Athlete Race Recap: IRONMAN 70.3 Western Massachusetts & IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman

‍IRONMAN 70.3 Western Massachusetts

Heidi Caruso took on her A-Race of the year at IRONMAN 70.3 Western Massachusetts in Springfield, Massachusetts on Sunday, June 9, 2024!

Heidi is a mom to three busy teenagers.  Between all of the activities her kids are involved with and her job as a nurse, she is always on the go and has limited time to train.  But that didn’t stop her from taking on IRONMAN 70.3 Western Massachusetts!  A flat on the bike course almost derailed her entire race, but she was able to get things moving along and finished strong!

Way to go, Heidi!

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IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman

Lisa Crockford returned to Cambridge, Maryland for IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman on Sunday, June 9, 2024!

Lisa loves Cambridge and both IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman and IRONMAN Maryland.  (And I agree with her; Cambridge is one of most welcoming host cities in the IRONMAN & IRONMAN 70.3 circuit that I’ve encountered.)  So, Lisa was excited to head back to Cambridge for this year’s IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman.

Lisa has had some challenges in her training this year, including a few bouts of illness that set her training back.  We talked about what this realistically meant for her and her planned race schedule this year.  We decided not to race at certain events, but for IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman, Lisa told me that she’d like to still go to the race and see how far she could get.  She thought she might be able to get through both the swim and the bike.

This kind of thoughtfulness takes a lot of maturity and wisdom.  Many (if not most) athletes would not have the restraint to decide to withdraw mid-race ahead of time and then actually follow through on it.  Many (if not most) athletes would likely push through until they were forced to stop or until they crossed the finish line, even if they got injured in the process.  So the fact that Lisa did this is honestly a testament to what a strong and mature athlete she is.

Lisa faced some challenges on the swim, including choppier conditions than she’s swam in in a long time and banging her knee on the boat ramp in the swim exit.  The banged knee presented some additional challenges for her on the windy bike course, but she finished the bike course smiling and happy.  Once she was off of the bike, she handed in her timing chip as planned and took her planned DNF for this race.

As we like to say around here, Lisa’s DNF may stand for “Did Not Finish”, but it also stands for “Did Not Fail”.  By doing what was wisest and best based on her training and current fitness level, Lisa absolutely did not fail.

Well done, Lisa!

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