It's been such a great spring for Iron Fit Endurance. Races are BACK and feels especially exciting this year after all we have been through! I was recently asked the question, "What motivates you to do triathlon? WHY put yourself through the suffering?" My answer? "It's the challenge that I looked forward to in my life, also the competition is something that draws me to the sport and continues to do so after 23 years." As my first race of the season neared (Ironman Gulf Coast 70.3 this past weekend), I realized that it was even more than that. I love the idea of a faraway goal that I get to work towards, I love being "race fit", I love the excitement as you start tapering, the feeling that the hard work and sacrifices are done and now it's time to rest and get psyched for race day. The prep, planning, travel, excitement of race week, the nerves... I love it all! Even better when you have others to share in your excitement as I did this past weekend with my friends and athletes Erin, Radek, Phil, and Joe. The race banter, seeing each other before the swim start, seeing each other out on the course and finally the celebration after. This is what really draws me to racing after 23 years in the sport!
Here are some race results from 2021 so far!
Local Races! Race Awesome Cedar Creek Duathlon and Event Power's Mother's Day Duathlon:
Shayne had a great season opener placing 4th overall at the Cedar Creek Du with a super fast run. He backed that up with another great Duathlon finish (2nd Age Group, 9th Overall) at The Event Power Mothers Day Duathlon
Alex made his multisport debut with an impressive first Duathlon at the Cedar Creek Duathlon. His goal is to tow the line at an Olympic Distance this year!
Scott Janicola was back at it with a 2nd place Age Group finish at the Cedar Creek Duathlon:
Phil Brogan started the season with an Age Group Win at the Cedar Creek Duathlon:
Staci Blanket and Johnny Graziano both got flats at the Cedar Creek Du, but Staci was back at it getting 2nd place overall female at the Event Power Mother's Day Du. Staci is one gifted athlete and runner as you can see here!
Katie Hughes got back to racing again and had an awesome first race back at the Mother's day Du! She got 4th in her Age Group!
Mark Shannon made his Duathlon debut crushing it with an Age Group Win! He'll be doing his first 70.3 in July!
Olivia placed 4th in the TT and has been crushing the Junior Elite Circuit with some fast racing and a spot to Nationals in July! She'll be racing for the University of Denver Women's Tri Team in the fall!!
Event Power Mini Mightyman Pool Triathlon!
Gordon started off the season with an age group win, as he does so often!
Jeffrey Reynolds also raced the Mini Mightyman and placed 3rd in his age group!
Ironman Gulf Coast 70.3:
Erin Miller, Joe Wines, Phil Brogan, Radek Jakubowski and myself travelled down to Panama City Beach this past weekend for the IM Gulf Coast 70.3 race. We had a blast while putting down some impressive races!
Radek placed 4th in his age group (missing 3rd by just 1 second!!). He totally crushed the bike with a 2:18 split and also put up a PR run (and PR 70.3 race) earning him a slot to 70.3 worlds in St. George!
Phil crushed the bike as well and put up an impressive PR race, breaking 5 hours for the first time, and earning a spot to 70.3 worlds in St. George as well!
I also had a great race, breaking 4:50 for the first time in many years, winning my age group and earning a slot to 70.3 worlds!
Here we are Radek, myself and Phil at the awards and slot allocation as well as the group celebrating our races:
Erin had a strong race despite having some issues with nausea that we pegged down to not taking in enough sodium...that's OK! Races are where we can see what went right and wrong and adjust. She still finished 19th in the age group and will be back to rock the next 70.3!
Joe had a solid race all around, putting out a strong swim in rough conditions and a rocking bike. He also lacked sodium intake on the bike which affected the latter half of the run. This was Joe's first race back in over 5 years and it was a fantastic start to the season. He'll be racing Ironman Lake Placid in July and this race was a perfect way to test out what did and did not work so he can nail it at IMLP!
Good luck to everyone as they prepare for their races this season! Enjoy every minute, have fun with your training partners, set goals and be proud of what you can accomplish with hard work and determination!
Happy training and racing!
Dee