A Healthy Approach by Jamie Shuler

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Jen Corona

A Healthy Approach

I remember 3 years ago, July of 2009, I was sitting at a park with the kids weighing about 245 pounds. I turned to my wife and said, “I think it’s really about time I do something about my weight.” She said try to start watching what you eat and exercising. I just thought to myself, I’ve tried this several times before without success, so how was I going to figure out the right formula to make this work? I had gained about 75 pounds since high school and honestly was not sure how to lose it. It is very difficult to stay focused with a training plan, especially not having any idea as far as what you are doing. Sure, I know the medical aspect of it. But the down and dirty of truly being fit, I had no clue.

So I started to run, and two months later I was down to 215 pounds, and had entered my first half marathon. It took me almost two and a half hours, and it was tough. At this point I was getting a lot of aches and pains from the constant pounding of running, so I decided to try cross training with swimming and biking. At first I couldn’t even swim 25 yards, and the biking was a lot tougher than it looked. But I tried to simply focus on consistency, while balancing career and family. After three years of consistent training, I have gradually gotten faster and more fit.

This past July, myself and six of my teammates from NWT completed our first full Ironman at Lake Placid. It was an amazing experience for all of us, and was an overwhelming end to where I started three years ago that same month.

In my full time job as a physician assistant in primary care, I take a special interest in treating obesity, and educating patients on diet, exercise, and weight loss. I think a lot of the problem is just lack of knowledge on what being healthy and fit truly means. I even get a good chuckle when I hear people tell me how hard it is for them to lose weight, and that I wouldn’t understand because I’m thin. What they don’t know is all the consistent training that is backed up day in and day out. They also don’t know that I wish I could eat whatever I want, but I can’t. I have to watch every calorie. Continue reading →

Get Sweat! by Eric Hinman

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Jen Corona

I was beyond excited when two entrepreneurs, and fellow triathletes from Miami contacted us to develop a fitness-based social network, called Sweat. Over the last six months, we’ve spent copious hours perfecting the application for iOS (iPhone, iPad, & iPod Touch). Instead of the barrage of emails, text messages, and phone calls, Sweat allows users to easily add activities that they will be doing and invite their friends to join in. For example, tomorrow I have a one hour run and a one hour swim. On the Sweat app, I can create an event, pick an activity type (ex. swim, bike, run, gym, etc.), name it (ex. 2 x 30 tempo run), select the location, dictate the time and date, and then invite people to join me. The event is then posted to my feed (similar to Twitter), so all of my followers can see my workout and join me if they are interested.

Followers can also like and/or comment on my events. I can also share the event on Facebook, so my friends not using the app can see the workout and choose to join me as well. Sweat allows users to easily find their friends via Facebook.

An Android version will be coming soon! Sweat is the future of organizing your fitness lifestyle!

You can download the app by visiting iTunes.

Eric Hinman is a technology enthusiast and co-founder of Rounded, a Syracuse-based software development company. He has been racing triathlon since 2009 and is currently training for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Las Vegas this September.

Musselman Race Report

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Michael Corona

I participated in the Double Musselman Race last weekend. It’s a GREAT race—if you are ever in the Northeast, put this on your schedule. It’s a weekend of races, a sprint on Saturday, a Half on Sunday, and you can do both and compete in the Double Mussel, which is the best combined time.

Saturday was great, and I finished 2nd/800+. This was big for me; the race draws some good competition regionally, and it was probably my best finish ever. Going into Sunday I was 42 seconds down, and only 22 seconds up on 3^rd and 1:40 up on 4^th. Everyone else was 5+ minutes back.

I was in great position, and I figured I would need a 6-7 minute lead off the bike on Sunday to win. If I paced the event, I could secure a podium finish in the Double, probably top 15 OA in the half, and fight for an AG win. A good day!

Or, I could race, get that 6-7 minute lead and win the Double. To be honest, I didn’t even have to think about it; when will I ever be in this position again? Continue reading →

Improving Content for Our Readers

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Michael Corona

In an effort to increase site content, I was going to increase my writing to a weekly basis, with a long term goal of writing daily. After thinking about the commitment of that task, I realized it was something that would never happen without giving up another piece of my life, or reducing the quality of the content. The time simply isn’t there, so I found myself facing two choices:

1-Eliminate other things in my life to create the space.
2-Reduce the quality of the content to pump out articles.

Neither of the above were an option!

Still wanting to share information and expertise, I stopped to consider the fact that Endurance Corner has a team of writers . . . and I came to realize that by recruiting help from others I could maintain quality of content and share the knowledge of some people that I am very fortunate to work with! My current team is made up of individuals with some amazing talent and knowledge that they have bridged to the sport of triathlon. Each is a strong member of the community and possesses many of the characteristics I strive to establish within a team environment: positive attitude, easy going personality, and a willingness to help those around them do well. So I asked myself: Continue reading →

Race Planning

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Michael Corona

This month at Endurance Corner, we have been talking about race planning. Often an overlooked aspect of racing, many athletes will show up and “wing it”, assuming their fitness is all they need to race well. I have seen “A” races blown to bits before the race even started due to a lack of a solid race plan. Another limiter I have witnessed is the inability to adapt on the fly and go to a plan B or C.

Showing up to a race with a plan is vital to doing well. Here are some points to consider: Continue reading →

Surviving Race Day with 3 Little Boys

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Jen Corona

Race season is upon us, and I must say that we are very lucky to have a family full of race groupies. We’ve been dragging the kids to races since our little one was two, so they are quite used to it, and we pretty much have “Race Day” down to a science. Here are a few things we’ve learned along our triathlon journey . . .

Don’t believe the weather forecast!
Especially here in Central New York! I pack for all types of weather. I keep a bag in the car with rain suits, towels, sun screen, and baseball hats, as well as jackets, winter hats and gloves, and sometimes a blanket. You really never know! We have needed sunscreen and winter hats in the same day more than once!

Choose venues the kids will enjoy.
We are fortunate to have many great local events to choose from! We could literally race every weekend of the summer within an hour or two from home. Most local venues have play grounds and beach areas that the kids can play in during certain portions of the race: Green Lakes, Oneida Shores, and Jamesville Beach. However, if you are thinking of doing any travel races, consider places like Quassy, Cedar Point or Old Forge, or any place where there are amusement parks so the kids will be excited for the race. We went to Quassy last weekend and the kids loved it! And bonus – we received a few free tickets to the park with registration. Now, the kids are asking us to do Cedar Point! Also, many races incorporate a kid’s race into the festivities. Whether it’s a run, du, or a tri, our kids love to do these, especially if there’s a t-shirt involved! Continue reading →

“Before Break Through Training, Chop Wood, Carry Water, After Breakthrough training, Chop Wood, Carry Water”

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Michael Corona

I borrowed today’s title from the Zen saying, “Before enlightenment, chop wood carry water, after enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.”

What is break through training? For me, it is about viewing it the right way . . . it is a continual quest with no end date, and no real peak. When the goal is to qualify, it is not fair to the coach or the athlete to pick a specific race or year.

I am going to qualify. I do not care when, or how old I am. The race isn’t going anywhere. It could be this year; it could be in 5 years. What I do know is that for now I’m going to chop wood and carry water, and when I qualify, I imagine I’m going to do much of the same. Continue reading →

An Interview on Ultra

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Michael Corona

March is Ultra month at Endurance Corner and due to my limited exposure in that area, I took the opportunity to reach out to a friend who I met through the sport so I could learn more about the distance and share my discoveries with the readers here.

Adam Peruta, a Syracuse native and professor at Ithaca College, has been involved in endurance sports for 5 years. He recently discovered a passion for the Ultra distance events, including the Ultraman, a grueling 3 day event that consists of a 6.2 mile swim and 90 mile bike on day 1, a 171.4 mile bike on day 2, and finally a double marathon, 52.4 miles on the third and final day.

The length of the event intrigues me, and I was curious as to how the prep differs from events the typical long course athlete is accustomed to. When I caught up with Adam, he was just finishing up a new experience on the Start-up Bus, which consists of 25 people on a bus, where the group splits into small teams to launch a new idea, from conception to life. In essence, it is three days without sleep, pitching ideas. What drew Adam to the bus is the same internal question that drove him to Ultraman: “I’ve never done this before; I wonder if I can I do this?” He completed Ultraman Canada in 2010, and when he crossed the line thought, “Why would ANYONE want to do that again?!” It was only a few days later when he received an invitation to back up his Canada performance with Ultraman Hawaii, just four short months later…. he said he instantly knew he wanted to do it…. why?? The same internal dialog that put him on the start up bus this past week…”I’ve never done this before, it’s a new experience; can I do it?”

Continue reading →