Lisa Bentley's Blog entry from 5/4/10

Is it May already?

Life is rolling along at breakneck speed. April was packed – our Quebec girls camp in Clermont, driving home from Florida, picking up our little Fenway pup, training Fenway, a visit to New World Runners in Burlington, three time trial spin classes at Multisport Zone London to raise money for CF, an audition for CBC Sports, a training day with our athletes, a trip to Utah for Ironman St. George, swimming, biking and running, being a daughter and wife and puppy mom and normal day to day living! Whew – and that is just a month!

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!!