RACE REPORT
Elite Catchup with Jeff Symonds and Brent McMahon
Nobody was more pleased than Jeff Symonds when it was announced that Ironman Canada was returning to the Okanagan region in B.C. As a Penticton athlete, Symonds was inspired by local triathlon champions such as Kevin Cutjar and Tom Evans. Symonds himself, has made his mark both in Penticton and worldwide, coming third in the 2011 Ironman 70.3 World Championship, taking the title at Ironman Melbourne in 2015, as well as winning Challenge Penticton in 2013, 2014 and 2016.
You had a rather unfortunate start to your season last year, tell us about that. JEFF SYMONDS: Shortly after I did an early season sprint race, I went for a ride on a local trail. I was going faster than I thought and I went over a bump. The bump turned into a jump. I’m not a great mountain biker – I got launched and broke my collar bone.
How has your healing gone? I had to go for surgery and they put in a plate. I gave it time to settle in, but while I was swimming one day I snapped one of the screws. I know when a screw snaps on your bike it’s really hard to get out, but the surgeon managed to get it out and replace it. Now I have the Cadillac model and it seems to be holding up well. Unfortunately, by the time it fully healed, our 2019 race season was over, so I was really focusing on 2020. The plan was to start things off with an Ironman in St. George, but because of the COVID-19 situation, that couldn’t happen.
While you were healing you were introduced to Zwift and have been on it a lot. What is the appeal of it for you? One thing is that my brother is on it and we can ride together. I also like how you can just shut your brain off and ride. Often when I am alone on the road I over think things like looking at my power numbers, but with Zwift I just like to sometimes just get in a group ride and let the numbers fall where they fall.
How have your first rides on the “real” road gone this year? I rode a little while back with my girlfriend in Penticton. We did the McLean Creek road portion of the Ironman Canada course and it has some steep downhill parts on sketchy pavement, so I was a bit nervous. But the ride was a good reminder that riding outside is fun. A different kind of fun.
You commented earlier that as a professional triathlete you may be better equipped than most to deal with the social isolation and uncertainty that Canadians are all facing right now. Why is that? As a professional, especially when you are ramping up your training, you really tend to self-isolate. You aren’t going out partying or hanging out in big groups. That’s both to save your energy as well as to avoid catching anything that somebody else may have. As a professional your immune system can be compromised from the demands of training at the highest level. From a financial perspective, professional athletes live with uncertainty. You are always a bit on edge because you never know when you will get paid next, since a lot of the money comes from race results and there’s never any guarantee of a paycheque.