DAYTONA – When wildfires became too smoky and unbearable around Paula Findlay's home in Oregon at the end of summer, the Canadian triathlete and her partner packed up and headed north to Canmore to continue training for the year's only major international race.
You could say that the high altitude training paid off – in a really big way – as the former Olympian made headlines this week after winning the women's 100-kilometre Professional Triathletes Organization (PTO) 2020 Championship and $100,000 US prize in Daytona Beach, Florida.
"It's kind of been a whirlwind since then," said Findlay. "I didn't even let myself think about winning before the race because I didn't even think it was possible. It was kind of hard to even feel like it was a real thing and know how to manage emotions and stuff.
"It's pretty crazy. As time goes on, I'll realize how cool it was. I mean, I do realize now, but it does take a while to sink in when you do something like that."
Yesterday was fun 👇 https://t.co/f2jvco0Od5
— Paula Findlay (@PaulaFindlay) December 7, 2020
Findlay, 31, finished the course in a time of 3:24:55, completing the two-km swim (25:00), 80-km bike (1:51:13), and 18-km run (1:06:26) at Daytona International Speedway.
On that day, instead of speeding cars roaring around the track, it was a quick Canuck receiving a wave from the black and white checkered flag at the finish line.
"I always believed this performance was inside of me," Findlay said, "but I think it took a year like this year of no racing with COVID to help me because I could be consistent with training and have a year of no stress about racing and just ultimately be really happy and content. And we got a dog and I think that might have helped me with this race."
An eye-opening $100,000 prize pot – an unusually large amount for triathlon – was a main focus for triathletes with their sights set on the big race. However, Findlay, who prior to the race was considered a contender to win it all, was mainly focused on her performance.
"I wasn't thinking about the money during the race, or before the race," said Findlay. "It's kind of an added bonus, but if you're solely focusing on that sometimes your race will suffer ... but it's certainly a really nice way to finish the year after not winning any prize money this year."
The Edmonton-native splits time between Canada and Portland with partner Eric Lagerstrom.
But with the destructive wildfires in Oregon, that burned over one million acres of land and destroyed thousands of homes, they drove to Alberta to see family and spend three months in Canmore – her favourite spot in the world – to get in the most training time she's ever had in the mountain town.
After a two-week quarantine, the first four weeks the couple trained, the couple biked along the closed down Bow Valley Parkway in Banff National Park and took advantage of the vast network of trails for running, and pool access at Elevation Place.
Training at high altitude is utilized by athletes in many sports. However, this time around, Findlay's hard work in Canmore was immediately apparent when she arrived in Florida.
"Almost the whole race, I was aerobically very in control and never felt stressed because I had been training up high," she said. "[Training] in Canmore is much harder up in the mountains and down to sea level in warmth with lots of oxygen, it feels easy. It's a very common way to train, but it was a very noticeable difference for me.
"We bought a treadmill for the garage [in Canmore], we had our bikes set up on trainers, and Elevation Place was open, which is amazing because we could swim every single day there with our own lane. One of the major reasons we stayed in Canmore was the awesome pool access."
Findlay has returned to her residence in Portland following the big win. For training next year though, Findlay is considering another extended camp in Canmore before potentially defending her title in Daytona.
Up next, the triathlete is eyeballing the PTO's Collins Cup in Slovakia in May.
