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