I was given permission by the family of Heather Boyum to post the following information about her calling hours and funeral. I hope you will join me in wearing something pink, and honoring this beautiful woman who was so many things to so many people.
Wednesday….. Calling hours will be 3-7pm at Keenan’s in Egypt on Route 31.
Thursday 11am Service at St. Johns of Rochester Church, 8 Wickford Way, Fairport – off of Route 31 (near 490 interchange).
In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Heather Boyum Memorial Children’s Educational Fund c/o Elissa DeChick at Fairport High School, 1 Dave Paddock Way, Fairport, NY 14450..
Heather after finishing her first 1/2 Ironman, just a few weeks ago.
They have also asked that the focus be kept on celebrating Heather’s life and her legacy, for everything she was in this community. We all want justice to be served and while we can trust that it will be served….. we can certainly write to our representatives and Sherriff O’Flynn…… but let’s not give these …… there are no words to describe scum of the earth……. let’s not give their names the light of day. I encourage you to remove social media posts regarding them. They will be dealt with.
We would like to keep the focus on her life and my personal focus is what we can do as a community to make our roads safe. Heather was following all of the rules of the road. New York State Laws regarding cycling seem to protect pedestrians from cyclists, not always cyclists from cars. There is also good evidence that some of those laws that do outline our cycling rights are not enforced. Stay tuned, we are collecting information.
Today is a day of healing for all of us. Wear your pink, get some pink flowers, some pink balloons and celebrate. Heather would have done exactly that.
Yesterday morning our community lost a beautiful woman. A mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend, teacher. According to reports she was riding her bike at 7:45am on a Sunday morning when she was struck by a motorcycle passing a car, thrown from her bike and then hit by the car. Apparently both drivers were…. drunk. Let me repeat…… Sunday morning…. 7:45am.
The rage felt throughout this community is deep. The pain is deeper. It’s one thing when it’s an accident. I don’t see how you can call this an accident.
I was told that….. one more law isn’t going to help….. we can’t change things. Watch us.
In the meantime….. before any of that begins we have to remember we have a family who lost their wife, mother and sister, students who lost their teacher, and we have the Rochester Moms in Motion who lost their shining star. If you know anything about the Moms in Motion group around here…. they are family. Right now we need prayers for everyone Heather touched.
Heather is a wife and the mother of two young children. She is a teacher. She is a tremendous athlete. Recently Heather completed her first 1/2 Ironman at the Musselman. As I understand it she was planning on going to USAT Age Group Nationals in 3 weeks.
That’s just a fraction of what she did in her life.
Saturday morning she came bounding up to me at the Rochester Kid’s Triathlon …. so excited her kids were racing and so proud of a young man who was competing. Happiness just poured from her. She is the kind of woman who lived her life to the fullest, who was cherishing every single day, who was an inspiration to everyone who had the honor of knowing her.
There is a lot of healing this community needs to endure right now. So let’s begin there first. If you have something pink…. wear it today. She’s a member of Rochester’s Moms in Motion and pink is their color. I will be in touch with USAT today to see if they can place a pink balloon at her spot in transition at Nationals. I will make sure that we have pink balloons on site at the Finger Lakes Triathlon … whether she was planning on being there or not doesn’t matter. She’s a member of this community.
Next weekend is the Ride for Royston, to benefit a man named Kevin Royston who was hit 2 months ago, left for dead and lost his leg. That was also a DWI case. Right now…. I ask you to come and join us. I know the Moms in Motion will be putting together a ride in Heather’s honor….. and of course we will promote, attend and support that. I ask that we all go this weekend and ride together. To begin to heal and to begin to think of how we as a community can stop this senselessness. Come ride, wear something pink…. I am told the MIM’s are creating T shirts and arm bands for other events they are already scheduled to compete
Photo by Laura Knights
But let’s be together as a community this weekend.
You can’t teach someone good morals and ethics…. I am told. I know someone who is drunk at 7:45 in the morning isn’t thinking about bicycle or pedestrian safety. But I do know we can create awareness. I do know laws can be tougher on the convicted. I do believe as a community we will not allow her to have died in vain. I was told you can’t change things and that one more law on the books won’t make a difference.
Good. Keep telling me that.
Today is a day of grieving. For a woman who should not have been lost. Today is a day of prayers and coming together.
Please wear something pink.
“I’m amazed how fast time flies…It reminds me that every minute of life is a treasure!” – Heather Boyum
I love this picture. It’s of Jennie and I after she crossed the finish line at Ironman Lake Placid (second female pro!). Read her race report right here, and you will understand why this is such an emotional moment.
Photograph by Charlie Abrahams
I also love this picture.
Photograph by Charlie Abrahams
And one more. My third favorite picture from Sunday. I don’t know why it’s so small. It’s Pat Wheeler, Jesse Kropelnicki and I. If Tim Snow was in this picture it would be complete.
Photograph by Charlie Abrahams
These are the guys who have taught me so much in the past year. I came to QT2 with seven years of experience but have learned more in the past 365 days than those seven years combined. I owe these guys a lot. I owe them more than a THANK YOU. They have helped me begin to become the coach I know I can be. Or at least begin down that path.
I can promise you one thing about QT2…. we are a team. We are not a group of coaches. We are a team. We have coaches calls. We have email chains to one another that would rival … just about anything. We stood on that hill together and we brought our athletes home (and others) because of one big reason.
We care.
I spoke with Jesse about how when you coach this in-depth, when you coach elite athletes….. your own performances may suffer. Quite honestly when I began coaching my performances slid a bit, this season I felt like they slid a lot, despite the time I put it. At the same time when you ask me who I care about more…. my performances or the performances of my athletes….. I care more about theirs. I am blessed to have done so much on my field. Nothing …. nothing in the world rivals what I feel when they achieve their goals and dreams. See the first picture of this blog to understand that.
I sh*t liquid all day at Ironman Lake Placid. It’s how I have always been. I do that for any big race. It’s not that I am not confident, or worried or …. or anything bad. It’s just because their performances are personal to me.
I essentially forewent my own season when I realized that Vegas was off the table for me….. but not gone. Not at all. I have taken some time to give myself that break that we should all take. At the same time I am focusing on running a fall marathon (I am almost up to 50 miles a week). In the meantime I am learning to strike that balance. I will never be a coach that doesn’t care with my heart and soul … about them and their performances. Never. I am just not wired that way.
And my step back is just temporary. I have two Ironmans on the docket for 2013!
I love what I do. I love being a coach. I love coaching with Qt2. EVERY DAY I am so grateful and honored they invited me to join the coaching team. They have become my friends, my family.
This picture is of some more of us. Tara, myself and Molly.
Things are going to pick up again as my traveling roadshow moves on this week!
This weekend I will be announcing at the Rochester Kids Triathlon (and “someone” will be competing).
I have my 20th high school reunion. Three day party!
Next week our long and storied battle with the school district will come to a resolution. It’s down to the wire.
I will be announcing at Summer Sizzler, Carly’s Club Crossing, hopefully heading to Ironman Mt. Tremblant…..
My friend shared this picture with me the other day, it’s of a place called Battleship Cove in Michigan (if I remember correctly). I think I could stare at it forever. I have a love for big open spaces, being able to see forever and scenes like the above. It makes you realize just how small you are in this great big world and how if we don’t stop and take a look around once in a while…. we miss scenes just like this.
This one is of Columbia River Gorge, and is from the same friend. Another example of places you can see forever.
If you have ever listened or read anything from a man named Garret Kramer you know what scenes like this mean. He tells a story of walking around in a forest bumping into trees. Getting irritated because it’s crowded and the bigger picture isn’t very clear. He goes on to instruct us to imagine we are suddenly lifted up as if we were in a helicopter above the treeline. A minute ago we were in the thick of it and now we are pulled above it looking down. We realize that yes, there is plenty of room and yes…. there is enough space down there… and okay…. that is the pattern of the trees. When we were ground level it didn’t make sense. But pulled away from it, looking at it from above, it made perfect sense. We need not only to see the forest through the trees…. we need to view the whole darn forest.
That’s what pictures like the above exemplify for me. Not just in sport but in life.
Much of what I do in my life relates to sport however, so let’s continue down that track.
As a triathlon coach one of the most important jobs I have is to maintain this panoramic view. As an athlete the view we often see is ground level, bumping into trees. Why am I doing this… we might ask. What’s this all about? Many times as athletes we don’t necessarily nail one single workout or on the other hand we nail it so well we immediately ask our coach….. does that mean I am fit? Does that mean I am not fit?
We have to put our athletes on the helicopter and bring them to our vantage point. It’s the shape of the work that matters most, not the individual days and individual heart rates and paces. It’s the work over time that matters most. When athletes are in the thick of things it can be difficult for them to step back and see the big picture. That’s our job as coaches…. to work the details into the bigger picture.
Ironman is beautiful like that. It’s the culmination of an entire year of those trees that you bump into. There are times when you feel lost. There are times when you feel like the compass is completely wrong. There are times when you just want to lay down. Then the cannon goes off and in the space of 17 hours or less….. dreams are realized.
It’s not just a race. At least to me it’s not. It’s a spiritual experience in many ways. Call me insane…. but that’s how I feel about it. Not only for myself but also for my athletes. You learn things about yourself. You go to places you didn’t even know existed. Even if you have been at this Ironman game for a long time…. it still happens.
One of our professional QT2 athletes … Tim Tapply had that day on Sunday. He’s a father of three, works full time and competes as a professional. He came up that hill one last time on Sunday with a look on his face that showed…. he was in a place that he had never gone before. It was like the worse it got the harder he ran and just looking at him you knew he was in a corner of himself he didn’t know existed. I wish I had a picture of it.
When I talked to him afterwards he told me the world was closing in…. and he had to go to “that place.” It was incredibly inspiring to me. How many of us are willing to dig that deep, to go to those corners of our soul…… not knowing in that moment if we would make it back. That’s what Ironman does. It challenges you like that. It gets hard. It hurts. Sure it hurts your quads and hamstrings but…. it takes you to a place you have never been. If you are lucky. If you allow it to, it’ll show you strength you never knew you had.
You can’t plan for it. You can’t train for it. You just have to know it’s coming and you have to be ready for it. You just have to let it happen.
For me Ironman and even not Ironman…… life….. is about remembering to stand on the cliff and look out over the canyon, and remembering to do that when you are focusing on one small rock on the ground. It’s about taking the helicopter above the treeline and looking down. It’s about bumping into the trees when you get down to ground level and understanding there is a plan, there is a reason, there is a way through.
Ironman mirrors life in many ways. That’s what I love about it. It’s long. It’s difficult. It’s the unknown even though you have done it before. It’s looking out over the world and being able to see forever. It’s not one mile, two miles although that’s we have to approach it (another blog for another time).
So today…. give that a try. Step back. Look out, look up, look down. See the big picture instead of what is right in front of you. As a coach it’s vital. As an athlete it’s enlightening. The beauty of what is before you will calm you, will engage you, will bring you peace and will intrigue you all at once.
I stood in the finisher’s chute… waiting. It was empty aside from Mike Riley giving updates and a boatload of photographers waiting as well. I looked at Jesse and he smiled. Jessie Donovan had just come through celebrating her first Ironman win. Her kids came running to greet her and she gave her pre race chat to the crowd. A year ago this woman was here volunteering to sign up for this race. Yesterday this full-time working mother of three and professional triathlete won Ironman Lake Placid. She’s a QT2 athlete.
I was waiting for Jennie Hansen of course …also our QT2 athlete. It was the longest five minutes of my life. It was her first Ironman, and she was about to take second place. Again I looked at Jesse..… who mentors me in coaching Jennie. We laid out an incredibly solid plan that brought us from November through this moment here. I knew she executed the plan to a T.
I have coached hundreds of athletes through Ironmans. Jennie is my first pro and this was the first time I got to greet someone at the finish line. Like right AT the finish line.
Mike Riley’s voice filled the air and I could see her ponytail swinging back and forth as she came running down the chute, after a 1:09 swim, 5:27 bike and 3:12 marathon to place second in her first ever Ironman. She balanced full time work as a physical therapist by the way. And she’s just beginning her professional career.
When she came across we embraced and …. well in a moment like that all you can do is cry. Because you both know. The emotion of the past nine months came down to this moment right here. A year ago I asked her to put herself and her faith in QT2 Systems. This was the unknown. This moment was about all of it. The moments of what am I doing… will this really work….. it does not even need to be said….. all I could do was hug her and cry.
A year ago Jesse invited me to be part of this amazing coaching team. For me that was the unknown. Is this the right move? When I brought Jennie to the table he helped me create the plan, I leaned on him as a coach like I have never leaned on anyone. I am so grateful to Jesse and our entire team at QT2 Systems. We are really a team here.
We look at an athlete like Jennie and we look at the ten year plan for her. Not just the 2013 plan. Where we going long term, not in two years. The first thing people are going to look at is her swim. 1:09.58. I actually had her slotted for a 1:10. We know that swim needs to improve….. it has improved. We are working on it. No one goes from being a 1:10 Ironman swimmer to a 59 Ironman swimmer in one year. It takes time and patience, this is what many athletes lack.
How much time? We don’t have a finite answer for that. I can get this girl under an hour. I need a few years to be able to do that. Anyone who tells you that can happen in 365 days does not understand long term progress. Her swim will take time and patience. It will come.
So don’t worry about her swim. That’s my job. She executed this race exactly to plan.
All of our QT2 athletes executed their plans to a T yesterday.As a coaching team here at QT2 Systems we are stoked. But that is always the plan. Our athletes come into Ironman healthy, strong and ready to go. Ready to execute. We take care of every single detail. I can tell you I know Jennie from head to toe.
I not only know her work schedule, I know when she is tired just by looking at her. I know what she eats most days and I even know what kind of mascara she wears (Maybeline).
My point here is that we know our athletes. We take care of the details. We create solid plans. Our consistent results really speak for themselves.
As I waited for Jennie I said to Jesse…. “I put my soul into this girl.” And he smiled. “That’s what we do here.” And I know what he meant. We care about our athletes. They are not numbers to us. We care about them like they are our kids.
I felt like a mother who put her daughter on the school bus for kindergarten yesterday. When the cannon went off I could tell which swimmer Jennie was, it was like the bus was rolling up the street, and she was taking off on the adventure of a lifetime. In my mind I scrolled through everything, like you do when you send one of your own off. The training is done, the plan is laid out. Now spread your wings and fly. And that’s exactly what she did.
The only thing I didnt’ do was write her a note on a napkin and put it in her lunch box. I sent an email instead.
I have accomplished a lot of things in my own triathlon career. Every time I bring an athlete through an Ironman I feel that …. it trumps everything I have ever done myself. When I saw the look on Jennie’s face as she came through that finish line…. it was no different. That’s why I love coaching. That’s why I love to be able to do what I do.
I am so very proud of Jessie D., Jennie, and Jacqui…. the women’s podium here at Ironman. Our men took 5,6,7th I believe and the age group podium this morning will be covered in QT2. We are not smoke and mirrors here. We are results.
So thank you Jennie for putting your faith in me, and in all of us here at QT2. And thank you Jesse for being the best mentor a coach could ask for and for the chance to join such an amazing coaching group. My gratitude is bigger than I have words for.
(And remember…… Maybeline mascara. Lasts through an Ironman. When you perform like that….. I don’t care if you paint your face as spiderman.)
Please join me in giving a huge congrats to professional triathlete Jennie Hansen for her second place win today in her first ever Ironman, at Ironman Lake Placid! I am a VERY proud coach today!
If I haven’t mentioned it yet… I love it here. LOVE.
And the girls of room ten have reunited. Marley the dog is here too. Although we are now the girls of room 26. We have moved up in the world and our location here in Placid might be the greatest one ever.
Yesterday was a solid day of training … running with friends…. cycling a loop of the course, two loop swim in Mirror Lake, dinner with Kim & Kyle….. it was of course… awesome. I got a video of the descent with my Go Pro helmet cam, I will try to load that later today. We ran into Mike Riley in the expo, and got to talk with him a bit about the kick offs!
View from our hotel
Gifts for Curty
Today is going to be busier. I have three athletes competing here, and QT2 has over 30. (7 pros!). We have our team breakfast tomorrow morning which has grown to over 90 people, along with the annual Tim and Jesse IMLP course review. This is one of my favorite talks of the year. Tim Snow has competed in more than 30 Ironmans and has made every mistake in the book. He shares his experience and Jesse and he share their expertise. It’s my third time at this chat and I love it every time.
I am easing into marathon training and quickly learning that a marathon takes less time in a way than Ironman training, although it’s harder on your body. On tap today is a double run, recovery swim and the TRX that I forgot to do yesterday. I am hoping for a recovery bike as well! Lots of coaching meetings and coaching education stuff today. Love this stuff. I love that I get to do it here.
Things pick up today…. that’s for sure. Ironman village is built, the expo is hoppin’ and we are just TWO DAYS AWAY!
I am in Lake Placid. I am SOOOOOOOOO happy to be here. Every time I come up over that hill, you know the one…. you catch your first sight of Mirror Lake….. every time my heart just soars. I love this place.
No… I am not racing Ironman Lake Placid (I have four times)… I am here coaching, doing some learning with my fellow QT2 Coaches and training. This morning I slept in until 6am. I am not running until 8 (With my friend Samantha). Then Molly and I will have breakfast with K Roe, ride a loop of the course at noon….. swim with Kim and have dinner afterwards. It’s going to be those kind of days. This is my type of vacation.
We have about 30 QT2 athletes competing in Ironman Lake Placid.Our giant team breakfast is on Saturday. We have 7 pros toeing the line. It’s going to be a Qt2 extravaganza.
I love it here because it’s a small mountain town with postcard qualify scenery. From the balcony on which I sit I can see mountains and the ski jumps. Ironman village is set up and let’s face it….. I am a junkie for this stuff.
Much more to come …. along with pictures and stories I am sure!
Hello Lake Placid. It’s wonderful to be here again.
Musselman weekend. There is so much to love. Like I said last time… I have been a part of this race since 2004 (I was lucky enough to win, and won a complimentary entry for LIFE!!!). It’s the homecoming weekend in so many ways.
On Saturday morning I raced the Mini Mussel, and I was so excited to race my new Quintana Roo. Let me tell you … this thing is a dream to ride. I felt like a fighter pilot.
This expression sums up my season! PAR-TAY!
I love this race because it brings a boatload of talent to Geneva year after year. Annually I always know I can look forward to catching up with my friend Julie Rosa. We met here in 04 and this is kind of our thing. We know we will be here, we spend some time catching up, too much time giggling and we get to race one another. These are the kind of friendships I appreciate and treasure so much.
My friend Ultra Adam came to do the Double Mussel and we wagered a friendly bet. I lost. I had to buy him beer Saturday night. Admittance.
I have to also admit I was a bit of a party girl in this race. During the run a man came up to me and said “For the last 2 miles I have been running behind you, is this your homecoming parade or is this a race?” Ahhhhh…. so busted. Later in the evening my inbox was full of pictures of me smiling, waving… all I can do is laugh. What the heck was I doing on that run? Not enough!!!
When I was 30 I could spend 18 hours a week training in zone 1 and come rip off a good sprint. Now that I am 38, I have to actually spend some time in a higher heart rate if I expect to hit that on race day! HAHA! No… seriously. Not enough hurt and too much fun. I have been on a bit of a coasting year. When you beat Armstrong you can do that? HA! I am healthy and getting stronger and every day is a building block. My fire is returning and I have concrete goals for the fall and for 2013 that I am chomping at the bit to get started on!!!
A few of us girls were talking after the race and it was good to know that others felt the same. It’s okay to have a bit of a break year, dial it back a bit, let the fire return on it’s own. During the race I felt fine, I felt fit…. I felt like I was in gear one and needed to be in gear 5….. and had too much fun.
If my biggest problem in a race is having too much fun….. that’s a good problem to have. I ended up 6th overall and 1st age group and honestly, I can’t complain about that. It was a beautifully talented field and I am well aware that I am a benchmark for some women. for them to walk away with an “I beat Mary Eggers”….. I accept that as a compliment. I am honored to help raise anyone’s game. Some women take that as an insult. I have had plenty of days where I have walked away with the win, and plenty of days where I haven’t. Today was a party and I was psyched to be part. My days at the top of the podium will come again. Most importantly for me, my health is good and we are moving in the right direction. A little coasting season helps with that space between your ears. I don’t care how much preparation and talent you have…. if your mental fitness isn’t up to par, it’s all worthless.
I have accomplished a lot this season. Just so happens that it’s been off the field, in our Teens Living With cancer Endeavors. I must tell you, at the end of the day, above all wins, course records, qualifications and victories….. that feel like the biggest achievement of my life. I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished so far. $75K and counting. And to remind you, that is not a ME accomplishment… it’s a WE accomplishment.
Where was I?
My husband placed 5th overall in his respective race, I LOVE that he can threaten the young guys. And speaking of young guys…. Luc stepped up into the 10-13 year old kid’s race distance. In this video you will notice that while he is last…. he keeps going and he’s having fun. You will see my hand waving in there a lot, I was trying to create space for him to run through and on the kid’s bike the kids had to ride on the left which got a bit confusing, but it worked!
Sunday morning wa the Musselman 1/2 Ironman. depending on the season I opt for one or the other of these races, next year maybe the double!!! One of my fellow QT2 Coaches / Teammates Pat Wheeler was here to race and we had several QT2 athletes in the mix. My long time friend Chad Holderbaum, who won last year also came to town again, fresh off his incredible top age group performance at Ironman CDA. Pat’s wife Courtney and I trolled the course as we scouted for the guys. It got a little bit rainy but nothing a little wetsuit action couldn’t handle!
It was a fantastic men’s race. Like I said so much talent (on both men’s and women’s sides) comes through Geneva, it’s one of those races where you really get to see some of the best. And have a blast in the meantime.
My triathlon family…. Score-This was timing the event as always….. I tell you the thing I love MOST about Musselman is the family atmosphere we have here over the years! Did I mention there was LIVE TIMING OF THE EVENT!!!!!!!!!
Jeff and I!
Hard at work!
To say there is history with these guys is an understatement. To say that there is history between so many of us is an even bigger understatement. I always feel like Musselman is a homecoming event. On that run Saturday I felt like the darn homecoming queen! HA!
I am proud, I am happy. I am lucky my entire family does this together. I am so lucky for all of this.
My fire is returning. I am feeling great Every day is a step towards the goals I have set. forward progress. That’s good stuff.
We’ve got a busy week ahead with Ironman lake Placid on the docket. We will be heading there on Tuesday, executing some coaching work, training camp and more coaching! Qt2 has become my family in more ways than one. After that it’s one more small race, then full fledged Marathon training!
But first I have a three day swim camp with a surprise out of town guest. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning I am going to get my ass handed to me in the pool. I need it. Wish me luck.
It’s Musselman weekend. My Favorite weekend of the year! Here is a “Glory Days” fact. I won the first Musselman back in 2004! One of the luckiest things that ever happened to me! I have competed in the Musselman in some format since then. I have done Mussel, Mini and even the Aquabike.I have gotten to introduce Karen Smyers and even do a kids tri clinic with her. I love it. Jeff Henderson came here almost ten years ago with the intention of bringing a half Ironman event to the area and this sells out every single time.
Musselman weekend is always hot. And weeks before the race I begin to hear “OMG! Musselman is going to be so hot, I am so not going to make it.”
Nonsense, I assure them. This is the perfect example of writing the end of the story before it ever happens. Athletes who engage in this kind of talk….. well they have predetermined their result. I had a bad race, it was too hot. There are elements of heat that are within our control, and elements that are not.
I have used the heat excuse myself. It’s led me to educate myself and become smart about the heat, and how to handle the heat. Here are my tips for keeping your cool when the going gets hot:
1. Pre Race Hydration: No one in their right mind comes into a half Ironman dehydrated. All week you have been taking in enough fluids so that your urine is nice and clear or a beautiful shade of pale yellow. This is something within your control.
2. Proper nutrition and fueling plan: If you are coming up to the starting line of a half ironman, you have some sort of fueling plan. You know by this point your sweat rate and now many ounces you personally need to consume per hour. You know how many carbohydrate grams you need to consume per hour. You know what type of sweater you are… heavy versus light. You know how many electrolytes you need. If you walk away from this race feeling like you missed the boat, then give us a shout over at The Core Diet. Our Registered dietitians have written over 600 race fueling plans. They cured me from race day vomits. If you have raced in a Score-This event (Musselman is timed by Score-This, not a Score-This event) then you get a discount on Core Diet services. (Hit the contact page to find out how to get the discount code). You have put in the training, don’t be reduced to a walk because you bonked. Bonking is within your control. And I am the queen of bonking, so don’t tell me otherwise!
A proper fueling plan will ensure that you are taking in enough fluids, electrolytes and carbohydrates. This right here is the key to a successful race in any weather.
3. Utilize your resources to stay cool: The Wizard refers to the last 10 or so miles of the bike as “The pocket”. Think of it this way…. when you go from bike to run you go from an environment on the bike that consists of a breeze and lower impact to an environment (running) that has no breeze, and has significantly higher impact. That right there is body temperature rising. In “the pocket” (last ten miles of the bike) begin thinking about keeping your core temp down as best as possible. When you hit that last aid station grab a bottle of water and douse yourself. If you have vents in your helmet hit it there. Water on your back, down your shirt. As you get off the bike that aid station you hit out of transition…. use the water and the sponges.
Remember how we talked about working the aid stations like they are your job? That’s what we mean. Click here for those reminders. As an athlete you have the ability to cool yourself down every mile on the run. Never skip this opportunity.
4. Adjust pacing as needed: At QT2 we primarily pace by HR (we use power and pace as well). We adjust our zones up or down depending on the temperature, humidity and heat index. You’ve seen our athletes, when the going gets hot they seem to run faster. It’s because of our ability to teach them how to pace. It’s because of their ability to execute a pacing plan. It doesn’t mean you automatically have to go slower when it’s hot, you have to race smarter when it’s hot. Consult our website for more info if you are interested in learning how to race! If I sound like a QT2 walking advertisement …. I am!
The bottom line is this…… race day has challenges no matter what. We as athletes love that aspect of this sport or else we wouldn’t be here. Don’t allow something that is our of your control dictate how your day goes, especially three days before the gun goes off. A large part of what happens this weekend has to do with the space between your ears. So if you are already issuing statements like “Well… there goes my PR because it will be hot.” then you have guaranteed you will not PR.
As you create the race plan for the weekend, heat management is part of it. Love the heat, we are Upstate New Yorkers…. a hundred billion degrees is a gift. Yes, even on race day. But only if you choose not to allow it to become a barrier.
See you this weekend! On Sunday will be cruising the run course on my mountain bike. I will have on a black or white QT2 shirt and be with some of the Qt2 girls!
