Lisa Balerna is an incredible athlete living in Ottawa, Ontario. Check out a report she wrote about her experiences in 2011:
My race season began later than normal due to overtime
at work and planning of my brother’s wedding. I felt it was important not to
force it. I was still training but not as hard. I plan to start my 2012 season
in April. Please find attached some photos from my race season.
I started my “season” by working at the CEP booth at
the Ottawa Race Weekend (40,000 runners competing!) last week of May 2011. I had
a ton of fun hanging out CEP rep Young-Mi and meeting new runners. I had fun for
once being a spectator at this wonderful event. It is not very often that
world-class runners come to Ottawa to compete.
My first
race of the season was the Somersault Britannia Beach Olympic Distance duathlon
on Saturday, June 11/2011. I was definitely feeling the butterflies with this
race being my first of the year. It went well and it was great to start the
season with a victory – first female overall and 4th among the men.
Every year, I try to find a new race and challenge. I
was happy to finally have the opportunity to race at the Somersault Sydenham
races on July 3, 2011. Sydendam is near Kingston. It was fun to take an
overnight trip. It was super hot race morning. I loved the rolling bike course
on perfect pavement! It was a very well organized event. I was happy to place
1st female overall and 5th among the men. I won a very high-end cycling helmet.
I already owned one so I sold it to a friend. It was a fun weekend and I hope to
go back in 2012.
One week later, I competed in the
Somersault Graham Beasley duathlon on Sunday, July 10/2011. This is a popular
event with races from try-a-tris, sprint tri, Olympic and half ironman
competitors. It was another warm day but I love the heat so I wasn’t
complaining. I was blessed to come away with another victory finishing 1st
female and 5th among all the competitors.
I had one week
off racing to get in some quality training. My next event was the Somersault
Ottawa Duathlon that took place on Sat. July 30/2011. There were many races
taking place with over 1000 competitors. The weather was perfect and I felt
really good. I know the course very well so there is comfort in that. I was the
first female overall and 3rd among the men..
On August
14, 2011, I travelled to Brockville, ON for the Somersault races and once again
with over 1000 competitors combined in all events.. For the 2nd year in a row,
we were concerned with the forecast! Thankfully, mother nature was on our side
and we never got the thunderstorms. I was first female overall and 6th among all
competitors. We ended the afternoon with a great brunch with friends in
Brockville.
I took
the following week relatively easy as I had another race – the Cornwall race
weekend on Saturday August 20 and Sunday August 21/2011. This is a wonderful
event organized by Rob Lefebvre. There was a kid’s race, duathlon, sprint tri
and Olympic tri. It was an epic day with torrential rainfall. I managed to stay
warm but was definetely very cautious on the technical bike course. I managed to
stay upright and place 1st female overall and 10th among all competitors. There
was prize money at this event so that was a nice treat. It brings a lot of
competitors. If you win the event, you get automatic free entry to next year’s
races so I hope to be back in 2012. They also added 2010 champions to the 2011
race shirt. Pretty cool to see my name on a t-shirt
I had a few weeks of good quality
training before my next event – Somersault marquee event – the Canadian race
weekend which took place on Saturday, September 3/2011. There were several
events from try-a-tri, sprint, olympic, half ironman and full ironman distance
events. I always choose to do the Sprint Du event and then volunteer all
afternoon for the longer events. I am in charge of a water station and try to
recruit volunteers. I really enjoy doing this once a year. It is good to give
back to the sport and secondly, it makes you appreciate the hard work involved
to volunteer. I always try to thank at least a few volunteers at each event that
I participate in. These races cannot run smoothly without volunteer help and
they are not paid to do this. I felt really strong at this race and managed to
win again – 1st female overall and 6th among the men.
I left the day after the race for my vacation to Las
Vegas, NV. It was my dream to watch a Triathlon World Championship so I chose
the 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas that took place on September 11, 2011.
It was incredible to go to an event and not have pressure for your own
performance. I had a mini-run camp and ran 140km while I was there. I had a lot
of fun meeting a lot of the professional athletes and even attended the
press-conference. I had the pleasure of meeting Herb, CEO of Warrior
Mist(www.warriormist.com) at the expo. This is an all-natural skin, muscle,
joint and support formula for your niggly aches and pains. It smells great! Herb
and I are just in the process of finalizing things for my sponsorship in
2012. You will find a picture with myself and pro Canadian triathlete Magali
Tisseyre.
Once I returned from Las Vegas, I planned to train thru
and race the Army Run half marathon which took place on Sunday, Sept 18, 2011.
It was a hilly course so I wasn’t expecting to get a personal best due to the
terrain. I was happy how I felt. I was 6th female overall out of 3116 women
competing in the half marathon. Picture with my teammates. We all came in the
top 10.
On Saturday,
October 8, 2011, I competed in the Cumberland sprint duathlon. There was also an
Olympic distance duathlon. The weather was picture-perfect and the race
attracted a lot of triathletes which was great. I had the 3rd fastest opening
run among the men. I was feeling great during the ride. I had told the volunteer
that I had ridden two loops as I only needed to for the sprint. There was no
turnaround sign or pylon. Unfortunately he guided me in the wrong direction. I
did an extra loop on the bike. I knew it cost me the race win but I still wanted
to finish. It was a beautiful sunny day. I had the 4th fastest among the men for
the closing 3.1km run. I was initially upset but quickly realized how lucky I am
to have the health to compete. I love this race and I will be back in 2012!! I
won’t miss the turnaround whether there is a sign or not.
My final race of the year was a fun local race – Rattle
me Bones 5km on Sunday October 23/2011. The weather was decent for this time of
year. It is a nice community event. I figured I could surprise myself with a
good time or just confirm to me that it is time to hang up racing flats for the
season. It proved to be the latter! There was nothing in the well. I still
managed to place 6th female overall out approximately 800 female competitors but
clearly the body had enough for the year. I ran my half marathon pace! I look
forward to a few months of unstructured training and begin to plan my 2012
season. I set a new challenge for myself to learn how to classic ski and I hope
this will make me a faster runner and cyclist in 2012. I need to buy
skis!
I had the
pleasure of attending a talk with “the Man” 6-time Ironman Triathlon Champion
Dave Scott on October 22/2011. He was so friendly! You will find a pic
attached.
For the fourth consecutive year, I am
the overall series duathlon female winner for the 2011 Somersault race series.
The party will take place on December 1st, 2011.
I will be deciding my tenative 2012
season by January.
If you care at all,
you'll get some results. If you care enough, you'll get incredible
results.
Thanks to all of you for your support
and for making me look good on the race course. I hope we can continue to work
together for my 2012 race season.
Congratulations to you Lisa on an incredible year! All the best for 2012.
