Lisa Bentley
SBRStL
– Lisa, first let me say thank-you from all of our readers for fielding a few
questions and we promise we won’t ask you your favorite color or what kind of
tree you’d be.......You took some unstructured time off this winter to
recharge. That was a change of pace you obviously felt you needed?
Lisa– "Yes, the unstructured training is the best. When I’m preparing for an IM, I am always looking at the pace clock in the pool, or at my pace per kilometer on my Timex Speed and Distance Watch, or at the watts on my CompuTrainer, and it is just nice to not have to do that or to care about stuff like that for those 6 weeks after Kona. I was still running, biking and swimming, but I was doing it like an 'exerciser' instead of like a 'professional athlete'."
SBRStL– You’ve got one of the more infectious smiles among professional triathletes. Where do you find your endless enthusiasm?
Lisa– "Geez, I don’t know about that .. some days it doesn’t feel as if I have endless enthusiasm. I do love to train and I really do love to race and I suppose that those are the things that bring out the best in me and make me happy. The stuff that is hard for me is the travel and leaving home – so to overcome that tough stuff, I often have to remind myself of the things that are so great in my life and doing that – leaving my comfort zone and then re-defining my comfort zone – I think that I am able to really “love” what I do and appreciate what I have. I am a pretty emotional person and I suppose that means that I can be really, really happy about seemingly small stuff and that must be what people get to see. But on the flip side, being emotional, I can get pretty sad, especially at the airport when I say goodbye to my husband for a trip to a race."
SBRStL– We realize your focus now is on the 2003 season, and early on, the Pucon ½ and IM New Zealand races; but, could you humor us a bit, take a brief trip down memory lane to last year’s IM Australia, and recount a little of that marvelous day for us?
Lisa–
"IM Australia was a bit of a dream and a huge growing experience as every race
is. I was injured from September to November 2001 and that made Pucon 2002 a
real experiment to see how I had recovered from my hip injury. I approached
that race to evaluate my recovery and it just re-ignited the fire within me to
compete. In preparation for IM Australia, I promised myself that I would not
leave home to train. This might sound like punishment to some people since I
had to train in the freezing cold of Canada and ride 4-6 hours in my
CompuTrainer, but I just love my husband, dogs and home so much that it was a
treat to stay at home. All that means is that I had things in perspective. I
was going to race at IM Australia, but not at the expense of my own emotional
sanity. So I did my own thing. I ran in –20 degrees Celsius and did all of my
rides indoors on my CompuTrainer. I didn’t really know what to expect at
Australia, but I knew that I had done my best in my preparation. I also looked
at Australia as a bonus race. When I got injured in September, I thought that I
would have to have surgery. I had accepted back then in Sept/Oct. that if I
never raced or won another IM, I would be satisfied. I really had accomplished
all of my goals and so, if I could never race again, I could accept that. So
when I recovered from my injury without surgery, racing IM Australia was just
like a gift. I think looking at racing from that perspective is very, very
healthy and I think that is why I raced well there. I was returning to racing
for the passion and love of the sport.
When I left for Australia, I had all of my usual emotions related to leaving my husband for the trip. I was very, very sad for a few days but as I got settled in Forster, I got to be very happy with my surroundings. I once again re-discovered all the little things that make me happy. It is always such a re-birth for me. So now this IM was more than just a win or lose competition – instead, it was a gift just to compete again and it had provided me with an opportunity to rediscover my “happy spot” in a place other than surrounded by my comforts of home and routine.
On race day, the effort just flowed. I found a positive in every situation that I was faced with. Before the race, I was wheezing and having breathing problems because in all the excitement, I had forgotten to take my Ventolin inhaler. The race director had a spare in the medical kit. On the bike, my gears wouldn’t change into the small chain ring. No worries, I would just have to be super duper positive to get over the hills. The day just flowed and when I finally won the race, I was just so grateful to so many people and so happy to have accomplished such a wonderful thing."
SBRStL– Ironman racing seems to be so much of a “thinking person’s race.” Granted there is the physical aspect, but talk to us about the mental side of going 140.6 miles.
Lisa– "Everyday, the physical training requires some of the mental training. It isn’t easy to train 20-30 hours per week and even tougher for an age group triathlete who has to work all day long and squeeze in training around family and work obligations. So the everyday mental stuff that gets you through the daily training is definitely a key component on race day. But on race day, I think the key mental stuff that I incorporate is a lot of positive self-talk and positive feedback. I practice the course in my head the week prior to the event. I go through every single part of the race and I try to figure out what could go wrong and I try to figure out how I might handle those things if they do go wrong. I make up an A, B and C plan and I try never to panic in any situation because, hopefully, in my mental preparation, I’ve planned for that situation."
SBRStL– We, here in the Midwest U.S., retreat indoors during the winter and think we’ve got it rough. How is it that Canada produced three of the top five ranked female Iron-Distance triathletes last year? ( 3-Lori Bowden, 4-Heather Fuhr, 5-Lisa Bentley )
Lisa–
"That is a tough one. I don’t think that Canada really produced us. I think
that we all came through the system when the ITU began draft-legal races. Lori
was always an Ironman lover and did her first one in 1989. I’m not sure when
Heather started the IM thing, but I do know that we both competed in short
course for many years. We were both on many Olympic distance National Teams and
went to many non-drafting World Championships. But, Heather and I were not the
best swimmers and so the draft-legal races of the Olympics would not be our
thing. I can only speak for myself here, but when I realized that making the
2000 Olympic team would be next to impossible and not really worth the financial
investment and also not really speaking to my endurance strengths, I decided to
change to the long distance. I wanted to be good at something and long distance
triathlons were my thing.
The key to our success is that Heather, Lori and I are good runners. I suppose Canadians have to run a lot to keep warm in the winter and I guess we were the ones who didn’t go for the winter sports of skiing. In terms of the weather, the key is that we are all hard workers and we get the job down regardless of the weather. And that is what makes a person a champion."
SBRStL– You’ve got the attention of a fair number of female age-group athletes reading this. Is there anything you’d like to tell them as a woman in sport to help them along?
Lisa– "I’d say that sport is one of the best ways to make you feel good about yourself. Participation in sport breeds increased self-esteem and an internal sense of accomplishment. By setting little goals, for example running 5 minutes and walking 2 minutes for a total of 35 minutes, can bring huge fulfillment and excitement that other daily activities cannot deliver. Personally, sport has become my lifestyle and sport has allowed me to go beyond the normal life goals of work, marriage and family. It also gives me a positive way to interact with other people. Going for a run with someone releases some sort of “talking hormone” where I find that I just start yapping about everything without restraint. By the end of the run, my running partner is all of a sudden one of my closest friends. That certainly cannot happen at Starbucks!"
SBRStL– It seems that the men have tried and tried to win IM Hawaii on the bike. Along comes Natasha and she seems to have succeeded where the men have failed. Does that affect your approach to the race at all?
Lisa–
"Yes. Natasha is a fantastic cyclist and she is an excellent runner. I don’t
even think you’ve seen her best running yet because she hasn’t been challenged.
Remember, she used to be a duathlete and won Zofingen numerous times. She is no
slouch on the run. That said, she is hammering us gals on the bike and we have
to keep her leads down to single digits on the bike. If Lori, Heather or I were
able to get off the bike within 5 minutes of Natasha, we’d have a race to the
finish line. Lori could probably take back 10 minutes on her on Lori’s best
running day. And that all means that we have to improve our riding. Lori is
pretty close, but Heather and I have some room to improve. Personally, I need
to cut about 10 minutes from my Hawaii bike split. Some of that is comfort in
the winds and some of that is just “bike maturity” over the Ironman distance.
I’m working hard at it. In 2002, my biking improved by about 5 minutes
(unfortunately, so did Natasha). I’m looking for another 5 – 10 minutes in
2003.
SBRStL– "Lisa, what kind of training day lets you know you’re fit and ready to tackle an Ironman event?"
Lisa– "A long hard bike-run effort indicates my race readiness. Either a race pace 4 hr bike followed by a 2 hr race pace run effort OR a non-continuous day consisting of a 2.5 hr run descending to sub-7 min miles and a 5 hour bike ride with a few 45 minute tempo pieces at IM pace or faster. When I get through days like that feeling motivated and injury-free and not sick, then I know I’m ready to go. I have one of those this Sunday."
SBRStL– Your husband Steve has qualified for Hawaii already. We sense a duel in the sun in October.
Lisa– "Absolutely – but a duel in the best sense. We are excellent training partners. Steve is a faster pool swimmer than I am, but I am faster in the open water. So we can hammer each other in the pool. Steve trains about 2-3 days in the pool, whereas I train 5-6 days in the pool, so it isn’t a hammerfest for me every day. Steve is stronger on the bike, but we can head out together and stay close. In order for me to get that 5-10 minutes faster on the bike, I have to ride with Steve. And on the long tempo runs, we are identical, so that is perfect. Steve is faster than me in pure running races, but not on those bike to run transition runs. So we are able to push each other pretty well. On race day in Kona, I would suspect that I will lead out of the water and Steve will catch me on the bike. Hopefully, I won’t lose too much on him on the bike and then I’ll catch him on the run. It would be brilliant if we were able to run together because I would imagine that we would push each other to a sub-3 hr marathon. But, Steve is an awesome competitor and husband. He hopes that I beat him because he knows that if I do, I will likely be on the podium in Kona and he wants that more than to beat me. And a podium finish means that Steve gets to keep his golf membership."
SBRStL– What has your trainer Lance Watson brought specifically in terms of improving your performance?
Lisa– "Lance has really worked on my mental preparation. We do a lot of chatting about my internal process associated with the physical effort required on race day. Lance is a superb listener and an excellent coach. Of course, the physical day to day workouts are brilliant as well, but the mental side really stands out as Lance’s forte. After all, you need the mental fortitude to get through those darn workouts."
SBRStL–
Have you set your long-term sights on a Canadian Olympic team slot for Athens in
2004?
Lisa – "No. I would love to make the Olympics for triathlon but I’m not really into chasing points at ITU races around the world. If Canada had an Olympic trials and anyone could race and qualify, then I would definitely gear up for that. But we don’t have that. Also, I am definitely not a fast enough swimmer for that sort of race and my bike skills are not up to par with those awesome ITU cyclists. That said, when my triathlon days are over, I will likely try to qualify for the Olympic marathon .. perhaps in 2008!"
SBRStL– Lisa, thanks again for giving us a little insight about you and the sport. Best of luck this year in all you do.