Here is a great canadian, pierre lavoie, and ironmanlive decided to do an article on him.
Pierre Lavoie - Men’s 40-44 Age Group Winner
By Fran Arfaras for Ironmanlive.com on Wed, Sep 7th 2005 (11:04 AM).
Our Amazing Age-Group Winners are the backbone of the Ironman race and bring excitement and incredible stories of courage and determination with them. Stay with us throughout the year as we introduce them to you.
Click to view larger image
Click for more photos
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Pierre Lavoie, La Baie Quebec, Canada – Memories Are His Motivation
A lot of athletes race for their favorite cause, but Pierre Lavoie’s motivation comes from a father’s heart. In 1997, his four-year old daughter Laurie died of a hereditary disease called lactic acidosis. In 2000, his 20-month old son, Raphael, also died of the same disease.
“They are always present with me whenever I participate in this type of race,” he said. “It is an advantage I have over my opponents; they motivate me when things go wrong. I only have to think about them and I forget all about physical pain.”
Pierre was not always an athlete - he used to smoke and was your typical couch potato. He began running in 1988 but incurred an injury. Wanting to keep in shape he started riding his bike. Then winter came and he started swimming. As luck would have it, he met some triathletes at the pool and they told him he should try triathlon.
His first triathlon was in 1989, but he was not able to run because his stomach and back hurt too much. Pierre was among the last ones to finish, but was now addicted to triathlons.
That was when he first thought about going to Hawaii one day.
“My interest comes from the fact that triathlon is a very complete sport. It brings a physical and psychological balance,” he said.
Pierre’s training schedule varies from the norm.
From November to the first of April he clocks seven to eight hours of cross country skiing a week, with no swimming, biking or running. He may also throw in mountain biking and snowboarding. This prepares him for the international cross country skiing competitions such as the Canada Keskinada, where he always finishes among the top fifteen.
In the spring he picks up swimming, biking, and running again, putting in about 10 to 15 hours to prepare for the big competitions.
For an Ironman he steps it up to 25-30 hours for three weeks, separated by 15-hour weeks to recuperate.
2004 was Pierre’s seventh time in Hawaii and his 17th Ironman. To show you his consistency as a triathlete, this was his first Ironman over 9:30 – he finished in 9:37!
Pierre said he did nothing special for Kona except that he lost less weight. “In 2003 I was too skinny and had no energy left after the bike. That had never happened before.”
His goal for Hawaii was to finish on the podium, and he was hoping to finish first, “…although you never know what can happen during this type of race,” he said. He finished first in Lake Placid and broke a record, so he knew he had a good chance to win his category in Kona.
“I would say that the wind conditions changed my predictions,” he said. “I was expecting to do 9:10 but the wind did not allow for a record to be broken there.”
However, Pierre finished the swim 19th in his category and finished first on the bike, 4 minutes ahead of the second place finisher.
“The running part scared me even though it’s one of my strengths,” he said. “I tried to run it intelligently because I had a couple of energy breakdowns in my past races and I did not want it to happen there.”
“When I reached the 32nd kilometer I knew I could win because I still had those 4 minutes over the second one and I felt I had a lot of energy left,” he said. “I decided to speed up and finished 12 minutes before the second one. I would not say it was easy because an Ironman is never easy.”
On June 18-19 of this year, Pierre did his own Pierre Lavoie Challenge (650 km in 24 hours) to raise money to finance research on Lactic Acidosis. He then competed in the Ford Lake Placid Ironman on July 24 and placed first in his age group with a time of 9:27:22.
Pierre will be back in Kona this year to defend his title. “I would like to improve my time and overall position,” he said. “I believe Jeff Cuddeback’s record is breakable, but all the elements (training, weather conditions, etc.) will have to be in place.”
Watch for Pierre as he makes his way through the course. If he appears a bit too relaxed for what he’s going through, it’s probably because he’s racing with Laurie and Raphael – in his heart.
In addition to his job as a plant worker for Alcan, Inc., Pierre is currently the spokesperson for CORAMH, a corporation that works for the prevention of hereditary diseases. (See www.aal.qc.ca for information.)
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"The aspect of sport that you learn is that you have your good times and your bad times, but you share it with great people." - George Gregan
Pierre Lavoie - Men’s 40-44 Age Group Winner
By Fran Arfaras for Ironmanlive.com on Wed, Sep 7th 2005 (11:04 AM).
Our Amazing Age-Group Winners are the backbone of the Ironman race and bring excitement and incredible stories of courage and determination with them. Stay with us throughout the year as we introduce them to you.
Click to view larger image
Click for more photos
* * * * *
Pierre Lavoie, La Baie Quebec, Canada – Memories Are His Motivation
A lot of athletes race for their favorite cause, but Pierre Lavoie’s motivation comes from a father’s heart. In 1997, his four-year old daughter Laurie died of a hereditary disease called lactic acidosis. In 2000, his 20-month old son, Raphael, also died of the same disease.
“They are always present with me whenever I participate in this type of race,” he said. “It is an advantage I have over my opponents; they motivate me when things go wrong. I only have to think about them and I forget all about physical pain.”
Pierre was not always an athlete - he used to smoke and was your typical couch potato. He began running in 1988 but incurred an injury. Wanting to keep in shape he started riding his bike. Then winter came and he started swimming. As luck would have it, he met some triathletes at the pool and they told him he should try triathlon.
His first triathlon was in 1989, but he was not able to run because his stomach and back hurt too much. Pierre was among the last ones to finish, but was now addicted to triathlons.
That was when he first thought about going to Hawaii one day.
“My interest comes from the fact that triathlon is a very complete sport. It brings a physical and psychological balance,” he said.
Pierre’s training schedule varies from the norm.
From November to the first of April he clocks seven to eight hours of cross country skiing a week, with no swimming, biking or running. He may also throw in mountain biking and snowboarding. This prepares him for the international cross country skiing competitions such as the Canada Keskinada, where he always finishes among the top fifteen.
In the spring he picks up swimming, biking, and running again, putting in about 10 to 15 hours to prepare for the big competitions.
For an Ironman he steps it up to 25-30 hours for three weeks, separated by 15-hour weeks to recuperate.
2004 was Pierre’s seventh time in Hawaii and his 17th Ironman. To show you his consistency as a triathlete, this was his first Ironman over 9:30 – he finished in 9:37!
Pierre said he did nothing special for Kona except that he lost less weight. “In 2003 I was too skinny and had no energy left after the bike. That had never happened before.”
His goal for Hawaii was to finish on the podium, and he was hoping to finish first, “…although you never know what can happen during this type of race,” he said. He finished first in Lake Placid and broke a record, so he knew he had a good chance to win his category in Kona.
“I would say that the wind conditions changed my predictions,” he said. “I was expecting to do 9:10 but the wind did not allow for a record to be broken there.”
However, Pierre finished the swim 19th in his category and finished first on the bike, 4 minutes ahead of the second place finisher.
“The running part scared me even though it’s one of my strengths,” he said. “I tried to run it intelligently because I had a couple of energy breakdowns in my past races and I did not want it to happen there.”
“When I reached the 32nd kilometer I knew I could win because I still had those 4 minutes over the second one and I felt I had a lot of energy left,” he said. “I decided to speed up and finished 12 minutes before the second one. I would not say it was easy because an Ironman is never easy.”
On June 18-19 of this year, Pierre did his own Pierre Lavoie Challenge (650 km in 24 hours) to raise money to finance research on Lactic Acidosis. He then competed in the Ford Lake Placid Ironman on July 24 and placed first in his age group with a time of 9:27:22.
Pierre will be back in Kona this year to defend his title. “I would like to improve my time and overall position,” he said. “I believe Jeff Cuddeback’s record is breakable, but all the elements (training, weather conditions, etc.) will have to be in place.”
Watch for Pierre as he makes his way through the course. If he appears a bit too relaxed for what he’s going through, it’s probably because he’s racing with Laurie and Raphael – in his heart.
In addition to his job as a plant worker for Alcan, Inc., Pierre is currently the spokesperson for CORAMH, a corporation that works for the prevention of hereditary diseases. (See www.aal.qc.ca for information.)
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"The aspect of sport that you learn is that you have your good times and your bad times, but you share it with great people." - George Gregan