Blog 2014

November 2014

 November marks the end of the triathlon season for most of us; however many of our Iron Fit Endurance athletes were still busy racing!  We had two first time Ironman athletes in November:  Christa Dwyer in Ironman Florida and Noah Lam in Ironman Arizona.  November is also the time of year for the NYC Marathon and we had four athletes competing this year:  Deepak Chopra, Kaitlyn Pearsall, Patti Carbonara and Irene Lam.  The cold temps and hurricane-like winds made for a brutal day out there, but they all persevered!  While down in sunny Florida, Frank Fiorello extended his tri season with the Half Ironman put on by Rev 3 posting a first place in his division!  Also, Jim Nostrom competed in the Boo Du South Shore Duathlon here on Long Island. 

 

Here’s a recap:

Ironman Florida 2014: 

Christa Dwyer is a tough athlete.  She is dedicated and hard-working.  If there is a workout posted, no matter how hectic her day is, Christa completes it.  She doesn’t just do the workout either…she does it with 100% effort-no matter what.  Christa started training for Ironman Florida in January.  As each month passed, Christa became fitter and faster!  She blew away previous PR’s in every race she competed in.  She was running faster than she ever thought she would.  She’s a natural swimmer and was putting out 5000 yard workouts like they were nothing.  And her bike got stronger than I had actually anticipated in such a short time.  All was going perfectly planned for a huge day in Florida…and then (in late-October) she tripped and fell during a run in the dark hours of the morning... 

Christa ended up injuring (finding out in an MRI recently that she ended up actually tearing) her hamstring.  She did this a few weeks before the Montauk Half Ironman. Not knowing what the injury actually was, we stopped her from running, hoping it would get better, but it remained the same.  She got treatments, did her exercises and iced like a Pro.  Finally we made the decision (along with the OK from PT Susan Roman) to forge ahead with racing in Montauk and training for IMFL.  Christa, being on a mission to finish her season as best she could, did just that, despite the injured hamstring.  Christa still had a huge PR in Montauk despite having to keep the run pace “comfortable”.  She placed 2^nd in her Age Group and was weeks away from Florida...  This is the critical time for Ironman training with the last long training days still ahead.  For the remainder weeks leading up to Ironman, Christa did what she could to treat the hamstring and I tried to keep her focused on a great day.  We adjusted her running to NOT include tempo runs or pace goals like she was doing prior to the injury.  Instead, every run was to be done at an “all day” pace.  Christa forged ahead and competed in that Ironman despite having a torn hamstring.  She dialed down the pace and finished feeling strong, because that was her goal and Christa completes her goals.  Like I said, Christa always gives 100% no matter what.  An athlete like Christa is rare and I have been so lucky to be a part of her preparation for this Ironman.  I will be excited to see what she has in her for next year once she rehabs her injury and gets back to 100%!  Thanks to her husband (and Sherpa) Kevin as well for all the updates from Florida and for all the support he gives me and all of the the Iron Fit Endurance athletes.  It is hard to find people as great as Christa and Kevin…  I am truly lucky to know them.

 

Ironman Arizona: 

Our next first time Ironman athlete is Noah Lam.  Many of you know from reading Noah’s blog: “Run with Noah” (http://www.runwithnoah.com/), Noah is a family man and a selfless individual.  They just don’t make them like Noah…he is always thinking of others and is always finding a way that he can encourage other people to become better, healthier and more giving.  Noah wanted to become an Ironman, but he couldn’t just do that alone.  Noah had to have a greater reason to race…He had to touch others as well.  He did that by raising money to help end hunger on Long Island.  He raced with Island Harvest (http://www.islandharvest.org/), a charity on Long Island dedicated to help feed the starving people all over the island.  That’s just the way Noah does things.   He thinks of others and thinks of causes greater than his own.   

He also started an online group for people racing Ironman Arizona (because he always thinks bigger than himself) and it grew!  Once the group was formed, Noah thought to himself that the group should be doing more, so he suggested to the group:  “hey, we should all donate one dollar and put it towards charity”, so they did.  Some people (like myself) travel to a race like Arizona with their family and friends, they enjoy the experience and they travel home with great memories.   Noah Lam traveled to IMAZ with his family AND had group of hundreds (that he organized through this facebook page, and who all donated to charity) waiting to meet him when he got there!  This is just what Noah does…he makes people feel better about themselves by including them in a greater cause. 

Once Noah arrived in Arizona the group he organized met up by the swim start where they talked, laughed, took pictures with Noah and wore their tattoos that would identify them in the race.   Come race day Noah had people cheering him on around every turn of the course.  How great is that?! 

 

Noah also dealt with an injury in training.  Noah had a nagging Achilles injury that plagued him before our training started and lingered throughout the training.  We adjusted his running as best we could, sometimes going weeks without running just to try and get healthy.  Finally, our Iron Fit PT, Susan Roman, stepped in and was able to put Noah back on track to be ready to rock in Arizona.  He had a couple of solid months under his belt which resulted in a great day out there finishing Ironman Arizona feeling fantastic!  You just can’t ask for anything more on your first Ironman.  Noah should be proud of himself for his accomplishment.  I know I am.  But when I think of Noah Lam I think of how special he is in all the other areas of his life.  He’s someone that makes a difference and for that I am honored to work with Noah!

 

 

 

 

 

In other races:

Frank Fiorello placed 1^st in his division at the Rev 3 half Ironman in Venice Florida!  Congrats Frank!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim Nostrom placed 2^nd in his AG and 19^th OA in the South Shore Duathlon.  Jim is also Long Island's advocate for bike safety on the roads.  We should be grateful to have someone like Jim around.  He has spent countless hours (unpaid and on his own time) lobbying for bike safety and awareness and was recently speaking out in a press conference about the issue.  Thank You Jim!  Jim is also moving to Florida and I wish him and his wife lots of luck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jose and his family participated in a local 5K.  Jose had a PR that day, placing 12th overall and 2nd in his age group!  The Hernandez family looks great!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shayne Lewis won a 3000 meter rowing race.  Shayne was a talented rower in High School and College and is using that fitness base as a boost for a great triathlon career!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NYC Marathon:

Our runners in the NYC marathon had a hellacious day with winds gusting to 40 mph and COLD temps!  Despite this, everyone had a solid day out there.  Patti Carbonara finished on that tough day qualifying for Boston...and it was her birthday too!  Kaitlyn Pearsall finished her very first marathon despite injuries that had her barely running for the months leading up to NYC!  Thanks to the help of Dr. Larry Lembo, and an unorthodox training approach that we set up, Kait was able to get to the line and finish strong!  Deepak and Irene both had tough days out there, but both persevered and finished, despite the fact that they didn’t race as fast as they would have liked.  I was proud of both of them for doing the best they could on a tough day!

I just started working with two awesome women that Noah referred to me, Alyssa and Robin.  They are totally new to running and just started training for a half marathon in the spring and a possible marathon in the fall of 2015!  This is Alyssa and Robin getting ready for a 5K.  I’m excited to be working with the both of them!

 

 

 

 

 

In other BIG news, The Hub (http://www.thehubhq.com/) will be teaming up with Iron Fit endurance for 2015!  I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with the guys at The Hub.  They are professional, knowledgeable and the shop is top notch!!!  I suggest checking it out if you haven’t already.  They are located at 80 Smith Street in Farmingdale, right off Rte. 110.  There will be exciting plans for the season ahead with The Hub including group workouts in their indoor training facility when the weather gets ugly and group rides out of the shop when the weather is manageable.  Here is a picture of Salty at The hub watching Jodie Robertson getting fit on her brand new Kestrel at The Hub!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, we continue the group swim workouts at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood.  The swims are Thursdays at 8PM.  All are welcome!

Thanks and Happy Training!

Dee :-)

 

September/October 2014

Iron Fit Endurance Race Results

(and upcoming group workout information)

 

There have been many races since my last blog recapping the successful weekend of racing at the Mighty Hamptons on September 7^th.  Iron Fit Endurance athletes continue to post personal bests and top the podium on various events throughout Long Island and elsewhere!  Here are the race results from these events:

 

Jim Nostrom and Jose Hernandez both competed in the Deep Pond Duathlon and had great races, with Jose posting a 2^nd place age group and 9^th overall finish and Jim placing 7^th in his age group.  Frank Fiorello came by to watch the event on a bike ride that day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frank had competed in the Lake George Triathlon a few weeks earlier where he placed 2^nd in his division! 

He then headed down to Key West to compete in the 8-Mile Alligator Lighthouse Swim on September 20^th.  This was an epic race for Frank.  His report told that the conditions were quite rough, however, the biggest obstacle was the jellyfish that they encountered!  Two members from his 4-person relay team bailed due to the horrific jellyfish stings leaving Frank and one other teammate to alternate swimming and kayaking the 8-mile swim as a 2-man team!  Their support boat even sank while they were out there (unbeknownst to them)!  Frank said this was the most grueling event he has finished, swimming at least 4 miles of the 8-mile swim while getting stung all over his body and face by the jellyfish.  He said that people were screaming as they got stung, but he just tried to forge ahead as best as possible.  This was quite an accomplishment for Frank!

 

Meanwhile, husband and wife Iron Fit Endurance Team members, Noah and Irene Lam headed to New Jersey for the Newport Liberty half marathon on September 21^st.  Both had great races on a humid day!  Noah will be competing in Ironman Arizona in November and Irene will be competing in the NYC marathon!

Susan Roman headed to Princeton, NJ for the Ironman Princeton 70.3 event.  In amazing fashion, Susan posted her 5^th PR of the season!  Susan PR’d by over 18 minutes in this 70.3, going sub-6:30 for the first time!  Susan had a LONG season, and this was the last of the tri’s for her.  Her resume for the season included: a PR by over 3 in in the Long Island Half Marathon, an incredible race at Quassy 70.3 followed by a first time Aquabike race (and 2^nd place in her division), a PR in Ironman Lake Placid by 1 hour 26 minutes, a PR in the Springs 10K in September, A PR Olympic Distance at Mighty Hamptons by 16 minutes, a PR in Princeton as mentioned and then another PR (topping her 10K PR in September) at the Entenmann’s 10K (in terrible rain, wind and flooded streets)!  She also posted another PR (making it her 7th of the season) just last weekend at the Army 10- Miler in Washington D.C.   

Simply amazing…

Here is Susan at the finish of Princeton, making it look easy...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had perfect weather for the Mightyman Montauk weekend of racing!!  Being a late-September race, the weather can be unpredictable!  We were lucky to have had sun and warm temps for the races this year! 

 

Irene Lam competed in her 2^nd Olympic distance event with ease, posting PR!  Irene swam 11 minutes faster, biked 4 minutes faster and ran7 minutes faster!!!!  INCREDIBLE!!!  She is definitely ready to move up to the 70.3 distance next year!

Susan, Jose and I did the half Ironman relay, which was a blast.  Susan was our swimmer. After racing the week before in Princeton, she was happy to have “just a 1.2 mile swim” on her plate for the day!  I was originally supposed to run and Jose was, of course, supposed to bike.  However, I have been dealing with a foot injury (a heel spur) and was not able to run much in the months of August and especially September, so we made a last-minute decision for Jose to run and me bike.  Jose and I both had to do some last minute “cramming” for our events being that Jose hadn’t run more than a few miles and I hadn’t biked more than 25 in the months leading up to this!  I was pleased with my bike, considering, and was very impressed with Jose’s toughness on the run!   We all posted solid times earning us a 2^nd place.

Noah Lam completed in the half ironman in prep for Ironman Arizona.  He had a PR race by 32 minutes!  He has been training hard and will be ready for a great day at Ironman Arizona in a few weeks!  Here is a picture of Noah and Irene after the race!

 

 

 

Christa Dwyer, who will be competing in Ironman Florida in a couple of weeks, also posted a PR!  She raced 30 minutes faster than the prior year’s race!  She swam 2 and a half minutes faster, biked 12 minutes faster, and ran 13 minutes faster!  Christa also placed 2^nd in her age group at this race proving that she is ready for an incredible first Ironman down in Florida in two weeks!  Her husband, Kevin, was there to cheer her on and to take great pics of all of us!  He is so proud of Christa, for good reason, and will have quite a day in Panama City cheering her on!  In fact, he even followed Christa in his car for support during her last long ride (Christa rode 117 miles that day)!

 

Our runners have been having great races as well!  Husband and wife team Peter and Donna Morandi competed together on the Ocean-to-Sound Relay.  They had great races and seemed to have had a blast!  Donna will be competing in the NYC marathon followed by the Philly Marathon 3 weeks later!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frank, Susan and I all competed in the Entenmann’s 10K on October 4^th.  The weather was rainy (as you can see by the flooded streets) and WINDY!  We even had flooding on the streets!  Despite this, Susan posted yet another PR!  Frank had a bad fall in the beginning of the race, but got back up despite hurting his knee.  He still had a solid race.  I was able to defend my title, though my time was quite a bit slower.  The good news was that I didn’t have pain in my heel while running!

My NYC marathon crew did the Entenmann’s half:  Deepak Chopra, Patti Carbonara and Kaitlyn Pearsall all had very strong races, despite the rain, wind and flooding!  I had hoped to get pics off all of them as they ran towards the finish, but the monsoon prevented me from doing that! 

Here is a pic of Kaitlyn, who will be competing in her very first marathon in NYC!

 

The next day was the Diva half marathon.  Jenn Chopra (Deepak’s wife) finished her first half marathon in incredible fashion!  She hadn’t run more than 3 miles when we started up the plan in July!  Jenn had an incredible race making it look easy…she looked great doing it too!

 

In all, we have been rolling along fantastically for season one of “Iron Fit Endurance”!  It has been such an exciting season for me seeing all the Iron Fit Endurance jerseys out there training and racing! The many PR’s and podium placements are icing on the cake for me!  Thanks SO much to EVERYONE!

It isn’t over yet though!  We still have Ironman Florida, NYC Marathon and Ironman Arizona to come!  Good Luck to everyone racing this November!

**In other news, I am starting up an “Iron fit Swim” workout on Thursday’s (8-9PM) at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood!  The swim will consist of a workout:  a warm-up and stroke work, a “main set of the day” and a cool down.  The group atmosphere is hard to beat for a swim workout and I will be there on the pool deck to instruct and push the group!  I have over 25 years of swimming experience and over 17 years of coaching experience in swimming.  It is one of my passions (along with triathlons) and I can’t wait to get started!  Fees are $10 for Iron Fit Endurance athletes and $15 for all other athletes!  All levels are welcome!

Happy Training and racing!

Dee

Iron Fit Endurance Race Weekend

We decided to do a “team race” at the Mighty Hamptons on September 7^th.  Myself, Susan Roman, Shayne Lewis, Noah Lam, Deepak Chopra, Christa Dwyer and Jose Hernandez (as part of the relay “Too Fast For You”) all headed to Sag Harbor for the race.  We had several other Iron Fit Endurance athletes racing at other races as well:  John Burgess headed to the Aqua Bike National Championships in Sandusky, Ohio; Peter Morandi and his wife headed to Washington D.C. for the Nations Triathlon and Jeanette Hampel raced the Toughman Half Ironman.

I hadn’t raced at the Mighty Hamptons since 2006, 8 years, ago and I don’t know why I waited so long to come back!  It’s a fantastic race and we all had a great day racing and hanging on the beach at Sag Harbor on a beautiful day!  Of the 7 of us who raced, 5 won awards and 5 had PR’s!!  Jose was in a relay, so he was unable to PR, but he did have a smoking fast bike split, and I did not PR, but still had a fun race! 

It was amazing to see everyone show up and do so well and I couldn't be prouder!

Below are the results:

 

Shayne Lewis:  1^st Olympic Distance Race, 2^nd Place Age Group!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susan Roman:  PR and first sub-3 hour performance, 1^st Place Athena! (The picture below was taken at another race that Susan rocked this past weekend...more news to come on that soon!):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christa Dwyer:  PR by 13 minutes, 3^rd Age Place Group!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jose Hernandez (in Relay “Too Fast For You”):  2^nd place Relay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me:  1^st Place Female

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noah Lam:  PR and first sub-3 hour Olympic Distance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deepak Chopra:  PR and first 3 hour Olympic Distance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some more pics from the event, thanks to Irene Lam:

Me, Deepak and Noah morning of the race:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jose, Myself and my support crew (George and my good friend Erin who came from D.C. to cheer us on):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My other support crew, Mom and Dad (one or both have been there to cheer me on for 13 of my 15 Ironman races): 

 

 Left to Right:  Christa's husband and support crew Kevin, Noah, Deepak, Christa and Susan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the other races, Peter Morandi (Pictured above) and his wife, Donna had great races in D.C., despite the fact that the swim was cancelled due to poor water quality.  They finished just 2 minutes apart!!  (Picture of Peter and Donna below):

 

John Burgess, who headed to Nationals, had a great day racing for the first time in a big venue!  John went up against the best and placed 9^th in his Age Group! Congrats to John on a great season.  I look forward to next year!!!!

 

 

Jeanette Hampel had a great race in Toughman placing 2^nd in her Age Group and 9^th Overall!  WOW!

My Riverhead Race Report and More Iron Fit Race Results

August 2014

 

The Iron Fit Endurance athletes have been busy this month posting one great race after another!  Below is a report on those races.  We started the month with Riverhead Rocks.  Noah and Irene Lam competed, as well as myself!

I decided to test my fitness at Riverhead this year.  I had been training with my athletes and felt pretty fit, so why not race?  I headed there in the morning with George and Salty as my cheering squad (see pic of "Coach Salty).  When I got to the race sight, I was also happy to see Susan Roman, Jose Hernandez and my parents there to cheer me on too!  How lucky can I be? Susan, myself, Jose and Coach Salty pictured below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Riverhead is a time trial start, so I placed myself in the front, right behind the top men.  I wasn’t too psyched about my swim as I exited the water three minutes slower than last year, but quickly shrugged it off.  Onto the bike I went, where I found myself biking with Eamon Flood, a very good athlete here on Long Island.  It ended up that I would pass him, then he would pass me...  On and on we went like that, finding ourselves in the awkward position of not being able to bike away from one other as well as trying not to draft one another!  Towards the end of the bike, a woman passed me.  She was just plain stronger than me.  I couldn’t stay near her…and she looked like she could run too! 

When I exited transition, George yelled out to me that I was 1 minute behind the lead woman!  “Oh no”, I thought, “…here we go again” (this had just happened to me in Pat Griskus a few weeks prior).  I was questioning whether I could actually catch her, but I was trying my best.  Soon I saw her in the distance and I quickly realized that I was reeling her in!  By mile 3, right smack dab in town in front of my friends and family, I caught and passed her.  “Great!” I thought!  “I easily made up a minute on her in 3 miles!  Three more to go…I have this won!”  So, I ran the final three miles steady and came across the finish line first!  Woo Hoo!  A great day in the bag!  …so I thought!  It ended up the “second place woman” started the swim back in the second time group.  Because of this, she was the actual winner of the day…by 11 seconds!  Doh!!  A frustrating way to lose for sure!

I thought back to a familiar result:  I was racing Kona as an age-grouper and found myself in second place.  I was reeling in the girl in front of me, and finally caught and passed her less than a mile left of the run!  I ran down Alii drive with tears in my eyes thinking, “I can’t believe I just won my age group in Hawaii”!!!!!”  “I’m the World Champion 25-29 year old!”  I came across the line and was ecstatic!  …until I saw my parents, that is.  They didn’t look quite as excited as I was for some reason?  “Danielle”, they said, “you got second.  The first place girl finished already”.  My heart sank.  “Hmm…Well OK then…”  I did my best at that moment to be psyched with a second place finish that at any other time in my career I would have been thrilled about!  In a short time, I put it in perspective and was thrilled with my result, but as in Riverhead, sometimes it’s tough to get second ;-)

My frustration after my Riverhead finish quickly turned to joy as I saw Noah Lam finish with a PR race, followed by his wife  Irene Lam finishing her very first Olympic distance race!!!  I was so thrilled for both of them…especially Irene who was worried about being able to finish the swim in time.  I knew she could do it and I knew this race would be a turning point for her!!  Watching her finish was just awesome.  Great pics of Noah running and of the Lam family after Irene's finish!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next race result was the Presidential Lakes Aqua Bike on August 10^th.  John Burgess competed in the event as a prep race for his Aqua bike Nationals in a few weeks.  John finished 6^th overall in the Aqua bike division.  This event is not ranked according to age.  If it were, John would have won his age group by over 9 minutes!  I’m really excited to see what he does at Nationals in September.  That event will be a half which will play to John’s strength!

The following weekend Shayne Lewis headed up to West Point to compete in the sprint race there.  Shayne is new to the sport.  He is young and he is talented.  He proved this in West Point with a 2^nd place finish in his age group!  Shayne has only been training for a little over a month, which is amazing!  His background as a collegiate rower has helped him to build a huge aerobic engine.  He will be competing in the Mighty Hamptons next…his first Olympic distance event.  I’m excited to see what he can do in this race, but even more excited for 2015 when he has a year of solid training under his belt!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The same weekend of West Point was Timberman 70.3.  Irene Lam competed in the sprint race Saturday with ease.  She said that the swim was “no problem”, which was music to my ears!  It proved that she jumped that hurdle after completing Riverhead Rocks.  Noah Lam competed in the 70.3 the next day!  This was his first half and he had a great day despite some challenges.  He gouged his foot on a rock out of the swim and had to tend to a bad cut on his foot.  He then went on to have an amazing bike that exceeded my expectations!  The run was a challenge as he had an issue with his foot though he toughed it out as best he could and finished his first 70.3!!  Congrats to the Lam family yet again! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tobay was this past weekend where we saw Frank Fiorello finishing 3^rd in the Clydesdale division!  Frank is a strong athlete and has had a long season which will end at the Lake George Olympic distance in a few weeks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also had Jim Nostrom (pictured with Frank) compete, as well as Peter Morandi and his wife Donna!  The Morandi’s will both be competing in the Nations triathlon on the 7^th of September and Donna will be competing in the Philly Marathon in November.

Congrats to everyone and I look forward to more race results in the fall!

Cheers

Danielle

Ironman Lake Placid 2014

I haven’t been to Ironman Lake Placid, or to the town of Lake Placid since I last raced there back in 2010.  It wasn’t my best finish, but it certainly wasn’t my worst!  For the fourth time I finished and for the fourth time I swore that I would not return.  In my opinion, Lake Placid was the hardest course of the 15 I have competed in, including Kona!  Well, I went back on my promise and I did return, but this time as a spectator!

This year I had three athletes competing in the race:  Jose Hernandez, Susan Roman and Johnny Graziano.  As I headed up there Saturday morning I began to feel the same nerves I would always feel driving up to Lake Placid.  This time, however, my nerves were for  the three athletes I mentioned who I had the pleasure to work with for the months leading up to this weekend.  Each athlete had their own up’s and down’s throughout training (as everyone does) and each had a special place in my heart.

Lake Placid did not disappoint this year as far as difficulty is concerned.  Come race morning the skies opened up during the swim.  The roads were flooding and thunder and lightning were directly overhead as the athletes were swimming.  I was standing under my umbrella trying to stay dry watching the organizers frantically pulling people out of the water!  Because of this, the final times only reflect everyone’s first loop of the swim and no T1.  As I was standing at the lake watching, I was getting very nervous for the athletes out on the bike course.  I’ve done this course in the rain before and found the 4 mile downhill in the beginning of the course to be terrifying in the rain!  I hoped that everyone would be safe out there and thankfully they were! 

Once the rain cleared up, the sun came out and it got very HOT and humid!  This was obstacle #2!  Again, I was hoping that the prep from the past months was paying off out there and that everyone was doing what they could to stay nutritionally sound and as cool as possible!  In the end, each one had a great race despite the conditions of the day, which is all you can ask for in Ironman.  I’m happy to say that Johnny, Susan and Jose all persevered and each one had a great day out there!   Here is the short version of the race recap for each of the athletes’s mentioned:

 

Johnny Graziano and I had met up in the winter to discuss the season ahead that would culminate in his first ever Ironman finish:  Ironman Lake Placid.  Johnny came into training with an injury that prevented him from running for a couple of months.  We decided to train heavily in the pool, as this was Johnny’s weak link.  We also ramped up the cycling to build strength in that area.  Once Johnny was able to run again, his bike and swim were coming along fantastically!  Johnny continued to train hard throughout the season.  He made huge gains in the swim and bike and was showing his raw talent in the run.  Unfortunately, Johnny had more trouble with injury towards the end of the season limiting his running.  Because of this, we had to again rely heavily on swim and bike training to build strength in those areas leaving him as strong as possible for the run.  Johnny came into lake Placid with only one “moderately” long run, but I had faith that he could still have a great day out there.  He was stronger than ever in the swim and the bike and I knew that despite the lack of running miles in training, he could pull off a fantastic day.

Well, he proved me right.  Johnny finished IMLP in amazing fashion!  I don’t think he realizes just how great he did up there!  He finished the swim strong and unscathed, biked a solid 112 and went on to run incredible marathon after VERY LITTLE run training!!  His talent, hard work and positive attitude really got him through a tough day after many obstacles.  I couldn’t be happier for Johnny and I know he is in store for a killer Ironman if he chooses to do another one in the future.

I started coaching Jose Hernandez in the winter as well.  Jose’s swim has been his weak link, so we focused on technique in the pool to help make him more comfortable.  Jose couldn’t even swim 1 length of the pool the previous year!  He taught himself how to swim and with the help of his friends was able to finish Ironman Mont-Tremblant in 2013!  When I first met with Jose, it was obvious he needed a lot of work in the water.  It was also obvious that he was a huge physical talent.  He would do everything I told him to do in the water without a problem!  His body awareness and ability to change his technique in such a short amount of time was incredible.  Needless to say, Jose’s swim improved by leaps and bounds over the months! 

As most know, Jose is a huge talent on the bike.  With the addition of the power meter, we were able to see just how talented he was and were able to dial in all his workouts based on his threshold power.  It was incredible to see his FTP improve throughout the season despite his already strong cycling leg.  But what most surprised me was Jose’s run talent!  I had the pleasure of doing many run’s and track workouts with Jose.  Whatever pace I ran, Jose would be right there with me!  His aerobic engine is huge and I was super excited about his strength in all 3 sports across the board!

Going into IMLP, we had Jose’s watts dialed in.  I wanted him to have a solid bike, but also wanted him to set himself up for the run, as I found this to be his “secret weapon”.  Jose finished the swim very strong and, like Johnny, feeling totally unscathed coming out of the water.  He hopped on the bike and stuck to the prescribed wattage.  When I saw Jose at the end of the first loop he looked SUPER smooth, as if he was going out for a relaxed ride.  His time was right-on too!  Again I saw him after the second loop and again he looked fantastic!

Jose started off running perfectly.  He was relaxed and ticking off the miles like we thought he would.  He felt strong, but unfortunately, as this sometimes happens in Ironman, his stomach began to have major cramping.  He was reduced to walking due to the pain, which slowed him down.  Jose, being a fierce competitor was able to rally and finished the race looking strong again!  He finished his second Ironman 3 hours faster than his first!  Amazing job Jose!  I am excited to see what he can do in the future when he runs the marathon that he is capable of running off the bike!!

 

 

Susan Roman and I started up back in the winter as well.  When we first met up, she was recovering from a serious knee injury that needed major treatment and months of no running at all.  She was up to a 30 minute run 2 days each week and a 40 minute run as her long run when we met up.  Susan came into this season focused on a goal and her hard work and determination never wavered throughout the season!  Susan worked closely with me, as well as with a nutritionist that revamped her daily nutrition as well as her race day nutrition.

Susan, in my opinion, had a “dream season”.  This was by no means a “lucky season”, this had to do with her attention to detail, close working relationship with myself and her nutritionist and her ability to listen to her body at all times.  Every race Susan competed in this year was an amazing one, a PR, a great day.  Lake Placid just ended up being the “icing on the cake”.

Susan came out of the water in lake Placid with a PR swim, by 3 minutes.  She then hoped on the bike and crushed her goal time as well as a PR bike split by 29 minutes.  On the run, Susan not only ran a PR marathon, but she bested her run split at IMLP by over 53 minutes!  Her finishing time was 1 hour and 26 minutes faster than when she competed back in 2006!  I knew her potential going in and I knew she would have a great day out there, but for everything to go as perfectly executed as it did, blew me away!!  A HUGE congrats to her for an amazing season ad a dream race!  Susan isn’t done for the season, however, so it will be exciting to see what she can do after recovering from Lake Placid and using that fitness for shorter faster races!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congrats to all three on fantastic races up there.  I was thrilled to cheer each one on throughout the day!

More race results have been rolling in, so check in soon for more to come!

Happy training and racing!

Dee

 

Iron Fit Blog

July 2014

We have a lot more race results to report and an Ironman on the horizon!! 

Here we go…

On June 29^th, Susan Roman competed in the Challenge AC Aqua Bike.  This was held in Atlantic City by the same company that puts on the Roth Challenge in Europe.  A legendary race that just had its 30^th anniversary.  Susan had just finished a HUGE training weekend up in Lake Placid the weekend before doing the Challenge AC, which made her phenomenal performance even sweeter!  She rocked the WETSUITLESS swim with ease as well as the bike, finishing 2^nd in her age group!!!  This just proved to Susan and myself just how fit she has gotten this year!  She will be competing in Ironman Lake Placid this Sunday and I know she will have an awesome up race there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christa Dwyer (pictured on the podium) competed in the North Fork triathlon on July 13^th and finished 2^nd in her age group!  Christa improved over last years’ overall time by 11 minutes in this sprint triathlon!!!  That is a HUGE improvement.  Christa has been doing fantastic in training as well as in the weekly summer run series, so this improvement in the Mighty North Fork is NO surprise!  She will be competing in Ironman Florida this November!!

 

Another athlete, Laura Giardino, whom I have been coaching in the swim, not only completed the race, but finished first in her age group!  Laura has made HUGE gains in her swimming ability.  Go Laura!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frank Fiorello headed up to Musselman to do the half ironman.  If you haven’t heard, a tornado touched down that morning.  The swim was horrendous, with many people "DNF’ing" and staying to volunteer for those who forged ahead.  Frank was one of those athletes who continued to race in the down-pouring rain and howling wind!  Frank had a phenomenal day up there toughing out a grueling day!  He then completed a sprint triathlon down in Florida the next weekend.  He said that it was 92 degrees at 7:30AM!  Frank did awesome placing third in his age group!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to my roots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even I have race results to report!  On July 9^th, I revisited a favorite race of mine from the past.  The last time I did the Pat Griskus sprint was back in 2007.  I was 30 years old, training for Kona and defending my win from the previous year.  After training with many of my athletes this season, I decided to test my fitness again this year.  I was surprisingly nervous for this short race and even more so when the race director approached me to welcome me back and to ask me if I was “going to have a fast day today?”  I honestly did not know what to expect.  I knew I just didn’t want to embarrass myself!  Needless to say, I found myself a minute back from the lead woman off the bike, not only because of my rookie mistake of a dropped chain, but also because the woman who passed me out there on the bike was much stronger than me!.  When I exited T2 and heard George yelling out to me that I was a “solid minute behind”, I thought, “oh no…guess I’ll get second place”.  Then something clicked and I said to myself, “no way…I want first!”  I went for it on the run, finishing the 5K a minute faster than in 2007 and winning my third Pat Griskus Sprint Triathlon!

This may seem like no big deal.  After all, I’ve place 2^nd in my age group at the Hawaii Ironman, and 4^th amateur woman overall at that big arena.  I’ve also placed as high as 4^th overall professional woman at Ironman Lake Placid, and 6^th overall at Ironman Austria.  But this WAS a big deal!  It was a fun event and it reminded me of how I started back in 1998 when I had just graduated college and did my first race, a sprint triathlon, winning the race which then got me HOOKED on this sport that I love!  This was the reason I got into the sport.  I was reminded of that on the course when I passed George and Salty (my dog) cheering me on, and at the awards ceremony talking with old friends of how much fun it can be.  So, I will do more of these events that I started with.  I may not win them all, but I’ll try my best and it’ll be fun like it was 17 years ago!

Happy training and racing!

Dee

**GOOD LUCK to my Ironman Lake Placid athletes this weekend!  I'll be out there on the course cheering you on!!!!!!

Race Results June 2014

Part II

The month of June has been exciting for Iron Fit Endurance athletes and myself, the coach… So far we have had a lot of races underway and great results to report!  Check out the previous report for the race results from the first weekend in June.

On June 14th, John Burgess competed in the Pat Griskus Olympic Distance Aquabike.  The Pat Griskus series has been around for a while now and it is popular for attracting great competition from Connecticut and New York.  It is held at the Quassy Amusement Park (same race venue as Rev 3 Quassy), so it is obviously a challenging course!  John placed 3^rd overall in the Aquabike!  The closest competitor age-wise to John was 19 years his junior!  Despite racing guys in their 30’s and 40’s, John placed incredibly well!  John is an extremely hard worker and is VERY strong as a result of his hard work and dedication!  He isn't a newcomer to endurance racing, however...John finished the Hawaii Ironman back in 1984!  I'm excited to see what he does at Nationals in September!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just this past weekend was the West Neck Swim 1 Mile, 2 Mile and 5K Swim, Syracuse 70.3 and Mossman Half Ironman.  I met up with Frank Fiorello and Christa Dwyer (pictured above with me) Sunday morning for the "West Neck 1 mile, 2 mile and 5k swim", a pristine swim competition held at West Neck Beach in Lloyd Harbor.  I did the 5K swim, while Christa and Frank did the 2-mile swim.  The both did awesome, Christa winning her age-group with a smoking fast 50:47 and Frank swimming a strong 58:52!

Meanwhile, Deepak Chopra was up at the Syracuse 70.3 racing with his younger brother.  This was Deepak’s first Half Ironman.  He did amazingly well on a tough course and a hot day!  Deepak has a grueling work schedule, but is a focused athlete.  Due to his supportive family network, Deepak does his best to get in the training during the week despite his hectic schedule.  The remainder of the season will be a focus on shorter triathlons as well as the NYC Marathon in November!  Deepak has a STRONG running background, so it will be exciting to get him back to his roots!  His wife, Jenn, and daughters were at the race cheering him on (see picture of Deepak and his daughter on the run course).  Jenn, his wife, is also training and will be competing in her first half marathon in the fall!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over in Connecticut, Johnny Graziano raced Mossman and WON the aquabike division!! Johnny is pictured above on the podium as well as on the bike rocking the Iron Fit gear despite being the Founder of the Wildwood Warriors...thanks Johnny!  With a tweaked calf, Johnny opted for the aquabike.  This was a smart decision which paid off!  With Placid around the corner, this was a great training day for Johnny!

 

 

 

 

Speaking of the Ironman, Susan Roman was completing a HUGE weekend of training which she absolutely nailed up in Lake Placid this weekend!  Susan is a dedicated athlete and it certainly has paid off so far!  Once she recovers from this big weekend, she will see a huge boost in fitness levels going into Placid!  Susan made the very smart decision to enter the Challenge AC Aqua Bike this upcoming weekend (2.4 Mile swim-112 Mile bike) as a training day for Placid!

Below is a picture that Susan sent me on Saturday while she was riding the course.  it was titled, "I think I biked too far"!

I’ll be posting more results as they come in.  In the meantime, we have bike intervals at Hecksher State Park on Tuesday evenings (5:30PM), Thursday track workouts at West Islip High School (5:30 AM) and group swims and bikes on most weekends! Check out the Calendar tab on this website (www.ironfitendurance.com).  

All are welcome!

Happy Training!

Dee

 

 

Iron Fit Endurance Race Report

June 2014

The triathlon season has officially kicked off and I couldn't be more excited as we have had fantastic results so far!  Let’s begin with Rev3 Quassy on the weekend of May 31st and June 1st:

Deepak Chopra (pictured below) and Frank Fiorello both competed in the Olympic distance race to start off the weekend with a bang:

It was Deepak’s first race in two years and he finished with a very strong swim, bike and run!  Deepak was most anxious about the swim, but he finished strong as I expected!  He had a great bike and run as well, getting the first race done before heading up to compete in Syracuse 70.3 in a few weeks!  That will be Deepak’s first Half Ironman and the performance here will definitely help to build confidence going into the Half!

Frank (Pictured here) also had a strong race, besting both his bike split and run split from the previous year!  Frank has been at it for a long time and is one of the hardest workers out there.  I am really excited to see what he can do this season!  I believe that Frank has untapped potential and I am excited that he has asked for my help this season! This is just the beginning and I see great things to come from him.  Can't wait to be a part of it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was thrilled with the performances from these two hard working guys and was looking forward to the half the next day!  I had Jose Hernandez, Susan Roman and Peter Morandi racing the half on June 1st.  This is a VERY hard course, maybe the hardest out there, though all three had fantastic races despite the challenging terrain!

Jose (pictured right) finished in a blazing 5:32!  He raced smart and strong the entire day and it paid off!  This will be a huge boost for him going into Ironman Lake Placid!  Jose is a very strong cyclist, but he proved that he is also a very strong runner as well!  I’ve been able to do some training runs with Jose and have been impressed with his ability to run.  I was excited to see what he could do in the Half and as usual, he didn’t disappoint!   Jose’s swim has improved leaps and bounds as well.  The hard work and endless hours working on technique in on his swim has paid off!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susan Roman (pictured above) blew away all race expectations with a fast swim, reaching her time goal; a strong bike, finishing just where she and I had predicted; and an amazing run that bested her goal by over 20 minutes!!!  Susan is also racing Ironman Lake Placid and will no doubt have an incredible performance there!  She is an extremely hard worker and dedicated athlete and it certainly has shown this season in her races.  It’s been exciting to be a part of her training and I can't wait to see what she can do up in Lake Placid!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter Morandi (pictured above and below) finished Quassy, his first Half Ironman, in amazing fashion!  Peter had an injury over the winter that caused him to take off from running for over 2 months!  Our longest run for Peter going into this race was only 8 miles as we didn’t have the time to properly build.  I was nervous about the distance and the severity of the course, but Peter sailed through this race without a problem!  He had a solid swim and very strong bike and finished the run way ahead of my own goals for him!  He is a natural with the long distance events, as he proved at Quassy.  I was thrilled!  Peter will see what he can do in shorter events and then go for a P.R. at the Lake George Half Ironman!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closing out the weekend was Noah and Irene Lam.  The husband and wife team both competed in the Smith point Triathlon on June 1^st to start off their triathlon season.  Both had great races!  They will be competing next in Riverhead Rocks, while Noah focuses on the long-term goal of ironman Arizona and Irene competing in the NYC marathon as well as other triathlons!

This past weekend was Mighty Montauk triathlon and Eagleman 70.3.  Two “friends of Iron Fit Endurance” competed in these races.  Jeanette Hampel won her age group and finished 8^th overall female in the Mighty Montauk despite some race day glitches, such as a dropped chain!  Jeanette had a strong run, which she credits to her weekly track workouts with Iron Fit Endurance!  She is strong in all three events and will be competing in the Toughman Half Ironman in September.

Jim Nostrom had a super finish at Eagleman 70.3 to close out the weekend.  Jim is another friend of Iron Fit Endurance who has made many of the group bike and swim workouts.  He had a very strong race down in Maryland! 

Congrats to Jim and Jeanette!

As a coach, I am so thrilled and proud to report that every athlete who has raced so far this season has had a result they can be proud of.  That is all I can ask for and I can honestly say that I get just as excited watching their results as I have been for my own results in the past!  To be able to coach these athletes, helping them to juggle huge work commitments, families and busy lives, and then see them show up at the races and perform as they have is so thrilling!  I want to thank everyone for their commitment and for their enthusiasm.  This is just the beginning and I can’t wait for the rest of the season!

Happy Training!

Dee

*I also wanted to send a HUGE thank you to John Landino and Death Row Velo (https://www.facebook.com/DeathRowVelo) for the beautiful uniforms!