Training is well under way and the weather seems to be getting better…finally! Many Iron Fit Endurance athletes have already been competing in races despite the chilly weather and we have many big races coming up including the weekend of June 4th and 5th at Rev 3 Quassy where a group of Iron Fit Endurance athletes will be competing in the Olympic Distance race Saturday while others will be competing in the Half Ironman on Sunday. It’s going to be a great weekend!
Often times athletes ask me about the number of miles they should be running, biking or swimming for their events, and my answer? “it depends!” While that answer doesn’t sit well with some athletes it really does depend on the athlete, their schedule, and the amount of volume AND INTENSITY they can handle! Often times in this sport I see athletes going out and logging mile after mile at the same dull pace or wattage just to get it in. Then they find themselves tired and stuck at a pace that they can’t improve upon. They ignore the most important factor which is QUALITY of the workouts! Some of my athletes are logging in a LOT of miles due to the fact that they can handle the quality workouts and recover quickly from those workouts, while some athletes need more recovery. These athletes can’t produce as many overall weekly miles, but it does not mean that they cannot perform the same or better than the athletes that recover quicker! It’s easy in this day and age of social media to look at what your friend or training partner is doing and compare yourself to them while second guessing yourself “why didn’t I do a 12 mile run like my friend?” Instead, focus on completing the quality workouts that you need, such as VO2, Threshold and tempo efforts, with the longer workouts that are necessary for that event (also done at a quality pace or wattage that makes sense for that event) mixed in with days off OR active recovery days, and you will find that you are on the right track!
Here are some of the recent race results from Iron Fit Endurance:
Alice Aiello competed in a wet, chilly Carl Hart Duathlon finishing 7th in her Age Group! She’ll be doing Eagleman 70.3 in a few weeks!
Shelley Bache, who will be competing in Quassy half ironman and Ironman Maryland, competed in the 10 Mile Broad Street Run in Philly.
Deepak Chopra and Jackie Lott (pictured below) competed in the Long Island 10K while Susan Roman did the half marathon.
Jackie also competed in the Disney 5K with her husband Tom, then the Disney half marathon that same weekend!
Ernest Martinez has been doing a lot of running races post IMPR 70.3 including the Brooklyn half Marathon this past weekend!
Frank Fiorello is always representing down in sunny Florida where he competed in the Storm Challenge which is a sprint triathlon followed by a 1 mile swim. He's pictured here with two other Long Islanders (now Floridians), Kerri and Kevin Simmons!
Jose Hernandez has a breakthrough performance at the American Zofingen Long Course Duathlon where he placed 3rd overall with a smoking fast time of 8:38! It is an accomplishment just to FINISH this event which has 9000ft of climbing on the bike and 3000 ft of climbing on the run! Placing 3rd overall with such an incredible overall time was a real treat for Jose and for myself!
John Burgess competed in the Gran Fondo NY that same windy, cold day as AMZOF with Jim Nostrom!
Hilary Topper (Pictured above) competed in the Power of a Woman (you can read her blog).
Donna Morandi also competed in the power of a Woman finishing 3rd in her age group:
The next day was Mini Mightyman Pool Triathlon where Bill Vultaggio finished his first triathlon, Gordon Lewis finished 2nd in his age group and Elijah and Zachary Lam both competed:
Rafael Tovar competed in the South Beach Triathlon! He’ll be racing the NYC Triathlon as well as IMAC 70.3.
Rob Toedter has been competing in many off-road races including his first XTERRA race at the new Jersey Devil and Mooch Madness Mtn bike races. He’ll be doing the Bearscat 50 Miler next weekend. Rob is one of the best Open water swimmers around so it’s great to see him competing in triathlons as well.
Erin Miller competed in the Pinehurst Olympic Distance triathlon in Virginia. She’ll be doing the Rev 3 Poconos half in August as well as a fall marathon.
Kurt LaForest just competed in a chilly, rainy Bassman International Distance where he placed 3rd in his age group despite not riding or swimming outside leading up the event! He has a bright future as he trains for a big season ahead!
Many of us will be swimming this weekend with Bryan Kurt of OWS at Hecksher State Park. OWS does open water swimming at Hecksher as well as by the Fire island Light house throughout the summer!
Also, check out the Iron Fit Endurance calendar for Group Training!