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The Bermuda TRI-Angle
3 Bermuda Mothers, 3 Different LifeSport Coaches, 3 Kona Qualifiers |
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| Oct 09, 2009 |
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LifeSport profiles Karen Smith, Karen Bordage, and Julia Hawley of Bermuda.
All 3 are in their 40's, mothers, business women, training partners, and
amazingly all 3 have qualified to compete in Kona at the Hawaii Ironman
World Championships this weekend. The three work and train on the small
island of Bermuda which is a mere 20 square miles. Not only do these women
work as a team to train together, but each has a different coach at
LifeSport who balances their individual needs. "We will often have a "Team
Bermuda" meeting in the LifeSport office to discuss the Bermuda gal's
training and which workouts we will schedule them together" Says Coach Dan
Smith. Scott Neil, of the Bermuda Mid Ocean News recently reported the
following story on Smith, Bordage, and Hawley:
Cycle rides in the darkness of pre-dawn, swimming during their office lunch
breaks and long runs of up to 20 miles in the heat of the day are all part
of the gruelling schedule that has propelled three of the island's top
sportswomen to qualify for one of the toughest endurance events in the
world. On October 10, Karen Smith, Karen Bordage and Julia Hawley will line
up for the Hawaii Ironman world championships. They will compete for more
than 10 hours as they face a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile cycle ride and a
26.2-mile marathon run.
This week the trio revealed some of the secrets that helped them land
coveted qualifying slots in the world's most famous Ironman triathlon. Key
amongst these has been the commitment to follow an energy-sapping training
schedule prepared by top coaches overseas and delivered through the
Lifesport website. All three have closely followed the structured training
programmes, which require weekly feedback on heart rate and power data for
analysis by the online coaches who monitor the fitness progress and make
individual adjustments.
Speaking of the online training system, Hawley believes it has been a major
positive to them. She said: "That's how I achieved my goal to get to Hawaii.
They give incredible support to their athletes."
Qualifying for Hawaii appears to be proof that the system works. All
followed their programmes and Smith came second in her division in Ironman
Switzerland in July in 10 hours 47 minutes and 38 seconds, Bordage clocked a
stunning 10.27.57 for second divisional place in Ironman Canada at the end
of August, while Hawley was a divisional winner over the half-Ironman
distance in the St. Croix 70.3 event in the US Virgin Islands in May.
Bordage said: "They are the official coaches of Ironman. I felt as prepared
as I could have been for Ironman Canada." While Smith explained how it all
works: "They post a schedule and then you upload your heart rate data, your
power data and they are able to analyse these files, so they give you
feedback through that method." It also means that the coaches can see
exactly how hard an athlete is training, rather than rely on them to simply
claim they are doing the workouts.
So how hard do you have to train to get to the biggest Ironman event on the
planet? A snapshot of recent training weeks by the trio reveals it is not
for the weak-willed. Smith logged a total of 12km of swimming, around 150km
of cycling and 36 miles of running during a seven-day spell - all adding up
to 17 hours of training. Hawley trains for between 15 and 20 hours a week
during her peak weeks, as does Bordage who has even logged around 22 hours
of workouts on some weeks. For Smith and Bordage it will be a return visit
to the Hawaii Ironman after both landed qualifying slots in 2007 having
finished first and second in their age division in the Brazil Ironman that
same year. Hawley also competed in Brazil but didn't attain a qualifying
place.
Explaining how they came to compete in Ironman events, Smith said: "It was
three years ago. Myself and Julia had been to the Commonwealth Games (they
competed in 2002 and 2006 - Hawley as a cyclist and Smith in the triathlon)
and we weren't quite ready to retire, so we had the idea to do an Ironman."
At that time Bordage was a leading road runner, finishing second in the May
24 Derby women's race and having run sub-three for a full marathon. She took
up the new challenge and the three competed in a low-key half Ironman.
They caught the Ironman bug when they did the full distance in Brazil the
following year with Bordage and Smith making the grade for Hawaii, where
Smith went on to finish sixth in her division, while Bordage was 14th. None
of the three are professional triathletes, all are in their 40s and have
families and jobs. But at the start of this year they decided they could
commit once more to the training they'd need to attempt qualification for
Hawaii again - and this time with all three going the distance.
First Hawley, then Smith and finally Bordage made the grade. Behind the
glory there was a lot of hard work. Smith explained: "It was not easy. For
most of us the day starts at 4.30 a.m. with a couple of hours on the bike,
then we have to get the kids to school and go to work, try to squeeze in a
swim at lunchtime and then at the weekends do some of the longer things. We
could not do it unless we had our husbands and kids 100 percent behind us."
The mutual support as training buddies has also paid off, with the three
encouraging each other to get out training even on the days when all they
want to do is rest.
"I don't think we could have done it (qualify for Hawaii) all on our own. We
do not do every workout together, but we try to do the long bike rides
together. Some days you feel like just going back to bed and then someone
will call and say they are feeling bad too so they say 'Let's go out and
feel bad together'," said Smith.
"It is moral support," added Hawley, while Bordage said: "Knowing that you
have people to meet and you don't want to let them down gets you out of the
door and you forget that you are tired." All three are sponsored by Winner's
Edge, which provides them with expert support and maintenance for their
racing cycles. Smith and Hawley also praised the support given by their
respective employers IPCre and Jupiter Asset.
In Hawaii, Smith is looking to better her sixth place with a top five
divisional finish. Hawley's goal is a top ten place in her division and a 20
or 30-minute improvement on her Brazil time, while Bordage wants to lower
her previous Hawaii mark of 11.03. Next year all three will compete in a
half Ironman in Maryland. Smith and Hawley also intend to compete in the
Lake Placid full Ironman in New York state next July.
But for the moment their focus is on Hawaii next month where their families
will be cheering them on in the biggest Ironman competition of them all.
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