Commitment

As I approach my Ironman (which is only 9 weeks away!) I have been reflecting on my training and races of the past, but mostly of the athletes I coach and how I can relate my training to theirs.  Having been on an ‘Ironman hiatus” for the past 6 years, I have gained a new perspective on the training that I hadn’t had back when I was training and racing as a Pro.  I had been doing 1-2 Ironman races every year for 10 years straight back then, so the training actually became “normal” to me!  Now that I am back at it after such a long pause I can really appreciate how challenging the training is and what a commitment it takes!  This has me thinking of the various personalities that I coach and the amount of commitment they put into their training.  Whether my athletes are doing their first sprint triathlon, a 70.3, a marathon or an Ironman, the training commitment is immense!  When I am training I am constantly thinking, “this person has a full-time job and three kids!  This person owns their own business and has a family!  This person has dealt with a diagnosis and is still determined to train and race!  This person has never done an athletic event in their lives and is now training and finishing these races!”  I am truly impressed with each and every athlete and their commitment to push beyond what is normal and comfortable in life to challenge themselves daily!

July and August has been packed with races, PR’s, disappointments, challenges, you name it!  I am so proud of each and every person who steps up to the line at these races regardless of the outcome.  Just getting yourself there is an accomplishment in itself!  Without further ado:

JULY 9th and 10th:

OWS’s event the Fire island 1 Mile, 5K and 10K swim.  A unique and challenging event!  We had a great showing!!

Linda Meerovici was 1st in her age group!

Shayne Lewis was 3rd in his age group!

Irene Lam was 3rd in her age group!

Shelley Bache competed in a 5K swim the following day!

Erin Miller was 2nd in her age group at the Colonial Olympic!

Rob Toedter was 6th in his age group in the EX2 Xterra Maryland!

Race Awesome’s Jamesport triathlon was the next day.  What a fabulous event! 

I was first female overall:

Gordon Lewis was 1st Overall in the Aquabike!

Barbara McCoy was 1st in her Age group!

Jose Hernandez was 1st relay Overall!

Linda Meerovici was 3rd in her Age group!

Zachary Lam was 3rd in his Age group!

Deepak Chopra, Will Vultaggio, Hilary Topper and Mike Scanlon all had great races as well!

July 22nd-24th:

Friday, July 22nd was the Maggie Fisher Memorial Cross Bay Swim.  Always one of my favorite events!

Tough conditions out there, but that didn’t stop Rob Toedter from finishing 13th overall executing a relaxed (non-tapered and non-wetsuit) swim!

I had a long tough day out there but had a blast and was indebted to my kayaker Scott Robertson for keeping me safe and sound!

Gordon Lewis had an incredible day out there!  His son, Gordon Lewis, kayaked for him!  Gordon was the first finisher over 60 years of age!

That same weekend Gordon competed in the NYC Triathlon!  Rafael Tovar also competed in NYC and earned himself a PR!

The NY State Sprint and Olympic races were that weekend as well.  Jackie Lott and Shelley Bache had great races!

July 30th and 31st:

The West Neck Swim was another fantastic swim event!

Shayne Lewis was 1st in his age group and 2nd overall in the 2-mile wetsuit division.

Hilary Topper was 5th in her age group

Kurt LaForest was 1st in his Age group

AUGUST 6th and 7th:

Rob Toedter finished 4th in his age group in the XTERRA Appalachia

Smith Point Triathlon:

Gordon Lewis finished 2nd in his age group

Michael Mancini, Will Vultaggio and Mike Scanlon and Michael Mancini all had great races!

Erin Miller finished 2nd Female overall at the Rev 3 Poconos Aquabike. 

John Burgess also competed in the aquabike and had a great finish.  Aquabike races do not have age group categories yet, so JB is competing against a field that is quite a bit younger than him!  He does great despite this!  He is no stranger to competing having done the Ironman in Hawaii back in the 80’s!  He was also a very accomplished marathoner.

Scott Janicola travelled out to Colorado to race at altitude at Ironman Boulder:

He had a tough day racing at altitude fighting dehydration as well as mechanical issues, but he persevered and had an incredible journey!  If you want to read an inspiring race report, click here:

http://gail681.wixsite.com/anythingispossible/single-post/2016/08/16/The-Whole-Uncut-Story

Scott signed up for Ironman Maryland as he has “unfinished business”.  He will lean on his incredible fitness leading up to Boulder, fine tune his training, race IMAC 70.3, and be ready to rock in Maryland!

August 13th and 14th:

Riverhead Rocks is one of my favorite long island events. This year we had temperatures in the 90’s and humidity through the roof!  I have to say that it was one of the most oppressive days I can remember racing in!  Congrats to everyone!  Thanks to event power for the updates on the weather, tips on how to properly hydrate for the event, and for doing a great job supporting us on race day!

I was pleased finished 1st female overall!

Deepak Chopra attempted, successfully, his first non-wetsuit swim and had a great race!

Shayne finished 11th overall and 2nd in his Age group!

Jose had the first overall relay for the day!

Will Vultaggio had a strong race as well.

Rafael Tovar raced up at West point where he also raced in grueling heat and had a great finish!

August 20th and 21st:

Timberman 70.3

Barbara McCoy finished her first 70.3 in fantastic fashion!  Barbara dealt with many early season injuries, but with proper recovery and build up had a great race!

Irene Lam CRUSHED her time from last year and had a great day!  Next up:  Ironman Maryland!

Noah and Zachary Lam competed in the Blueberry Cove half marathon that same weekend!

Shelley Bache had a huge PR for 70.3 building confidence for Ironman Maryland!

Ernest Martinez had a PR race in the Jersey City Olympic!

Christa Dwyer did Ironman Florida back in 2014 when they cancelled the swim.  With the fire still burning to finish an entire Ironman event, Christa decided to race Ironman Mont-Tremblant.  It happened to be a grueling weather day! .  Torrential rain and chilly temps throughout the day made it a huge challenge for all that finished!  Christa forged ahead and braved the dangerous conditions on the bike to have a fantastic race.  Christa you are an Ironman!

August 27th and 28th

Shayne Lewis had a PR at the Rev3 Half breaking the elusive 5-hour barrier by over 6 minutes!

Maureen Lundquist had a PR at TOBAY!  Next is her first Half Ironman at the Mighty Montauk!

Rich Holden had a PR by 14 minutes at Tobay!  He'll also be doing Mighty Montauk.

Laura Giardino had a very strong race despite a hard swim.  She had many obstacles to overcome this year and is truly an inspiration!

Hilary Topper had a PR at Wildwood international distance triathlon!  You can read her race recap here!

Will Vultaggio had a great race at the wildwood sprint triathlon!

Also...

Shayne and Scott had a great training day up in Bear Mtn. in July...

...and Jose volunteered as lead bike for the "Run for the Hill Of it"!  Thanks for representing Jose!

Busy summer!  It's hard to believe it is coming to a close, but we still have a few great months ahead of racing.  I'm really looking forward the IM Atlantic City 70.3 coming up in two weeks!  It'll be a large Long Island showing, which should be a blast!

Happy training and racing!

Dee