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Smith Creates Her Own Alpine Training Regime in Bermuda... and Shines in Switzerland Ironman Triathlon!
As Reported by the Mid-Ocean News |
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| Jul 28, 2009 |
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Without any rugged Alpine mountains to train on in Bermuda, one has to wonder how Karen Smith managed to prepare herself for the Switzerland Ironman triathlon this month.
Well, wonder no more, for Smith has revealed how she created her own Alpine training regime without leaving the island by repeatedly scaling the stiff gradients of Knapton Hill and the Harrington Hundreds.
And it paid off handsomely as the two-time Commonwealth Games athlete took second place in her age division and secured the right to compete in the sport's most famous event – the Hawaii Ironman – later this year.
Triathlons come in various sizes, but the Ironman distance is the longest. In Zurich, Smith completed a 3.8km swim in Lake Zurich, a 180km cycle ride and a full marathon run of 42.2km to cross the finish line in 10 hours 47 minutes and 38 seconds.
It was only as she tired in the second half of the marathon run that she lost her chance to claim outright age division victory, but even then it was by a mere two minutes.
To prepare for the event, Smith and her coach tried to replicate as best as possible the challenges she would face. The cycle ride in Zurich was on a two-loop course that included around 30km of hills per lap. Bermuda has its undulations but nothing to compare to Switzerland. Smith made do with what was available and used the steep uphills of Knapton Hill and Harrington Hundreds.
She explained: "I work closely with my coach and I look at what the (race) course is like and try to replicate that. So, here, we can try to ride into headwinds in a high gear and go up Knapton Hill and Harrington Hundreds to feel the effects of climbing. Of course those are only two-minute hills rather than the 10-minute hills faced in the race."
The thought of dipping into Lake Zurich for an hour-long swim also seems other-worldly for an athlete from Bermuda, but Smith reported the lake temperature to be a pleasant 72 degrees – warm enough when you are also wearing a wet suit.
Swimming and cycling have been the two areas of exercise least affected by a hip injury that flared up after a 5K race in February and curtailed Smith's training for most of the first half of the year. It was only when she took a two-week long complete break from all forms of exercise that the hip problem subsided. Going into the Ironman in Zurich her longest training run of the year was only 15 miles – some 11 miles shorter than the full marathon she faced after the swimming and cycling disciplines.
Her split times were 1.08.54 for the swim, 5.40.46 for the cycle ride and 3.53.50 for the marathon run.
Speaking of the experience of competing in Switzerland, she said: "There was great fan support and 145,000 people watching the race. Thousands of people were ringing their cowbells.
"Part of what we do in triathlon is exploration and travel. Switzerland was a great place to go to. Also I wanted to get to Hawaii but by choosing an event that was far enough away from Hawaii (in terms of lead-up time)," she said.
Smith, 41, competed in the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games and the 2006 Games in Melbourne. She has raced in the Hawaii Ironman before, coming sixth in her division two years ago. This time she is looking for a podium finish and will be training hard throughout the Bermuda summer to ready herself.
The heat and humidity she faces here are comparable to what she will face in Hawaii in October. Her training features early morning cycle rides – some up to five or six hours in duration – swimming, and runs that utilise as much shade and water stops as possible.
Smith's training buddy Julia Hawley – who did the half Ironman in Switzerland – has also qualified for Hawaii through the St. Croix event earlier in the year.
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