By Don McCormick<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n When the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled all events, triathletes worldwide\u2014and triathlon host communities like Huntsville\u2014were devastated. Ten to eleven months of training and preparation, gradually increasing in intensity to peak for that major event of the triathlon season wasted<\/em>. What now?<\/p>\n Jess Adam, local triathlete, triathlon coach, and an inspirational leader of many of Huntsville\u2019s TriMuskoka Triathlon Club triathletes decided to do a 70.3 of her own design and invited others to join her.<\/p>\n “I had signed up for two [Ironman] 70.3 races,” explains Adam. “I had been training really well through the winter and I didn\u2019t want the training to go to waste. I really wanted to get a time goal of sub-five hours and I really thought I was ready this season. So I thought, ‘I\u2019ll do it myself’. So I designed a course and invited some friends and members of the triathlon club to join me.”<\/p>\n Six others decided to join her\u2014two would do only the swim and bike portions and the four others would try to also do as much of the run as they could. The event proved to be too much for everyone on that particular day. Only Adam finished the course and even she fell far short of her sub-five-hour goal.<\/p>\n Adam felt she was well prepared but getting the right amount of rest prior to a race is a delicate and critical part of preparing for such an event. “I\u2019d trained as much as I\u2019ve ever trained. I did everything right. I built properly and I tapered properly but coming into the race I couldn\u2019t get my legs to recover enough so it didn\u2019t go as well as I hoped and I didn\u2019t get my sub-five-hour time.”<\/p>\n The swim started from Avery Beach. It was a fog-enshrouded start but the kayakers and paddle-boarders recruited for safety did an excellent job of guiding the swimmers across the bay and down the river to River Mill Park. “It was a beautiful swim actually\u2014one of the nicest I\u2019ve ever done,” says Adam. “I went under 30 minutes for the swim which was great but as soon as I got on the bike and went up the first hill I knew my legs were tired. I hoped they would come around but they never did.”<\/p>\n The swim course for the triathlon route designed by Jess Adam began at Avery Beach (Don McCormick)<\/p><\/div>\n Once into the run, Adam stopped under a tree and said, to herself, “‘I can\u2019t do this!’ I was very tired and in a lot of pain. This was my own event and I could just quit. But I thought about the people who got up at five a.m. to help us, my family out there supporting me. I\u2019m the coach of the club and I\u2019ve got to set a good example. I don\u2019t want to tell my kids I quit. So I said to myself, ‘just keep running and let\u2019s see what happens’.”<\/p>\n Jess Adam was all smiles at the River Mill Park parking lot, with the end of her 70.3-mile triathlon in sight (Don McCormick)<\/p><\/div>\n Along the run she had friends, family, and training buddies out supporting and giving her pep talks. “That was very helpful,” explains Adam. “I needed everyone on that run. It was rough but I kept going, taking one kilometre at a time and I got there. If I hadn\u2019t involved all those other people I probably would have shut it down on the bike and tried doing it on another day. Everyone thinks that triathlon is an individual sport, but I learned on Sunday just how untrue that is.”<\/p>\n This turned out to be as much a mental challenge as a physical challenge and Adam got a very real measure of her mental toughness in this race.<\/p>\n Luke Felhaber came the closest of the other participants to completing the course but couldn\u2019t finish the run. “This was supposed to be a big training [and] race year for me leading up to the Barrelman 70.3,” explains Felhaber, “but COVID changed those plans. Not having a goal or plan threw my training into a tailspin in the spring. I am very thankful to Jess for helping me get out of that funk. The event gave me a goal to work towards and a focus for my training. I was very happy with my swim and thought the bike went pretty well but was disappointed by my run. I Iearned a ton that I will use going forward into next season. A huge thanks to everyone who helped make the day possible.”<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2020\/08\/Jess-Adams-triathlon-began-at-Avery-Beach.jpg\")
![\"Jess](\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2020\/08\/Jess-Adam-is-all-smiles.jpg\")
![\"Luke](\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2020\/08\/Jess-Adams-tri-Luke-Felhaber-gets-some-help.jpg\")