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Summary
On episode 293 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Diane Bergeron, a blind athlete and returning guest who, after a did-not-finish two years earlier, went back and completed a full Ironman at Mont-Tremblant.
Diane walks through race day start to finish: the nerves at the start line, the calm that hit the moment her face touched the water, conquering the Mont Duplessis hill she’d had to walk before, and a conservative marathon strategy built to protect her from the burnout that ended her first attempt.
She also breaks down the years of targeted training that got her there, how she trained around two separate injuries, her recovery protocol, and what’s next: a Boston qualifying attempt and an all-blind relay team for Canada’s Death Race.
Links
- https://blindironvision.com
Key Takeaways
- Diane rebuilt her training around her actual weak point after a DNF. After heat stroke ended her first Ironman attempt, she looked honestly at what she could control and identified the run as her weakest leg, since she’d never completed a full marathon before that Ironman cycle.
- She trained the legs of the race where time is actually won or lost. Diane could have shaved 15 minutes off her swim, but says that’s not where an Ironman is won. She put her real focus into the run and the bike, because a strong bike leg alone can save an hour.
- Nerves faded the moment the race actually started. Diane was anxious eating breakfast and again when the announcer called her out as the visually impaired athlete, but the moment her face hit the water for the swim, the anxiety disappeared and stayed gone until the finish line.
- She trained through injuries instead of stopping cold. Tendonitis in her arm improved once she got back in the water for a scheduled open-water swim rather than resting it indefinitely, and shin pain was resolved with better shoes, physical therapy, and dialing back an overtraining pattern.
- Recovery is a non-negotiable weekly discipline, not an afterthought. Diane built in at least one full rest day every week regardless of training load, and followed a light-activity-only protocol (foam rolling, easy spins, no running) for weeks after big efforts, including a full week of near-total rest after the Ironman itself on her coach’s orders.
- She beat the Mont Duplessis hill by refusing to get off the bike. On her first attempt, the steep 7-kilometer climb forced her to walk. This time she was determined not to dismount no matter what, and she and her guide rode it start to finish while many other athletes walked their bikes.
- The marathon leg was run conservatively on purpose. Rather than chasing a fast run split, Diane and her guide power-walked and ran easy intervals to protect against the burnout at kilometer 21 that had derailed her previous attempt, prioritizing finishing healthy over finishing fast.
- Blind athletes race under the same rules and clock as everyone else. Diane notes there’s no separate time allowance for disabled athletes in Ironman; she raced on a tandem bike with a guide but under the identical time cutoffs as every other competitor.
- Her next goals are a Boston qualifier and an all-blind relay team. Diane is targeting a sub-five-hour marathon to qualify for Boston in the visually impaired category, and is assembling the first five-person all-blind relay team to run Canada’s 125-kilometer Death Race in August.
“A race is like a training day with valet parking and catering services.”
Diane Bergeron