Angela Naeth MPT BsHSc - Elite Triathlete, Physiotherapist by trade
Thursday, November 25, 2010
It's been a great season!
My hometown newspaper wrote a short article on my last race and 2010 season. It pretty much sums it up! :) Thank you to everyone who believed in me and supported my dreams along the way. There is more to come in 2011!
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride?
Angela Naeth is not at all bothered she's been caught in the line of fire of the rice throwers who surrounded the medal podium this season on the 70.3 Ironman world triathlon circuit.
The 28-year-old from Prince George finished second no fewer than seven times in her comeback season as a professional triathlete and more than anything that served as reminder what she will have to do to make that climb to the top.
"I lost a lot of them in the swim," Naeth said.
"That made me really realize how much I have to focus on the swim this winter. When you're down anywhere from three to six minutes from the leader, it's really hard to make those gains. In a lot of those races I was up against the top dogs in the sport -- Chrissie Wellington (the Kona Ironman champion), Julie Dibbens, Mirinda Carfrae -- the ones who are above everyone else.
"That puts into perspective where I need to be and it just fires me up for next year. It's definitely going to be hard work this winter."
Naeth capped a scintillating season a week ago in Clearwater, Fla., where she placed seventh overall in the 70.3 Ironman world championship. The 70.3 designation represents the sum of the three distances in miles (1.2 mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1 mile run). The flat course took away some of the advantage she usually holds on the bike and her ride turned into a nightmare when she and Melanie McQuaid of Victoria veered off course.
"The bike went well and I tried to push hard at the beginning but unfortunately made a wrong turn when the referee went left and a police officer told us to go left, which cost quite a bit of time in the end," said Naeth. "After about two miles, the ref caught up to us on his motorbike and told us we were going the wrong way. That kind of fired me up and I went harder than I should have but that's what I had to to do, and I worked hard on the run and ended up seventh."
As a rookie pro in 2008, Naeth posted eight top-10 finishes and ended up eighth overall in the 70.3 world championship.
While she suffered physically, emotionally and financially while taking the entire 2009 season off to recuperate from stress fractures in her legs, it was a necessary process to get her back to where she left off in her rookie season. She made up for lost time with a busy race 2010 calendar that left her very little time to relax. The 70.3 world championship was Naeth's 10th half-Ironman distance race and third in six weeks. She also took part in a Olympic distance race, a duathlon, a few bike road races and a swim-bike event.
"I wasn't ready to race in 2009 and this year was more about experience and that's why I raced as much as I did this year," she said. "I just tried to race as much as I could and still recover some."
While convalescing at home in Prince George, she took a job as a therapist at Victoria Physiotherapy while working as coach of a small group of local triathletes.
Naeth's strength on the bike gave her the fastest split cycling time in seven of her 14 races. That's got several bike manufacturers and parts suppliers interested in sponsoring her.
Now that her season is over, she plans to return to Prince George for Christmas, then return to Tucson, Ariz., where she'll be training for her next race in early Spring.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Miami 70.3 Race Report
Another race, another bridesmaid dress. My closet seems full of them! But I'm content with this one; it's not one of those ugly bridesmaid dresses! For one, racing two half-Ironmans in two weeks is fairly new to me, as is racing three halfs in six weeks, which my next race, Clearwater, will signify. The season has wound down!
I've never been to Miami before, so I opted for a home stay. I did not want to have to find my way around alone and every home stay I've had thus far has been amazing. This time it was with Alfredo, an all-round nice guy and triathlete competing in Ironman Florida in just a matter of days. He took care of me like you wouldn't believe, driving me around the myriad of skyscrapers and crazy drivers swarming the city. (Thank you for everything Alfredo!)
At the house, I opened my bike case and unfortunately found my rear derailleur in shambles. I couldn't understand how it would have occurred but suspected TSA, since they really don't know how to repack a bike box (this, I learned long ago). Sure enough, they had left a little note inside the case, as they always do. "Your baggage was singled out for security reasons," it read in so many words. "Blah, blah, blah." I thought my race was over before I even started but Alfredo quickly found a bike shop that was still open. (It was late and dark!)
Alfredo drove like a madman and we were able to get to GM Bikes. I met the owner/mechanic, who assured me he could fix it! I remained doubtful. But as luck would have it, Yulien, an ex-Cuban National Cycling Team mechanic, pulled a MacGyver and literally sandwiched the derailleur together and back onto my bike. I was relieved. Yulien had stayed after-hours for me and through Alfredo, who speaks fluent Spanish, I was able to thank him a hundred times over.
After all the bike stress, I didn't want to put my body into any more of a sympathetic mode than it was already in, so I called it a night.
On the following day, Friday, I did the usual go-thru-the-motions (light swim, bike and jog) and went to the pre-race meeting. I met up with fellow pros Tamsin Lewis, Leanda Cave and Christie Sym, and shared a laugh or two. (It will be great to train with these gals down in Tucson in the upcoming months. Tamsin, let's get you back to the States!)
I was unable to check the race-course out in advance because of its location in downtown Miami. There were simply too many intersections for me to find my way around "town", so I didn’t even try. I did swim in the ocean, however, and loved every minute of it. It brought me back to the salty waters of Kona, but without the pretty fish or the coral. I was surprised how murky it was.
Race morning, I woke up before my alarm (as I always seem to, and after a restless night's sleep) and told myself to HTFU and swim like I never have before! (i.e., good!). I chugged a couple cups of coffee and ate my concoction of protein powder, rice cereal and nut butter. It wasn't too palatable but I needed something in my topsy-turvy belly. It was then off to the race, with more coffee in hand.
At the race site, everyone seemed in a panic, which of course made me panic! There was a very narrow entry into the transition area and a swarm of crazy triathletes looked ready to break the barriers forcing us to wait our turn to be body marked and have our wristbands checked. I managed to sneak in through a gap in the snow-fencing. Snow-fencing in Florida? Hmmm.
The race start was delayed a while since the tide wasn't to rise for another twenty minutes or so. Despite the delay, the professional field still started in pitch dark. Jumping off a 5-foot-high dock into the black abyss was a bit of a shock to the system, and woke me up more than even the coffee did. There was no visibility whatsoever! We asked the paddlers where the next buoy was located but not a single one of them spoke English! They just pointed straight out, so I followed my competitors in that direction: straight out! No one could see where any of the buoys were, but yet the starting gun went off. Things were frantic. I was frantic!
Arms, legs, and bubbles were literally all I could make out. I managed to find someone's feet and hoped the gal in front of me knew where she was going. Before long we were at the first buoy and took a sharp right. From there, things became more visible and I pulled away from our small group, opening a bit of a gap. But I couldn't see much of anything. I have bad eyesight (and even worse ear-sight!) but managed to catch a few of the slower men ahead, using them to sight off of for the remainder of the swim. One of them, however, was at least 100-meters off course, while another seemed to be swimming in circles! They weren't much help.
On terra firma I was well back of the leaders. No surprises there, alas. Leanda Cave and Nina Craft gained full advantage having caught some of the pro men. I had to make up time quick, so I pushed harder than I probably should have for the first twenty miles. I passed the lone girls that were ahead of me and caught up with Christie Sym (3rd place at the time). Christie and I then caught Nina. Leanda was a solid 7-minutes ahead, and all I could hope for was that the effects of her 10th place performance in Kona would affect her run! (I don't like wishing bad things on good people, but sometimes you need a little outside assistance!)
By the end Leanda proved too strong. I ran my hardest but lost some impetus the last few miles, knowing I hadn't even made a dent in her lead. Coach always asks that we race our hardest, irrespective of placing, but here now I felt it made little sense. I had a solid lock on second place and could maybe speed my recovery up a bit by easing back.
All told, I'm content. I felt absolutely terrible throughout the entire race but yet enjoyed it. Miami had one of the best crowds to date, and I enjoyed hearing more Spanish being yelled out than English! Something about hearing a different language when I'm racing fires me up inside; like I'm at an international event. I hope to return next year. In the meantime I'll brush up on my Spanish. And my swimming.
I've never been to Miami before, so I opted for a home stay. I did not want to have to find my way around alone and every home stay I've had thus far has been amazing. This time it was with Alfredo, an all-round nice guy and triathlete competing in Ironman Florida in just a matter of days. He took care of me like you wouldn't believe, driving me around the myriad of skyscrapers and crazy drivers swarming the city. (Thank you for everything Alfredo!)
At the house, I opened my bike case and unfortunately found my rear derailleur in shambles. I couldn't understand how it would have occurred but suspected TSA, since they really don't know how to repack a bike box (this, I learned long ago). Sure enough, they had left a little note inside the case, as they always do. "Your baggage was singled out for security reasons," it read in so many words. "Blah, blah, blah." I thought my race was over before I even started but Alfredo quickly found a bike shop that was still open. (It was late and dark!)
Alfredo drove like a madman and we were able to get to GM Bikes. I met the owner/mechanic, who assured me he could fix it! I remained doubtful. But as luck would have it, Yulien, an ex-Cuban National Cycling Team mechanic, pulled a MacGyver and literally sandwiched the derailleur together and back onto my bike. I was relieved. Yulien had stayed after-hours for me and through Alfredo, who speaks fluent Spanish, I was able to thank him a hundred times over.
After all the bike stress, I didn't want to put my body into any more of a sympathetic mode than it was already in, so I called it a night.
On the following day, Friday, I did the usual go-thru-the-motions (light swim, bike and jog) and went to the pre-race meeting. I met up with fellow pros Tamsin Lewis, Leanda Cave and Christie Sym, and shared a laugh or two. (It will be great to train with these gals down in Tucson in the upcoming months. Tamsin, let's get you back to the States!)
I was unable to check the race-course out in advance because of its location in downtown Miami. There were simply too many intersections for me to find my way around "town", so I didn’t even try. I did swim in the ocean, however, and loved every minute of it. It brought me back to the salty waters of Kona, but without the pretty fish or the coral. I was surprised how murky it was.
Race morning, I woke up before my alarm (as I always seem to, and after a restless night's sleep) and told myself to HTFU and swim like I never have before! (i.e., good!). I chugged a couple cups of coffee and ate my concoction of protein powder, rice cereal and nut butter. It wasn't too palatable but I needed something in my topsy-turvy belly. It was then off to the race, with more coffee in hand.
At the race site, everyone seemed in a panic, which of course made me panic! There was a very narrow entry into the transition area and a swarm of crazy triathletes looked ready to break the barriers forcing us to wait our turn to be body marked and have our wristbands checked. I managed to sneak in through a gap in the snow-fencing. Snow-fencing in Florida? Hmmm.
The race start was delayed a while since the tide wasn't to rise for another twenty minutes or so. Despite the delay, the professional field still started in pitch dark. Jumping off a 5-foot-high dock into the black abyss was a bit of a shock to the system, and woke me up more than even the coffee did. There was no visibility whatsoever! We asked the paddlers where the next buoy was located but not a single one of them spoke English! They just pointed straight out, so I followed my competitors in that direction: straight out! No one could see where any of the buoys were, but yet the starting gun went off. Things were frantic. I was frantic!
Arms, legs, and bubbles were literally all I could make out. I managed to find someone's feet and hoped the gal in front of me knew where she was going. Before long we were at the first buoy and took a sharp right. From there, things became more visible and I pulled away from our small group, opening a bit of a gap. But I couldn't see much of anything. I have bad eyesight (and even worse ear-sight!) but managed to catch a few of the slower men ahead, using them to sight off of for the remainder of the swim. One of them, however, was at least 100-meters off course, while another seemed to be swimming in circles! They weren't much help.
On terra firma I was well back of the leaders. No surprises there, alas. Leanda Cave and Nina Craft gained full advantage having caught some of the pro men. I had to make up time quick, so I pushed harder than I probably should have for the first twenty miles. I passed the lone girls that were ahead of me and caught up with Christie Sym (3rd place at the time). Christie and I then caught Nina. Leanda was a solid 7-minutes ahead, and all I could hope for was that the effects of her 10th place performance in Kona would affect her run! (I don't like wishing bad things on good people, but sometimes you need a little outside assistance!)
By the end Leanda proved too strong. I ran my hardest but lost some impetus the last few miles, knowing I hadn't even made a dent in her lead. Coach always asks that we race our hardest, irrespective of placing, but here now I felt it made little sense. I had a solid lock on second place and could maybe speed my recovery up a bit by easing back.
All told, I'm content. I felt absolutely terrible throughout the entire race but yet enjoyed it. Miami had one of the best crowds to date, and I enjoyed hearing more Spanish being yelled out than English! Something about hearing a different language when I'm racing fires me up inside; like I'm at an international event. I hope to return next year. In the meantime I'll brush up on my Spanish. And my swimming.
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