TRAINING, RACING, AND EATING ENOUGH CALORIES

Long Run to Burlington, ON Pier 

It's been a busy couple of months since the Niagara Barrelman 70.3. I've been juggling new job responsibilities with family and kids' commitments, taking care of the home and training for my first Ironman Triathlon.  

This Triathlon season we are working on my weaknesses (bike and run), and maintaining my strength, swimming.  It's been a struggle for me running 75-95km per week with the kilometres continuing to climb.  We are working on building power in my legs; to help with this I've added a strength training routine into the schedule 3X per week, provided to me by my husband, to be triathlon specific.  It's difficult for me to really see where I sit with training and if I'm improving when I feel tired from this new training schedule and keeping up with life commitments.  I'm one of those athletes that likes to race all year long.  I believe it's important for confidence, seeing if  bench marks are being hit, and most importantly, learning how to race. So I asked for some early races. 

Road To Hope: Last 6 km of the
21.1km was side by side with
this awesome girl.

My coach  listened to me, just as I listen to him, and we have done two races so far this fall training block.  Not triathlons, it's way to cold for this fair weather girl to swim in some Ontario lake after September. A running race and a swimming time trial are what has kept this girl happy and motivated.  Let me tell you why with two quick race recaps.

The Road to Hope Half Marathon is a fairly flat and good run course.  I haven't run an official Half-marathon, outside a triathlon, since I was 27 years old, and even then I only ran one and it wasn't fast.  My teammates from Tri-Hart were with me so that helped keep my nerves to a minimum.  We hadn't rested for the race, we had only taken one day off training, and we were going to do a long ride after the race!  The event started, I looked at my watch, and was running a little quick 3:45/km pace.  I wasn't so sure I'd be able to keep that up for more than 10km so I dropped it down a little.  For the entire race there was a young woman running with me.  Either she was in front or I was.  It was great!  We pushed each other through the entire race, ending up holding an average of 4:01/km pace, both beating our original goal times.  The race was also not 21.1km.  The consensus on all the Garmins coming over the line was 21.43km, that made our times seem that much better!  I ran a 1:24 half-marathon, placing 1st in my age category and 4th overall woman, in a running race!!!! There wasn't even a swim involved.  All those kilometres are really starting to pay off.

First 100m of the 1500m free time trial.
 I ended up winning the heat.

The second race was a swim race.  A 1500m swim time trial at the club I train with, The Golden Horseshoe Aquatic Club in Hamilton, ON.  It was at the end of the week, with a 23km run on the Friday and a 10km run and a bike workout on the Saturday before the Sunday race.  I averaged 1:14 per 100m pace, as my coach had said I would, and finished with 18:21.  Not bad for November and the increase in running and cycling I've been doing.  It  also feels as though I'm re-learning how to swim due to the new muscle mass I've been adding to my legs.  It's not so easy to keep the legs near the surface of the water anymore.  

First Dive off the block in 8 months!

Overall I'm super excited that all the work and juggling that I do each day is starting to really show up in my races! Now to deal with the other side effect of the Ironman training, weight loss. My current struggle is trying to eat enough calories to keep the weight on.  After the Road to Hope I dropped 4 pounds, after sitting in the same weight range for the last 2 years, that was a bit of a shocker.  I thought it was water loss, however it seems to be permanent.  So for now I'm working on filling my face with enough food to maintain this new number.  The Holiday Season should help with that.

Every day, in this sport, I'm provided with a new learning   about what I'm capable of handling,  and at the age of 41 I'm still figuring out where my athletic ceiling is.  

Barrelman 70.3 - End of my first Triathlon Season

Age Group Winners, Barrelman Triathlon, 2015 (4th from the right)

This has been an interesting year for me, as one year ago I raced my first triathlon at Guelph Lake 2 and just 3 weeks later tried the Barrelman 2014.  Since then I have competed at Ironman 70.3 Raleigh, Guelph Lake 1, Niagara Triathlon, Ironman 70.3 World Championships, and now just 3 weeks post Worlds I'm finishing the season where I started, Barrelman 2015.

 The Niagara Falls Barrelman, hosted by Multisport Canada, was a well run event and great season finisher.  The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect, and the swim venue was incredible! My coach didn't really want me to race, as we have a tough year of training starting for Ironman Mont Tremblant, however, I couldn't resist.  After taking a full week off after World Championships, I promised to train straight through the Barrelman, if I could race it.   Here is a quick report on the race:

The Swim:

Swim Wave 2-Start.
I'm the swimmer in the very front on the Dock side.

  My wave started 1 minute behind the pros.  As you can see, they are no longer in sight during the start of our wave.  I took a position on the dock side of the Welland International Flatwater Centre, not cause it was an advantage, but because I had been saying hello to my brother, my niece Chantelle, nephew Curtis, and my friend Kathy.  I slid into the water, 1 min and 30  seconds before the start of my wave, spraining my toe on the way in (you will know that I'm a bit clumsy if you've read my other blogs).   I found my spot at the front of the line and when the horn went, so did I.   

Running up the stairs into T1. You
can still see Alex VanderLinden's
Foot prints in front of me.

One of my goals was to see how many pros I could catch in the wave in front of me, the other to have the fastest swim.  The swim is the one area I know I can do well, so I figured, why not.  During the first 500m I was able to catch a couple of the slower swimming pros.  I then was getting a bit discouraged as I couldn't see the next group of pros ahead of me.  By the time I reached the second Green Buoy to turn on the way back, I found them.  There was a small group of pros swimming together so I swam up behind them and drafted for a few seconds before putting on a burst to pass the group.  It is much different swimming through the experienced pros then swimming through an age group wave. When the pros are passed, they know exactly how to move in to get the draft making it difficult to pull away.   Once I finally moved out and away from the pro pack, I saw one pro left ahead!.  I put my head down, however Alex VanderLinden, had too much of a lead.  Although I closed it, I couldn't catch him, and he left the water 7 seconds before me.  My main goal was reached, I had the overall fastest swim time of the day.

Exiting the water at the Welland International Flatwater Centre

The Bike:

The bike is still a challenge for me.  I started riding last summer and at that time spent much of the ride falling while clipping out of the pedals, I was afraid to start and stop the bike.  During the 2014 Barrelman, I ran out of T1 with my bike shoes on.  This year, I progressed to putting them on while riding. 

Exit of the Transition 1

The bike course is relatively flat.  However in what seems to Barrelman style, the wind  was a force to contend with.  It also could be because it's September in Ontario and we all know that the wind comes with the starting of Autumn. Nonetheless, the first 25km was great.  Thought to myself, I'm going to be just fine, the wind isn't so bad today.  Then I turned a corner and for the rest of the race, it didn't matter how many corners and in which direction I turned, the wind was always there.  I'm not sure how that is possible, however it was.  Ask any of the racers from the day and they will confirm the presence of the endless head and cross winds.  My Coach had said use this race as an experiment, if you feel good go, if you feel bad back off, just have fun.  So as I didn't find the wind that fun, I backed off and did some easier spinning for some of the ride.  I knew I had a run to do, and after what happened on the run in Austria, I wasn't sure how this one would go. 

The Run:

Turns out, the spinning on the bike worked.  I had my fastest half marathon run ever! 1:34.58.  The run course was interesting and beautiful, as you can see we all race passed Niagara Falls, twice!.  The course was also changed to add a few more gradual uphill climbs and a down the stairs decline at the Casino.  During parts of the run, the spray coming from the falls was a very welcome cool down.  The course was well marked and the volunteers were doing their best to keep the tourists off the course.  They did a great job!

Running passed Niagara Falls, first loop.

Thank you Multisport Canada for putting together this race in Niagara.  It is a great venue and the changes to the swim and run course made this race even better than last year.  

Thank you to my sponsors, Xterra Wetsuits, Vorgee Canada, Magnus Personnel, Rudy Project, County Cycle, Middlesex Swimming, for taking a shot on an unknown, and supporting me through this inaugural year in triathlon.  Looking forward to kicking some butt next year with your continued support.

Thank you to my family for putting up with me going to practice early morning and late at night.  My teammates for their support and waiting for me when I was unable to clip in the pedals and picking me up when I fell on the ground, literally.  

Thank you to Coach Lee for helping take this swimmer and working to transition her into a triathlete!

Looking forward to seeing what comes in this next season.  Working towards making Kona 2016.

Climb Every Mountain - IM70.3 World Champs

Ironman 70.3 World Championships,
Zell-Am See, Austia

One week ago, I had the privilege of travelling to one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, Austria, to compete in the most gruelling race I have ever done, Ironman 70.3 World Championships.  

Transition out of the
swim.

THE SWIM was in a lake surrounded by the Alps.  The locals claim, that the water is so clean, you could dip your cup in and drink straight from the lake.  They aren't kidding!  The water was gorgeous and it wasn't even cold.  Although I was hoping for a non-wetsuit swim (I needed every advantage possible) the race ended up wetsuit legal.  My wave began 1 hour and 1 min after the first wave set out.  It was an in-water start and there was some pushing on the start line by some of the women attempting to better position themselves for a straighter line through the buoys.   The cannon, yes a cannon!, went off and I took off like a shot.  Before long I was passing through multiple waves that had left in front of me.  My pink cap cutting through the white, black, and gold.  As I had hoped, I finished first in my age category in the swim.

 I figured this was the only place I would finish in first, as the bike course was intimidating!

THE BIKE was 90.1km.  The first 20 km was fantastic.  Not too hilly with a nice steady decline allowing for some good speed and false security over the difficulty of the course.  At 20km a steady incline began, and in a kilometre or so after that a sign came into view that said 13km.  "How could that be?" I said to myself, I'd gone much further than 13km!  When I was a little closer to the sign the rest of the wording came into view.....13km to the Summit.  Yes, that's right, continuous climbing finishing off with a 2km stretch at a 14% grade!   Nothing like riding my bike up the mountain at 9.8km/hr for the last 2km.  The climb was so tough that there were many riders that got off their bike and walked up to the Summit!  After making it to the top, the next 2 km were just as tough only going down the mountain.  The grade was 15% with 2km of hairpin switchbacks.  There were actually crash mats set up against the guard rails on the turns, just in case someone lost control; at least this would keep them from going over the mountain.  The rest of the ride was up and down through quaint towns, along side a crystal clean river, and through beautiful country side.  It really was like riding through a living postcard.  I was 7th place on the ride.  It was incredibly taxing on me.  But as one of my friends laughed afterwards, it wasn't bad for someone who couldn't even ride the bike last summer.

THE RUN was a debacle for me. Thank goodness for the aid stations.  At 4km I wanted to stop and walk.  It was really hot, 33 degrees Celcius, and my quads were burning from the bike.  I decided to make a deal with myself, as we did spend a pretty penny to bring the family to Europe so I could do a race. I needed to finish it, so I said to myself, "just make it to the aid stations, walk them, and run in between".  That is exactly what I did.  It was the slowest walk ever.  I swear I sampled every drink and food offering at each station before running again.  I literally walked from the beginning to the end of each station.  Women would pass me through the station and I would pass them back in between.  For a few days after the event I said to myself and husband, If I'd only toughed it out and not walked the aid stations I would have made the podium! Instead I placed 6th, one spot from the stage. If I look at this objectively, 6th is really good.  I was also the fastest North American in my age category, and 11 fastest North American age grouper overall.  For my second Ironman event ever, that's not too bad.

All in all, it was an amazing experience.  I learnt so much about racing, myself, and that I could finish a bike course like that! I met so many wonderful people both from the race and around Austria. My family and training partner shared the experience with me and then as a family we were able to explore some of Austria and Germany before heading home.  It is an experience that my kids, husband and I will always remember.  Please enjoy some of our pictures of this beautiful place.

Fraulein Maria's Bike Tour- Great way to see
Salzburg and the Sound of Music Sites

The VonTrapp House for the Movie

Kitzkleinhorn

The view from the home we stayed in
Zell-Am See

Salzburg

The Jitters Have Begun: Ironman 70.3 World Championships

So here we go..If you haven't already guessed by now, based on my previous blogs, then I'll tell you; I get the nervous jitters before competition.  Less than one week until I board the plane to Austria to race in my second Ironman branded triathlon ever, and my first Ironman 70.3 World Championships.  Up until this week it's all seemed like a far away happening.  It is that no longer.

Monday is around the corner.  My nerves are starting to get to me.  Funny thing is, it's not about the race itself,  it's more over the travel to get there!

Since becoming a mom, my comfort with, and desire to fly has greatly diminished.  My husband calls me "worse case scenario", because I can think of that for every situation, very quickly.  This is something that I've somehow passed onto my youngest child without knowing it. My daughter is great at rhyming off scenarios that involve sharks, cold water, and lack of rescuers. Being that I'm flying, I'm sure you can imagine the thoughts that may go through my mind (the same as my daughters), one comfort is knowing that my kids will still have  a parent should something happen, which of course it won't. 

With the reality being that I'll make it to Austria in one piece, my concern has moved over to my bike.  Will my bike be at the airport when I get there? Will it get transferred with me over to the other plane during the stop over?  When I get my bike will  all the pieces be in tact, no damage, and ready to be reassembled?

Next question is, if everything goes smoothly and my bike arrives in good condition at the airport with me, will I be able to reassemble it myself and do it well?  Don't need a peddle to fall off on a 90km ride!

My bike shop sponsor, County Cycle, is giving me a lesson on disassembly and reassembly; trust me, I'll be taking pictures and making notes!  My coach doesn't know it yet, but I'll be banging on this door on Saturday for another go through before I leave.  My Coach, Lee Hart at Tri-Hart Triathlon, has also been amazing at realizing what's bugging me and has been providing me with contingency plans if anything should happen to my bike.  

I know that once I've landed in Austria and the bike is assembled, I'll be much more calm.  Yes the race will bring some anxiety, it always does, but not because I'm afraid of the competition, but because I want to race well for me, my family, my team, and my coach.  I'm not expecting to win, but I have a goal of a podium finish. Yes, that may seem lofty, as this is my first World Championships in triathlon and second Ironman 70.3 race ever, however that's my goal.  I don't know my competition, and I don't care what they have done or how they have placed, or how long they've been racing.  I'm going out to race my own race, my best race so far, and hope that will be enough to place in the top 5.  Regardless of my placing, I know that I will have given it my best shot.  I will then come back home and work on my weaknesses, and maintain my strengths so I can qualify for Ironman World Championships in Kona  at my first full Ironman in Mont Tremblant 2016.  

August 30th is the big day for 70.3 World's.   WWW.IRONMAN.COM will be televising the race. 

The Ups and Downs that Come with Being a Working Mother of 3, Training for 70.3 Worlds.

Me and Chris van de Water, winners of the Niagara Sprint
Triathlon with our winning, giant, glass of Erdinger
Alcohol-free beer.

The last 2 months since Ironman 70.3 Raleigh has been full of ups and downs; a true test of my will to fight through workouts.  What has kept me going is my desire to compete , the spot I earned at 2015 Ironman 70.3 World Championships, my team, and the dream of qualifying for Kona next year.

So what's been going on you may ask?

It is a bit of a long story,  however I will do my best to keep it short and sweet, like a picture book.

Here's the Top 5 list.

1. My first Olympic Distance Triathlon, Guelph Lake I, was a success!  I wasn't sure how I would do in this venue. But with the swim being longer in proportion to other triathlons, it helped me a lot!  I won the women's event outright, and had a big laugh when I went to collect my award as the announcer said, "and our overall Women's champion is Sheila Treleaven, 41 years young!"  Yes, It's true.  I actually turned 41 this past weekend.  

2. As my body adapts from being a swimmer into a triathlete it is going through some growing pains. Literally, pain.  My lower back locked up on me to the point that I was frightened to try  bending over to pick something off the floor for fear of the shooting pain that would run through my back and down my leg. Getting through workouts was tough.  All three sports caused a twinge, or weakness in my back that would cause that stabbing pain to wreck havoc on my body.  I wasn't sure how I was going to make it through the Niagara Triathlon, however my Chiropractor worked his magic, over a few appointments, and I forced myself through stretching exercises everyday. I pulled it together to win the overall women's title.  Everyday, now, I go through a series of exercises to help strengthen my back and keep it stretch out.

Infected and swollen - bike injuries
of the clumsy girl

After the smash up on the 1st dismount.  I managed to make it
through the rest of workout. It took everything I had not
to cry and to keep pushing.

3.  Riding the bike is a newer skill for me.  I have a lot of fear of falling.  Yes, I know, most of it is in my head, but it's still there and I'm working to overcome it.   My coach would like me to learn a flying dismount.  I have done it a couple times in workout, however I'm not comfortable and it's far from pretty.  I decided to practise on my own while the team was away competing at 70.3 Muskoka. Needless to say, I did it, however I sliced and banged up my leg pretty badly.  Four days later, I practised the dismount again, and again sliced my leg up pretty good.  The best part was the infection that pursued in the bottom cut.  A good strong course of antibiotics were prescribed and my leg is almost good as new.  Just a little scarred.

Not moving, again, on the QEW Toronto.

Caught at the Lift Bridge X3!

4.  New Role at Work! Yes! No! Right Now?!  It's not the ideal time, as I'm focusing on 70.3 World's in Austria, but how do you turn that down?  I was offered a short term special project role at work.   It's a promotion, a different type of customer, and a whole lot of driving Toronto bound.  For anyone unaware of what it's like driving to Toronto let me explain.  A drive that would normally take 20 minutes in Niagara, takes 60 plus minutes on the way towards Toronto.  It's a traffic filled day, every day I go out there and back.  To avoid the traffic I often try to take the service road home, unfortunately I've been caught by the lift bridge 3 times this past week.  It's a long day, and tiring on the road.  Sometimes I just want to go home and lay down.  But that's not an option when World Championships is around the corner, so I muster up whatever energy I have left and zip off to workout.

Pneumonia.  Hospital visit
Number One.

5.  Pneumonia.  No, not me.  It's the kids and my husband.  My two youngest girls and my husband have pneumonia.  None of them are flowing with energy.  Medicine is required on a timely basis, and of course for kids you never get a once daily formulation. My youngest starts coughing in the night and at 1:00 am is snuggled up, coughing, beside me in bed.  Sometimes makes that 4:00am wake up call, for workout, a real struggle.

This last two months I have felt very tired.  Between injuries, illness, and a new job, maintaining motivation to get to workouts  has been difficult to say the least.  

Spending some summer time with
my girls.

Having a goal to shoot for, a supportive family, and an amazing team has truly helped me to keep moving forward.  It is possible to have a full time job, kids, oh yes and a small business as well, and train for triathlon.  It requires a great deal of organization, and some help from friends and family, but it is possible.  Not easy, but definitely possible. 

The Tri-Hart Men

The Tri-Hart Ladies having a fun night eating Candy!

Ironman 70.3 Raleigh - The WIN and The Bloopers

Registration Day!
Sheila, Diana, Natalie, Kevin
Team Tri-Hart

Ironman 70.3 Raleigh, was my first Ironman race and 3rd triathlon ever. For those who do not know, the 70.3 stands for 70.3 miles. However as a kilometre person I tend to translate it a bit differently; 1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km Run.   Last summer, I competed in two local tris, after Masters Swimming World Championships in Montreal, to see if I wanted to compete in triathlon moving forward.  I decided I did, and coach Lee started helping me to get ready. 

Raleigh was an amazing and completely overwhelming event.  The organization it must have taken to put this together, I can't even imagine. There were  2800 athletes entered including relays.

The morning of the race arrived and our support group of Coach Lee, my husband Jeff, and teammate Diana's husband, Drew, dropped the 4 of us off to catch a shuttle to the swim site at Jordan Lake, a 40 minute drive from downtown Raleigh.  (The 4 Tri-Hart team members that raced were myself, Natalie Hart, Diana Grant, and Kevin Van Geest). Our support team met us at the race site while 

Race Morning
Body Marking #2166

we set up the bikes. From the bike transition area I saw the group waving at me from our meeting spot, where  I would come over to say goodbye to my husband and get  last minute advice from Coach Lee. Before going over, I needed to go to the bathroom so badly that I had to stop at the potties.  The line was 25 minutes long!  Lucky for me, a nice man saw my pee dance, and let me go ahead of him, so then the line was only 23 minutes long.  When I finally made it to the meeting spot there was no one to be found.  I panicked slightly.  Where did they go?  Finally I found one of my teammates and was reminded that the guys left before the event started so they could see us out on the bike course and make it back to Raleigh in time to see us come into transition two.

The Swim

The 15th wave was mine.  We waded out to the start buoy and waited for the horn to sound.  There were a hundred or so women in the wave all in pretty pink caps, all nervous, all without wetsuits!! Woohoo!!   I was one of two women in that group cheering about the no wetsuits.  The water was 80 degrees F.  The horn blew and off we went.  I pulled well ahead of my wave by the first buoy so I settled down and into a easy pace, this was going to be a long day and no need to kill myself in the first 25 minutes.  The swim wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, however after 2 minutes, I was swimming through the next wave in front of me.  What I found difficult was that many people were not swimming in a straight line, or not sighting to see where they were going often enough.  It became a game to avoid the other swimmers.  Unfortunately a few veered right in front of me and I swam over top.  This seemed to be a theme for me on the run too, as I'll explain later.  After swimming through the sea of multi-coloured bathing caps I exited the water first in my age category and 3rd fastest female swim of the day. Took off my Xterra Speedsuit and new Vorgee goggles and ran to my bike.

The Bike

Is that Sheila on the Bike?

I threw on my Rudy Project Wing 57, which is totally cool, and ran my bike to the line.  Of course on my way someone slathered me up in sunscreen, which I took advantage of, as it was a hot and sunny day in North Carolina.  The first comedy of errors happened as I tried to get on the bike.  My Shoes were already clipped in the pedals, which is normally fine, however I'm not used to having 20 people trying to get on their bikes at the same time, in the same spot.  So as I pushed down on my right shoe, someone veered in front while pushing off on their bike.  Instead of getting my foot on my shoe on the left side, I let the pedal go around again and the left shoe got caught on the ground....I didn't fall.  I regrouped and started again...phew.

The bike course was very hilly...no real flats; it was either up or down. Although it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be the day before when we drove it.  The course went by quickly.  I averaged almost 35km/Hr overall.  Sometimes it was 20km/Hr and sometimes 61km/hr depending on which part of the course I was on. As I said there were many ups and downs.  It was exciting to pass people along the course as usually I'm trying to keep up with the guys on my team. The first aid station was a bit of a debacle, as I haven't practiced grabbing water bottles from volunteer's hands.  The poor first three volunteers all had the bottle knocked out of their hands as I tried to grab them.  Finally, I slowed to almost a stop and grabbed a bottle of gatorade, took a few gulps and tossed it away while I still had a chance.  Skill will come with time. I hadn't seen any women with a #40-44 on their legs go by so I was  still feeling pretty good.  

Heading to my spot in transition...far, far, away.

The last bike comedy came at the dismount line.  It came up so quickly, I know I know, how can it come up so quickly after riding 89km, but it did.  The dismount line was at the top of a hill, I hadn't taken my shoes off yet and the line was right there.  I had no momentum, as I was going up a hill, and I looked like I was drunk, swerving my bike trying to get my shoes off.  I got them off and ended up stopping 4 feet from the dismount line, getting off my bike and running from there. It was just easier. This is where I was so thankful I wasn't doing a sprint Triathlon.

The Run

Finally the run.  I put on my shoes, visor and sunglasses. Stopped to get sunscreened up again and headed out for the hottest run I'd ever been on.  The course went through Downtown Raleigh passed the capitol building.  It is a beautiful downtown.  It was a two loop run, straight up and then back down.  Literally...straight up; Five kilometres up hill after hill.  It was painful, but I knew the down would come after the first turn around.  My first 10 km was fast. It hurt but I was moving.  When I headed back up the 5km hill for the second time I had slowed but was still keeping a good clip.  I had someone in my sights I was trying to chase down.  At this point the biggest comedy or errors happened.  I looked down for 1 second and a man moved in front of me.  I stepped on the back of his heel. The theme continued from 

Okay, there was one tree for
shade.

the swim...running people over again. He looked at me, and I apologized...then he fell to the ground and held  the front of his leg and howled in pain.   I felt so bad, was so tired, tears welled in my eyes, and I was winning. What do I do?  I stopped.  Asked if he was okay...another man told me to get running, "you go get this", and then we both ran to the near by cop to send him over to the runner.  By this time, the man got off the ground and started running again.  My momentum was thrown off.  However was kickstarted again by another man who when I ran by him said "so are you gonna take me down too?" Nice.  Each aid station was a blessing, offering cold sponges, ice, water, gatorade, Red Bull or Pop, and gels, bananas, and orange slices.   It was a regular smorgasbord. They also marked for me how much further I had to run.  The last station was 1.6km from the finish line.

The Finish Line

Never have I been so happy to see the end in sight.  My legs were sore, the heat was relentless, and I 

Me and Meredith Kessler

wanted a cool drink of water that went down my throat not all over my face.  When I ran up  the shoot my coach gave me a high five, and the announcer called my name and said "Sheila has been at the front of the virtual leader board all day".  I was surprised and excited to hear that!  That meant I may earn a spot to World Championships in Austria!  My time was really good, 4:45.09.  Not bad for this mom of 3.  My husband Jeff, and training partner, Kevin, hung out with me in the medical tent for a bit and then we all headed outside to watch our other teammates, Natalie and Diana, race to great finishes, pick up my first place award and take my spot for Austria, meet Pro Triathlete Meredith Kessler, then head back to our temporary Raleigh home to eat one last team meal before heading back to Ontario.

The Finish!!!

Winning was definitely a major highlight of the weekend for me.  However I loved living with my team, creating and eating meals as a team/family, and sharing this phenomenal experience with an amazing group of people.  I couldn't have done it without them, and that will be what I remember most from this week.  

Deep Breaths- Raleigh 70.3 is on my Doorstep

T2 at Sunset.  Training fits in around life.  Change is part of the routine.

This weekend is the first time in a long time where I've felt like I can sit down, relax, and take a deep breath. April and May have been a couple of extremely busy months.  Much of it has been due to my job, but also the increase in training intensity leading up to Raleigh, a couple injuries, my 3 Girls activities both in and out of school, and like all of you, getting the tax documents prepared and submitted.

Both in April and in May I headed to Toronto for work.  Once for a course in presenting, and once for company meetings, in which I got to be a  presenter.  Both required multiple overnight stays.   Also, as part of my job, we put together educational meetings for our customers.  We had multiple meetings scheduled throughout the last two months which required teamwork and organization to get done, as well as a couple extra missed workouts. All three of my girls are involved in sport, music, and my eldest's theatre team was selected to perform in a festival this weekend in Windsor, ON. This required additional early drop offs and late pick ups from school, again my normal routine and schedule was thrown off.   With Raleigh, NC  Ironman 70.3 at my doorstep, and moving through some tough training weeks, this caused me a little bit of stress.  

How could I get in workouts and maintain my fitness, during the busy work season, taking kids to their required activities and staying on top of what needs to be done at home? How was I going to get in my workouts while I was away at the hotel? This is where I needed to take a deep breath to try and get a handle on my emotions and my schedule. So I did,  mostly.

T2 at the hotel gym...just before
my tire blew!

All Dressed up!  Can you believe it.
I shocked a few people.

First I had to realize that change is part of the normal routine.  With kids and my work there are only a few set absolutes. So I started with  Coach Lee who worked with me to provide practices I could do at the Hotel.  Bringing along my bike, and an indoor trainer I was able to do T2 workouts in the gym, as well as tempo runs on the treadmill. The hotels were very accommodating with a 24 hr gym which allowed me to get in the workouts, shower, and still get to meetings on time. The swim, got neglected, however I was able to make it up later in the week.    I even managed to get dolled up, hair, make up, and a dress, all in 40 min.  With the evening educational events, our team worked it out the best we could to share the load.  My coach provided me the workouts I'd miss and I squeezed them in at lunch time during the day instead of scheduled workout time.   As for the kids stuff, if I hustle and stop chatting in the morning after workout, I can get home and get my daughter to school for 7:30 am.  

When it comes right down to it, the reason I'm stressing is because I want to do a good job at everything.  I want to be a good teammate and contributor at work, an excellent mom, a good wife, and kick butt in Raleigh.  I'm doing my best, that's all I can provide.  Raleigh's up next; I've no idea what to expect from my competition, and my goal is lofty.  I hope my ability can match my desired outcome.  Again a deep breath is needed.  As my husband, my training partner, and coach remind me, I need to follow my own plan, keep my own paces, and everything will work out just fine.

With one week to go until race day, I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to take a lot of Deep Breaths to get me to the start line.  

Pic-Nic in the park. Even with all our other commitments
We need to make time for the family.

Am I Still a Swimmer?

Angie Hooker, Sheila Treleaven, Sara Little, Brooke Heath
Winners 4x100m and 4x50m Medley Relay

This past weekend was not only Easter weekend, but also the 2015 Ontario Masters Swimming Provincials.  During the competition I was asked by a fellow swimmer, "How do you focus on swimming fast here, but also train for running and cycling?"

The answer is, I Don't.  

I love swimming and I always will.  Swimming will never leave me, and I will continue to compete as long as my body will let me. I also plan on staying as fast I can within my age category. However, as many have seen, this year I am focusing on the sport of Triathlon.  There are a few years left for me, where my mind is in the right place to balance the pounding training of the run and the new skill of riding a road and time trial bike, with my job and family.  

Kevin VanGeest, Gallacher Patterson,
Sheila Treleaven
Around The Bay 2015

Swimming is now part of triathlon.  I do not see 3 different individual sports anymore, instead I see one sport with 3 different components.  I still swim 4 times per week, but with a different focus.  No longer IM and butterfly, but distance freestyle.  Who'd have thought I'd find value in doing the part of swimming I used to loathe.  Now I find function and challenge in this, asking myself, can I hold a certain pace for a full 2000 meters? Because that is what I'm going to have to do at the end of May when I race my first Ironman branded 70.3 in Raleigh, NC, and I want to be the fastest woman out of the water.

Kevin VanGeest, Sheila Treleaven,
 Gallacher Patterson, Lee Hart
Chilly Outdoor Riding.

There was no specific taper for Provincials. In fact, March 29th, I ran the Around the Bay 30km Road Race and put in a respectable 2:16.36, negative splitting with the hills in the last 10km.  I also ran with tendonitis and a bit of a sprain in the right ankle ( I know, you don't have to tell me, a little crazy).  On the Thursday before provincials the Triathlon Team (Tri-Hart) did our first, 2 hour, outdoor bike ride, and then on Friday I swam 100 Free, 50 fly and two relays, yes, Middlesex Swimming actually did some relays, and we rocked them!  My 100 free wasn't great, but I had stellar relay splits and went 30.79 in my 50 fly.  Not bad for an endurance athlete.

Me, Lane 3, Start of the 200m Freestyle Provincials

Saturday morning, I did my first 10km run since the Bay, and then swam 200 free, 800 free, and two more relays at the meet.  I just missed the Canadian Record in the 200 Free by 3 tenths of a second, going 2:11.7, and the 800 free I took as an opportunity to learn how to pace.  Good thing, as I over paced a bit and negative split by 6 seconds.  It's a great sign that my fitness and endurance are there,

my speed is also being maintained as I swam a great 50 fly and went 1:01.1 on my relay split for 100m free. Although the 1:01 came from trying to chase my sister down on the anchor leg of the relay.

The best part of both sports for me are my teammates, the opportunity to swim with my brother and sister, and the people that I meet at the competitions.  Every time I go to an event, whether it is Around The Bay, Barrelman Triathlon, or a Masters Swim competition I am always blown away by the amazing results, finishes, and accomplishments I see by the people around me. They inspire me to keep going and to always try to do my personal best.

Swimming is in my blood, I will always be a swimmer,  triathlon is my new endeavour.  They are not separate entities for me anymore but one sport with three components.  Each one providing benefit for the other, coming together to hopefully provide me with my desired results....a trip to Austria at the end of August. 

Middlesex Swimming team at 2015 Ontario Masters Provincials.

The Strength of Team

Part of Team Tri-Hart/Middlesex Swimming
(Gallacher Patterson, Andy Ball, Coach Lee Hart,
Kevin Van Geest, Me, Bernard Volz)

This February,  I have come to appreciate the importance of having a team.  Many people may look upon triathlon as an "individual sport", spending hours upon hours on a bike and running the road, and there are many triathletes that train that way, alone. Swimming is also a sport where we spend hours upon hours with our head underwater unable to talk to anyone but ourselves.  Yet unlike triathlon, swimming is an individual sport that relies on the team to help with practice motivation and healthy inter-team competition.  So why not transport this atmosphere from the pool to the road.

This is what our group has done both in the pool and for cycling and running.

Our swimming group started as just a few of us meeting Sunday mornings at the YMCA for lane swim.  We find it more motivating and fun to swim together.  During our swims we met other lane swimmers and other triathletes of different  abilities and invited them to join in with us.  At first there was some apprehension, it isn't always easy to join a couple of former National Level swimmers in a swim practice when you've only started swimming in the last few years.  It didn't take long before these triathletes and swimmers were looking forward to lane swims on Sunday morning, as they were seeing themselves improve in both speed and endurance. It has been an amazing experience creating new friendships and networks of people to swim, run, and bike with.  This month came the icing on the cake, some of the group competed in  their very first swim meet ever,  dove off the blocks for the first time ever, and did flip turns in their races! For others it was their  first swim competition in 25 years! Even our coach got in and raced.  As someone who has gone to many of the in-season swim competitions by herself, it felt incredible to have a team on deck cheering and encouraging each other on.

Kevin and I receiving our awards after the event.  Our families and
teammates stayed to cheer us on and watch the awards.

Even in -27 degree Celsius weather our team sticks together.  Our coach and teammates came out to cheer Kevin and I on in our first half-marathon of the season.  It felt like -33 degrees with the windchill and thus, unfortunately, the half was cancelled and turned into a 10km run instead.  Despite the weather and the race change, both Kevin and I did best times in our 10km run and felt as though we could keep going if we had too.  So happy that our teammates and families braved the elements and helped motivate us to leave the warmth of the school gym and run out to the start line.

Me, Finishing the Grimsby
 Half-Marathon(10Km)

Some of our swim group is now doing triathlon training together, and some join for a run or a cycle now and then.  We push each other, feed off each other's motivation to be better, and encourage each other when the workouts get tough.  It's nice to know you're not the only one in the room suffering and somehow that helps us work harder and keep going to the end of the workout.  We currently range in age from 19-47, yet our age disappears when we are working out together.

Without my teammates I wouldn't be where I am today in swimming and my journey into triathlon.  They keep me accountable to the training and help to make it an enjoyable experience, yes, even when it hurts.  

Even in an "individual" sport, never underestimate the power of being part of a team.