Listening to the signs your body is giving to you and being flexible with your training schedule as a result is an important quality to have as an athlete. All too often athletes see a workout on a schedule and feel that the workout must be done at all costs. However, sometimes the planned workout for that day should be changed or adjusted. Workouts are written and laid out in a smart progressive manor that makes sense, but they are by no means “written in stone”. For example, you may be feeling unusually tired during a bike workout and can’t push the watts that were prescribed, or you feel a tweak in your hamstring during a run workout and need to stop, or you just feel particularly exhausted one day and need to take the day off. In these circumstances, as a triathlon coach I am thrilled when an athlete reaches out to me so I can adjust the workout and/or week to accommodate the athlete in a way that makes sense. All too often athletes feel like they “failed” if they didn’t hit the prescribed numbers, or if they couldn’t finish a particular workout, but I always say that’s just part of training!! Though we may strive to, we cannot have perfect workouts every day! The athletes who get that and who can be flexible are the ones who will be most successful! Speaking of success, we have had a VERY successful June so far!! Here are some of the Iron Fit Endurance race results from the past month!
June 4th and 5th:
Rev 3 Olympic and Rev 3 Half!
We had a blast travelling to Rev3 this year and we had many successes. It was my first time racing up there and wow was it tough!
Rev 3 Olympic After Party
Susan Roman, Christa Dwyer, Rafael Tovar, myself and Deepak Chopra raced the Olympic race on Saturday along with Gordon Lewis and John Burgess who raced the Olympic Aquabike that day! Gordon placed 5th overall in the Aquabike and I was very pleased with my overall win to start off my 19th season of triathlon racing!!
Deepak Finishing
John Burgess, Gordon Lewis and Myself
Me after the finish
The following day Peter Morandi, Shelley Bache and Scott Janicola raced the half! I watched the race in the pouring rain while these athletes gutted it out! Peter matched his best time there, Shelley had a great race leading up to her IM Maryland race this year and Scott had a massive 18-minute PR in prep for his IM Boulder race in August!
Scott finishing the bike
Shelley finishing the bike
Peter finishing the run
Scott finishing the run
That same day was Race Awesome’s “Tri By The Bay”. Heather Fig placed 2nd in her age group racing with husband Geoff Fig and brother-in-law Peter Blieberg. They are all racing IM Louisville this year! Alice Aiello placed 5th in her age group, Bill Vultaggio placed 8th in his age group and the Lam’s were 2nd relay overall!
Zachary NO WETSUIT for the swim at Tri By The Bay!
Lam family 2nd Overall Relay
June 11th and 12th:
Alice Aiello and Irene Lam both raced at the notoriously HOT Eagleman 70.3 where they both did fantastic!!! Alice fulfilled a lifelong goal finishing her first half ironman in spectacular fashion and Irene had an incredible day as well setting the foundation for her Ironman debut down in Maryland in October! I was proud of both of them!
Noah and Irene before Eagleman 70.3
Lam family before Eagleman 70.3
Irene headed out on the bike
Irene finished!
That same weekend was the Mighty Montauk Triathlon where Mike Scanlon and Bill Vultaggio both had great races! Also, the NYRRC 10K where Hilary Topper and her daughter raced. Hilary will be doing the NYC marathon this fall! Ernest Martinez was there as well doing another NYRRC races to qualify for the NYC Marathon too!
Hilary and daughter Zoey after the 10K
Bill on the run at Mighty Montauk
Erin Miller did her 17th Chesapeake Bay Swim that day. It’s a 4.4-mile swim that goes under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge starting in Annapolis!
June 18th and 19th
Geoff and Heather Fig raced a “super sprint” out east where Heather placed 2nd overall! Laura Giardino had her debut race this season at the Tri One On Duathlon while Jose Hernandez started the Riverhead cycling race season on Friday nights.
June 25th and 26th
This past weekend was the Huntington Triathlon where Shayne Lewis placed 3rd in his age group and 11th overall. Rich Holden and Bill Vultaggio raced in Huntington as well both having great races.
Susan Roman headed up to Mont-Tremblant for the 70.3. She had a fantastic race in the heat as prep for Ironman Mont-Tremblant in August!
Shayne out of the swim at the Huntington triathlon
Shayne at the Huntington Triathlon
Shelley Bache also had a great race at the Philly Tri Rock Olympic!
Frank Fiorello has been racing and placing in Florida with a 3rd place in the Heartland Triathlon and a 2nd place in the Siesta Key Duathlon!
Frank 3rd Heartland Tri
Frank 2nd Siesta Key Duathlon
Scott Janicola and myself did the “Discover Hudson Valley Bike Ride” yesterday, the 26th. We did the 100 mile ride which was gorgeous and tough! Open roads with no traffic and about 7000 ft. of climbing, followed by a 6 mile run on across the bridge on the “rails to trails” trail. It was an epic day of training! Hilary Topper and her husband Brian did a shorter route that was also very scenic!
Start of the "Discover Hudson Valley" ride
Hilary and Brian at the Discover Hudson Valley Ride
Another great month in the books! I will be swimming at Hecksher State Park Saturday’s this summer with Bryan Krut of OWS. It’s a great venue for a swim/bike brick!
John Burgess at the beautiful swim venue at Hecksher
Bike intervals after the swim
Bryan also does a lighthouse swim Wednesday evenings starting in July. We also have a weekend training trip up in Lake Placid coming up the weekend of July 15th (all are welcome to join us), as well as many other races and group training days on the horizon!
Happy training and racing!
Dee :-)