Athelte Race Recap: IRONMAN 70.3 Maine & Donner Lake Triathlon

IRONMAN 70.3 Maine

On Sunday, July 28, 2024, David Tuminaro raced his first half distance triathlon at IRONMAN 70.3 Maine in Augusta, Maine!

David has been working toward this goal of completing a half distance triathlon for a very long time now.  Last year, he reached out to me and hired me to write a Custom-Built Training Plan for him.  After a bit of time on that Custom-Built Training Plan and after a few add-on Consultations, David realized that he would benefit from the communication and analysis that are included with Performance Coaching, and he switched coaching plans.  

This proved to be a really wise choice for David, as it allowed us to work well together to help him learn more about the sport of triathlon (David is relatively new, with 2024 being his second season in the sport) and to help him continue making gains in his performance.  David is like a sponge when it comes to information, and has been very enthusiastic when it has come to learning about endurance sports training and how to prepare for long-course events.

Perhaps most importantly for David, he realized on this journey that he truly enjoys training.  While racing is fun and he definitely enjoys it, he’s realized how much he enjoys being outside, doing workouts, and having a consistent movement practice be part of his life.  Race day for him was truly a cherry on top of a sundae that he’s already really enjoyed.  And as I’ve talked about a lot in the past, being joyful about what you do in endurance sports is a wonderful foundation to accomplishing goals.

After learning exactly why race execution matters so much at his first triathlon of the season, David deployed the lessons he learned at IRONMAN 70.3 Maine and had a very strong day.  His swim was on point, and he did a good job of restraining himself on the bike.  He kept up with the fueling and hydration plan we had developed, and he started the run feeling strong.  Unfortunately, he started to tire about halfway through, but he adapted well and adjusted his run/walk strategy to be one he could sustain.  He crossed the finish line feeling happy and reporting that he had had “a ton of fun” throughout the day.  What a great experience for his first half distance triathlon!

Congratulations, David!

Donner Lake Triathlon

Kathy Cano took on the Olympic Distance event at the Donner Lake Triathlon in Truckee, California on Sunday, July 28, 2024!

Kathy has wanted to do this particular race for a long time because it is hard.  (Remember, as Tom Hanks says in A League of Their Own: “The hard is what makes it great.”)  The bike course has 2,500 feet of climbing in 24 miles and has a one-mile stretch of the 10K run course that has over 200 feet of elevation gain.  Because of the course’s challenge and difficulty, Kathy has shied away from doing it…until this year.

Once Kathy told me that she wanted to do this race, we started including very specific workouts in her training that prepared her for what she would encounter on race day.  Some of the most important things we worked on were her bike handling skills and her climbing skills.  Along the way, we identified that Kathy also needed a new Bike Fit, which not only made her physically more comfortable on her bike, but also enabled her to handle it with more ease.

Consistently putting in the work on both of these things week after week really paid off, because Kathy totally rocked the Donner Lake Triathlon on race day, exceeding her own expectations of what she’d be able to accomplish!  It’s an amazing feeling when you accomplish a bucket list goal, and it’s an even better feeling when you knock it out of the park.  

Congratulations, Kathy!