2026 catch up and summary

By Orangy -

Wow. I can't believe I have not updated this blog for almost a year. Time does fly when you are busy!

Here is the recap of the first 7 months of 2026. After Portage Lake Triathlon in 2025, I ran the Akron marathon (#7!), the half marathon at Run with Scissors (which was officially canceled but we ran the course anyway), and the 50K at Regal Beagle. The 50K went well and I waited until the last minute to decide if I wanted to run the 25K or the 50K. I bit the bullet and signed up for the 50K because my training was kinda going well. 

Half marathon in Brescia, Italy

2026 started off with a half marathon in Brescia, Italy, in March. We signed up for this race because we had Delta credits in the account due to the flight cancellation in December. We used the points to buy tickets to Milan then I found a half marathon in Brescia. So, it was a quick getaway Europe trip :)

   


Pleasant Valley Duathlon in May

Four days before we left for France, I did a duathlon at Mohican State Park. I originally signed up for a sprint triathlon, but because of the lack of swimming practice and how cold the water was in May, I decided to switch to a duathlon instead. It was a different experience racing a duathlon. I came in 3rd overall female (because the pool was quite small)! 


Tri training in France 

Because we were going to be in France for only a month and most of the time I would be working anyway, it's pointless to bring a bike with us to France. Thank god France is a super bike-friendly country, and they love cyclists; there were many bike rental shops in the city. I did not have much time for swimming due to the logistics and transportation but I managed to get some ride and run miles in while we were there. The last long ride before we left was 50 miles on a rental hybrid bike LOL 

   
 

 

Bike accident and injury in July 

Like God did not think that my life was challenging enough, on the 4th of July weekend, I went out for an easy shake-out ride on Sunday morning (I just did a 100-mile ride on that Friday) and had a bike crash. I broke my teeth and had multiple wounds on my face and body, which put the training on hold for more than a week :( 




















This is an uber short summary of my life leading up to the Ironman Ottawa in 2026, which I will write a race report in a separate blog. 

Sydney


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