This Saturday September 26, our Onboarding Coordinator Brenda completed her second 50km trail race. The race was held in Mattawa, Ontario. It was the 10th annual running of the event that the event organizers lovely names 9.5 due to COVID restrictions not allowing them to run the event as they had in years, but they were happy to have 100 participants attend. They ran a 12.5km, 25km and 50km race.
It was Brenda's first time at the event, but her run partner Fay #448 had run the 12.5km distance last year with a friend, so had some idea of what the terrain was going to be like, BUT 12.5km is a little different than 50km.
In previous years the route is alternated, but due to COVID restrictions, all loops (4 in total) were to be done in the same direction. The race started at 9 am for the 50km distance athletes. Everyone was asked to wear a mask at the start and the organizers had painted circles on the grass to aid in social distancing. Brenda and her run partner had been training together since December so they did not have to stand away from each other allowing them to start close together.
The loops consisted of a mix of terrain. Steep unrunnable hills, single-track technical on the side of a mountain, single track fast, rope descents, swamp crossing and elevation gain results in a total of 1,327m.
The pair knew it was going to be a long day when the first 12.5km loop took them 1hr45minutes to complete but they kept going and finished the race upright and happy to have taken part in a race this season. They decided to save the last loop for pictures that Brenda shared on her Facebook page. Head on over there if you want to get the full scope of the race.
TEAM TRIUMPH PRIORITIZES A CULTURE OF HEALTHY LIVING
As you may have noticed us, coaches, practice what we preach! When our coaches join the Team Triumph coaching staff, one of the benefits is being able to join any/all of our programs. We believe in doing everything it takes to stay fit and healthy. We stay educated so we can share our knowledge but also try out the latest research on ourselves. We prioritize staying in great shape and eating healthy. We all understand when a coach needs a weekend off to do a race of challenge or says "I can't talk right now because I'm heading out for a run." This philosophy with our coaches allows us to be successful at the races and with our own personal challenges.
Way to GO Brenda!!! We are SO proud of you!!!
I love the accountability and the structure of the Virtual 70.3 Half Ironman training program. I don't think I would have gotten this far without the program. The accountability is huge for me!
Deborah Jackman
My coach Kevin Willis is amazing. His swim practices have been a real game-changer for me. A great communicator regardless of your swim level. The whole club is supportive of everything you do. You don't need to be an Ironman to benefit from their programs. 5 stars all around!!! - Denise Pittuck
I just wanted to thank you and your team (Gabi! Brenda! Maggie! Dawn!) for making last weekend's event so amazing. I had tried to do a try-a-tri on my own last summer, and the experience was night and day.
Even though I didn't make every virtual session, I felt so prepared... I knew where to go for information, and I knew I had a team of people (coaches and our beginner tri group!) who were all there to support me.
It was interesting to watch Eric train on his own (without access to the TrainingPeaks workouts and without the weekly meetings to ask questions and learn more about proper form and race-day stuff). When we left on Sunday, he looked at me and was like "we're DEFINITELY doing the training with Julia if we decide to go for the olympic distance, right?".
So glad to have found this club and looking forward to many more triathlons in the near future!!! Tai Teleso
