Donna Phelan's Blog

Today I took the train from Leysin to Geneva where I’m staying overnight before my flight leaves in the morning to Belgium, then Philadelphia and on to San Diego.

It’s been a great couple of months training in Switzerland. I never realize how quickly the time at camp flies by but before you know it, it’s time to pack up and move on again. There are little reminders like the number of books growing in my pile (number 10 has just been put to rest and thank you Tez, Jodie and Fiona for the extra books!). And the past week of sleeping with my hot water bottle and extra blanket means it’s time to head to sunnier skies and warmer weather.

However, there are many things that I’ll miss in Swiss….

My favorite ride to Sion and back….the only 5hr ride I’ve ever done without a single traffic light. Of course, there’s always time for a coke/bakery stop somewhere along the way.

My favorite long Sunday run…..biking down the mountain to the UCI and doing my long run along the river in Aigle. Then a quick coke/bakery stop before climbing back up to Leysin.

The amazing view from the hiking trails above Leysin on my long “hike” days, ending with a coke/bakery stop before heading home.

My favorite aisle of my favorite grocery store, the Co-op. There’s always fresh bread every morning, hot off the shelf, and nothing tastes better than fresh bread after morning swim practice.

And on my run days around the village when I don’t have time for a coke/bakery stop, there’s never a shortage of drink stops.

This past weekend I went to Bolton, England to race Ironman UK. Like with any race, I’ve come away from it learning a few important lessons.

The race started at 6am with a deep water start which meant that at 5:40am race officials were giving orders to get in the water and swim out to the start line. It was a cold lake swim and being out there for 20min beforehand was more of a cool down than a warm up. I came out of the water in 3rd place, stumbling a couple of times on the way to my bike, still a bit disoriented from the cold but within sight of 1st and 2nd place.

Onto the bike and I knew I would have to work hard to build a buffer against some of the stronger runners. Unfortunately, I spent the first half of the bike kicking myself for not wearing warmer clothes. The thought even entered my mind to stop and ask a spectator for a tshirt or jacket. Because of the cold/rain I made sure to keep eating every 15min and by 60km I moved into 2nd place. Another 60km went by and I was still wishing I had a parka and feeling the strange urge to stop and have a 5 course meal. The last 60km of the bike provided a bit of entertainment as we had the extra challenge thrown in of double lane traffic – sheep, double decker buses and Sunday drivers on their way for tea and crumpets. Unfortunately, due to the extra bodies on the road, I missed one of my turns in the last 30k and with it went another 5 or 6 minutes.

I came off the bike still in 2nd place, but with only a minute lead on 3rd. The first 2 miles of the run were a hilly cross country course through a forest of mud and puddles before we started the main out/back/out of the marathon. At this point, I was feeling a little low on fuel but concentrated on just moving one foot in front of the other. At about 30km, I had slipped into 4th place, and a huge fight, actually an outright war, was going on between my head and my quads. I knew that the pain in my quads could never compare to the pain of my brain giving up before my body did so I pulled myself together and came across the finish line in 4th place, still within 8% of the winner’s time to finish in the money.

So, the lessons learned at this race? Dress up warm when it’s cold, and always pay attention to the bike course and less to the distractions of sheep and double decker buses. A big congrats also to Bella and Stephen for both finishing 2nd and to Brandon for his 5th place finish.

A couple of days ago I had an email from a girl who used to be on my swim team when I was a kid. She recently started doing triathlons and I get an email from her from time to time asking about training, racing, which tri bike to buy, etc. This week, her question was along the lines of feeling tired and grumpy….the thought of going training is a bit of a mental struggle…is this normal?….do pro’s feel like this?

I remember a wise doc a few years back telling me the story of Rob Decastella answering a reporter’s question “Are you tired?”. His answer…”I get up in the morning tired and go to bed very, very tired. 50 weeks of the year. But it’s a price I gladly pay because 2 wks of the year I am the best in the world. And I am lucky because there are a lot of athletes as good as me out there who are not prepared to pay that price so I beat them every time in those two weeks.”

For me, peculiar things start to happen when I’m in the middle of training camp, when I’m perhaps not my usual most alert self. This past week was no exception. At the beginning of the week, I was riding down the mountain, waiting to pass through the tunnel about half way down. Pretty soon I was at the bottom with no recollection of having gone through the tunnel. I don’t suppose they moved it? There’s no way I could have gone through it. Then on Wednesday I was out riding and was convinced it was Saturday. And what did I do yesterday? Then a couple of nights ago, I had a dream about the cat who hangs around outside my apartment building. In my dream, this cat’s name was Kitzen. I think perhaps I was thinking about going to the kitchen for my middle of the night snack? Sometimes the brain fatigue is worse than the body fatigue.;-)

So the answer to my friend’s question? Yes, being tired from training is pretty normal. And may be accompanied by random acts of craziness.

It feels like I just arrived yesterday, but I’ve been at Swiss camp for just about 2 weeks now. This is my third summer here, and it has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world and one of the greatest places to train. The riding through the mountains is unlike anywhere else – amazing climbs, quiet roads, few traffic lights, and the cars (for the most part) are bicycle friendly. It’s a quiet area with few distractions which always makes a great training location. Oh, and did I mention the bakeries and the great coffee?

There hasn’t been much news the last couple of weeks as we’re all just busy putting our heads down and getting ready for the races we have coming up. More to come in my next blog, but for now I’ll just leave you with a few pictures of this beautiful little place in the clouds…

Since Ironman Brazil, I’ve spent the last 10 days in San Diego, and I leave tomorrow for training camp in Switzerland. The last 10 days have been a whirlwind – recovering from the race and travel, getting back into a training routine, and digging out my cold weather clothes for training in the Swiss Alps.

Two of the things I enjoy most about San Diego are my “second home”, the pool, about 2 kms from where I live. And in the rare instances when I’m not training, I really enjoy the good coffee around here (much bigger cups than in Brazil).

But after 10 days of training on my own, I’m getting fidgety, and I’m ready to head back to camp. I packed my bags today, and had a couple of stow-aways trying to hitch a ride to Switzerland. They do this every time I travel. But once I told them about the big cows in Leysin, they reconsidered.

My trip to IM Brazil started when I got back from Thai camp the end of April, and will finish when I get back home on Wednesday.

Going to Brazil (for Canadians anyway) requires a Visa, and so the first segment of my trip was heading to LA from San Diego to drop off my visa application at the Brazilian consolate (no mail-ins allowed). The second segment of my trip required going back to LA a week later to pick up my visa. The third segment of my trip was heading to LAX last Tuesday for my supposed flight to Brazil. However, the terminal was a zoo when I arrived with lots of angry people milling about….yup, flight cancelled with no warning due to diverted incoming flight (turbulence over the Atlantic sent 6 people to hospital in an emergency landing in Montreal). So, back to San Diego for the night, followed by my 4th trip to LA the next day and my eventual 24hrs of travel LA to Washington to Sao Paolo to Rio to Florianopolis. Wow, am I dreaming or am I actually finally here, haha.

The race was on Sunday and started with a 2 loop ocean swim, split up by a beach run in between loops. Dede Griesbauer and Tereza led out the swim and I exited in 4th place about 1:45 behind Hillary.

The bike was 2x90km loops with 4 decent size hills in each loop. My legs felt better on the second loop, but I still had some time to make up when I came off the bike, still in 4th place, about 3:30 back from Hillary.

The run started with a 21km loop followed by 2×10.5km loops. The first 15km were the most challenging with 6 short, steep hills, but I felt good and by 18km had Hillary in my sight. We started running together at 20km, but by the second loop my quads were starting to complain about the earlier hills. At 25km, Maria Omar from Argentina ran by with what would end up being the fastest run split of the day. Hillary and I continued our battle side by side, never able to put more than a few feet on the other from 20km to 42km. It was a tough 22km and coming into the finish shoot it came down to a sprint finish with Hillary outsprinting me in the last 100m.

The silver lining to a disappointing sprint was finishing within the 8% money rule, and within the 5% Kona rule, although there were only 2 Kona slots for women. Dede and Tereza had already qualified with their top 10 finishes in Kona last year, and so the two spots went to Maria and Hillary. I was hanging out at roll down the next day, just about ready to leave, when I heard my name called out. There were 3 Kona slots for men, but the guy who would´ve taken the third spot didn´t finish within 5% so it rolled back to the women. I´m glad I stuck around and thanks Tereza for loaning me the $550 US!

I started my journey back to the US Monday afternoon, from Florianopolis to Rio to Sao Paolo. My flight from Rio was late arriving in Sao Paolo and by the time I got to my gate, the doors had closed leaving myself and 2 other people to miss our connection to Washington. I was fuming, and they must have seen the steam coming out of my ears because they sent me off to one of the nicest hotels I´ve been in, complete with dinner and breakfast buffet. So here I am in the business center of the hotel this morning, catching up on email before my 10pm flight to Washington and LA this evening. It may be time for a nap soon as I didn´t have a great sleep last night. I kept having nightmares that I overslept and got to the breakfast buffet just as they were closing. And that wouldn´t have been a good thing.;-)

Here’s my P4 at the bike shop a few days ago, getting a tune up with my new Token race wheels.:)

This past weekend, I raced the Wildflower 1/2 Ironman. Being only 6hrs from where I live, it was a good chance to get an early season race under my belt before I tackle an Ironman in a few weeks time.

This was my third time racing Wildflower so I know the course a little by now. The swim was cold as I had expected (well, 59 degrees is cold for me compared to the bath tub temperatures in Thailand). I came out of the water in 6th position, and almost right away the hills started which are almost a constant at Wildflower. I think I warmed up by about 60km on the bike, and re-passed a few girls that had passed me early in the ride while I was still an icicle.

I came off the bike in 10th position with the goal of aiming for a top 10 finish. 60% of the run course is on trails with some very steep climbs and descents. My balance is not great in the best of times, and I’m sure I could have been mistaken trying to stay upright. Not to mention that my last trail run was a year ago at Wildflower. Anyway, despite the lovely terrain, I was feeling pretty good on the run and thinking that I would have a good finish. Unfortunately, with about 4km left to go, the steep downhills earlier in the run sent my quads into a screaming fit. I have mostly been running flat since my knee surgery 6 months ago, and my quads were protesting very loudly. The last km on the run is a winding downhill, and I have to admit my legs have never been in quite so much pain. I was very happy to finally see the finish chute, but not very happy to hear that there was a chase coming from behind. I sprinted as hard as I could, and crossed the finish line 1 sec ahead of the girl behind and 3 sec ahead of the next person.

One of the great things about Wildflower is how tough the course is, and how much fitness you take away from it. 4 days later, and my legs have still not forgiven me, but they will thank me later. The cobwebs have been cleaned away and now it’s time to get on with the rest of the season.

It was also great to see Amy and Brandon at the race giving it their best, and to have the support of Avia who did a great job as main sponsor of the race.

I arrived back in San Diego Thursday night after leaving Thailand, which of all the training camps, has been my favorite place to train. Before heading back to the US, I had an overnight in Singapore, staying with Mike from The Bike Boutique and his girlfriend Rachel. Scott also had a few hours in Singapore before his midnight flight so we took a cab to Mike’s apartment, and then biked to dinner a few km’s away. It was quite funny to see us all riding through Singapore in the dark. Scott was on Mike’s road bike and standing on the pedals because the frame was too big, and I was on Rachel’s mountain bike with my knees coming up to my chest. Where is my camera when I need it, haha.

So, I’ve been home now a few days, adapting to the time difference and change in temperature. When I’m really tired, I’ve been known to sleep walk and sleep talk. The first night back, I sat upright in bed at 2am, and said to Jay, “How many people are in here? Where’s Scott and Jocelyn??” Don’t ask…I have no idea. Almost as bad as the time I dreamt I was washing clothes and stuffed my blanket in the toilet, haha.

I do really miss the hot weather, great riding and cheap food in Thailand. I went out for a long ride yesterday wearing arm and leg warmers and vest….65 degrees and sunny but it felt like winter to me. I was disappointed not to find any cheap watermelon stands at the end of my ride. But a can of Pringles and a bottle of Mountain Dew when I got home, and all was right in the world again.;-)

I’ve been in Thailand for just over 8 weeks now, and on Wednesday I head back to the US. The time here has really flown by, and I’ll miss the training in Krabi. But it’s time to head back to the US for some races, and I’m excited about that as well. And good timing since the rainy season here is just around the corner.

This past week was a little different than most of our other training weeks. We had our team photo shoot in the middle of the week, and this also coincided with the Thai New Year. Known also as the Songkran Festival, it runs from April 13th-15th. The main celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water at others as a sign of cleansing and renewal for the new year. During these three days, locals gather on the side of the road throwing buckets of water at people or drenching them with water guns and garden hoses. They also do this from the back of pick-up trucks, soaking other cars, people walking by, and of course cyclists! So for three days I came back from every ride soaking wet and wringing out my clothes. I must have needed extra cleansing because everytime I shook my head or said “no” I seemed to get extra water thrown at me. Well, hopefully all the badness is washed out of me now, and I’ll have extra good luck for the rest of the Thai New Year.

The photo shoot was a lot of fun as well. We were lucky to have Blue Seventy here for a few days, and a great photo shoot with them on Chicken Island. Can’t wait to see the pics cause I’m sure there’ll be some great ones!

And last but not least, here’s an updated photo of our hotel kitten Simba who was born in Beck’s bike bag 6wks ago. Wish I could take him home with me!