Women's new role in sport - get used to it!

I was discussing with a male relative of mine about the addition of mixed team relay triathlon to the Commonwealth games.  This is an event in which you have 4 team members (2 male, 2 female) race as a team unit in triathlon. In the first round females race in a super-sprint triathlon format (~350m swim, 6km bike, 1km run), and when they complete the course they tag their next teammate, a male, who then completes the same course and eventually tags the other 2 teammates down the relay.  The fastest team wins the event.  Its a fast and exciting event to watch, and one the International Triathlon Union (ITU) is promoting because it encourages the role of women in sport. 

Initially I was taken aback by the negative reaction of my uncle.  He didn’t think that men and women should be competing together as a team in sport. He told me that women have their own place in sport and should stay there.  In his opinion, women are not as fast nor strong as men and should not compete at the same event together.  While I was initially surprised by his misogynistic response, I shouldn’t have been.   

Growing up, I never received any positive encouragement from the male ‘role-models’ in my life.  I can recall a particular incident during my grade nine phys. ed. class where I wanted to play the position of goalie in a game of handball.  But my male phys. ed. teacher  told me I couldn’t because the ball would be going too hard and fast and I would get hurt.  I replied to him by saying that Manon Rheaume of the Tampa Bay Lightening didn’t cry during her games, and then he promptly benched me.  I dropped phys ed the following year. 

So that’s what I’ve had to deal with my whole life.  And I’m so tired of this misogynistic, close-minded and ridiculous attitude towards women’s role in sport.  If you don’t like seeing women playing sports with men, then crawl back into your man-cave with your case of beer and pack of smokes, where you can reminisce about the good old days when women knew their role, serving you snacks during the hockey game or suiting up as cheerleaders for your big game.  Because while you’re down there grumbling, the women I know are going to spread their wings, run faster than ever before and accomplish goals that they never before thought they could achieve. 

If you don’t want to support women’s new role in sport, then get the hell out of my/our way, because I’ve got molds to break, races to compete in, and championships to win.  

Belwood Triathlon

Its been a busy month for triathlon and I’ve been loving every minute of it.  Fresh off the Toronto Triathlon Festival, the next race on my schedule was the Belwood Triathlon, a 750m swim, 30km bike, 7.5km run course at the Belwood Conservation area (near Guelph, ON) on July 19, part of the MultiSport Canada Triathlon Series: http://www.multisportcanada.com/belwood/    
For those interested, you can find a visual and descriptive outline of the course on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8PKVUzmy9M which is neat to watch. 

This course is longer than the usual sprint courses, with extra mileage on the bike and run sections, similar to the Binbrook course I did earlier in the season.  However, this time I wanted to perform much better on the run than I did in Binbrook.  I think the pressure coming off a poor performance really helps me to work harder and up the ante on race day, because I had a great race at Belwood, much better than Binbrook.  I swam 16:05, biked 1:06:33, ran 35:47, with transitions of 1:49 and 0:44, respectively.  Finishing with an overall time of 2:00:55, placing 4th in my age group!  These are my fastest swim, run and transition times thus far, which I’m really pleased with.  

I really enjoyed the run on this course, as it was a trail winding through the forest, as opposed to running on the open road, which I find less than inspiring.  The softer trail surface also aided in the decision to leave the compression socks at home, which helped save time in transition for a stronger finish.  Sure, my shins were a little sore the next day, but some ice and massage helped with that, while I basked in my pleasant memory of a solid performance.  I think I might stop wearing them at tri-races altogether now, and just wear them in training. Every second counts in a race!

After reviewing the official race stats for the top 3 ladies in my age group, I was right up there with them in all race elements, except for their bike times.  In fact, it was the difference in the cycling time that ended up being the total lead #3 had over me in the end.  Essentially, my cycling is what kept me off the podium.  And that’s starting to gnaw at me now, being the competitor that I am.  

Over the last few events, I feel like my cycling has plateaued. My time hasn’t much improved, so I’m going to focus my efforts on the cycling component before my next race in August.  I know that with continued training and hard work in this area I’ll find myself on that elusive podium soon enough. As the Recharge with Milk race sponsor encourages, I know I'm fast, but I will keep getting faster! 

Toronto Triathlon Festival - Part 2

On Sunday, July 13, it was finally my turn to race.  I participated in the sprint distance (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run) category.  Unfortunately the weather turned sour and we had to race in cool, rainy conditions.  But spirits remained high despite the weather.  It was a festival after all, and its hard to keep a good athlete down when you maintain a positive attitude and stay focussed on your event.   

The swim took place in Lake Ontario starting on the pontoons near Ontario Place and the Molson Amphitheater.  A wetsuit was required as the water temp was only 16C.  The bike portion was unique as the organizers managed to close the EB Gardiner expressway for the race, and then we ran out from Ontario Place along Lakeshore Blvd and finished in Coronation Park at the expo grounds.  

I finished with a time of 1:29:27, placing 9th in my age group. I’m quite pleased with this performance as it was an improvement of 11sec over my best sprint race to date (Milton Triathlon, 2013). Race breakdown: Swim (16:29), T1 (3:30), Bike (42:55), T2 (1:29), Run (25:06). 

I saw improvements in both my swim and run times. However, I’m considering not running in my compression socks next race in order to save time in T1. We’ll see how my shins do next race accordingly. I felt I could have done a faster ride on my bike if the weather conditions were better.  On the last leg of the ride it began to pour rain and I had to slow down to stay in control.  At points it was so intense I had trouble keeping my eyes clear despite my sunglasses.  But other than that, I had no complaints.  I can’t control the weather.  

Overall, I had a fantastic weekend at the TTF, and I hope to do it all again next summer.  

Here are some pics of the event. Enjoy!

Toronto Triathlon Festival - Part 1

This weekend I participated in the Toronto Triathlon Festival (TTF).  It was a 3 day event in the city that celebrated all aspects of the sport and the community, with activities for all levels of interest and ability, including amateur and elite races, fun runs, officiating courses, volunteer opportunities and sport expo in Coronation Park, right on the Waterfront.  

I spent Friday taking the Triathlon Officiating Level 1 course, which will enable me to officiate at the upcoming Pan-Am games and other elite level races in the future.  I brushed up on the technical aspects, official rules & regulations, but also considered the ‘fair & safe’ aspects that are so important in sport. 

Then on Saturday, I shadow-officiated the Pan-Am (ITU) qualifying race for the elite men and women.  It was a great opportunity to see behind the scenes how the race events are pulled off from the management and regulators side.  I met some fantastic people there as well.  I had a chance to chat with some of the up and coming athletes on the National Team, e.g. Leanna Lee from “Farther, Faster, Fitter”, as well as the chance to meet and chat with Olympic gold medallist Simon Whitfield.  

Tomorrow (Sunday) morning I’ll race in the amateur women’s sprint triathlon.  Feel free to come down to Coronation Park and cheer me (and all the other racers) on.  I’ll have Bib # 1938.  Here’s hoping the weather holds, and all the good luck and advice from Simon Whitfield help me out.

"Farther, Faster, Fitter"

As a compliment to my most recent blogs on sports drinks and power snacking, I thought it would be fitting to include a link to this CBC documentary on the same topic. 

“Farther, Faster, Fitter?” -- http://www.cbc.ca/player/shows/ID/2434236860/  

CBC’s Marketplace did an excellent documentary on sports products called “Farther, Faster, Fitter?”, which reviewed popular, mass marketed sports drinks, snacks and footwear. It also featured interviews with elite Canadian athletes like Olympians Simon Whitfield and Clara Hughes, who know a thing or two about sports products!  I highly recommend watching it.  The producers do a good job of taking the professional/high-tech and dissecting it for lay-mans use in the real world. 

On a side note, my fellow ultimate frisbee teammates might recognize the Monarch Park sports dome in the video!  So it really hits close to home for many of us ;)  Enjoy! 

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P.S. Just a few days after posting this blog, I bump into the documentary test subject triathlete Leanna Lee while attending the Toronto Triathlon Festival on Sat, July 12.  You may recognize her from the CBC documentary! Its a small triathlon community indeed!  

Good Luck in your future races Leanna! Make Canada proud! 

Sports Drinks

The last time I walked down the sports drink aisle in the supermarket I was overwhelmed when checking out the options available.  Not to mention feeling a distinct low blow to my wallet.  How does one choose between the bottles of gatorade, powerade, fuelocity, mio, coconut water, monster, rockstar, red bull, fruit juices, vitamin waters??  

The choice gets easier when you’re able to make an informed decision. What you need to ask yourself is “What does your body need while exercising?”

The answer will depend on how hard & long the workout is, the environmental conditions at the time, and body size. 

- Just water is fine for workouts up to an hour, but after that carb and electrolyte replenishment is typically required to maintain performance levels. Particularly for workouts lasting 2 hours or longer.  

- The higher the temperature and humidity, the more hydration you’ll require

- Larger bodies require more water than smaller (e.g. adults v children, obese v thin).  

So if you’re working out for an hour in an air conditioned gym, a bottle of water is all you need. But if you’re working out in hot, humid conditions for well over an hour then opting for a sports drink might be a good choice. 

Your body needs water on a regular basis, as well as carbohydrates for energy metabolism, but when you work hard or get overheated, your body will lose electrolytes in your sweat (e.g. Sodium and Potassium) and they also need to be replaced or you  might start cramping.  So water, carbs and electrolytes should all be included in your sports drink. 

My biggest issue with most sports drinks is that they tend to overload the sugary carbs and end up adding too many calories to your diet as well as spiking your insulin levels.  Even times when I drink pure fruit juice I find the sugar overload is hard on my stomach causing stitches and cramps. Its important to find the right balance of sugar to water in your drink, I often find less is more.  If I'm stuck drinking gatorade or fruit juice I always need to dilute the drink with water by at least 50% or its too hard on my stomach. 

I’ve tried a few drinks in my day, but I’ve found this homemade mix always gives me great results, so I wanted to share it with you:

Kelly’s Homemade Sports Drink:

1 cup water, 1/4 cup fruit juice (e.g. pineapple juice), 1 pinch salt.

In this solution you rehydrate with water (the main essential ingredient), get carb energy from the fruit juice and electrolytes from the salt, all in appropriate levels.  These are all ingredients laying around in your kitchen and easily prepped. Its also much cheaper than buying those mass marketed sports drink in your grocery store.  Stop overpaying for all the hype and make a simple natural mix that meets your body’s performance needs.  Its just that easy. 

So grab your now properly mixed water bottle and stay hydrated in the heat :)