By: Hayley Bennett

I was lucky enough to catch up with Dayna Pidhoresky early last week, a difficult feat with the busy schedule this former Windsor Lancer is keeping these days. Earlier this year, Pidhoresky joined our Mizuno Racing Team, and we couldn’t be happier to have her on board. The young Canadian runner is taking the racing scene by storm, smashing former PB’s and keeping her opponents on their toes. Enjoy a behind the scenes look into what Pidhoresky is up to these days and where this successful young runner is headed for 2012!

Age: 24

Age you started running: hmmm, young — maybe 8 or 9?

Favourite Distance for a Race: 10K (at the moment!)

Coach: Josh Seifarth

Favourite training shoe: Mizuno Wave Precision

Favourite racing shoe: Mizuno Wave Ronin

Walk us through a usual day for you right now

Not every day is the same but most commonly it will consist of either:
Wake up around 5:45am then run (usually about 13K). After that I head off to work (I work full time at a specialty running shoe store.) Most often I fit in another easy 10K after work. Then go home, refuel, and relax.

Other days may consist of a higher volume workout so those days I usually do not have a second run. When I am not working or running I am usually in recovery mode (wearing my Mizuno breath thermo compression socks.)

Do you train with any other runners or groups?

No, but I am really grateful to have my coach bike beside me for many of my workouts. Often times he will run with me for some of my training runs as well.

What is your favourite workout?

A staple workout for me is 4x2K but I also enjoy 3K + (2x2K) + (3x1K)

With such a successful year behind you what are some of your favourite memories or races from 2011?

2011 has been a very enjoyable racing year for me. I will never forget the finish for Around the Bay in Hamilton. I remember being in a lot of pain toward the end of that race (my hip had tightened up a lot over the 30K course) and I was really looking forward to the end. As I rounded the corner and headed down the tunnel into the COPPS Coliseum I was greeted by fireworks, the finish line, and my parents. I was so thankful that they made the trip to see me race even if that meant they would really only see me start and finish.

Another memory would have to be when I raced the CRIM 10 Miler in Flint, Michigan over the summer. It was exciting to be running beside Catherine Ndereba for almost the entire race. For me it was a great experience to race this World Champion and Olympian.

And finally, I was very happy (and surprised) by my Canadian 10K Road Race title. After finishing second in my last two Canadian Championship races, cross country and the half marathon, it was great to finally get the win. That race for me was about working hard until the end and it paid off.

Do you have any Running and or Racing goals in mind for 2012?

Of course! I hope to continue improving my times over all distances. Also, if my winter training goes well I am looking forward to debuting the Marathon in Ottawa this coming May. The Marathon will be my main focus and peak race for the Spring of 2012 and I am excited to see how my body reacts to that distance. I am also hoping to get in some more competitive races this coming year so that I can test my fitness further and become more familiar with racing tactically.

Personal Bests
5K – 16:18
10K – 33:02
10 Mile- 55:26
Half Marathon -1:11:46

By: Michelle Clarke

Running Marathons aren’t easy. You are constantly trying to find the balance between training, seeing your family and friends, oh yeah and working. After having a very successful season of half marathons and achieving a personal best time of 1:22:49 (2^nd place overall female), I decided it was time to re-visit the marathon. After many failed attempts to train for a marathon I finally did it and finished my first in New York City with a time of 3:12:04.

After battling injury after injury I started to take a different approach to my training. I started listening to my body. My coach Kevin Smith who runs Marathon Dynamics always tells us “the mind leads the body”. I learned that it really does.  Having a coach who knows you and understands how you train is key to achieving goals you never even thought of achieving. The next step on my road to successful running was changing shoe brands. It was an unexpected event that took place at a Running Room store when they didn’t have my brand of shoes in my size in stock. Luckily for Mizuno the sale staff assured me that the Mizuno Wave Inspire would not only feel similar to what I was used to running in but would most likely end up being better for me in the end. I’m forever thankful to that woman at the Running Room for gently coercing me to switch brands before I even knew I was switching brands. I tried the shoes out and I never looked back. They were exactly what I was missing in a shoe. They were light yet supportive and the shoe was responsive in ways other shoes could never be due to the unique Mizuno wave technology.

With the new shoes and my new attitude towards training I have been running injury free for two seasons in a row. I’ve had some major PB’s over the last two seasons – My Half Marathon (1:22:49 – 2^nd place overall female in Mississauga) and my Full Marathon (2:57:08 – 11^th female Overall in Toronto Waterfront Marathon). There are many factors for these great achievements. The coaching and the shoes are the foundation and the rest has come by trial and error. I started adding nutrition such as Clif Shot Blocks to all my big workouts and not just the long runs. If each workout was specific to a certain part of my overall marathon then getting my body used to digesting fuel during those runs was just as important for the workout and for recovery. During long runs and races I started taking one shot block every 15 – 20 minutes. Everyone always comments that when I race I don’t look tired and I believe it’s because I keep my electrolyte levels stabilized and never let them deplete completely.

Leading up to the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon I had committed to my training and spaced out appropriate races throughout the season. Some good advice I was given was to always try and fit in two to three races leading up to your goal race. Doing this lets you gauge if the training is working and where it needs tweaking. Another reason being if you train all season and make the necessary sacrifices for a Marathon, only to end up injured, you have lost all that training time. If you get a race or two in then at least you have some results to show for your hard work. With smaller races I was also able to test what shoes work best, what nutrition doesn’t upset my stomach and how much I need to eat and drink before and during. Each race was a building block on top of the already strong foundation I had started with.

The success I have had over the last year has been a combination of so many elements, the right training, the right training gear and nutrition. Then amongst that there are the great people you meet along the way and the 21,999 other runners on race day doing what you’re doing – finishing a goal you’ve worked so hard to achieve.

By: Karen Karnis

When long track speed skating Olympic gold medalist Christine Nesbitt was in elementary and high school, her favourite track and field event was the 400m, but she did everything from 100m to 800m and relays.  “I loved the middle distances,” she says, “just like in skating. They’re gritty – I love that feeling of hanging on for dear life.”  She can draw a lot of similarities between speed skating and running – even more so since she made the switch from short track to long track.

The London, Ontario native had originally wanted to attend McGill University, but she graduated from grade 12 the year grade 13 was phased out in Ontario.  This meant that the graduating class was twice the size, and competition to get into schools in Ontario and surrounding area was fierce.  She says, “I was pretty sad at the time. McGill seemed like the perfect opportunity – I could take classes in French to keep up the language, and train with one of the best short-track programs in Canada.”

Looking back, however, she has no regrets.  She had been toying with the idea of switching to long-track, and Calgary’s Olympic Oval was right by the University of Calgary, where she had been accepted to study Engineering.  “My parents talked me into applying to Calgary as a backup,” says Nesbitt. “My dad is a professor and my mom is a teacher – getting an education is a pretty big deal in my house!”

Nesbitt had been considering the switch because racing short-track is really stressful.  “Short track is all about placing, not time, so there are so many outside factors that can affect your results,” she explains.  “In long-track, placing is based on time, meaning that the only person I can blame for a bad race is myself,” she adds.  She doesn’t think that’s harsh – she likes having that level of control, much like in running, where success on race day comes down to your own training and preparation.  Clearly that worked out well for her, as her list of accomplishments, including that gold medal in the 1000 m at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, is quite impressive.

With fall being well underway, the team is training very heavily for the 2011-12 season.  Nesbitt described a schedule that includes training 6 days a week with Sunday being a recovery day.  She says, “We skate every morning. Including warm up and cool down, the morning sessions last three hours.”  Right now the afternoon workouts are about light-intensity endurance, including cycling, running and weights, because they are in a lactic training phase on the ice.  “We’re doing long intervals with little rest in between. It’s pretty killer,” she says.

After training, the team focuses pretty heavily on nutrition.  Just as a runner would do after an intense workout, the skaters are sure to eat a protein snack right after they come off the ice, then have a full meal within an hour. “When you’re looking for every second, anything that helps you improve even one percent is worth paying close attention to,” she explains.

Nesbitt has been a Mizuno athlete since 2010, and loves her Wave Rider 14 running shoes.  “The more I wear these shoes, the more they conform to my feet,” she says.  Her favourite Mizuno pieces, however, are her tights. “Training at the oval is so cold all the time, and I have had a lot of problems with leggings chafing – it’s hard for speed skaters to find tights that fit properly,” she says. Not so with these tights – she says they are the perfect combination of function and fashion. “I love the way they make my butt look!” she laughs.

Nesbitt is looking forward to another great season for 2011-12.  As the 2011 champ in the World Sprint Championships (an event in which skaters race the 500m and 1000m twice each, and the lowest combined time wins) she is particularly looking forward to defending her title on home ice, since this year’s event will be held in Calgary.  “I really hope lots of people come out,” she says. “Get to know speed skating – after all, we’re all lovers of sport!”

By: Jan Ditchfield
Executive Director, Won with One

Won with One, the national Paratriathlon program for blind and visually impaired athletes, recently completed our 2011 season and what a year it was!

From April to August, Won with One supported 17 blind/visually impaired athletes to compete in 32 major races in North America – 9 triathlons, 19 road races and 4 major bike tours. We trained 49 amazing guides who raced with our athletes and moved 30 tandem bicycles over a combined total of 10,000km to see this happen. We permanently secured 15 tandems for our team and witnessed our athletes and guides reach the top of the podium 16 times, including taking home six medals from the Paratriathlon Nationals in Kelowna, BC in late August.

It was an incredible inaugural year for us, but also came with difficulties. Mid-season, we lost our major national supporter, leaving us questioning if we would be able to continue to operate. It was the overwhelming offers of support from our sponsors, including Mizuno Canada, our team, guides, friends and family that inspired us to regroup and rebuild. Won with One is now completing the final steps necessary to become our own non-for-profit organization, formed a new Board of Directors and is moving forward in our mission to continue to support blind and visually impaired athletes in their goal to take part in the sport that they love – as equals.

2012 is already planned and will be starting with Ron Hackett and his guide Tim Scapillato returning to the Boston Marathon to defend their 2011 championship in the VI category. Our next season also includes our team racing in Kingston, ON at the K-Town Triathlon and later, the Sand Lake Triathlon in Westport, ON, where race director Rick Hellard of Zone3 Sports has created a fully inclusive race for B/VI athletes. Joe’s Team Triathlon (Muskoka, ON) and the NYC Triathlon will also see representation from our athletes again in the upcoming season.

Won with One is also very proud to have been named a finalist for the Celebration of People Award in Ottawa, ON. Held in conjunction with December 3 – International Day of Persons with Disabilities – the award celebrates the achievements of people and organizations promoting inclusion and full community participation for persons with disabilities. We are deeply honoured in the knowledge that our nomination came directly from the athletes and guides we work with!

As we continue to move forward as an organization, we are thankful to our guides, the iRun community and also to Mizuno Canada for their support and belief in the work that we do. Together, we continue to break down barriers one water station at a time.

For more information on Won with One, please visit www.wonwithone.com or contact Jan Ditchfield, Executive Director at wonwithone@gmail.com.