Six Star Magazine Six Star Magazine Autumn 2007 | Page 32

“Your legs might
be pumping the
bike pedals, but
it’s your mind
that is getting
you up that hill.”

32

Beauty and the Beast
Mental preparedness separates racers from champions. The St. Croix Ironman 70.3 (70.3 is the
Half Ironman series) is often referred to as Beauty and the Beast. The beauty part is a given if you’ve
ever been to the island of St. Croix. The Beast, though, is not quite so beautiful. Twenty-one miles
into the cycling portion you reach ‘The Beast’, a 600-foot climb on a stretch of highway 7/10 of a
mile long with an average grade of 14 percent and a maximum grade of 18 percent. Beauty and the
Beast is one of Lisa’s favourite races. “Not for one single second on this monstrous hill can you think
you can’t make it – or you won’t,” says Lisa. “This hill is a perfect example of the mental side of the
race. Your legs might be pumping the bike pedals, but it’s your mind that is getting you up that hill.”
Lisa has an almost unfalteringly positive outlook, one that always serves her well – well, almost
always! Most racers will tell you that you can race through discomfort, but not through pain. Pain
can do damage. As you can well imagine, though, the body of a triathlete is a roadmap of aches and
pains. Sometimes it is difficult to tell what is ‘discomfort’ and what is a problem. During the 2005
Ironman Hawaii, Lisa experienced pain in her side but continued the race. Approximately 16 km into
the run Lisa was forced to stop, her body was in such pain all over, it was hard to say where the
‘side’ pain began and ended. At the encouragement of her husband and coaches, the next day she
headed to the local hospital for a CAT scan. The result was a shocker – Lisa had almost completed
the entire race with a ruptured appendix.
You Can’t Make me Quit
Lisa just loves the ‘curveballs’ that Ironman throws at her. “Never give in to discouragement no
matter what happens,” she says. “If, during the bike portion you get a flat tire, don’t get discouraged.
Challenge yourself to change the tire as quickly as possible and use the time to plan how you are
going to catch up.”
“Over the past 17 years of racing triathlons, I have stood on hundreds of start lines,” says Lisa. “The
neat thing about those start lines is that all the women are very talented and very fit and I’d say that we
are all within about 5% of each other in terms of fitness. On any given day, any woman on that start
line could win the race.” However, some women on that start line will never win a single race. “It is not
a lack of talent that will keep them from winning,” says Lisa, “but, rather a lack of wholeheartedness,
passion and self-belief. True champions, whether it is in sport or in business, succeed because