If you've ever put sole to pavement for any period of time — recreationally or competitively — you know that labored breathing comes with the territory. But when your lungs begin to burn intensely and your field of vision begins to narrow from dehydration, it's an entirely different and dangerous state of affairs. Regardless of cause, the message is clear: stop running. But 11 Ironman
® titles later, PowerBar
® Team Elite™ athlete Lisa Bentley has politely ignored that directive, joyfully — if cunningly — pushing through the barriers encountered by so many others with cystic fibrosis, or CF.
"LB" will be the first to tell you that the strain of CF that affects her gene pool is milder than most. But mild is relative when you consider the broad array of symptoms that CF patients must endure. Caused by scarring and cyst formation in the pancreas, CF can cause difficulty in breathing, frequent and persistent lung infections, sinus infections, digestive issues, cramping, poor growth, diarrhea, and fertility problems. It is progressive, but thanks to advances in medical care, people with CF have a life expectancy of 47.7 years in Lisa's home nation of Canada.
"I was diagnosed when I was 20, but I was active, healthy, and doing triathlons, so I didn't pay much attention," she says. "My lung capacity was well over 100 percent, and for most people with CF, theirs would be well under that."
Still, Lisa finds it harder than most to get past chest infections, sometimes enduring symptoms for six weeks or longer — and that's with the aggressive, heavy-duty doses of antibiotics.
"It never impacted my performance," she says with a smile. And looking over her résumé, that certainly seems to be the case. Since abandoning her job as a full-time high school math and computer science teacher in the late 90s, she has crossed the finish line first in 11 Ironman events, including five straight wins at the Australia event and three first-place performances in Canada. In 2006, Lisa finished third against even stiffer competition at the Ironman World Championships.
At 41, she has accomplished more in the world of triathlon than just about anyone, and casual onlookers would never suspect that she has CF.
"Most people with cystic fibrosis wouldn't be able to do one [Ironman], and I've been able to do 33, so I'm thankful for what I've been able to do," she says.
If she has her way, however, Lisa will be doing a lot more yet. Looking ahead, she cites the New York City Marathon as tops on her personal "bucket list"; but knowing that she might not be in a position to be as competitive as she's been in the past, she says that she'd love to just "jump in" at an Ironman or 70.3 and have encouraging chats with her fellow runners.
She prides herself on being a master strategist, something engrained in her as a result of her prominence in mathematics. "On Ironman day, it's the best problem solver that wins," she says. Certainly, her knack for figuring things out has helped her garner her fair share of athletic accolades. She has had to learn how to battle through the symptoms of CF and adapt her training calendar to offset the side effects of her medication. But her cool calculation has had an even more pleasant upshot — a spring of abundant, unmistakable vitality that has thwarted her disease at every turn.
"I was healthy for so long because of sports," she says. "The reason I have diverted the illness is because I have worked my lungs every single day — even in the hospital."
Even without the health benefits, Lisa would train. And even without the promise of medals, Lisa would train. Talking to her, you get the feeling that there's not much that would stop her. You get that feeling for one simple reason: not much has.
Lisa Bentley
Nicknames: "LB" and "Smiley"
Birthdate: November 28, 1968
Birthplace: Etobicoke, Ontario
Hometown: Etobicoke, Ontario
Residence: Caledon, Ontario
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 115 lbs
Website:
www.lisabentley.com
Competition highlights:
11-time Ironman champion; 2nd fastest Ironman debut in history (9:29:45 — Ironman Canada 1997); five consecutive Ironman Australia wins (2002–2006).
Q: When were you first diagnosed with cystic fibrosis?
Lisa: I was diagnosed when I was 20. I wasn't symptomatic, but it's genetic. My sister was symptomatic. They test your whole family. I had been sick as a kid, but no big alarm bells. When I found out, certainly we were aware of the average life span, but none of that really fazed our family because we had a mild strain. Through my career, I've been mainly healthy. If I get an illness or chest infection, it will be worse because my lungs are a breeding ground for nasty bacteria. It would take me over six weeks to get through a chest infection, but it never negated my performance.
Q: So what has been the toughest part about competing with CF?
Lisa: The biggest part was learning how to deal with sodium loss, because people with CF deal with more sodium loss than others. That causes cramping and digestive issues, and it took me a while to learn that. The other X factor is that the type of antibiotics I have to go on, ciprofloxacin, or cipro, is known to create Achilles tendon injuries. I had Achilles tendonitis for like seven years — it got to be chronic. Both of my Achilles are such a mess. As a pro athlete, you just band-aid it — you fix it. But in 2007, I was sidelined for three months because of it. But I have some amazing sports doctors and we ended up rebuilding it so I was able to race a few more years, which is good.
Q: Obviously, you've been able to do a lot with CF. How is it affecting you these days?
Lisa: It's just recently, in the last year, that I've gotten sick from a nasty chest infection. I had to go on IV for five weeks to get rid of that. This is the first time that it's really affected my career. Before, with each breath I would breathe in 3.4 litres of oxygen. Now it's down to 2.1 litres. So for the first time, I probably couldn't be competitive in pro races.
Q: And what do your docs say?
Lisa: They are pretty positive about everything. They'll never accept my new lung capacity and are always finding ways to make it better. I'm on an experimental drug to get healthy. But even in the hospital, they would bring me a bike into my room every single day to keep my lungs working. They'd tell me that if I could ride my bike two times a day, that's two times that I'd be able to clean my lungs. They say that I wouldn't be happy if I raced, but they say that I absolutely could. Eventually, I would love to get into a race and just race for kicks and giggles, just for fun — and that's okay with me because I love to race. I always say you play the deck of cards you've got, and I want to play them.
Q: Many kids — even if they're good at it — grow up hating math. You ended up being a math teacher. How did that happen?
Lisa: I love school. I just love learning. I would get up at 5:30 and study. I just always wanted to do my best. I wanted to be an English teacher, but my math teacher convinced me to teach math. So I went to university and got a math and computer science degree. It taught me to be a problem solver. I always used to tease people that on Ironman day, it's the best problem solver that wins. You have to figure out when to eat, what to eat, when to drink, when to take a salt pill. And you wouldn't believe how many people forget how long a marathon is! I'm always calculating what pace per mile I need to be at. I just always wanted to be the best I could be. Then when I started triathlons, I wanted to be the best at triathlons. It was more the underlying characteristic that pushed me a bit further into sports.
Q: How did you first get into triathlons?
Lisa: As a runner, I'd always swim and bike to keep fit. At university, I met friends at all the triathlons and tried my first one. It was social and athletic, all rolled into one. I just loved triathlon, loved the people in it, and loved that I could compete in three sports. The first year I competed, 1989, I did so many races. I think I even did a Half Ironman that year. Back then, you were crazy if you did an Ironman. I raced so often and I loved it. I always compared myself to who won the event, even though I was an amateur.
Q: How did you know it was time to venture into full Ironman distance?
Lisa: I love to train all day long. I love it. I just love to run long or get on my bike and ride for hours. It was just natural for me to exercise for a long time. People would talk about fainting and passing out because of bad nutrition or whatever, and I just thought, "This is fantastic and I love it!" When I heard about Ironman with aid stations and people giving you support along the way, I thought, "This is the best thing in the world that they take care of me all day long!"
Q: Your first long race was the Strongman in 1997, where you broke the course record. Once you realized what you were up against, what did you think?
Lisa: It was so fun! I don't know that it ever felt that easy again. When you're so happy to do something, it never feels like work. When you love it, it feels effortless. Of course, I went through the years of overtraining and I just got more and more tired and burned out and didn't enjoy it anymore. That was 1998. Then I started having the sodium issues and started figuring out the hard stuff like the nutrition and the sodium.
Q: Racing the Ironman is different for every competitor. What is the hardest part for you?
Lisa: I don’t know if any of it is hard. I mean the run's hard because you're so tired. Even though I'm a runner, it's hard. It's the end of the day and you're tired and you're ready to go home. But I find the bike hard because you're riding for such a long time and it's such a long time to be using those big quad muscles. For me, because it's so long, it magnifies it as being my weakness. I still ride well, but a lot of girls ride better than me. Then I think I have to run 20 minutes faster on the marathon. I'm a good biker but not the best biker. It's a long time to not be the best.
Q: Did you work with a nutritionist or did you plan all of your fueling yourself?
Lisa: I didn't work with a nutritionist. I knew what I had to do. I never had nutrition problems. It was mainly the sodium part. I ate
PowerBar® Sport Energy™ bars from the beginning. I did some research and found a lab in Hawaii that did sodium testing where they actually calculate how much sodium I lose per hour in my sweat. Then I figured out exactly what I needed to do — how many salt pills I needed to take and could take and still function. In 1998, I sweated out so much sodium that at the end of the race I almost passed out. If you don't have a great race, you've got to learn from it. It was my worst ever, but also my best because I solved this issue of sodium and added that into my nutrition plan the following year.
Q: Where do PowerBar® products fit into the training of an Ironman competitor-in-training?
Lisa: Before I'd go out for a long ride, I'd eat a couple of Sport Energy bars and maybe a banana. That was always my Ironman breakfast. Then I'd have one Sport Energy bar per hour. If I was on the run and couldn't eat I would have a few
PowerBar® Energy Gels per hour, or one gel every 20 minutes. But every year, they get new products. Then I added in recovery drinks. Then came
PowerBar ProteinPlus® protein bars, so I added that in, and those would sometimes be a snack. As they create more products, I seem to find a use for them.
PowerBar® Gel Blasts™ Energy chews are kind of fun — you don't have to commit to a full gel. They're tiny and a bit of fun. But these products are crucial — pre-race, post-race, and certainly during races. I have done the same thing every Ironman I've been in.
Q: Are your competing days over?
Lisa: If I got a start in Hawaii, I would definitely do it. But I'd have to qualify. I'd really love to run the New York City Marathon. I've never run the marathon. But I think I'd be slightly disappointed because I could have done it so well years ago. The Muskoka 70.3 is in September. I'd love to maybe jump in and not even put on a number. I just want to be out there with my friends. That's what the triathlon community is to me. But I haven't planned anything yet. With the new drug therapy I'm on, I'm still not sure of all the side effects. I don't want to be on this medicine the rest of my life. Either it works and it's great or it doesn't and I go off it and just accept that this is what it is. I'm going to keep everybody in suspense.
Q: What is the best advice you might give to someone looking to try their hand at an Ironman?
Lisa: Be the best that you can be with what you've got. That might be a day that goes amazing or a day when you get a flat tire, lose your nutrition, or get a bee sting. That's your day and you just have to maximize it.
Q: What type of exercise are you doing these days to stay fit?
Lisa: I just rode 4.5 hours today! I just want to make sure everything works well. I just want to make sure I don't dig myself into any holes! Generally I'm swimming, biking, or running every single day, 2–3 hours a day. Worst case, I try to do an hour a day if I'm too busy with work or coaching. I want to be fit enough that I can be a good coach and go out with my athletes, even if it's only for a few seconds. I do plyometrics three times per week. I usually do some strength training too.
To learn more about cystic fibrosis or what you can do to help, visit the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at www.cysticfibrosis.ca or the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at www.cff.org.
If you’re interested in learning about PowerBar Team Elite athletes or how you can join the ranks, click on the Team Elite link at PowerBar.com.
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