If asked which of our local athletes would be next to win an Ironman event, most would have to say Mary Uhl. Uhl has placed in the top five in 3 IM events over the past few years and ranks as our biggest threat in the pro ranks. Not only does she race out of her mind on the long course, but she comes down to earth to race with us mere mortals at several SWCS events per season. TT/NM took the time to talk to Mary about her career in our latest 10 Questions..........

Mary Among The Mortals At The Defined Fitness Du

TT/NM......Hi Mary, great race at IM Canada. 4^th place at IM USA, 3^rd place in Canada…….which IM course fits your skills the best……..and when are you going to take the overall win?

Mary Uhl.....I also have a 2^nd at IM USA and a 13^th in Kona in 1999. I think the hillier, windier and hotter it is, the better I do. Not that I get faster under those conditions, but others get slower by more. Overall wins are, of course, difficult to predict, as you never know who will be at a race and you certainly can’t control their performance! Being in the hunt at a competitive Ironman race (like Canada) is always my goal.  

 

TT/NM.....I read your five goals for IM Canada on the Triclub NM website……..you’re a threat in the women’s pro ranks whenever you race………do you plan your race around winning?

MU.....Well, if I have been planning my Ironmans around winning, it hasn’t been very effective planning!

At some point placing well comes into play, but Ironmans are pretty difficult to complete, so finishing has to come first sometimes. In 1999 at Ironman USA, I had to sprint the final mile of the marathon to stay ahead of a fast-closing Jan Wanklyn and hold onto 2^nd place. I would have never guessed or planned the way that Canada came about—I had a great position (3^rd) after the swim, but lost places on the bike to start the run in 8th. Usually I have one of the fastest bike splits for the pro women, but that wasn’t the case on that day. I didn’t feel that I was running particularly fast in Canada (and I don’t wear a watch, so I don’t know my pace unless I get it from a spotter), I had no idea that the women ahead of me would be that much slower on the run and I could move back into 3^rd. For that matter, all of these Ironmans play out differently. However, you have to be strongly in the race at 8.5-9 hours, you can’t be fading, so if there is one thing that I plan, it is to be in the race at 8.5 hours, and not care too much about the race at 3 hours. The race at 3 hours and the race at 8.5 hours are frequently quite different races, and there is no prize for your placing at 3 hours. 

 

What are the benefits of training in Santa Fe? The altitude? The bad drivers? The Santa Fe river for open water training?

Benefits of training in Santa Fe include that I have a great job here! I am actually quite fortunate to live in such a beautiful place—the mountains are powerful motivation. The people here in Santa Fe are great, too, I have so many friends here. Access to healthy, organic foods is also a benefit—my vegan, organic diet is a big factor in keeping me healthy and allowing me to compete on this level. So, I have a beautiful place to train, a very fun job, good people surrounding me and the availability of good quality fuel. The altitude is not a benefit, it is actually a hindrance. I’m trying to do more and more of my training at 5000 feet or below. For this race, I think I got down to 5000 almost once a week in the 6 weeks that I trained for it. I guess I could try tethering myself in the river for a swim, but it’s a bit shallow, especially this year. Since I do most of my bike training on the CompuTrainer, I don’t notice if there are bad drivers in Santa Fe. Are there?  

 

I read a quote from Greg LeMond somewhere that said, “It doesn’t hurt any less, you just go faster”. Is that true? At the elite Pro ranks……..are you in as much pain as us age groupers?

Well, I’m certainly not in the same galaxy as someone like Greg LeMond, and I’m not sure there are many pro triathletes who are. Pain?? Hurt?? I do this for fun. If it were truly painful, I wouldn’t be doing it. However, I do notice that when I am overtrained, things can get quite painful. When I’m rested, everything feels rather effortless and balanced and fun.  

 

How did you get your start in triathlon?

I’m actually a dinosaur in the world of triathlon; I’d say I was in the sport of triathlon most of my life! When I was really young, I was a competitive swimmer and used to like to run a lot, too. My swim coach didn’t like the running, he told my parents it would ruin my flexibility and shorten my muscles (how true!). I started racing triathlons in 1984. I swam and played tennis in high school, but couldn’t make it on either team at Purdue University. I did aerobics, ran and played a lot of racquetball in college. Some of my racquetball friends were doing a triathlon, and they convinced me that because I could swim, I should do the race, too. None of them could swim. My brother was a collegiate cross-country and track runner, and he thought this triathlon stuff would be easy, so we had a bet as to who would finish first—the swimmer or the runner. I was pretty diligent in my training, as I was scared to death that a triathlon would be very difficult. His swim training consisted of dangling his legs in the pool while I swam lap after lap. We went to a race in northern Indiana and Julie Moss and one other woman beat me. My brother was pretty far behind me. It was all very fun and I won a pair of shoes! The next race I did, I was the leader until the last mile of the run when a couple of men passed me. What a blast riding behind a police cruiser with the sirens going!!! The next summer I did a ½ Ironman and qualified for Kona. I was 19 years old, had never run a marathon or biked more than 80 miles, but I paced myself and finished. Back in 1985, there were no aerobars, no electrolyte drinks, no energy bars and no gels. I did the entire race on water and a jelly sandwich. The roof of my mouth was sore for a week after (electrolyte imbalance, probably).

For some reason, this experience led me to want to do more of these crazy races. I’m still trying to figure out why!  

 

You’ve raced locally a few times this season…..do you use those races as training/speed work?

I’d like to race more locally, it is fun, but races are races and not training, so they can be hard and require more recovery, which doesn’t always fit in with my objectives for a race in the future. No matter how big or small the race, I always put a little extra effort in over what I would do in training, so the local races are more than just training, I think.  

 

There has been lot’s of talk about needing an IM distance race in our region…….although the bigger name athletes are split on the idea……would you support or race in such an event?

Depends on what you define as the region. There is already a very good Ironman-distance race in Boulder, the 5430 Triathlon. Beth Spiegel puts the race on, and she is a great race director (and very nice person, as well). I would encourage everyone to do that race; it is safe, fun and well run. I certainly support any race director that aims to put on a safe, fun event. I am personally not interested in racing an Ironman at 7000 feet. Ironmans at sea level are hard enough! 

 

What’s your race schedule for the balance of this season? Next season?

So the 9:41 at Ironman Canada is not enough?? I have to race more?

I have a few ideas about what the future might hold, but nothing firm. I’ll probably pick another Ironman out next spring or so. In the meantime, I enjoy Olympic distance and sprint triathlons, too. Every once in a while I like to jump in a duathlon, too, especially if the field is really competitive. 

 

Do you have sponsors to help in your racing efforts? How tough is it to find and keep sponsors happy?

My sponsors are the best—Saucony, CompuTrainer and CarbBoom. I would have to credit my sponsors in assisting me in my race efforts. Saucony makes running shoes that work for everyone! I never get running injuries. Saucony’s new trail shoe, the Grid Xterra is particularly good for frequent trail runners (like me). It really grips the trail. I race in the Grid Spy, which feels like nothing, it is so lightweight.

CompuTrainer makes the best bike training tool that you can buy. I’m on my Computrainer at least 2-3 times a week. The CompuTrainer is invaluable for triathletes with limited training time (I guess that is all of us!). I can get in a great workout in 45 minutes to an hour. The quality workouts on the CompuTrainer and the feedback that I get from it are crucial to my success. You can easily track your progress and how much you have improved.

CarbBoom makes a wonderful energy gel that really tastes good. My personal favorite flavor is banana-peach, although all the flavors are good. I mix up the flavors during an Ironman so that I don’t get bored.

I’m not sure how tough it is to find sponsors right now, since I haven’t been seeking them out lately. Anytime the economy is tanking, it is difficult. I know many of athletes that are at the top of the sport lost their sponsors recently. 

 

 

What’s the toughest part of an IM race for you?

HMMMM…

The day before is kind of the toughest part of the whole process since you can’t do too much. It’s hard to sit around on the couch—I’m not big on watching TV.

No part of an Ironman race is easy, but I guess the toughest part for me is the swim start and catching a good pack on the swim. You have to go so hard at the beginning, and it just seems so silly to go that hard in a race that lasts so long. However, at the pro level in Ironman racing, sometimes the difference between 1^st and 2^nd and 3^rd or 4^th is on the order of seconds. You can lose a minute or two if you aren’t in a fast pack or have to swim alone, so the swim start really matters and you can’t afford to mess it up if you want to place well.