Back in March I started thinking about the 2025 summer race season. At that point it was still cold, my HbA1c was at around 7.4, and training inside was the name of the game. Cold morning walks to the pool, cold afternoon walks to the gym, and what felt like cold walks downstairs to the bike in the basement. Very different from the training I had been doing for years in the Spanish sun.

I felt confident, though, in what I could accomplish in my first year back racing in Quebec. The lack of hills would seriously alter the overall style of racing, less of a death march and more of a racing mentality. And, more importantly, I knew that the level of competition was simply not as severe here in Canada. Spanish triathletes are damn good, no matter the age. I had been humbled in many races over there, now it was time to get things going again. So I sat down in March and wrote this:

“So I’ll say it here – I am shooting for some pretty good results this season. Anything worse than 1^st in my age group will leave me disappointed, and some high overall rankings are not unexpected. I know, I know, I’m setting myself up for disappointment, but I really cannot race any other way. Sorry.”

My HbA1c has been coming down, it is now at about 6.5. I’ve been training outside since May (it is now August), riding and running mostly outside except when the weather forces me either to the basement or the gym. Swimming has been either at the local pool (I started dragging my daughter with me a few months ago, she is getting back into swimming as an alternate form of training for soccer) or at the outdoor 50m pool at the Centre Aquatique Jean Drapeau, which involves a 45-minute bike ride each way, so a great training morning.

So on to the races. I did two sprints in June, one in Laval and one at St. Lambert. In Laval they added the 50-54 and 55-59 age groups together, so officially I came in 4^th, but in my age group (55-59) I came in 1^st. Then on to St. Lambert, 1^st in the 55-59 age group. Next up were two Olympic distance races in July, Verdun and Valleyfield. 2^nd in Verdun and then 1^st in Valleyfield. To be honest, I could have done better in Verdun, but the heat of the day just killed me during the run. Overall, not a bad season so far.

Next up is the Challenge Esprit, the long one of the season (a ½ Ironman), followed by (maybe) the Boucherville Olympic distance race and then the season-ending ½ marathon of Lasalle. I think I still have some power left in the legs for the next few races. Ideally by then my HbA1c will be down around 6.3, with a goal of going sub-6 during the winter months. We shall see. But overall I am happy with the return to racing here in Quebec.