“Ugly is back” after a podium in Whistler
Following his second place at IRONMAN Canada in Whistler, BC, Jeff Symonds chatted with us about the ups and downs of racing, Whistler and his excitement to race IRONMAN Mont Tremblant in less than three weeks.
TMC: Congratulations on a great result in Whistler. Before Whistler, you raced at the Great White North (GWN) Triathlon and finished second to Nathan Killam. How was your build up for these two races?
JS: My build up for GWN wasn’t the best. I was carrying a fair bit of negative energy and when you’re in that headspace things usually don’t go as well as you would’ve liked.
Leading into Whistler my fitness was up and I was working hard at getting in a good place mentally. I chatted with the legendary race announcer, Steve King, about some of this and it really helped me to get my mind clear. Also, before race day I got some sweet new Shimano wheels, which always helps.
TMC: How did the race place out in your perspective?
JS: After a quick start, I settled into the swim which was pretty uneventful. I came out in the lead group, which had Brent McMahon a bit ahead after T1.
We were then a group of three for the bike, and it was fast. The hills were hard, and at around 94K I made the right decision of pulling back and settling into my race tempo.
This decision saved me on the run. In the marathon, I was able to pass three of the four guys ahead of me. I then tried to put some pressure on McMahon, but we were running identical splits before a cracked with 12K to go. It was then survival mode to the line.
The second place finish was a great result for me, especially after a pretty rough year so far.
TMC: What has made the year rough?
JS: The lack of significant results. When you’re trying to make a living in this sport, you have to try to get those big results. If the results aren’t coming, that can create a lot of pressure. This builds up and slips into your training, sleep and eventually racing. After GWN I made an effort to get right, and the work paid off. I’m now really pumped to race IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant.
When you finish an Ironman, you never want to do it again. Then after the post-race routine, you reflect you’re like, “That was awesome, sign me up for the next one.”
