Triathlete Paula Findlay runs on Monday in King City, Ont., as part of her final preparations for the of the Pan American Games.Mark Blinch/The Globe and Mail
In 2011, or shortly after her breakthrough into the upper echelon of women's triathlon, Paula Findlay did one of those celebrity question-and-answer interviews with an Edmonton newspaper.
To question No. 2 – What would you be doing if not this? – Findlay's answer was: "Studying medicine at the University of Alberta."
Little did Findlay know how soon she would actually be studying medicine, though strictly in an unofficial capacity – as the patient, not as the woman behind the stethoscope.
A five-time winner on the ITU World Triathlon Series, Findlay has suffered a litany of injuries since she became one of Canada's best female triathletes. At 26, Findlay's best-documented problems include the hip injury that occurred just before the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, when she tried to compete through the pain but ultimately finished at the back of the field in an event she'd entered as one of the favourites. Since then, there have been foot issues, knee problems and a stress fracture of her pelvis, all of which tested her resolve. No wonder her motto is the old Japanese proverb: Fall seven times, stand up eight.
But things are looking up for Findlay. The women's triathlon is set to go this weekend at the Pan Am Games in Toronto, and after a slow start to her season, Findlay is coming off an eighth-place finish in her most recent triathlon – in London at the end of May – plus a win in a 15-kilometre run in Toronto last month.
Now, Findlay says she's put the disappointment of the London Games and the various injuries behind her. "It's funny, I have a training log where I keep track of my workouts and what's hurting, but I don't like thinking about what went wrong in the past," she says. "It's really negative to dwell on that, to think of the problems I've had.
"But at the same time," she adds, "it's important to recognize them because you need to be strengthening things that are weak, that are leading to these problems. I have a really good strength coach [Erin Carson] who I'm working with, and she knows what my weaknesses are and she knows what injuries I've had. I feel now I'm a stronger athlete, more resilient, that I'm not going to break down physically in workouts. I can withstand a 30-hour training week because I'm doing targeted work in the gym specifically tailored to me, and what I need for my body."
Unlike most elite athletes, who can focus on specific training for their chosen sport, triathletes swim, cycle and run, and thus require more complex programs. The challenge is to train enough so that they're peaking for a competition, but not overtraining to the point that their bodies break down. It's a tricky balance, and one Findlay will acknowledge she hasn't always got right.
"There has to be a lot of good communication and feedback between a coach and athlete," she said. "I've gone through a lot of relationships with different coaches that weren't awesome, communication-wise, and others that were. I found that the better the communication, the more there's an understanding and a trust and the better you can manage injury and fatigue and get the most out of each day.
"I've become better over the years at giving feedback, and knowing my own body," she adds. "No one else knows what I'm feeling except for me. She can't feel if my hip or knee is sore, or if I'm tired or if I had a bad sleep. All of that feedback – it's my responsibility to tell her and then she can design the program accordingly."
There was a time when Findlay maintained an on-line blog to update her supporters about her progress, but nowadays, she spends more time writing in her journal and keeping her thoughts private.
"I found it hard to blog when you're not having good races, and you've hit a bit of a rough spot, because it just feels like you're constantly complaining or making excuses or delivering bad news," she says. "I just kind of got sick of that, so … It's fun to blog when you're writing about all the great races you're having, or all your race reports, but I kind of fell off a bit when I was having a rough go of it."
Findlay is looking for a good result at the Pan Ams to extend the encouraging run she's been on of late. But longer term, her eyes are squarely on Rio de Janeiro and competing in the 2016 Olympics.
"My confidence comes from racing well, and coming off two really good races recently gives me a little more confidence for Pan Ams – just knowing I do still have it and my fitness is coming along," she says. "It's almost a good thing – to start [a season] a little bit rocky and finish on a high, because the most important races are at the tail end. It's hard to be on fire from March until September."
It's a cliché, she admits, but she insists she's getting stronger every day, and making big gains because she's staying healthy. "I'm doing everything I can – eating the best I can, sleeping as much as I can, paying attention to the details," she says. "I think all those things add up and hopefully lead to a good race in Toronto."
Findlay started out as a swimmer at the age of 11, and then picked up running in high school, participating in school events and relying on her swimming fitness to get some good results. She joined a track club in Grade 10 and her coach suggested she give triathlon a shot. That year, she received a bicycle for Christmas and competed in her first triathlon the next spring. From there, she was hooked.
"I used to do it just because I was good at it and had some success really early, and never really thought of it as my career," Findlay says. "It was just something I was doing – I was running races, I was making national teams, but I didn't see it as a profession. I still wanted to go to school and be a doctor. Now, I'm treating it more like a job. I'm a little more grown up; I'm around people who are doing triathlon as a career."
But it can be a grind. "It's not always enjoyable," she says. "If any athlete said they loved every single second of every workout that would be a lie. But I love going for bike rides and I love going for runs and I'm lucky to be doing it in Boulder [Colorado], which is a beautiful place to be outside."
As for eventually becoming a doctor, Findlay isn't certain if she'll be ready for med school when her athletic career winds down.
"I've always been interested in science and the physiology of how we do what we do every day," she said. "And then of course, by default, I've learned a lot about anatomy and everything through my injuries and experience. It does definitely interest me. The amount of time it would take to become a doctor is intimidating at this point, because I still do want to have a career in triathlon."
She isn't ruling it out, though. "I'm not exactly sure what my career path will be post-sport, but it is an interest and I'll keep it in mind," she says. "I know a couple of athletes who've gone back to school in their late 30s while pursuing sport, so it's definitely doable. I'm going to keep an open mind, and keep training for now."