Growth, and Trusting the Process

BKYRD Club — 2025 Season Recap

Why I Coach the Way I Do

As a coach and an athlete, there’s always one role that takes over from time to time.
For me, though, the common thread has always been this: I get fired up by the success of others.

I’ve always said I wanted to be the coach I never had , someone who can see potential beyond what’s immediately visible. And the more I coach, the more I believe this: potential is relative. Everyone starts somewhere. What truly matters and what can never be taken away , is the work, the process, and the consistency over time. That’s what builds character, on and off the racecourse.

Most BKYRD athletes are spring-to-fall competitors AKA “Canadians”. Winter is long. Motivation builds slowly. The feeling of urgency doesn’t arrive overnight. But once May hit and event weekends started stacking up, that’s when I truly felt the year turning competitive , when the collective momentum of this group became impossible to ignore.

Early Season - Learning, Responsibility, and Hard Truths

Early in the year, Jasmine Paquin, also a physiologist, kicked things off by competing in an XC ski race in Gatineau in February , breaking her previous records. It was a quiet but meaningful spark that set the tone for what was coming.

I personally raced 70.3 Oceanside in early April, while back home the build-up to the Boston Marathon reached its final stages for Gabrielle Trépanier.

Her preparation wasn’t smooth. Race day wasn’t what she hoped for. And later, we learned she had been dealing with a stress fracture.

This wasn’t the start of the year anyone wants , athlete or coach.

As a coach, I felt guilt. Part of it was my responsibility. That’s not something coaches love to talk about, but it matters. Every mistake becomes a lesson, a reference point, a reason behind future decisions. There is always a reason for why we adjust, why we caution, why we sometimes pull back.

If Gabrielle’s story sparks curiosity, She was very open, positive and its quite constructive , just follow her and explore her journey further.

Spring Racing -Getting the Spark

As April turned into May, the running season arrived: Montreal, Lévis, Ottawa, Longueuil. Multiple BKYRD athletes toed the line.

These races serve an important purpose. They pull athletes out of pure training accumulation and reintroduce stress, excitement, and purpose. For Canadian athletes especially, learning to use the seasons to our advantage is part of the process.

These were rarely A-races. Instead, they acted as checkpoints.

For Lea, they became quality long runs at intensity in preparation for trail racing.
For Constance and Jasmine, they were stepping stones in marathon preparation.
For Alex H, the focus was on building confidence at the half-marathon distance — confirming that she belonged there and could execute when it mattered.
And for the others it was the main event on their calendar.

There were no surprises here , only confirmations. The work done in training showed up exactly as expected.

June - Tremblant the Emotional Highs

Then came Mont-Tremblant , both 5150 and 70.3 , the single weekend where I had the most athletes I’ve ever coached racing at the same event.

Fifteen BKYRD athletes on the start line. I was the sixteenth.

Side note: I will never race the same weekend as that many athletes again. My mind was entirely on my crew.
Next year, I’ll gladly be on the sidelines — especially as we’re already approaching the 20-athlete mark.

That weekend had everything.

Virginia made her Olympic-distance debut — a moment that made me especially emotional, for obvious reasons
Elizabeth used the race as a tune-up ahead of 70.3 Muskoka
Tanisha delivered a statement performance
Melanie used the weekend as a tune-up for her later 70.3 Challenge

On the 70.3 side:

Several first-time finishers crossed the line successfully
Our Îles-de-la-Madeleine athletes faced Tremblant’s hills and thrived
Myriam, Alexandra, and Marco proved to themselves they were made for long distance
Flo finally checked off a full 70.3 after missing the swim the previous year ; redemption time
Thom and Karine PR’d their previous Tremblant performances

It was a weekend full of emotion, relief, and pride. Moments like these , the cries of joy at the finish line , are underrated. They’re the reason I love my job.

Meanwhile, Alex completed her first Olympic-distance race in Québec City as part of her build toward 70.3 Ohio.
At the opposite end of the endurance spectrum, Audrey and Sarah-Maude tackled the Gaspésia three-day trail event — once again proving that the moms of the club are absolutely crushing it.

July - Peak Season

July was heavy. Almost every weekend had something on the calendar.

Veterans and newcomers alike showed up:

Tri Memphré
70.3 Muskoka
70.3 Ohio
Ironman Lake Placid
70.3 Maine

Elsewhere:

Lea completed a 55k trail race in Iceland , an underrated bucket-list event
Audrey ran a half marathon as she transitioned into marathon training
Constance used the QMT 25k ultra as motivation within her build

By the end of July, it felt like everyone , myself included , took a breath.

And this is where an important distinction lives:
Success isn’t always about chasing more. Sometimes it’s about acknowledging that what you’ve already done is enough to keep moving forward with confidence.

August - Quiet

August was surprisingly calm vs previous years with my crew.

I traveled north north north for a triathlon relay with athletes, watched Virginia complete her second triathlon, and saw my newer Jade G finish her second 70.3.

Elsewhere:

Elsie completed her first half marathon
Alex and Laurianne raced again in Wasaga Beach and Valleyfield

Not perfect days , but honest ones. Lessons learned, adjustments made, and clarity gained on what still needed work.

September - Running, Grit, and Perspective

September was dominated by running.

But more than anything, it reminds me of Sarah-Maude.

After years of preparation, she toed the line at the 125km Ultra Hurricana, only to be forced to stop for medical reasons. A brutal distance. A brutal course. A nighttime start. Even in the best shape of her life, bad luck still found its way in.

BUT , her response to that DNF felt like growth, not failure.

At the same time, Melanie finally completed her first 70.3 Challenge in Montreal , after months filled with doubt, uncertainty, and questioning whether she truly had it in her. That race became the confirmation she needed: she is absolutely made for this.

As a coach, this period reinforced an important lesson for me:
I need to throw more curveballs into training, especially for events like these — creating situations that force adaptation, resilience, and the ability to bounce back when things don’t go as planned.

October - Controlled Chaos

October arrived. I expected things to slow down.

They didn’t.

Marathons across different locations saw Constance, Audrey, Alice, and Jasmine finally cash in the hole year of a disciplined periodization.

Karine also broke the 11-hour mark at Ironman California , expected, but deeply satisfying. The longer the distance, the better she performs. (You can tease her about the next one.)
Andreanne, Alex, Virginia,Vero and Rudy added half marathons to the BKYRD database
Florence reached the summit of Mont Ventoux , not a race, but an effort worth celebrating
Bromont Ultra brought both trail and cycling challenges

And then there was Emile.

After a massive year of XC mountain biking, gravel racing, and now an 80k XC raid-style event , all while managing a newborn and a growing his business , he earned athlete-of-the-day honors without question.

November & December — The Long View

November slowed things down.

I raced 70.3 World Championships in Spain alongside so many friends, training partners and Kath, one of my athletes. Her journey to that start line wasn’t perfect , but every day counted. Her consistency was flawless, her adaptations precise, and her return to running after rehabilitation couldn’t have been better executed. She showed up on race day ready , and that, for me, was the biggest win.

December closed the year strong:

Guillaume Dallaire delivered a near-perfect race at 70.3 Indian Wells. Even after getting sick the week before, his bike and run paces were exactly where we wanted them to be , textbook execution.
Virginia broke her half-marathon PB in Tucson, supported by a calmer, more consistent preparation than earlier in the year.

Beyond Numbers

Writing this article took time. It made me realize how easy it would be to focus on times, rankings, and numbers , things I track daily as a coach , but how irrelevant they are to the public unless the athlete wants them to be.

Success is relative. Progress is progress. It depends entirely on where you start.

Behind every finish line lies an enormous amount of unseen work: early mornings, late nights, discipline, sacrifices, and above all “time management”. Everyone I coach is busy. Work, school, kids , some all of it.

Most breakthroughs take years. Endurance sport isn’t a trend, even if it sometimes looks like one online. It’s a long-term pursuit if you want to keep it a healthy one. Wanting to become a better athlete, a healthier person, a more diligent human being.

Doing hard things makes us better at everything else.

Period.

Excited for 2026
PEACE !

A Year of Racing : BKYRD Club — 2025 Season Recap