Hello everyone – I hope everyone is enjoying these steamy hot days of summer!! Triathlon season is in full swing and I am staying very active in our triathlon community even though I have not been able to race yet this year. Most recently, I was at Viterra Calgary 70.3 helping with the production of that event. I wore so many hats that week from pro and sponsor liaison to awarding finishers with Clearwater slots and handling awards to moving and packing boxes at the expo! I did think about jumping into the event and swimming, biking and running as an athlete ‘encourager’ but I had too many little chores to do on race morning! Racing is much more fun than organizing although everything I did, I did for the athletes and that made it very rewarding!

Prior to Calgary, I was in Lake Placid and Coeur D’Alene co-hosting Ironman Live with Greg Welch. Both were great weekends of triathlon where I interviewed athletes for Universal Sports and then gave play by play commentary and analysis on race day. It was my absolute pleasure to greet fellow Saucony athlete, Linsey Corbin, at the finish of her first Ironman victory and fellow Tyr athlete, Andy Potts, with his first win as well! My next Ironman Live broadcast will be at the Hawaii Ironman in October. Rather than commentating at Ironman Louisville, I will be attending Subaru Ironman Canada and doing a few talks and autograph signings for Subaru and I will coach a swim clinic on behalf of Power Bar. I am hoping to host a few training clinics when I attend these Ironman events – for example a Subaru swim or a Saucony run or a Power Bar bike the run course session. So stay tuned and I will announce them on www.twitter.com/lisabentley.

On the coaching side of things, we coached a wonderful Subaru Success Camp in the middle of June at Deerhurst Resort in Muskoka just before the G-8 landed in Huntsville! It was a fabulous weekend of training and coaching and sharing. A big thank you to Subaru, a big supporter of our camps, Power Bar for providing our nutrition, Saucony for outfitting our camp leaders, The Zone for providing fish oil for all the athletes, Fuelbelt for all of their treats and Cervelo for getting me my new P3 just in time!

We have also coached a few training days in Caledon for our athletes. These days have build a great sense of friendship among our athletes and that will hopefully ingrain triathlon in their lives as a lifestyle forever sport. Everyone is getting faster and stronger. I have a young athlete in St. Thomas Virgin Islands who is likely to qualify for the Pan American Games and he just started doing triathlon in January! He just rode a 62 minute 40 km time trial last weekend missing out on the National Team by 15 seconds (and that wasn’t even the goal – it was just a workout!). Many athletes are racing the Subaru Triathlon Series with their big goal being the Subaru Muskoka 70.3 and others are racing Subaru Ironman Canada. And I have one man who just wants to get his life back under 350 lbs and to finish Subaru Ironman Canada 2011! I have so much to share and I love this new phase of triathlon!

And on the official side of things, I am now certified as a Level 3 Triathlon Coach. I don’t know what those credentials will do for me but I thought it was important to be “official”!

On the racing front, I actually have raced this year!! At the end of June, I raced in the Peachbud 10 km run as part of the Subaru Charity Chase. I was part of the fundraising component where I started the race last and money was donated for every runner I passed. There were 636 competitors in the race and I passed 560 runners to finish in 76th place overall. Yes, I was well off of my PB of 33 minutes but I had a blast and got to raise money at the same time.

This coming weekend, I am speaking at Can-Fit Pro – a Consumer Fitness and Wellness Show. On Friday, I am speaking about Eating for Performance and Wellbeing. On Saturday, I am leading a group on a run and doing a run clinic. Later on Saturday, I am speaking on Living Full and Being Your Best. You can find information on the show at www.canfitpro.com.

From there, I am off to Subaru Ironman Canada and then in mid-September, I have triple the fun on the same weekend – we have Subaru Muskoka 70.3, I am commentating the ITU World Championships on CBC Sports and I am meant to do Ironman Live at Ironman Wisconsin. I think I will be able to do 2 out of the 3 of these commitments but it will be very busy!!

And of course, Fenway is growing and being crazy. We had a blast in Lake Placid watching her jump in Mirror Lake and run around the beach snatching things out of the athlete bags. And when her craziness was over, she slept long and hard!!! She has good choice in running shoes – these are the new Saucony Kinvaras! Stayed tuned at Ironman Louisville for Fenway’s pre race pics and other fun. I will be at Subaru IMC but we are planning some long distance fun so that Fen and I don’t feel left out of the Ironman Live coverage.

Train safe and happy!! Lisa

“The Touch” is the title of this photo of Carter and I crossing the finish line at the Hawaii Ironman 2007. Carter has CF and it was his wish to cross the finish line with me. The Make a Wish Foundation granted his wish and Carter and I created “The Touch”.

 This was a signifigant moment for Carter because it was the first time in his life that he had been touched physically by someone with CF. Infection control with CF is key to maintaining good lung health and so this was a breakthrough moment. Beth, his mom, went onto to paint an abstract of “The Touch” and when Joseph Landry and Brian Gazeley, world renowned sculpters, saw the painting and learned the meaning behind it, they wanted to sculpt Carter and I in our pose mimicking that special finish line moment.

I had no idea what to expect when I flew to Halifax for the plaster casting for the sculpture, nor did I realize how huge this was. Joseph and Brian have sculpted the Queen Mom, Katherine Hepburn, Lincoln, Bush, and the list goes on. They are currently sculpting 20 great Canadians to submit to the National Portrait Gallery in Ottawa – Carter and I are part of those 20 great Canadians – only 1 of 2 full body sculptures being unveiled. But if Ottawa does not re-open the National Portrait Gallery to receive these 20 great Canadians (big faux pas), then the National Gallery in Washington will take them! Regardless, this is a huge opportunity for CF! So many people are contacting Joseph and Brian and wanting to be part of this project and make donations to CF. CBC Maritimes was there documenting the sculpting process!

It was a great 1-day reunion with Carter and Fraser (his brother) and his mom and dad and I am so honored to be part of this project. They cut a bit of each of our hair to be put inside the sculpture so that we will live forever within this statue. We will live but CF will not!!!

Prior to the Halifax trip, I was in Chicago doing a few appearances for Saucony. Within 15 minutes of checking into my amazing hotel, I was out walking and bumped into an old triathlon friend from Toronto! Stefan had recently moved to Chicago to work!

Each night, I did a talk and a visit at a local store. On Tuesday night, I visisted Fleet Feet for their ”Diva Night”! We were launching Saucony’s newest shoe -the Kinvara and chatting with the ladies. It was a fantastic event for all the women, the invited retailers and for Saucony.

The next day, I ran along the Lakeshore and fondly remembered the many times I had raced along that same stretch of pathway – Powerman Chicago, Mrs. T’s Chicago Triathlon and the new Accenture Chicago Triathlon. So many wonderful experiences that I owe to sport. I then met Stefan for a swim at the Eastbank Club which is where Obama and Oprah used to work out!  Then some walking and shopping and then it was off to the next retailer visit at Running Away Multisport in Deerfield. It was another terrific evening – great store, great people and even Dr. Boas from the CF Institute dropped by. I had done a talk at the CF Institute a few years ago so it was quite ironic that I was back there again!!

In between all of these trips, I was at the Mississauga Marathon Weekend cheering on our athletes. Everyone ran so well-most had PBs – Jen, Rob and Bonnie. My sister struggled a bit but the air quality hasn’t been kind to her breathing and Gord went on the marathon course accidentally (he was doing the 1/2) and that added some time to his run (I think he secretly wanted to do the marathon!). Barbara did the 21 km walk in preparation for her 60 km walk for breast cancer in Ottawa. But Barbara did her first every 5 km run in April and 10 km run in May – so we are super proud of her commitment to become a runner! And in Florida, Rob and Risa did the Florida 70.3 and did fantastic! We really missed being there to support and cheer for them.

Lots of other fun things going on – training Fenway is the big joy right now. Yesterday we took her for her first swim. She was amazing. Her little legs just started moving and away she went – a completely natural instinct.

Oh yes, of course there was her first trip to downtown Toronto when I did my CBC work on the Dextro Energy World Cup in Seoul. Fenway’s re-count of Toronto – “lots of noise, horns, cigarette butts and no grass!” Our re-count of Toronto – “it is a long way down from the 13th floor to a small patch of grass especially at 3 a.m.!!” But it was priceless.

Healthwise, it is all status quo at the moment. I am officially infection free but my lungs are really not much better (72% down from 100% last year). Breathing at rest is no problem, but breathing while exercising is tough – every workout feels like intervals and tempo but that is ok – I am slower but I can at least still swim, bike and run. I am going to run at the Peachbud 10 km run on the last Tuesday in June. I will be starting the race last and Subaru is sponsoring me $1 for every person I pass en route to the finish line. The money goes to the charity supported by the race. Should be fun – I wish I still had a 34 min 10 k in me but unfortunately that won’t be happening. I am not giving up on getting back some of my lung capacity – every millilitre I can regain means I can keep up with Dave a little longer!! I cannot let him beat me!!! That 5 km in Barbados was bad enough!!

 This week is a non-travel week but plenty going on. Downtown to the CF Clinic, athlete training day on Saturday, Caledon Kids of Steel and Great Strides CF Walk on Sunday and dinner with family. Next week, I will be in Gatineau, Quebec for the Subaru National Dealer Meeting!

Train safe and enjoy the sunshine! Be well! Lisa

While February was the month I would like to forget, March has been fantastic – full of friends, good health, good training, camps, speaking and sunshine! I packed so much into 10 days just to make up for a less than stellar 28 days in February! It is onward and upward for sure.

I spent a total of 5 weeks on IV antibiotics. I stayed very positive for most of the treatment but there were a few days in the last 10 days that were rough. The first 2 weeks only resulted in an increase of 4% lung function bringing me from 66% to 70%. That is not very impressive after all, this is intravenous medicine – 2 drugs – 3 times per day! So, they switched my medicine to another 2 drugs which meant that I was going to be on IV for at least another 2 weeks. One of the new antibiotics – Aztrenem – was in powder form and I would have to mix it once per day with distilled water and then put it in a saline drip bag for infusion. I was a real chemist. And I had to run the IV antibiotics 4 times per day – 6 a.m., 2 p.m, 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. The first 4 days on the new medicine had a huge effect and I was so excited. I was coughing less, my voice sounded better and my heart rate was coming down during exercise. Then it kind of settled and there were not many changes. I would go to the doctor with huge excitement to see what my numbers were up to only to see very little change. I was getting tired and cranky – not depressed – but if I wasn’t going to get better, then set me free from this medical routine and let me huff and puff my way up and down the 25 meter pool or run miles in the Caledon hills and pound out some watts on my computrainer!

Finally, after 3 more weeks, the doctors saw that my lung function had plateaued at 76% (up a total of 10% from 66% when I started IV) and my white blood cells were lower and they saw that I had already applied sunscreen for my anticipated trip to Florida - so they removed my PICC line catheter and my days of IV were officially over! They sent me away with an inhaled version of one of the IV meds and so I inhale it into my lungs twice per day to stay in control of the bacteria. Within 20 hours of having the PICC line removed, Dave and I were singing along with Sirius Satellite radio in our Subaru Outback driving south!

Since we arrived in Clermont, life has been bliss! My health seems to improve every single day!  My lung function may only say 76% but I feel like a new person and I am swimming, biking and running and feeling fantastic. My first few swims were rough and my atrophied swim muscles were sore (I wasn’t able to swim at all and could not really use my left arm very much because of the PICC line) – but I didn’t care. I was swimming and I was alive and I just figured that the pool had ‘grown’ some extra length while I was gone!

 Within a few days of arriving, we welcomed our athletes to our first Sunny Subaru Success Camp. Each day was filled with crazy athletic adventures – Carole mastering her new bike and running an unbelievable 10 miler, Connie gaining some 70.3 confidence with every session, Bob finding some length on his swim stroke, Madi working hard and showing a work ethic well beyond her years, Rose laughing and telling stories even when tired on a long run, Bonnie demonstrating her cycling skills to our younger stars, Jen running stronger and smiling wider each day and Jody finding her gluts during running hill intervals! There were lots of laughs especially when Connie finished her big ride and said ‘give me Green beer!’ It was St. Patrick’s Day and that meant a social opportunity and Super Dave organized our jaunt to the Celebration Town Tavern to celebrate!

Meanwhile, on the Thursday of our camp, I snuck out in the morning while the athletes recharged for our midday long run, and I did a motivational speech for a software company in Orlando. That was my first of 3 speeches in 10 days!  When the camp ended on Friday, I caught a flight to Boston for the Multisport World Expo. On the Saturday, I did a clinic on how to run a successful Ironman marathon and then I delivered the keynote speech. I finished out the day with a computrainer time trial. Karen Smyers was also there – she was far more serious than I was – I rode in running shoes and toe clips – but I had such a blast! Then I caught a flight home. Seven days later, I did it all again. I flew to Washington, DC and delivered the keynote speech for the Multisport World Expo. I also did a swim relay for charity and a few Q and A sessions.

 This is Kurt, Dave’s athlete, in Boston at the Multisport World Expo

It was amazing to be so busy and to be healthy enough to be that busy and still love it. I am grateful that my body and lungs are allowing me to be busy and to still feel good. Don’t worry, I am still respecting my therapies and my medicine and I am eating healthy and listening to my body.

The day after I returned from Washington, I was off to cheer on the athletes at the Clermont Triathlon. Morgan Locke came from the US Virgin Islands to race. I have been coaching Morgan since January. He is the son of my long time homestay in St. Croix. I have known Morgan since he was 10 or 11 yrs old – now he is 24 years old. He is an amazing swimmer but an even better human being - an absolute pleasure to be around. When I came in at 1 a.m. from my flight from Washington, there were flowers waiting for me and a welcome home note from Morgan and Carrie, his girlfriend! Morgan had a superb race bettering his 10 km run from 46 minutes on December 26th to 41 minutes on Sunday!

 And the best thing about March is the anticipation of our new puppy! She has been officially named “Fenway’.  In 2005, Dave and I were invited to Boston on behalf of Saucony for the Boston Marathon and our friends at Saucony sent us to a baseball game at Fenway Park. It was such an amazing venue and I revelled at the dedication of the fans to their team! And it was on that trip that Dave bought me a diamond heart necklace from Tiffany’s – so Boston and Fenway hold great memories for us – dedication and diamonds!

We have her doggies name tag all ready with her phone number ready for her to make friends!

And all of her treats are waiting for her!!  We get to pick her up on April 10th!

But first, we have one more fun training camp with some teenage athletes from Quebec starting on Friday! Once again, this will be a blast and it will make April an amazing month as well!

Thank you for your support, your health prayers and your kindnesses – I am back and better then ever! Lisa

This is what is going to get me over my speed bump. It isn’t a faster pair of Zipp wheels or a sleek Cervelo or a pair of Fastwitch racing flats – this is my IV antibiotics – my lastest ammunition against the bacteria which have decided to take up long term residence in my lungs for the past year!

As you may or may not know, I had planned to go to Florida to escape winter, to put on a few training camps, to train and to do my coaching and speaking work from there. But, we have not made it to Florida just yet!! . My lung health, as related to Cystic Fibrosis, has been very turbulent over the past year. For most of my life and professional athletic career, my lungs have been functioning at well over 100%. For the past 18 months, I have been growing a nasty bacteria called pseudomonas which is very difficult to eradicate.  Since then, I have been on and off a variety of antibiotics and inhaled therapies. Despite all of this, my lung function, which measures the usable oxygen levels in the lungs, has been decreasing. After a rough race at Subaru Muskoka 70.3 last September, the doctors were convinced that I had an allergy to a bacteria in my lungs and started me on another course of drugs. But those drugs did nothing and so the allergy theory was dismissed. Then for the past 3 months, they have tried to figure out why my once perfect lungs were now functioning at about 80%. Therapies continued but my lungs continued to deteriorate until on January 1^st, my symptoms worsened, my lungs were down to 72% and we began another course of antibiotics on January 5^th.

On January  14, I was still feeling less than stellar with a major shortness of breath while walking and eating and doing daily activities despite 8 days on this wonder drug. Meanwhile I was still doing what I could swimming, biking and running since all of my sports are great lung therapies for clearing mucous. Of course, I was struggling doing my exercise but I always say that you do what you can with your deck of cards and my deck, at the moment, involved a bit more huffing and puffing.  I went back to the CF clinic and despite 8 days of medicine, my lung function had dropped to 70% (from 72% on Jan 5^th and from 98% in July!!).  At that point, they wanted to admit me for IV antibiotics for 2 weeks. However, I was committed as a guest speaker on the Cruise to Run (besides, who would want to miss a Caribbean cruise) – so the doctors allowed me to go on the cruise while continuing the current course of antibiotics. I had to return to the CF Clinic on February 2^nd to see how I was doing.

The Cruise to Run was amazing. I was probably the only person who began the cruise not feeling great but I finished the cruise feeling so much better – rested and breathing so much easier.  The sun and the sea air and warmth and salt water made me feel so good. I ran  and swam and water ran everyday – slowly of course, as dictated by my lungs – but I could run and swim and I loved it!! Yes, even my undertrained, but incredibly gifted husband Dave, ran faster than me, but I didn’t care – I loved every single minute of each run. I honestly thought that I would return to the CF Clinic and see a rise in my lung function.

But instead, I returned and despite 3 weeks on the medicine, my lung function was 66%! So I was admitted to St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto that Tuesday!! Essentially, the pseudomonas bacteria had outwitted the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin and had thrived instead of being killed.

The doctors inserted a PICC line in my arm which is a catheter leading right to the Superior Vena Cava which goes right to my heart!  It is a permanent IV line which can stay in place for 6 months to 1 year! They started the IV antibiotics on Wednesday. It is a 2 week course of IV antibiotics. They wanted to keep me in hospital for the entire administration of the drugs but if I could learn how to do the IV myself, then I could go home and have a nurse visit daily. So I learned the procedure (which was harder than I thought) and they released me on Friday.

So now, Dave and I flush the IV lines and hook up the IV at 6 a.m., 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. and we do chest physiotherapy and my inhaled medicine a few times per day – so it is about 5-6 hrs per day of healing.  As my friend Janet Fraser said –“ I am on a training camp that is all about ‘healing’ right now!!”

Today marked 2 weeks on IV antibiotics and a return to the CF Clinic. I am feeling so much better and happier and healthier but my lungs are not quite back to their baseline just yet!! The plan is to continue on IV antibiotics for a bit longer – maybe another 2 weeks so that we can really deliver the eviction notice to these bacteria.

I am good – I am content – grateful that there is a solution. I am totally confident that the antibiotics will work. They are working already. I do not act or feel unwell. I actually never thought that my lungs would ever return to their baseline of 100%  so this IV therapy is a true gift and blessing.  I figured that the incredible athletic success that I had been blessed with for 20 years would now be replaced with the realities of CF and I was ok with that. I have lost about 1.5 litres of oxygen in the past year and I thought that THAT would be the new me. I got used to huffing and puffing while swimming, biking and running BUT I held onto the joy that at least I COULD swim, bike and run. But now, I have huge faith that I am going to get back to either 100% or very close to it. Whatever the result is, I am determined to never let it get in the way of living full and doing my sport forever. I may be slower but I will be healthy and happy and ready to share my 20 years of triathlon with others and ready to instil hope to families with CF that there is health beyond treatment, there is joy in being treated and that we can all be the best we can be with whatever health we have. I do not wish that I did not have CF – I have it for a reason and I will be the best wife, daughter, sister, friend, athlete, coach, mentor and motivational speaker with CF that I can be at every step of the journey – the easy steps and the not so easy steps.

Thanks for your support – I will be great – I just know it!

Here is a little explanation of the bits and pieces ..

First, the  name.  It uses my initials ‘LB’ and the ‘T’ is also part of my name. But the “T” is what I do .. Triathlon!

The name is Live Breathe Tri and will be the name for our coaching business which has been happening for a few years but we have decided to make it official.

Why Live Breathe Tri. For me, sport has always been about more than winning. It has allowed me to live full and love life. I have taken a lot of breaths during my career and each breath has brought me closer to my goals of personal excellence. And I use my breath for CF as I try to do as much as I can for families with children with CF and for adults with CF who are choosing to become active.  And triathlon – well, that is what has driven me for the past 20 years. It is my lifestyle, it is Dave and my lifestyle and I hope it is your lifestyle as well.  So there you have it – Live Breathe Tri!!

The colors. Blue and white with a green stripe on the sleeve. First the green stripe is for our friends in Regina – a Regina man was the first person I began coaching about 5 years ago. Now, Dave and I coach a great little Saskatchewan crew – go Riders!!!  The blue represents the ocean which is freedom and energy and air and life.  Dave and I love the ocean. The white is for the purity in our sport which I hope we never lose sight of .. you swim, you bike, you run – go play triathlon! Live Breathe Tri – LBT!!!

Belinda Granger, my beautiful friend from Australia, had a fabulous race. She had the 18th fastest bike split OVERALL including all of the pro men! And she held it together on the marathon for a very deserving win.

I will write a proper note tonight. I am en route to Switzerland at the moment to join the CBC crew to do the television commentary for the ITU World Championships. I have just landed in Toronto and have 45 minutes until my flight to Geneva! Life is so exciting!

Thank you so much for your support and your cheers! I am more fired up then ever for Kona!

Lisa