11/11/09
Athlete's Results Are Not Always About Finish Times
Being a triathlete is not always about the numbers or even finishing. Sometimes the result that matters most is the successful completion of just one part of the race.
Category: results
Posted by: editor
The Ironman swim is a challenge on its own. When you combine it with a lack of a swimming background, 2500 others, rolling seas and toss in a few jellyfish for good measure then you have a REAL challenge. This weekend we were able to witness an incredible feat. We cheered on Brenda McGovern as she took on the swim at Ironman Florida. She entered the water with the rest of the athletes and set out to finish the swim. At any time she could have stopped and called it a day but that wasn't happening this day.
She came out of the first loop and jumped right back in for the second loop and finished with a 2:09! Eyewitness accounts have her doing a victory dance at swim finish and taking off on the bike like she stole it. She was able to turn in a solid bike split and then was off to the run. As we all know, Ironman is a long day and you never know how it is going to end until it does end. Unfortunately, for Brenda her day came to an end in the second half of the marathon when she was unable to continue for medical reasons.
Nevertheless, the swim has been conquered and I would not bet against her in her upcoming races regardless of distance. Congratulations Brenda!
John Zingarelli dropped his Ironman time by 1:12:57 this year. Training with The Method enable John to set a tremendous PR while actually training less! John's time has been limited for training this season but he traded in the volume for quality and the results speak for themselves. 0:02:03 off the swim, 1:02:00 off the bike and 0:05:59 off of the run! Eight weeks of training with ironguides has resulted in a dramatic change in time over the previous year.
Karen Doehrman made her Ironman debut with a 12:35:03! This is an impressive feat for a full-time career woman and mother of four. A special note should be made that this was also Karen's first time covering the marathon distance and that she had been sidelined from running for much of the past 3 months.
In Mexico, Felix Jaber finished the Xelha Sprint Triathlon in 1:30:41, placing 22nd in the M40-49 age group. Felix has just completed a recovery block of work after finishing his first half Ironman in Cancun in September.
We have reduced the volume of his program with the aim of recovery but also to work on his run speed and weight loss. Because of his location - Felix lives on the beach - I included Sunday morning barefoot beach sprints into his program, a great session for run speed, hormone production and weight loss. This session was always completed early morning so the rest of the day could be spent with the family relaxing. Felix has seen his weight melt away and his run speed continues to improve. This all came together in a great performance on Sunday.
Felix has moved himself from back of the pack to solid middle of the pack after less than a year's work with ironguides and I'm sure lots more to come!
In Nevada Peter Faller finished the Silverman Ironman – his first! - in 12hrs 20.
Grant O'Halloran raced Ironman Florida, finishing in 11hrs 22 – which is one hour faster than he ever had before!
She came out of the first loop and jumped right back in for the second loop and finished with a 2:09! Eyewitness accounts have her doing a victory dance at swim finish and taking off on the bike like she stole it. She was able to turn in a solid bike split and then was off to the run. As we all know, Ironman is a long day and you never know how it is going to end until it does end. Unfortunately, for Brenda her day came to an end in the second half of the marathon when she was unable to continue for medical reasons.
Nevertheless, the swim has been conquered and I would not bet against her in her upcoming races regardless of distance. Congratulations Brenda!
John Zingarelli dropped his Ironman time by 1:12:57 this year. Training with The Method enable John to set a tremendous PR while actually training less! John's time has been limited for training this season but he traded in the volume for quality and the results speak for themselves. 0:02:03 off the swim, 1:02:00 off the bike and 0:05:59 off of the run! Eight weeks of training with ironguides has resulted in a dramatic change in time over the previous year.
Karen Doehrman made her Ironman debut with a 12:35:03! This is an impressive feat for a full-time career woman and mother of four. A special note should be made that this was also Karen's first time covering the marathon distance and that she had been sidelined from running for much of the past 3 months.
In Mexico, Felix Jaber finished the Xelha Sprint Triathlon in 1:30:41, placing 22nd in the M40-49 age group. Felix has just completed a recovery block of work after finishing his first half Ironman in Cancun in September.
We have reduced the volume of his program with the aim of recovery but also to work on his run speed and weight loss. Because of his location - Felix lives on the beach - I included Sunday morning barefoot beach sprints into his program, a great session for run speed, hormone production and weight loss. This session was always completed early morning so the rest of the day could be spent with the family relaxing. Felix has seen his weight melt away and his run speed continues to improve. This all came together in a great performance on Sunday.
Felix has moved himself from back of the pack to solid middle of the pack after less than a year's work with ironguides and I'm sure lots more to come!
In Nevada Peter Faller finished the Silverman Ironman – his first! - in 12hrs 20.
Grant O'Halloran raced Ironman Florida, finishing in 11hrs 22 – which is one hour faster than he ever had before!