forgotten! Our freedom may be gone, but our family is back!

Next up was a visit to New World Runners in Burlington where Fenway was the star of the show. 2XU was meant to be the highlight but there is something about a 9 week old puppy that warms your heart.

Then we were off to the Multisport Zone in London. I did 3 computrainer time trials with athletes to help raise money for CF. They also did a raffle and ultimately raised $1200 for CF! Thanks to the crew there for their generosity!

We also had our athletes over for a training day – we did a computrainer interval session in our basement followed by 1 km run intervals in our neighborhood followed by lunch and then a technical swim practise. It was a blast and wonderful to see our athletes in action.

Then it was off to Utah for my first race in my new role as co-host with Greg Welch on Ironman Live. It was a fantastic trip – a beautiful course – honest course – tough course – beautiful community – and amazing working/playing with Greg, Robin, Jim, Tricia, Mitch, Josh and Vicktor. Next race is IM Couer d’Alene and we have lots of ideas to make Ironman Live even better!

Next up for me is this Friday night. I am doing the colour commentary for CBC Sports coverage of the ITU Dextro World Cup Championship Series event in Seoul, Korea! The race happens live at 9 p.m. Friday night and will air on Saturday afternoon!

More fun news – but I will save for another post! Train safe and happy! Off to walk the pup!!

I felt pretty good coming into the race. I finally received clearance from the CF Clinic that my lungs were improving and that I could in fact race. I was so excited to be finally healthy enough to race full steam and with full lungs since I had been a bit subpar in both St. Croix and Florida. And that is why I cannot explain why I felt so flat on race day. I swam well exiting close to Belinda Granger and Mirinda Carfrae, but then I lost so much time on the bike. I rode as hard as I could but I never found that magic gear or sweet spot of the pedal stroke but I ploughed along aiming to get every last watt out of each pedal stroke. Granted, I was racing with some pretty tough customers, but still, I have been riding so well lately that this mediocre ride was unexpected. I charged off onto the run and felt great. It was a super hilly run – my forte – and I was sure that I would claw back some time and hopefully some women. But I never got it rolling – it was all effort and no payback. I finished in 11th place just behind Belinda Granger who had won Honu 70.3 the week before – so I was in good company – but I was definitely disappointed. I suppose the accumulation of ‘stuff’ may have caught up to me – 4 months of antibiotics, Brunswick going to Heaven, countless doctor’s appointments. My body and soul got into the fine beauty of Connecticut and went on holiday!!! Regardless, it was a good little hit out with some of the best triathletes in the world and I got to have a great visit with Belinda Granger and Jo Lawn. After our 5 minute grunt match complaining about our races, we were quickly laughing and joking and remembering why we love our sport so much and why personally I have been doing it for 20 years!

No time to dwell on that, the Muskoka Triathlon was the very next weekend. It was now time to freshen up the legs and squeeze another race out right in my own backyard!

I have been racing the Subaru Muskoka Triathlon for over 15 years. The course keeps changing but the general venue stays the same. It is the go-to race for Ontario athletes! It is a super hilly race and pretty darn short by my Ironman standards. I might not be racing Ironman anymore, but my engine is all about Ironman. No matter how hard I try to ‘sprint’, I have no ‘sprint’ available in this body. I am all about slow twitch!

The morning of the race, my bike fell over and a rock broke a spoke in my rear Zipp 404 race wheel. Ouch! I think that this is the last technical issue I am going to have for 2009. I have had the broken shoe, the cracked frame and now the broken spoke. This would not be an easy fix since I ride 650 c wheels and finding a rear replacement would be a challenge. Luckily, within minutes, we found a rear 650 race wheel. We fitted it up – checked the gears – and I was ready to go. It was a clincher and I race on tubular tires so I would have no spare but at this stage, I figured that everything comes in threes, and this was in fact ’3′ – so we were good!

I had my normal swim – nothing super special – and exited about 3 minutes behind race leader and upcoming pro, Jen Coombs. I felt quite good on the bike and started to eat into the lead of the women up ahead. I got to the turnaround and could see that Jen’s lead was down to about 90 seconds and I was gaining on the others as well. That is a bit of catch-22 for me. You see, I coach Jen and I desperately want her to get her first big win but I am also in the race – so part of me is happy I am catching her and part of me is wondering how I am going to make her even faster on the bike!!!

And then ’3B’ happened! If ’3′ was the broken spoke earlier this morning, then my current drama – my chain jamming in between the frame and the derailleur and causing my pedals to lock at 3 and 9 o’clock at 40 km into the ride – must be ’3B’!!!! I couldn’t believe it. My pedals are absolutely jammed and I am just hoping to not crash as I slow my bike down in order fix the problem. I have NEVER EVER STOPPED in a race EVER in 20 years until this year – first for the broken shoe in St. Croix and now for the jammed chain. It has happened before when I go into my very biggest gear but never in a race. I suppose borrowing a rear wheel didn’t help! Anyway, I grabbed the chain and put it back in place and then pedaled off to make up my lost time and did not use that gear again!! Attitude is more important than fact – the fact is that I had to stop and lose time with a mechanical issue but my attitude is that I will get that time back and more over the rest of the race.

Into transition, there were about 4 women within 90 seconds. I headed out to run as fast as possible and by 2.5 km, I was in the lead. Again, it was with a bit of reservation that I passed Jen. I offered her lots of encouragement and advice and took my own ‘coaching’ notes on how we were going to improve Jen’s run so that I don’t catch her anymore. It is all a work in progress and Jen is so talented, I know it will happen in time!

Once in the lead, I ran as hard as I could to hold off the other great women runners and I crossed the line in first for my first victory of the season! I won my first Muskoka Triathlon over 10 years ago and it is pretty special to be winning it now in 2009!

With that race done, I flew to Boulder, Colorado for a super cool photo shoot on behalf of my bike saddle sponsor – fizik. Fizik had gathered its athletes – Craig Alexander, Matt Reed, Luke Bell, Tim DeBoom, Greg Bennett, Leon Griffin, Mirinda Carfrae, Belinda Granger, Chrissie Wellington and me for a photo shoot. These photos may not be seen until 2010 – so stay tuned – they are not to be missed! It was an absolute blast to get to hang out with my triathlon friends outside of a race venue. There was no pressure and no race face. The only competition was the race to the buffet when the shots were done!

With that 24 hour jaunt complete, it was time for our Muskoka Subaru Success Camp on June 26th weekend. It was a fantastic weekend. The athletes were amazing soaking in all of the information, coaching and encouragement and reaching new athletic goals to fuel them toward their 70.3 goal. Our Subaru Success Camp team of Jody, Teresa, Jen and Mike worked seamlessly together. We had a few curveballs

First, let me say, biased or not, this is one heck of a course! Deerhurst is the perfect backdrop for this event and your family and friends will have several opportunities to cheer for you and take in all of the energy of race day.

The swim is pristine – the water is clear and the surrounding green space and hills that dot the swim course are beautiful. The final turn on the swim course takes you right to the Deerhurst dining room – literally, you can sight on the big rustic resort straight ahead of you. That is where your family and friends can watch you run up the hill toward the transition area. This is a challenging hill but you will be so busy taking off your wetsuit as you go and hearing the cheers that you won’t even notice.

You will then run to your transition spot in front of Deerhurst and off you go on the spectacular bike course. The first 8 km is very ‘busy’ – that means – you will be thinking the whole time about gearing and cornering and getting in and out of the saddle. You probably won’t have a big opportunity to munch on that Power Bar but don’t worry, once you make the downhill left hand turn onto North Portage Road, it becomes a bit less technical and you will be able to negotiate some nutrition. Your next attraction is Dwight – a terrific little beach reprieve. Once you leave the beach, you will be climbing up and out onto Hwy 60. This section is a nice rhythm section where you can get in some electrolyte drink and calories. Before you know it, you will be in the quaint little town of Dorset with it’s one lane bridge and ice cream parlour (don’t stop though!!). There will also be an aid station there.

Leaving Dorset, you are treated to another climb and then it is smooth sailing onto Hwy 117. This is a long, rolling section which is another rhythm section. Try not to ride too hard here because when you make the right hand turn at Baysville, you will begin the most challenging part of the course – the last 20 km. The hills on Brunel Road require a little bit of a spark and muscle power. From there, it is onto South Portage Road which is a bit of a rollercoaster. Try to keep your downhill momentum on this section because that will help you get up the hills on the other side. Then it is a left back to Deerhurst with that same 8 km stretch you rode out. So remember the big downhills going out – yes – well, they are now uphills on the way back. Keep something in the tank for a special hill within the last 5 km.

Try to get in a Power Gel over the last 10-15 minutes of the bike course so that you can start the run with a full tank of fuel. And the run is awesome. Out on Canal Rd and a little out and back section which is like your favorite trail on your home course. Then onto Hwy 60 with some rollers and a left on Golden Pheasant Dr. This out and back is challenging but just put one foot in front of the other and you will be back on Hwy 60 before you know it. Then it is onto Fairy Vista Trail which is a beautiful bike path winding through forests – you will feel so fast on this section. Back to Deerhurst, but you are not done yet. Now you get to run on the golf course – a real treat – since you cannot do it any other time of the year. When you exit the golf course, you will pass the finish line but you still get to run a bit further!! Your friends and family can see you run past here and you will grab some extra energy to keep running the rest of the golf course. After your golf tour, you will pass your friends again and even though you will be tempted to run another golf course loop, you will turn right and cross the Subaru Ironman Muskoka 70.3 finish line.

Enjoy your last few weeks of training, be safe and stay healthy. See you at the race!!

Lisa Bentley

On Saturday morning, we met for an early morning run where we previewed some special bits of the run course – the golf course run – the 18th hole spectator viewing point – the finish line – and the amazing run up from the swim to transition. Once everyone had a feel for the ‘logistics’ of those areas, we began our run. We stopped after a little warm up to go over the ‘learn to run fast’ drills and then we executed our speedy fast strides with perfect form. When we finished the instructional part of our run, the athletes began their long run on the course and I jumped on my bike to coach. It was then that the skies opened up and it poured rain – it was crazy and cold – but the runners were fine. Everyone loved the run and didn’t feel cold at all. Our coaches, Jody and Hans, ran with the athletes and Dave and Teresa supported from within the warmth of the Subaru vehicles.

After a little recovery period compliments of Power Bar, we met for a chat about building a running program. We chatted about strength work, periodization and hill workouts. Then we had a little break and met a few hours later for our swim session. We had planned a 2 hour session focusing on a proper swim warm up, sighting, drills, anxiety and other swimming information but the lightening shortened our session by about 25 minutes. We all ran back to our rooms with our wetsuits still on!! I am sure the brides from the 3 weddings being held at Deerhurst were a bit shocked, not only the weather, but by having 30 rubber clad ‘people’ entering the lobby!

We met again for dinner and then we discussed proper mental preparation for the 70.3 bike ride the following day. To finish off the evening, I did a little motivational chat and slide show presentation to get everyone excited for our special Sunday ride.

Thankfully, the rain stopped just in time for the 6 a.m. roll out on our bikes. The first half of our ride was on wet road but by midway, the roads were dry and the sun was shining! This ride is very challenging and everyone did a great job hydrating and eating and getting themselves up and over and down all of the hills. Dave, Ray and Teresa did a great job encouraging and coaching from their portable aid stations, while Jody, Hans and myself rode with the athletes offering cycling tips and motivation. I made sure I hung out on some special hills in the last 5 km to ensure everyone kept pedaling up those sneaky hills. The ride was capped off with a short run and then some PowerBar recovery bars and drinks. More recovery occurred at the Deerhurst brunch where we were able to socialize and continue to share information and answer questions.

Once again, Dave and I remember why we love our sport so much. The impact of sport on lives is tremendous. Our athletes left not only physically and mentally well prepared for Subaru Muskoka 70.3 but also dedicated to having sport in their lives beyond racing. The most beautiful thing was seeing everyone encouraging each other as they passed each other running and biking. This is true sportsmanship and something that will go beyond race day on September 14th!

Lisa Bentley
www.lisabentley.com

We met for a swim racing technique session on Friday and followed that up with a talk about riding the Ironman course successfully. We touched on mental preparedness, nutritional strategies that I have learned and practiced in 32 Ironman events and the logistics of riding for 6 to 8 hours. Everyone received their ‘treat bags’ with some PowerBars for fuel, Red Bull for a little spark, a Fuelbelt to carry the nutrition and Zone Fish Oil and Antioxidants to keep their inflammation at bay! After turning in our transition bags and a wonderful dinner at the Lakeside, we all tried to rest up for a very exciting day on the course.

On Saturday morning, the first group rolled out at 6 a.m. escorted by one of our Power Bar support crew, Karen Frank in her support Subaru. Our coaches, Dave, Jody and myself headed out with this group and we all rode together offering advice and encouragement and support all the way to Ritchers. At that point, I turned around to ride with the 7 a.m. group who were being supported by Murray Frank in his support Subaru. Once I found them, we all rode onward to Ritchers and eventually combined with the 6 a.m. group.

It was a very windy day – probably tougher than the athletes will face on race day. Emma and Shelley were flying up front slicing through the wind. Mayor Pat was smiling all day taking in the scenary. Brad was doing simply amazing having just learned to use clipless pedals back in January! Doug and Dalton were absolutely smashing it trying to catch up to the fast 6 a.m. riders wanting to be first off the bike back at Lake Skaha. David was loving every minute in spite of the fact that he had never, ever ridden that far before and wasn’t even doing IMC. Jane and Gord were also flying and Carolyn never stopped smiling and taking in all the advice. Gord learned better hill climbing technique and even said ‘ was that Yellow Lake?’ as he pedaled up effortlessly. Jennifer overcame some asthma issues and turned in a brilliant ride. Lee Anne put her flat tire episode out of her mind and hammered! Josie rode way faster than she had ridden at Lake Placid and was loving the course (and the sun!) But the best was seeing Mark finish his epic ride laughing his head off – he could not believe he had ridden that far and still had to run! He definitely won the ‘just for laughs’ award for the weekend.

After the transition run and a little Power Bar recovery shake and bars, we all shared and celebrated our success. Then it was supper time and another chat to get geared up mentally, emotionally and physically for Sunday’s long run.

Sunday’s run began either from the Lakeside or Skaha depending on the distance desired. Once again, Karen and Murray were on support with their roaming aid stations, Jody coached while running and Dave and I coached and encouraged from our bikes. Once again, our athletes surpassed their own expectations and turned in wonderful runs. I made sure that I was standing in those fun to watch places – like halfway up a hill – so as to cheer and keep everyone running and moving forward. It was beautiful to see everyone cheering on each other. I am a big believer that when you show compassion, you feel happy and when you run happy, you run well!!!

After another Power Bar recovery session and chit chat, we had brunch at the Lakeside and photos and then finished off the camp with another open water swim. Normally that would end our camp but since most of our athletes hailed from Regina, our camp rapped up with watching the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Toronto Argos – I planned it that way just to put the perfect finishing touch on the weekend!

Next year’s camp will likely happen a week earlier .. because …

.. when the camp ended, Dave and I flew to Calgary. We are part of the ownership for Ironman Calgary 70.3 (www.ironmancalgary.com) to be held on August 2nd, 2009. On Tuesday, we held a press conference, in conjunction with Calgary Sport Tourism Authority, to make the official announcement. City TV, CTV, 660 News, Global and other print media were there. Dave and I are proud to be part of two 70.3 events in Canada – Subaru Ironman Muskoka 70.3 (www.ironmanmuskoka.com) with Trisport North and Ironman Calgary 70.3 with the Rocky Mountain Triathlon Corporation.

And now, it is almost time for Subaru Ironman Canada. Ten more tougher training days and then time to taper!!!

Stay well and thank you for reading.

Lisa Bentley
www.lisabentley.com

Our Muskoka 70.3 Subaru Success Camp was indeed a success! Held on the long weekend at the end of June, we had 40 athletes of all abilities. I am very proud to say that we had 23 women and 17 men – so it was a very nice even split – and our athletes were fantastic. Everyone was eager to learn and truly did find success. For some, just finishing the bike course was success. For others, finding peace in the open water was their breakthrough. Nutrition was a huge focus which most people seemed to master. And our mental preparation sessions helped everyone to ‘throw their hearts over the hills’ and their bodies did in fact follow .. up and over every one of those crazy Muskoka hills! Of course, Dave and I were inspired by our athletes. Our next camp is our Subaru Success Camp in Penticton at the end of July and then round two of the Muskoka 70.3 Subaru Success Camp on August 8th. But the first order of business is packing for Providence and then racing fast and getting one step closer to Subaru Ironman Canada.

Thank you for your support!

Lisa Bentley

Stephanie MacDonald, an Iron Cop from Edmonton, organized the camp logistics. The camp was based in Edmonton since most of the athletes were based there. The weather was meant to be questionable but we survived the forecast and managed to sneak in a long bike ride and a long run without a drop of rain. The Friday swim was wet and the Sunday swim was out due to lightening. We were all pretty tired anyway.

I was fortunate to be able to share my 9 years of Ironman racing and 17 years of triathlon with these 55 athletes. We had lots of great chats and question and answers and we shared many great snacks and meals. The organizing committee in Edmonton was brilliant in planning out all of our routes, providing aid and lunch and dinners. We got to meet some wonderful, talented athletes all racing for a cause.

One thing to look for at Subaru Ironman Canada is the father-son team of Kerry and Dale – Dale is 18 years old and is a son to be proud of! We told him about this 18 year old racing at IM Australia who was racing with his dad and who said that his goal was to beat his dad because – “To BE the man, you have to BEAT the man!” And so, Dale showed up on Sunday with a t-shirt with that slogan written on his back!!! He plans to have t-shirts made up for Subaru Ironman Canada with that theme inscribed!!! Look out for Dale!!!

It was a fantastic sharing weekend. Big thanks to Subaru for supporting Cops 4 Cancer, supporting our camp and providing our fantastic camp t-shirts. Also to PowerBar for fuelling all of our athletes and to Tri Dubai for supporting Cops 4 Cancer as my official charity at Subaru Ironman Canada. And a thank you to all the Iron Cop volunteers – Karen, Murray, Kerry, James, Rob, Claudia, Jessica and Stephanie – who made the weekend happen without a single glitch!

You can read the Edmonton Journal story here.

For more information about the Iron Cops for Cancer, please visit www.ironcopsbc.com

Lisa