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On world map with gold By Deirdre Macdonald Look who's golden... [Read more] From the Leaside-Rosedale Town Crier (June 17, 2004) Home Sweat Home Which New York 'hood is the best for athletes? ... [Read more] (Excerpted from MetroSports NY, April 2004) Grüzi, as they say in Switzerland! I have just returned from the Duathlon World Championships, and am happy to report that the race, and indeed the entire trip, was a great success. Faced with a very hilly course and absolutely miserable weather, I managed to finish as the bronze medallist in my age group (women 25-29), and in a field of approximately 200 women from 31 countries, I was sixth overall.
These three New York City ladies don't need a magic lasso to dominate their sports. Three women, three countries, three sports. The common thread: they’re all New York City endurance athletes who excel on a local, regional and national level. ... Duathlete Margaret Schotte, a 27-year-old Canadian and Harvard grad, has in just two seasons become one of the top run/bike/run specialists in North America. All three "wonder women" live in Manhattan, train in Central Park and race internationally. Read their stories, but prepare to suffer if you try to keep up with them in a race.
(Excerpted from MetroSports, October. 2003)
We made it! Heather and I actually biked the entire way to Boston--320 miles (550 km) in 4 days! It was a fantastic experience, although I'd be lying if I didn't admit that there were times when I didn't think I'd make it all the way...
Schotte named to 2006 Triathlon Canada National Team. Margaret and Anne-Marie Madden are the two elite female duathletes to be so honoured for the upcoming year. TriCanada has this to say: "Margaret Schotte had a year to remember in 2005, not only did she win the 2005 Canadian Duathlon Championships she also finished 14th at the World Duathlon Championships -- not bad considering it was her first elite level competition. Of note, Margaret was the third best North American in the race." Addendum: Race plans for the upcoming season are still up in the air... even more so now that the Canadian National Championships, originally scheduled to take place on the same Ottawa course as 2005, have been cancelled, and await a new confirmed location. (Feb. 9, 2006) This just in: Duathlon Nationals now scheduled for Hamilton on May 21st. [Read more] (Feb. 17, 2006) 2005 Awards: Margaret earns recognition for her solid debut season in the elite field
She was also chosen as CPTC's Multisport Athlete of the Year -- the third consecutive year her duathlon accomplishments have been the toast of the club. Also, Margaret is proud to have landed on the ITU Ranking list with 222 points from her result in Newcastle. Thanks to all for so much support this season!
Success at Worlds! 14th across the line at her first elite-level international competition, and the 3rd North American, Margaret was proud to have conquered the gruelling course in Newcastle (and also enjoyed herself tremendously during her time in Oz). Read on for Margaret's [Full Race report] Countdown to Oz! Margaret and Heather are heading off on their trip on Sept. 16th (NYC-LA-Sydney-Newcastle-Cairns-home again), and this final week is a flurry of preparations. For those fans, family members and other keen supporters who are wondering how they can keep track of Margaret when she races Down Under on September 25th, the best place to check will be the official race website, www.WorldDuathlon2005.com. The start list of competitors in the elite women's race (current as of Sept. 12th) can be found here. Margaret has just learned that the Women's Elite race start time has been changed to 8:30 a.m. on Sunday Sept. 25th -- this is good news for eager fans in North America, as it means they'll be able to watch the LIVE WEBCAST between ~6:30-8:40 p.m. EDT on Saturday the 24th on www.Triathlon.org. (Although not currently listed on the schedule of upcoming broadcasts, we are anticipating that the Duathlon World Championships will indeed warrant a TriCast; visitors to the site should be able to find information about the Duathlon under the "MultiSport" tab.) In addition to live video, text, timing, and audio commentary, the site should also have race reports and photos of the ITU Duathlon soon after the event's completion. While it may be difficult for Margaret to send extensive updates from Newcastle, she will be certain to post a race report shortly after her return to New York on Oct. 5th. FYI: Triathlon Canada has a team roster here, and the site will also post news following the race. Thanks once again to everyone for their good luck wishes! And a special thank you to Kristin Branson for the following optimistic simulation of the race: GOOD LUCK IN NEWCASTLE [this flash movie should launch with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Netscape] (Margaret will do her best to run a lifetime P.B. on that picturesque spit of land in the background, Nobby's Beach!) Pine Barrens Tune-Up On Saturday, Sept. 10th, Margaret laced up her shoes for one last race on her local turf before heading Down Under... As reported by the ever-supportive CPTC Webmaster, the race went well: "Margaret dominated the Pine Barrens Duathlon, recording the fastest splits on all three legs (her bike time was even faster than all the men), beating the second woman by over 11 minutes, and finishing behind only one man -- and that by just two and a half minutes." The race was won in 1:26:24 by Ken Fowler, who is also headed to Australia. Margaret posted a 1:28:40 for the ~2.25-mile run/24-mile bike/2.3-mile run. The run course for this race is always idiosyncratic--this year the duathletes ran through twisty paths, across a stretch of beach, and down a sandy, pitted logging road--and distances seem to be approximate. However, the 24-mile bike course is consistently measured, and Margaret was happy to see that her 1:00:53 split was more than a minute faster than she had been in the lead-up to 2004 Worlds. Margaret's transitions benefitted from the run-through--now she knows which way to hang her bike on the rack! Margaret's training partners also put up solid performances--nice job to Zeb Nelessen, Adam Manewell and the relay team anchored by Quetzal Saunders in the triathlon, and a special congratulations to Steven Lazen and Kailin Gregga on their multisport debuts!
Photo: Sue Pearsall Since when does running a lap of Central Park hurt more than riding 85 miles? That was Margaret's experience this weekend: she slogged her way through the NYRR Club Championship 5 miler on Saturday morning (August 20), but seemed to sail through the all-day ride to Haverstraw, the "orchards", and back the next day. Well, "sail through" might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it was a gorgeous, steamy summer day and Margaret tried her best to stay well-hydrated with umpteen bottles of various liquids (including two competing brands of iced green tea--market research for Lipton?!) The 5-Miler was a different story. Margaret fell into the common trap of going out too hard--her first mile, down and up the Harlem Hills, was 6:03. The next 2 miles were each ~6:12, but by the 4th mile, the humidity and rolling terrain had taken the wind out of Margaret's legs: 6:35, albeit including Cat Hill. The final mile was long and flat, seeming at times like an endless optical illusion--as the actual finish line was around the corner of the 102nd Street cutoff. Margaret found one last dollop of energy to hold off a Warren Street competitor in the final few metres, crossing the line in 14th. Congrats to the other CPTC ladies who went out a bit more conservatively at the beginning and finished in a proud line of orange and blue in 8th, 9th, and 10th. As always, the team's annual softball (and frisbee!) game added a certain something to the day. A partial time trial. Margaret wasn't planning to do the CRCA 2-lap individual time trial this past Saturday, August 13, but after a few lectures on how perfect that type of threshold-effort workout would be at this point in the lead-up to Worlds (and repeated glances at the weather forecast), she decided to clip on her aerobars once again. It didn't seem like much time had passed since the previous CRCA ITT (July 17th), but hopefully enough training had been done to edge Margaret's time down by a few seconds-- if that race had taken 30:20, on a slightly slippery day, could Margaret break 30:00 this time? The morning didn't start out auspiciously-- Margaret felt fine during her warm-up, but was slightly discombobulated when she lined up for the start... She didn't quite have her pedals in the right position, so when the starter counted down and the buzzer sounded, she couldn't move at all! (The top pedal needs to be closer to 2 o'clock rather than noon; otherwise, you can't get rolling.) Luckily the handler grabbed her and kept her upright while she messed around with her pedals and finally got moving. No idea how many seconds that cost... (Ann Marie Miller sailed passed the start/finish line at just that moment and called out her split: 14:27! Hmm, Margaret needs to get her hands on a disk wheel if she wants to challenge that performance!) The first lap went fine, and judging by her cyclo-computer (which was only displaying minutes, not seconds, on Sat.) Margaret seemed to be under 15:00--exciting! However, due to a collision on the course, the race was called off before Margaret could complete her second lap, so it's not clear whether she would actually have broken the 30 minute barrier. The 11-mile effort was satisfying, and Margaret followed it up with a 5-mile brick, so all in all, a solid training day--and fortunately one that was over before the excruciating 99 degree heat of the day! Schotte turning into a sprinter? Well, almost.... The CRCA race this Sunday, August 7th, was a "points" race--and for those of you who like Margaret have no idea what that meant, it actually involves sprinting across the finish line at the end of each lap (except the first). In some ways, that turns a 36-mile race into 5 shorter races, which has the end result of making the whole event quite a bit faster than the typical "everyone ride as slowly as possible so as not to tire her legs" race... Add to that the fact that the CRCA organizers felt that women's races had been taking too long; the field was given the ultimatum that if they couldn't maintain a 16 min/lap pace, the race would be cut down to 5 laps. This race counted towards the CRCA Sprint #1 started just before Cat Hill--and chaos broke out as several women crashed over on the right side of the road. Fortunately, Margaret was well to the left and stayed clear of the mess... Well, people certainly were a bit shaken and disorganized--maybe this -was- the right time to try her attack! At the top of the hill she rode hard for maybe 1 km, and when she looked up, found herself with only 4 other women. It worked! She was in a breakaway!! Well, the next 3 1/2 laps were a combination of satisfying and frustrating, as the interteam politics played a strong part in who wanted to work, and who felt that aiding the other women in the break would be tantamount to handing the wrong team points... Margaret was clueless about all of this, alternately pulling down the west side, and struggling to catch up after coming 5th in every sprint. Sigh. It was disappointing when the inevitable happened and the small breakaway was swallowed by the pack with one and a half laps to go... Towards the end of the race, Margaret was actually still feeling decent--a nice surprise, considering her legs had been toast by the third lap of the TT the week before. Jane Berger stepped up for a beautiful attack/lead-out about a mile from the finish line, surprising most of the field by going so early. Margaret felt a bit more confident about her finishing sprint, trying to stay tough until the end--and she was ecstatic to feel the field fading behind her as she rolled across the line in 4th place. Hey, isn't fourth good enough for some points?!? That was not to be, but she did get her name on the finishing board in 7th--everyone who scored sprint points finished ahead of her--, and TEAm Lipton was passed in the team standings by Metro Sanchez, but thanks to the strong July 30th TT result from Gale and Schotte, is still looking good in 3rd place. All in all, one of Margaret's more enjoyable bike racing experiences--next time, she'll have to see what it feels like to earn some points!
Photo credit: Jaime Garcia On Saturday, July 30th, Margaret and LIPTON TEAmmate Caryl Gale won the CRCA two-person Time Trial by a 2-second margin. After starting off strong (14:43) and getting even faster (14:39), Caryl had to rein herself in a bit as Margaret tired on the third lap (15:16). With a little vociferous encouragement from her teammate on the final hill, Margaret got up out of her saddle and crossed the line in 44:38. The top three women's teams all finished within 5 seconds of each other--despite (or because of) the humidity, it was a speedy day! There are more pictures from the TT on both NYVelocity.com and the Merrill Lynch/Hincapie Sportswear team site -- note how most of the teams manage to remain very close to each other. At times Margaret was a bit too far back to really benefit from Caryl's draft... especially on the final hill (see below). But fortunately, at some other point in the course of 18 miles, she must have picked up 4 or 5 crucial seconds, enough to earn her team 100 points in the CRCA Team Cup standings.
Photo credit: Jaime Garcia The CRCA's second Individual Time Trial of the season took place this past Sunday. Note to Margaret: SUNDAY, not SATURDAY! (Ah well, since she got up early enough on Sat. to see some fireflies in the park that hadn't yet gone to bed, at least she was able to get in a 30-mile ride and a run, and still be back in bed by 8:30 a.m. However, when the alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. on Sunday, Margaret didn't have quite as much spring in her step... We realize that it's necessary to schedule these races so early to minimize conflict with other park user, but still, that doesn't mean we don't find it painful!) Margaret was satisfied with her first time trial on her home turf... it would have been exciting to break the 30-minute barrier for the 2 laps, but she was happy just to stay upright through the treacherous turn at the bottom of the Harlem Hill... Margaret was riding without any speed or timing feedback from her computer (that's what happens when you forget to transfer the magnetic sensor to your borrowed wheels)... but she was pleased to find that she negative-split: from a 15:16 on lap 1 down to a 15:04 on lap 2. Congratulations to Ann-Marie Miller (29:17) and to fellow Lipton TEAmmate Kristen LaSasso (30:20), who tied with Margaret for 2nd. And not only is there another ITT in 3 weeks, when hopefully it won't be so soggy or humid, but the 2-person time trial is coming up on July 30th, which should bring a chance to fly around the park even more quickly!
Photo credit: John Frey, via NYVelocity * A few more laps of Central Park... Margaret raced the Lou Maltese Memorial Race on Saturday, finishing 6th in the Women's Cat. 4 race. How nice it was to race in the park when it wasn't pouring rain and freezing cold! Her intrepid sustitute marshall deserves a huge thanks... You won't have to do it again this year, promise! Having heard stories about numerous crashes in previous years, Margaret was a bit nervous about this race. Consequently, she stayed near the front of the pack for all four laps (some teammates would suggest she didn't need to be -quite- so near the front!). Obviously, Margaret needs more practice with race tactics and lead-outs; still, she was pleased to hang in there for the field sprint and finish upright. Up next: the CRCA Individual Time Trial... (July 12, 2005) * Check out the cool technology behind this picture: it is actually a series of very thin photo 'slices', taken milliseconds apart and then 'stitched' together... You can see the finish of the entire women's field, with Hannah Long crossing the line first in the top right corner, and Margaret just right of centre in the lower row, finishing 12th. Margaret wins her first elite race: Canadian Nationals! Things went smoothly for Margaret's first elite race at the Ottawa Riverkeeper International Distance Duathlon on Saturday, June 18th. The new elite national champion won her race in just under 2 hours and 10 minutes, and is thrilled to have earned a qualifying spot on the National Team for 2005 Duathlon Worlds in Newcastle, Australia on Sept. 25! On race day, the weather in Ottawa was overcast but not rainy, with the wind becoming something of a factor on the flat 4-loop bike course. Margaret led the first run, holding even splits to run 38:35 (including transition?). A pack of four formed on the bike leg, where tactics slowed the pace (1:12:36 for 40 km). Margaret was able to pass two competitors in the first kilometer of the final run, picking up the pace to gain a 40-second lead (18:47 for 5 km, including transition). She crossed the line in 2:09:57. The Ottawa Citizen covered the race in its Sunday edition-- Alex Hutchison's article can be found on RunnersWeb. Special thanks to Northern Breweries for sponsoring Margaret's race accommodations, and to Heather Hanson for manning the race vehicle. Please visit the brand-new Ottawa Photo Gallery.
What better way to spend the morning of Memorial Day than at a fun 5-km race? Especially when a family reunion took Margaret to Tulsa, OK, where the weather was warm and the enormous magnolias were in full bloom. Cousin Jesse signed Margaret up for the Maple Ridge 5km, and Jack came along to cheer. Margaret managed to keep up with several teenage boys despite the humidity and rolling hills; she won her race and much to her delight came away with a gift certificate from Fleet Feet. Thanks again J, J and J!
Success at the 21st Annual Queens Biathlon Margaret tested her fitness at her season-opener, and things appear to be in fine working order. Two years ago, Margaret won the race at Alley Pond Park in 1:26:23, setting the women's course record. She clearly remembers feeling the burn on the deceptive hills of the Vanderbilt Speedway (the private roadway now converted to a running/walking path), as well as the pleasant smell of seaweed and petunias out at the far end of the bike course, on the Cross Island Parkway. While the race didn't fit into her pre-Worlds schedule in 2004, this year it served as a perfect test run one month before Canadian Nationals. In light of her past hamstring issues, Margaret wasn't sure how strong a pace she should set on the first run, and just hoped to test the waters... While thunderstorms were predicted for the weekend, Sunday morning was clear and dry. Everything came together well, and Margaret was able to run and bike consistent splits: 18:52 (without transition) for run 1, and then 18:27 for run 2 (the 4th best time of the day). Her bike splits were 23:26 and 23:48, giving her the 10th fastest bike split in the co-ed field. Her transitions though, at 59 and 52 seconds, might need some work! Margaret came within 13 seconds of her 2003 time, finishing in 1:26:39, reassuring her that things are on track for Ottawa on June 18th. Congratulations to the strong contingent from CPTC, JackRabbit and CityCoach, all of whom performed well on Sunday. And a special thank you to Alvin Rodolfo for making it possible for Margaret to get to the race (nice bike split!). Bear Mountain in the fog Margaret seems to have unfortunate luck when it comes to the weather, at least as far as bike races go. This past Saturday (April 30th), the day was grey and chilly, and the weather seemed to get worse the further north of the city you went. Our rookie bike racer overcompensated a bit, putting on far too many layers, and somehow ended up with over-heated arms and freezing hands. There is a juicy race report just waiting to be written, which will hopefully happen in the next day or two... but until then, we are pleased to report that Margaret hung in there despite inexperience, crunching gears, a strong climb on the second hill and a miserable descent on the third, and was able to finish 6th in the Women's Cat. 4 race [complete results, and someone else's race report]. First bike race! Early on the wet, chilly, dark morning of Saturday April 2nd, Margaret set out to attempt her first bicycle race. This was a CRCA race in Central Park, a fairly low-key way to ease into the sport... Although she was comforted by the fact that it was taking place on her home turf, Margaret panicked the night before when she saw the forecast for rain. There were a few moments when she definitely considered staying in bed when the alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. ... However, the race was part of the CRCA Women's Cup series, and Margaret didn't want to let her team down. Despite a few rooky mistakes, she ended up with a decent performance -- 11th overall [CRCA Results] -- but nearly froze off her extremities in the process. Here is her brief race report: "I think the field started with about 25-30 women, but I'd say almost 10 of those dropped out (due to frozen feet and hands that couldn't work the brakes?). I knew that I didn't want to be right at the front, and didn't want to break the wind for everyone... but about halfway through the 2nd lap, when I was riding quite close to the front, a woman looked over at me and said "When are you going to take a pull?" So I had no choice... I went up front for my 30 seconds, but then when I moved over to the gutter so someone else could take the lead, the entire pack moved over with me! I now understand how frustrating it can be when people refuse to share the work... "To make a long story short, I chased down two breaks with one Lipton teammate -- we charged down the entire west side of the park, towing the pack. The breaks had 3 or 4 women, all from other teams. On the 4th lap, off they went again, but this time I just couldn't bridge up to them.... The fifth lap was more relaxed, until the last mile, when my teammate pointed out a woman who is a good sprinter and gave me strict instructions to stick to her wheel. I tried! But I've never been known as a sprinter ... I got nipped at the line and ended up coming in 11th. "Overall, I felt like I put in a strong effort and didn't blow up. Or flat. Or crash my bike! So on the whole, a success!" Announcing TEAm Lipton! In her quest for improved bike-handling skills and road-racing experience, not to mention great training partners, Margaret has decided to join the inspirational ladies of TEAm Lipton. This team of international-calibre female cyclists and triathletes is based in NYC but has members who live and train on both coasts. For the last several years, the team's title sponsor was Aquafina, but this year, we will be sponsored by Lipton (under the Unilever umbrella). For more details, here is a press release. The team's website, www.nycvelogirls.com, is being revamped for the new season, so please check back in a few weeks. Triathlon Canada announces its 2004 awards... and for the second year in a row, Margaret Schotte has been named Female Age-Group Duathlete of the Year. Please see the complete list of impressive and deserving award winners here. (The annual banquet will take place in Calgary on April 2.) [Although not duathlon-related, this is also surely newsworthy: welcome and happy birthday to Norah Jean Ryan, born a sporting 7lbs, 3oz, at 11:50 a.m. on March 3, 2005. Congrats!] This just in! Ottawa to host the 2005 Canadian Duathlon Championships, on June 18, 2005. Thanks to RunnersWeb.com for confirming the news: [Press release] USA Triathlon recently released their 2004 Rankings, and Margaret was proud to earn "All American" honours. With her races in Virginia, the Pine Barrens and Belgium, she was awarded 87.8736 points to lead the F25-29 age group; see detailed results here.
The Park City, Utah-based company got its start by designing more comfortable insoles for ski boots, and soon after branched out into golf, running and cycling shoes. With a retail store on the Upper East Side, Margaret was able to head across town and get quickly fitted for her new inserts. All it takes is a few minutes of standing on the ingenious "Foot Fax", which deploys several hundred small plastic sensors to measure the contours of each foot... Soon, a colour-coded contour map of your foot in its most stable position (correcting for pronation, rotation, etc.) pops up on a computer screen, and is then sent down to the basement for production. By the next day, your newly milled orthotics--thinner and stiffer for the cycling shoes, slightly cushier and thicker for running--are ready for the road. Margaret is giving herself a few weeks to gradually adjust, but the prognosis is looking very good. Margaret tops Inside Triathlon's "All American" list for the second year!
We are proud to announce that for the second year in a row Margaret was named Central Park Track Club's "Women's Triathlete of the Year". Margaret accepted her award alongside a host of impressive teammates at the club's annual awards banquet last Saturday night. As CPTC continues to be unfailingly running-centric (as it should be, of course!), the powers-that-be seem not to have noticed that Margaret has yet to compete in a traditional swim-bike-run event, bestowing upon her the "best triathlete" label. (Actually, while the website may confuse its du's and tri's, the award itself was expertly amended to read "2004 Female Multi-Sport Athlete of the Year".) We would like to note that not all our running friends took this weekend off to celebrate. On the morning of Sat. December 4th, the Canadian Cross-Country National Championships took place in Sunnybrook Park in Toronto. (Results can be found here.) Margaret was disappointed to miss this fine event, organized for the second year in a row by her beloved Toronto Olympic Club coaches. Not to mention the fact that it would have been a trip down memory lane to race on the wood-chip paths in Sunnybrook. Congrats all around to those who competed. Happy Birthday! Margaret's website is one year old... and what a year it has been! For Margaret, the highlight was definitely riding her new Temple bike at the World Championships in Belgium, and coming away with gold--but all the other races and workouts were great as well. In the spirit of year-end nostalgia, we should probably come up with some kind of "best-of" lists, or at least some statistics about the number of visitors who clicked through the site. Alas, the hit-counter on the homepage was temporarily out of commission for a few weeks earlier this fall, so the numbers aren't as accurate as we'd like. Nevertheless, thanks again to all friends, family, and other duathlon supporters for visiting our digital home, and keep checking in in the months ahead to keep up with Margaret's progress!
This is a particularly important issue for those of us who ride or run in Central Park every day, but also for every visitor who strolls past Strawberry Fields, takes in a free NY Philharmonic concert on the Great Lawn, walks their dogs or pushes their baby jogger around the Bridle Path... According to TA's statistics, as many as 70,000 people visit Central Park each day; it's time to give these active pedestrians priority over the 1500 cars who use the loop road as a high-speed shortcut. More than 75,000 people who value the park as a calm haven in the middle of the city and are concerned over the health and safety issues have already signed the petition--but Transportation Alternatives hopes to reach 100,000 signatures by the end of 2004. Even if you don't live in New York, you can help make a difference. Please take a moment to sign the on-line petition today! Update: The above-mentioned petition and vocal neighbourhood support evidently helped sway Mayor Bloomberg; as of January 2005, cars will no longer be permitted in Central Park overnight, and five entrances will be permanently closed to vehicular traffice. Read Transportation Alternative's special bulletin here. This is obviously an important step towards a completely car-free park, but more must be done. At the moment, vehicular traffic is limited to 7-10 a.m. and 3-7 p.m.; unfortunately, those periods are exactly when the most recreational use of the park occurs. We must continue to lobby to get cars out of Central Park! Watch this space for more news...
Congratulations to all who competed at Nationals; please find complete Age Group results here , the Elite and U23 Women here, and all other results on the comprehensive Sportstats.ca October page. Change of plans: We regret to report that Margaret will not be competing at Canadian Nationals in Québec City next weekend. Margaret's recent training has been hampered by a bout of hamstring tendonitis, and rather than risk further injury, she has decided to transition into the off season slightly earlier than planned. Best of luck to everyone competing! Count-down to Québec: Next month Margaret will travel to Québec City to compete in her first pro race. Set on the scenic and historic Plains of Abraham, the National Championships are going to be great for spectators. Both runs will take place on a 1.25 km stretch of the Grande-Allée, while the bike course will consist of 10 rolling loops of the Battlefield Park. [Click here for course maps] The élite women's race goes off at 4:47 p.m. on October 2nd.... Stay tuned for more details. This Monday's World Championships was one of the most exciting races of Margaret's life, an occasion when all the pieces came together at exactly the right moment. Obviously the good wishes from friends and family around the world all helped our Canadian champion. Controlling the pace from the opening 10-km run, Margaret won Monday's age-group Duathlon World Championships by 3 minutes and 48 seconds over Great Britain's Michelle Parsons (35-39), finishing in 2 hours, 3 minutes and 16 seconds. Margaret had the fastest run and bike legs of the day: 37:36 for the (slightly long) 10-km run, 1:07:18 for the 40+ km bike, and 16:51 for the final 5-km run (while this final leg was somewhat short, Margaret's time placed her 62nd of the 700+ age group athletes, male and female, who competed today). [See final results] NEW: Read Margaret's complete RACE REPORT and check out the PHOTO GALLERY with a slideshow from race day! Duathlon World Championships, Géel, Belgium Race day: Monday, May 31st 9:00 a.m. As of Tuesday, May 25th, Margaret's physical training is complete--now all she needs is mental preparation... One final tune-up on the track this evening, then she will take her bike for an easy spin tomorrow before packing it into the monstrous travelling case. She will fly to Europe on Thursday evening, arriving in Géel in time to check out the course on Friday. Saturday features the Parade of Nations through the streets of town, and the élite races kick off on Sunday. Then, Monday is the big day... Keep your fingers crossed that the weather is slightly more pleasant than the chilling conditions in Switzerland last August. The list of participants is posted, and among a strong international field, Margaret's closest competition from 2003, Stephanie Maclean of Great Britain (silver medallist, AGW 25-29), will be lining up against her on Monday. These World Championships will undoubtedly be an exciting race, and a great test of Margaret's fitness. Please send fast thoughts for approximately 2 hours -- for fans on the East Coast of North America, the race will be taking place between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Sunday night. Many thanks to everyone for all their support! This will be the last update to this site until Margaret returns from Europe on June 2nd. For all those supporters who may be interested, race results should be available on the official race site www.wkduathlon2004.be. For up-to-the-minute race coverage (for those of you who are up in the wee hours of the night on Sunday), you can also visit the ITU site www.triathlon.org; they will probably even have fairly instantaneous results as well as video footage of the élite races on Sunday, May 30th. As for detailed coverage of Monday's Age Group races, you may have to wait until Margaret's race report, which will be posted here in the very near future. Margaret spent another weekend in southern Jersey, this time for her first-ever cycling time trial. For someone who always wears running shoes for at least some portion of every race, it was quite a different experience to warm up on her bike in a parking lot full of guys on rollers, and then perch on her pedals for a 'held start' (when you roll up to the start line, you're already clipped in to your pedals; an official grabs hold of your seat post to steady your bike, counts down from 10, and you're off... don't hit the brakes for the next 40 km!) Margaret was flustered to learn of the USCF regulation that requires competitors to wear uniforms with sleeves in all cycling races--all her race outfits are sleeveless!--but she managed to dig up a suitable jersey. Next year she'll need to get her hands on a one-piece skinsuit, and some of those aerodynamic booties. The New Jersey State Individual Time Trial Championships took place in Chatsworth, NJ, an area noted for its cranberries (in fact, the race started in the parking lot of the Ocean Spray factory). Once again, the flat, slightly windy 40-km course proved to be ideal practice for Belgium. Thanks to the timely assistance of Marcus at Champion Bicycle, everything on the Temple was running smoothly. Margaret lined up at the start line at 10:54:30 a.m. (in a Time Trial, racers start 30 seconds apart, and compete primarily against the clock--although you are certainly encouraged to chase down riders ahead of you). Kissena's Zebulon Nelessen (55:00.1) and Jon Orcutt (56:11) put in strong performances in the Out-of-State Men's race. Margaret's goal for this final race before Worlds was to keep up the intensity, and hopefully break the arbitrary one-hour time barrier. Knowing that there would be a bit of a headwind on the second half of the course, Margaret pushed the first 12 miles at ~27 miles an hour. It was harder to keep up that kind of pace on the homeward stretch, but she overtook a few New Jerseyans along the way. There appears to be some confusion over Margaret's final time -- the official results posted by Mambo Kings Race organizers listed a 57:58.6, although Margaret's watch had her finishing closer to an hour flat. For the moment, it might be best to smile and accept that she can ride at least 59:58... Third Overall at the Pine Barrens Spring Duathlon On Saturday morning (May 8, 2004) Margaret returned to the site of her very first duathlon to compete in southern New Jersey's sandy, windy Pine Barrens. On this balmy spring morning Margaret won the women's race decisively and was able to pick up third place overall. Thanks to some transition practice last Thursday, not to mention a little more time on her aerobars, this year she was able to ride the 40km bike course more than 5 minutes faster than in September 2002. Zebulon Nelessen won the race with a lead of more than 3 minutes. Check here for the official results.
This weekend's road trip (April 4, 2004) to the Virginia Beach Duathlon was a great success; Margaret placed third in this USAT Duathlon Grand Prix Series race, behind 2 pro women, Marjan Huizing (1:30:41) and Cecily Tynan (1:31:41). Margaret's finishing time of 1:32:52 was good for 32nd place in a field of 527. Margaret led Run #1 from the gun (5km, 18:13), and also had the fastest woman's split for Run #2 (5km, 19:01). The Temple performed admirably on her inaugural race, covering the 32km course--which was pancake flat and very windy--in 53:51. Congratulations to CPTC teammates Adam Manewell (3rd place, 30-35; 10th overall; 3rd fastest run of the day) and Zebulon Nelessen (2nd place, 25-29; 11th overall; 2nd fastest bike split and a spot on Team USA for World Champs in Belgium). Thanks to Laura and Mike McGreevy for being such gracious hosts, and to John G. Boudiette for his fan support! This past Saturday, March 27, Margaret placed 2nd in the NYRR 8000m, in a time of 28:31 -- knocking almost 2 minutes off her time from 2003 (when 30:22 was good for 9th place). There were 2104 finishers, and Margaret placed 37th overall. Her 5:44/mile pace was substantially quicker (12 seconds a mile) than she ran in the Snowflake 4-miler on Feb. 28, moving her up a spot on the CPTC "Best of Times" 5 mile list. (Thanks to coach Jonathan Cane for making the metric conversion from 8000m to 4.9709695 miles!) Margaret pulled off a 17:59 split for the 5km mark, so things seem to be shaping up well for early season competition. Schotte earns top TriCan honours Triathlon Canada has annouced its 2003 award winners, and Margaret has been selected as Canada's Age-Group Duathlete of the Year. This is an exciting achievement after only one year of competition. As Margaret will be unable to be present at the awards banquet in Toronto on March 20, her father Leo Schotte will attend in her stead. Nationals Dispute Settled! The excitement of Margaret's first National Championships, which took place on July 20, 2003 in Calgary, Alberta, was dampened by the fact that within minutes of crossing the finish line, she had to file a protest with race officials to contest the day's results. After posting the fastest 10km time of the morning (37:05, a new personal best!) and holding her lead on the bike, Margaret had been surprised to find another competitor's bike already on the rack upon her return to transition... She concluded that someone had simply miscounted the laps on the 7 1/2-loop bike course -- unfortunately, it took 6 1/2 months to convince Triathlon Canada of this. After reviewing the complete race results--including the men's and elite times--and taking into account additional evidence from the multisport career of the rider in question, a Triathlon Canada jury has concluded that Competitor #96 did in fact miss a lap of the bike course, disqualifying her from the competition. Margaret would like to thank the friendly competitors and bystanders who wrote letters of support for her case, as well as the numerous individuals who volunteered their time throughout the Triathlon Canada appeal process. It is a relief to bring the matter to its logical conclusion. Hopefully similar confusion over the course, lap count and timing system can be avoided at future National Championships. Schotte tops Inside Triathlon's "All American" list New Sponsor: Rudy Project "Triathlete" of the Year Margaret wrapped up her 2003 season on October 12th, defending her title at the Central Park Biathlon. (Oct. 15, 2003) Long overdue update This past weekend Margaret got a workout in Central Park--but not on her bike. She was actually frollicking the record-breaking 26" snowfall... Judging by all the fit New Yorks tromping through the Harlem Hills, snowshoes provide a great cardio workout! Cross-training continues to go well, with a mix of swimming, pilates, base-building runs, and even the occasional jaunt to Nyack. Hibernating... and happy holidays! It has been a quiet few months for Margaret on the athletic front; she fulfilled her final CRCA marshall obligation in Central Park on a chilly November morning, and then took advantage of a lovely, unseasonably warm weekend to ride to Piermont in shorts! She cheered for her friends and training partners who rose to the challenge of the NYC & Philly Marathons, and she even returned to the Columbia pool last week for her first swim workout in many moons. Hopefully, the new year will see a return to Armory workouts (how can it cost so much to run laps?!), a completely pain-free hamstring, and success in endeavors both athletic and non. With this, Margaret would like to wish all her friendly readers a very merry holiday season, and all the best in 2006! Home again, just in time for cooler (wetter) fall weather... Despite the inevitable fond memories of cross-country that are conjured up at this time of year, Margaret will be resisting both the pull of Van Cortlandt Park, and John McGovern's challenging American Zofingen (check out this 5.15 mile trail run / 85 mile hilly road bike / 15.45 mile trail run taking place near New Paltz, NY on Oct. 23), and enjoying some time off. The bike is all packed and ready to go (let's hope Heather can lift the case!). At this point, Margaret's training is behind her--now is the time for her to taper, focusing on a few final sharpening workouts, and some positive mental run-throughs of the race. Since this site won't be updated until Margaret gets back from her trip, we would like to leave you with Kristin Branson's fabulous GOOD LUCK IN NEWCASTLE message [this flash movie should launch with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Netscape]. Labour Day weekend was Margaret's last intense block of training--and the hardest 3 consecutive days of riding and running she's done recently. Margaret would like thank Zeb Nelessen, Jeff Wilson, Sascha Kreideweis, TEAm Lipton and everyone else who has pushed her in workouts this summer; Jonathan Cane for his input into her training plan; and especially those friends and supporters who have made financial contributions to this great adventure (please take a moment to visit the Sponsors page--none of this would be possible without these outstanding businesses and individuals)! Website update We have moved some early News and Training posts into the Archives, which will hopefully streamline page-loading times, etc. We are trying to strike a balance between the space we have available and the number of images we'd like to post. Bear with us while we iron out the inevitable formatting glitches, please feel free to send comments via the "Contact Us" link in the menu to the left, and as always, thank you for visiting. Back on track... the East 6th Street track, to be precise. In light of the fact that Margaret is moving up a notch in the level of competition for this year's Worlds (from Age-Group to Elite), she is expecting that the running portion of the event is going to be significantly more challenging than it has been to date.* Just how fast a 10-km time will she have to post to be within chasing distance of the lead women when she gets on her bike? 35 minutes? Faster? Given that her 10-km PB is somewhere in the low 36 minute range (no specific time, as so many duathlon courses seem to be inaccurately measured), she is expecting to have to run the fastest 10-km of her life in Newcastle. Fortunately, she has a good group of people to train with and has gotten back into the habit of doing CPTC's road workouts on Thursday evenings, as well as track workouts on Tuesdays. It's funny how satisfyingly familiar it is to be back doing repeats on the lumpy, Astro-Turfed oval on East 6th Street. Next up, race-wise: the New York Road Runners Club Championship 5-Miler this Saturday morning (August 20)-- Margaret's first pure running race in more than a year, which should give her a better idea of what kind of shape she's in. And now that the humidity has broken, it should be downright pleasant to run in the park! * For some benchmarks, the 2004 Elite Women's results are available here, and 2003 are here. Of course, it's not easy to compare Age Group and Pro times, because the races often take place on significantly different courses on different days... Still, it will give you an idea of the calibre of the field, and if you look closely, you can see how various small chase packs form and work together to catch up to the leaders... but how often those chasers have burned their legs up and suffer through slower second runs than the women at the front who didn't have to push quite as hard... Lots of elements to take into account -- fortunately, Jeff Wilson kindly procured a copy of Thomas Prehn's "Racing Tactics for Cyclists" for Margaret to study. Now she just needs to sort out the squeaking emanating from her right pedal, and also get in some practice with the ITU-style transitions! TEAmLIPTON.com is live! We are pleased to announce the long-awaited launch of the TEAmLIPTON website. Please visit the site to learn more about Margaret's impressive teammates, recent TEAm results, and tidbits about the healthful benefits of various kinds of iced beverages. Unfortunately, for some reason the Duathlon World Championships was omitted from the schedule of team races--perhaps because it's taking place on another continent? Although inquiries were made about adding the link to the list, evidently no updates can be made until sometime early in 2006. Fortunately, you can check this website for slightly more timely updates. We're off to see the Wizard! Margaret and Heather are thrilled to report that they have successfully purchased their tickets to Oz... via Los Angeles. It took quite a few attempts on the Qantas website, with a myriad of itineraries--and in one late-night moment of panic, it appeared that they might have in fact purchased FOUR tickets rather than just TWO... But everything worked out in the end; the trip is scheduled for Sept. 16-Oct. 5, with stops in Sydney, Newcastle and Cairns. And this Sunday, in addition to being a special 1-year anniversary, will be 8 weeks till race day. Good thing Margaret has made a couple of appearances at CPTC workouts recently. There are even rumours of a return to the track on the horizon... Dirty's Thirty! What better way for an intrepid NY photographer/ fixed-gear fanatic to celebrate his birthday than with a duathlon...?? And what a duathlon! Amadeo Lasansky's birthday race took place on the afternoon of Sat. July 9th, starting in Tompkins Square Park on the Lower East Side, and concluding slightly more than an hour later in the Bohemian Beer Garden in Astoria, Queens. A group of 9 motley friends and acquaintances raced as fast as they could pedal from the start line up to the northernmost reaches of Central Park (about 90 blocks, or 4.5 miles). Once there, the bike were left under the watchful care of Elsa Hwang and Heather Hanson, and the competitors ran a lap of the Harlem Hills (ah, familiar territory for Margaret; while she might not have been so savvy at the on-street navigation, at least she was able to sprint past the birthday boy on this leg of the race!) Back on the bikes once again, down Fifth Ave. and over the 59th Street Bridge to Queens... The finish line was outside the walled garden of the beer hall; Margaret managed to finish 5th. Félicitations à Olivier on his victory, and thanks to the Inspector for dreaming up such a fun event! Also, happy birthday to Jan -- perhaps your celebration didn't include bikes, beer or kielbasa, but here's to a great 26th! A new Nyack record: 47 minutes flat! It has been a while since Margaret and Jeff Wilson tested their mettle against the rolling hills and windy stretches of Route 9W. Fortunately, this past Sunday, the wind stayed behind them for the entire ride home, allowing the duo to shatter the previous record for the 18-mile Runcible Spoon-to-GWB ride. Of chiropractors and hill climbing: The website has been neglected recently, but Margaret's training has been continuing apace. On the hamstring front, progress continues to be gradual yet encouraging. The latest assessment of Margaret's legs reveals that perhaps they are in fact both the same length, but that her hips are twisted, giving her a lopsided gait. Out comes the heel lift, in goes Margaret to consult with a chiropractor. Evidently, this spine can definitely be untwisted.... And sure enough, after several weeks of adjustments in the competant hands of Dr. Kenneth Blank, Margaret's ankles are lining up much more symmetrically. Let's just hope they stay that way! In addition to diligently stretching, strengthening her core, and aligning her spine, Margaret has also be riding her bike. Yesterday she survived a gruelling training ride at Bear Mountain, in preparation for the race on Saturday, April 30th. It should be a race that suits Margaret's climbing skills, as there as a 2-mile climb at the beginning of each lap. Well, let's hope she can handle the 2-mile descent with just as much aplomb!
Trying to plan the season... which starts next week! What with the demise of the Dannon Duathlon series, and the fact that Canadian and U.S. Duathlon Nationals are taking place less than a week apart, it has been tricky to pin down which duathlons Margaret will be competing in in 2005. Please take the current listings on the Schedule page as hypothetical suggestions at this point. One thing we do know for certain: Margaret is going to be out there racing her bike in just a few weeks. She has joined the impressive group of women who ride for Team Aquafina, and is hoping to make her debut in the Central Park races (that take place before the crack of dawn) before the end of March. P.S. We thought it was time to update the photo on the homepage--and take the chance to experiment with the fun technique of "mouse-overs". We like these pictures not only because they pay tribute to an impressive work of public art, and because they document the cold winter Margaret has been training in, but because the photographer flew in from Toronto to get these shots!
On the road again... Margaret was awoken bright and early on Saturday by the sound of news helicopters overhead--the city was abuzz with the unveiling of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's latest installation, "The Gates". After first conceiving of the project in 1979, they had finally received permission from NYC, and spent several months gradually preparing Central Park. Today was the day that all 7500 saffron-coloured flags were unfurled from the 16-foot tall vinyl Gates. It was a perfect day--both sunny and windy--and the project looked stunning. (Due to the large number of tourists, cyclists should seek out an alternate location for training rides while the Gates remain in the park, between Feb. 12-26.) Far too early on Sunday morning, a large group of dedicated (crazy?) CPTCers gathered at the Daniel Webster statue in their orange finery, and proceeded to do an easy ~4 mile run under as many Gates as possible. The sight of dozens of orange jackets and fleece hats streaming under the waving flags was fabulous. Curious onlookers wondered whether the team had been hired by XTO+JC! Margaret wasn't carrying her camera, but the esteemed CPTC Webmaster has posted some great shots here. |
