Iron Fit Endurance athletes have been training hard as we get closer to triathlon season. We have started our group rides on Saturdays as well as track workouts Thursday mornings at 5:30 AM. On the Saturday group rides, we have progressed to a hilly 51 mile loop (with over 2000 ft. of climbing). This is a great route for hilly races like Syracuse 70.3 and Ironman Lake Placid. This past Saturday, our Ironman Lake Placid athletes added on mileage to the group ride, making it a solid 70 mile ride. This upcoming Saturday, will be heading up to Harriman State Park where we will be training on the Harriman course as well as on the epic climb up “Perkins”! This is hands-down the best place to train for Ironman Lake Placid!
In race news, on March 30th, many athletes (including myself) completed the Paumanok 70K Trail Relay (Pictured Above). Long Island had heavy rains the two days leading up to this race, making the trail a muddy mess! The day of the race was a bit of a reprieve, with light rain on and off throughout the day. My relay team (Team Iron Fit Endurance) consisted of: myself (I ran leg one, a relatively flat 10.84 miles), Tim Healy who ran a fast 2nd leg, Travis Tate who ran the dreaded mountainous 3rd leg in a blazing time, Jose Hernandez who ran a strong 4th leg (also very hilly) and Kelly Russell ran the last leg finishing strong for us! Our goal was to beat the “Wildwood Warrior Team”, which included Iron Fit athlete and Wildwood Warrior founder, Johnny Graziano, however, we came up short and the Wildwood Warriors were victorious! We will definitely have a rematch next year! Thanks to Jen and Dave Gatz for creating and organizing such an awesome event. It has already become a favorite race on Long Island!
Jose Hernandez (pictured right) competed in the legendary race, Tour of Battenkill, on April 5th. This race is one of the most grueling in the sport of cycling. Finishing this epic event is a huge accomplishment! The competition is the toughest around and Jose finished the 65 miles, mostly in mud and even snow, in a blazing 3:38! This placed him 15th in the 35+ division. He will be competing in Ironman Lake Placid this year, where his cycling strength will help him tremendously on the tough course!
In other news, Johnny Graziano decided to jump into the Mini Mightyman Pool Super Sprint Tri this past weekend. Johnny finished 4th in his age group posting the 3rd fastest bike and the 2nd fastest run in his age group! This was after a hilly 70 mile ride the day before! Johnny will also be competing in Lake Placid this year. Im excited to see what he can do up there!
Join us for track workouts on Thursdays at 5:30 AM at the West Islip Track and group bike rides on Saturday mornings at 8AM starting in West Islip! Our track workouts focus on different goals each week: on odd weeks we work on speed with short intervals and full recovery and even weeks we work on longer intervals, holding a “sustainable–threshold pace”. You can contact me through my website (www.ironfitendurance.com), or at my email: info@ironfitendurance.com to get on the list for information regarding group workouts, OR check out my calendar on my website for group workouts and events! Iron Fit Endurance is the premier triathlon training on Long Island. Join us and find out!
Thanks and Happy Training!!
Dee Sullivan