Work Life 

Coffee, cooking oil and a long, chilly swim 
When people ask Leanne Yohemas-Hayes about her activities away from the newsroom, the answer frequently comes as a surprise.  
 
 

4:45 a.m. Friday, June 30.

“Hit the snooze button,” I groan to my husband Mike as the alarm jangles us awake. Snooze-button détente has become part of our triathlon-training routine. How many times can we hit it and be at the lake on time?

Every Friday during the summer starts this way. We have to be out the door by 5:25 a.m. to make it to Meech Lake before 6 a.m.

Usually, for a journalist, Meech conjures up images of back-room politics and the failed Accord. But for a journalist who is a triathlete, Meech Lake at 6 a.m. means coffee, cooking oil and a long, chilly swim.

Once at the lake we meet up with about a dozen other bleary-eyed swimmers. Many, like us, sip coffee as they grab their gear from their cars and head off to the beach. We cover our bodies with cooking-oil spray, which helps us slip in and out of our wetsuits. The lake is still too cool without one. By 6:10 a.m. the whole lot of us are swimming across the lake.

Swimming is the first part of a triathlon competition. The others are biking and running.

Many colleagues and friends think I’m crazy spending my time this way. A co-worker once joked that beating myself up with a baseball bat would probably be less painful.

For the past two years Mike and I have been training and competing in Ironman triathlons. This mega-triathlon consists of a four-kilometre swim, 180-kilometre bike ride, topped off with a 42-kilometre marathon. We’ve worked our way up gradually to this major feat by training and competing in shorter versions.

I started triathlons because I wanted to try one, to help me get into shape after living and travelling overseas for six months. I first met Mike in the swimming pool and he pointed out some races I should try. I was hooked.

Mike and I work full-time. We also squeeze in a few hours of training every day, with longer sessions on weekends. We’re up nearly every weekday morning before 5:30 a.m. to swim or lift weights. We rarely eat dinner before 8 p.m. because we’re biking or running after work. In the winter we follow the pretty much the same routine but cross-country skis replace bikes.

We’re serious about our training and racing. At the Lake Placid Ironman, which I’ve done twice, I’ve ranked 2^nd in my 30 to 35 age group, between the top 10 and 15 overall place for women.

Illness and a flat tire slowed me down considerably in my third race — the daunting Hawaii Ironman. I finished, but about an hour slower than my best time of 10 hours and 50 minutes. I had mixed feelings about this world championship race. I was disappointed with my result but satisfied that I finished in such tough conditions. It was one of the windiest races Hawaii has ever seen.

Many colleagues and friends think I’m crazy spending my time this way. A co-worker once joked that beating myself up with a baseball bat would probably be less painful. For those who quiz me about my passion, the question after “Why do you do it?” is “How do you do it? How do you balance work at your day job and training for such a gruelling event?”

Balancing training with reporting is tough. But I would argue that combining training with any other demanding career is equally challenging. I’ve met triathletes from nearly every profession from fire-fighters and stay-at-home-moms to doctors, lawyers and politicians.

I’m not superwoman. I don’t have a magic formula. The nature of news means I’ve had to learn to cope with having my day tied to other people’s schedules. It has taught me to be very efficient with my time.

I never workout during the noon-hour — it’s next to impossible to find time. Meeting people at specific times to train after work rarely happens. Inevitably something else comes up, and I have to cancel. I might plan my day around a court hearing scheduled for the morning, only to get to the courthouse and discover a legal glitch means it won’t happen until late afternoon. Major political announcements often seem to pop up near the end of the day as well. When this happens, I immediately say goodbye to any thought of leaving “on time.”

To cope, I plan my key workouts in the morning. As painful as getting up early is, at least I’m guaranteed to fit in one quality session. I consider any after-work training session a bonus.

To fit more in, I often run to or from work, leaving clothes at the office. I also ride my bike to work with the intention of heading off to the Gatineau Hills, a park outside of Ottawa, to train after work.

Luckily for me, I’ve found a training buddy. Sheila grabs her training time early in the morning while her husband and toddler are still asleep. Training with Sheila was most appreciated when I worked every weekend at Canadian Press. Since I started at 10:30 a.m., I had her to train with before work. Since my husband has weekends off, his training routine was different than mine.

My plans aren’t always executed perfectly. I try to have everything ready the night before work — from homemade muffins, to the gear I’ll need for a track workout. One rushed day I got to the track nearly on time only to discover I had forgotten my running shoes. Another woman offered me her extra pair of shoes. It was a size-and-a-half too big but it was better than watching from the sidelines.

Competing gives me a tremendous sense of accomplishment. It’s a similar feeling to breaking a story but on a much more personal level. Everything depends on me. There are no editors to bounce ideas off and correct copy. I have a coach and training books to guide me but in the end, my performance depends on my motivation and how well I plan my training.

The feedback from training is unique. It’s constant and it’s from within. It ranges from an improved time in a race to how well I feel during or after a particularly tough workout.

I’m not so obsessed that I don’t have fun. But my kind of fun may seem unusual. I like to choose interesting places to race and train. Lately, Mike and I have taken cycling vacations in Mallorca, Spain. We work out with other cyclists in the morning, go for a swim or run directly after, and then spend the rest of the day relaxing by the sea or touring the island. Spending two weeks training and having someone else look after meals is the ultimate vacation for people who constantly try and fit workouts around a job.

One of my toughest challenges is keeping on top of the news — a prerequisite for a journalist. Each day I try and read at least one newspaper before heading to work. Sometimes, on really busy training weeks, I may have to limit my reading to the front pages of each section. Spinning on my bike trainer in the basement is great because if I go easy, I can read and ride at the same time.

During any slow times at work or while I’m eating lunch, I try and skim through the other papers. I listen to the radio constantly. I rarely watch television news. I’m usually in bed before the 10 p.m. news because I need at least seven or eight hours of sleep to stay healthy and sharp the next day.

I may train many hours, frequently between 12 and 23 hours per week, but it’s also a very social time. I’m constantly meeting people from a wide range of professions. This has helped me foster ideas and discover interesting stories.

People always ask me if I ever get tired. Sure, like anyone else, there may be times I may feel like I’m dragging a bit, but mostly that happens during a slow news day. It’s nothing that a cup of coffee can’t cure.

Training helps with professional endurance. Sitting in long committee meetings doesn’t seem as long after solo training rides of up to seven hours.

I’ve recently left Canadian Press to go back to broadcasting. Like most newcomers at the CBC, I’m a freelancer. But life as a freelancer isn’t as free as it sounds.

There are days when I can workout a bit longer during daylight because I haven’t been called in to work. On the other side, I have to be prepared to cancel my training plans if I get called into work. So it’s back to the early morning routine because more often than not, I end up getting called in. And I always choose work over training.

No matter how much I plan, I’ve had to skip early morning workouts.

It rarely happens but when it does, it’s mostly because the snooze button was pressed one too many times. And in those cases, the extra rest is well deserved. 

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Leanne Yohemas-Hayes is a freelance journalist who has recently moved to Calgary.