PK Performance Coaching

One of the questions I get asked constantly is “how much time do I need to train for a half Ironman?” And my typical answer is always “it depends” which isn’t always the answer people want to hear. How long depends on what your current base of fitness is. It depends on your starting point.

So I broke it down two ways. If you’re coming from sprint distance training, you’re looking at a longer runway, closer to six months, because you’re not just adding hours, you’re teaching your body to hold effort for way longer than it’s used to. If you’re already doing Olympic distance, you’ve got more of a base built already, so on paper the runway could be shorter as long as you’ve maintained some training consistency after your last race of the season.

In my group program everyone gets the full six months regardless of where they’re starting. If you’re coming in with Olympic experience, that extra time doesn’t go to waste, it just gets used differently. More time on skills, more time building a bigger base before the volume ramps up, instead of rushing straight into the harder weeks.

Neither path asks you to double your training overnight. That’s not how good training works, and if a plan is asking for that kind of jump in week two, I’d be cautious of it.

If you want to make it to the start line of your first 70.3, the goal is to show up consistently over months. Not by throwing down the occasional big weeks, that end up taking YOU out for a week. That’s not how you build fitness. That’s how you get injured.

Swipe through for a rough idea of what a build looks like depending on where you’re starting.

When I did my first half-Ironman in 2005, I had to figure it out entirely by trial and error. I didn’t have a coach who understood female physiology, or who I felt comfortable talking to female specific issues. I didn’t have a group of women to ride with on the weekends. I just had a massive goal, a lot of nerve, and a lot of unanswered questions about how to survive a 6-hour race.

Twenty-plus years later, my mission as a coach is to make sure no woman has to transition to long-course racing in isolation. I want to see MORE women on 70.3 start lines with the support that I never had.

That’s why I created Your First 70.3. It’s a hybrid program engineered to get more women on the start line while providing them with a science backed training program, coaching support and a kick ass community of likeminded women all training for the same thing. A plan will get you fit but a community will help keep that fire lit.

You don’t need to guess your way through your first 70.3. I built the program I needed 20 years ago so that you can step up to the line with absolute certainty.

If you’re thinking about tackling a 70.3 in 2027, the waitlist is officially open.
Head to the link in my bio or comment SQUAD below.

Menopause has a reputation for taking things. Sleep, memory, the ability to regulate your own body temperature in a meeting.

But the thing nobody warned me about was what it gave me. Specifically: a complete inability to keep pretending that shrinking was the same as aging gracefully.

I spent a lot of years being a good sport about it. Nodding along. Not making a fuss. Watching women my age get quietly sidelined from sport, from ambition, from their own bodies, and filing it under “just how it goes.”

And then somewhere in the middle of all the hormonal nonsense, I ran out of patience for that story.

So now I coach women who are done with it too. Not because menopause “broke” us….because it made us impossible to gaslight.

If you’re in it right now and you’re angry, or confused, or just done playing small with your training and your goals, you’re in the right place.

When Global Run Day and World Bicycle Day fall on the same day, it’s impossible to have a bad day. So much of who I am, the places I’ve been, the people I love, the person I’ve become, traces back to these two sports. At this point they’re not hobbies. They’re just who I am. I think they both deserve a love letter. Trying to pick a favourite would be like trying to pick your favourite child (at least that’s what I imagine since I’m child free, I can only speculate)

Dear Running:
You came into my life when I needed something I could make my own, and you have been there for me ever since. It’s been 28 years. Longer than I’ve been married. In fact, you introduced me to my Sole Mate.
Sure, we’ve had our problems, but it’s never your fault. I’ve had to take some time away from you but I always come back. How could I not? You’ve brought me to so many amazing places and introduced me to so many friendly faces. Without you my life would not be the same.
Unity, community, sanity, humanity. You cover all those bases. You help me disconnect and reconnect. Evolve and problem solve. You’ve helped me remember and you’ve helped me forget.

Dear Cycling:
You came into my life a little later, but you made up for lost time. You filled the void when running couldn’t be there and I will always be grateful for that.
Twenty-two years in and you still find ways to surprise me. You’ve taken me up Alpe d’Huez and through the vineyards of Luxembourg. You’ve shown me Girona from the saddle and pushed me up the Col du Vence with nothing but the view as a reward.

You gave me a community I didn’t know I needed and an identity I didn’t know I was looking for. You taught me that suffering can be beautiful if the road is good enough. And, that no ride is complete without a coffee stop. Even if it’s at the end.

It truly is a beautiful day 😍

Meet June’s Athlete of the Month: Leah McCann

Leah is a thoughtful, positive athlete who brings a lot of maturity to her training (along with a smile!) She knows when to push, when to back off, and isn’t afraid to listen to her body — something I preach on a regular basis!

📆How long have you been working with Coach PK? About a year. I first came across PK on Instagram a few years earlier, followed her for a while, and eventually joined her 8-week program, Peak Performance: Strength for Peri + Postmenopausal Endurance Athletes.

🧠What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned? That progress isn’t about pushing harder, it’s about training smarter and building consistency over time. I’ve learned so much about pacing, training zones, and recovery. Perimenopause has been challenging — some days it feels like I’m in a completely new body. PK’s reminders to stay focused on the long game have been incredibly important.

🏁How did you get started in endurance sports? In 2012, my sisters and cousins decided to do a Try-a-Tri and I was immediately all in. I was three months postpartum at the time, so it felt like a big goal. I loved having something to work toward. A few years later a friend got into triathlon, I joined her for another Try-a-Tri, and the rest is history.

🥇What’s been your proudest racing achievement? Every race is an achievement. Sometimes everything comes together; sometimes I just keep going when the wheels fall off. Finishing my first sprint triathlon with my boys at the finish line was a highlight. It was the beginning of showing myself I could accomplish big goals.

🔮What are your future racing goals? I’m racing my first Ironman this August in Ottawa. My goal is to complete it and race smart. Beyond that, I want to stay active for health. Racing will always be part of that because I love the structure, the training, and the celebration of that work on race day.

❓One fun fact people might not know? I volunteer with Cycling Without Age, piloting specialized trikshaw bikes so people in my community who can’t ride independently can get outside, explore their neighbourhood, and feel the wind in their hair.

There’s been a subtle shift for me over the last few years. For a long time, racing sat at the centre of my training. Everything I did pointed toward a start line. I liked that structure. I liked the focus. I liked having something that made the whole thing feel very clear.

And I still enjoy racing.

But somewhere in the middle of all those years of building toward events, something else started to matter more. The day-to-day work. Or, as a necklace I bought said: “The Journey is the Reward”

Those sessions that never get a medal (but sometimes get a photo if the snack is good) You know the ones….where nothing really happens except you show up, do the thing, and leave a bit different than when you arrived. The session doesn’t have to bury you to change you.

Of course, I still want to see what I’m capable of. That hasn’t changed.

I still love the energy of a finish line. That feeling is real and I don’t think it ever fully goes away. I mean I think you have to be emotionally dead to NOT feel excitement and energy at a finish line!

I’ve realized I care just as much about the process now. Maybe more in some ways. Showing up on days where I could easily just say screw it. Getting stronger in ways I don’t always notice right away. Doing things now that used to feel out of reach. That part has become its own reward.

I still race sometimes. I still like it. I just don’t organize everything around it anymore. Turns of these days, the work itself is enough…more often than it used to be.

I’m curious if anyone else has felt this shift, where the process starts to matter just as much as the goal.

It’s another for the crew. And what a weekend it was. Mother Nature decided it should feel like November instead of late May and she unleashed a torrent of cold wet weather that started early Saturday morning and didn’t let up until mid morning on Sunday. Hands down some of the worst conditions I’ve seen for racing in a very long time.
Not the best day to run an ultra BUT two of the PKPC Crew did just that at

Dina ran her first ever 50 km. 11 months after fracturing her femur at the same race last year. She was smart with her effort and walked / hiked a lot of the course and kept her HR in check - she finished with a smile and then promptly disappeared to warm up, LOL.

Andrew ran his first 100 miler. He did the 100 km last year and had absolutely perfect conditions. This year was the complete opposite. I honestly don’t know how he mentally managed to get that done. I saw him as he was heading out onto his 3rd lap and he looked cold but focused. I spent 3 hours in spectating in that weather and I was miserable, never mind 28 HOURS.

I am SO IMPRESSED by both of them. Never losing sight of the goal and making sure they had EVERYTHING they needed to get it done (last count I think Andrew had 6 bags of things he was bringing). The amount of mental fortitude it takes to keep going through conditions like that is not trivial.

Julie was in Ottawa for the Ottawa 10 km on Saturday. This was a stepping stone on her road to Muskoka 70.3. The goal was to get some time on her feet off a longer ride and she managed to do just that.

Amy H one of my strength athletes is in Mallorca for the Best Fest swim festival. She swam a 5 km on Saturday and set a new PB, swam the 3.8 km yesterday in choppy waters and will be swimming 10 km later on this week. She’s building to a 15 km swim race later this summer.

CONGRATS TEAM!