Rugged Individualist. Certified USA Triathlon Coach & NASM Personal Trainer, Men's Self Improvement Coach. President of Go Farther Sports. National Ranked Triathlete & 100 Mile Grand Slam Ultrarunner, only the fourth New Yorker to finish four of the oldest and most prestigious 100 mile ultramarathons in the U.S. in only 10 weeks.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Squatchy Leftovers 10K!

This is perhaps the last race of the year for me. Next event that I'll be doing (not a race) will probably be the Super Secret Hash in South Brunswick, NJ in January.

I had a decent day today, finishing 13th at the Squatchy Leftovers 10K at South Mountain Reservation, going 53:33. The hills in the back end were tough. Here I was running with the renowned Wizard, Phil Pagdanganan, at the beginning of the race.



This is perhaps
the last race of the year for me. Next event that I'll be doing (not a race) will probably be the Super Secret Hash in South Brunswick, NJ in January.

#sassquad #trailrunning #running

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Mark Your Calendars! Indoor Triathlon on Feb 29!


Looks like we'll be running an indoor triathlon out of the Staten Island JCC on the night of February 29!

It will be a 10 minute swim in the pool, a 30 minute ride on the spin bike, and 20 minutes of running on the treadmill. There will be a 10 minute break at "T1" and a 5 minute break at "T2."

There will also be a series of classes that will prepare everyone for the event, so any athlete from beginners to vets are welcome to join. It's tentative but the classes will involve Tuesday morning swims and bricks on Wednesday nights. This will also prepare athletes for the triathlon 2020 season also.

Once we hammer out the details I will publicly post the ad here to get the ball rolling!

Stay tuned! 😁👍

Monday, November 25, 2019

Congrats Lisa Lubarsky on the Philly Marathon!!!








Sunday, November 24, 2019

Other benefits of Fitness - 82 Year old Woman Fends Off Intruders.

There's something to be said about staying fit; case in point, when an 82 year old woman bodybuilder successfully destroys a home intruder.

Here is the Tweet and the Video:

Keep running and stay strong, my friends.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Good Luck at Philly Marathon and Ironman Arizona!

I want to wish the best of luck to everyone racing this weekend, especially:

#Ironman Arizona
Philadelphia #Marathon





May the wind always be at your back!

 #IMAZ #triathlon #PhillyMarathon #running #runningmotivation #fridaymotivation

Thursday, November 21, 2019

The 100x100 on 100 Swim Challenge!!!

Next month, on December 30, my last workout of the year, I'll be looking to do the 100x100 on 100 (seconds) swim challenge. This has been a tradition in some Masters swims and one that I always wanted to try to see if I can do.
This year I said to myself, what the heck, let's give it a try! 😁👍

Most people do this in a 25 yard pool, but my pool is slightly longer at 25 meters, making it a little more of a challenge. I've been swimming quite strong lately, so I think I can manage a comfortable pace of 1:30 every 100. That leaves me just 10 seconds to rest before setting out on the next 100.

This will be done in the South Shore Y at 5AM. If you're interested in trying this out (or doing 50x100, or doing this at a more relaxed interval, etc), let me know and I'll try to get you into the pool there.

All in all, for me, this is going to take close to 3 hours to do, and it is over 6 miles of swimming. So I'll have to bring some energy gels and water in so that I can maintain this over the long haul.

It'll be a great way to end the year for me. Wish me luck!!!

Monday, November 18, 2019

The November Butterfly Challenge!

So now triathletes are challenging each other to a "butterfly challenge" this month on Slowtwitch. 😆

https://forum.slowtwitch.com/…/November_butterfly_challeng…/
We just don't know how to rest now, do we? LOL

The Butterfly stroke is the hardest stroke to master of all the swim strokes. There are plenty of triathletes who still don't know how to do a butterfly.

I've been swimming since my years in high school (1980s) and still I can hold a good butterfly for maybe 100 meters tops. After that, the stroke starts falling apart.

Yet, here we are, in the middle of the month, with people already claiming to swim 3000 yards of butterfly this month. Either they're very strong, very persistent, or they're outright lying. 🤣

All this aside, it's a great challenge to have in the middle of the offseason. Sometimes one loses track of the goals during this time, and this provides the necessary focus needed to keep training through the winter.

So will you challenge yourself this way? Or will you look at other strange ways to challenge yourself? Go for it!

Friday, November 15, 2019

The Bike Course is Back! Ironman Canada Interview With New RD

The new, um, old Ironman Canada venue. Interview with the RD. Yes, the original iconic bike course is back!

One of the biggest questions of the 2020 Ironman Penticton race is, "is the bike course the same?" To those who are new to the course, the old Ironman bike course is quite legendary for the hills, with Richter Pass being the legendary climb of the course. The huge rolling hills after Richter Pass also define the course, as well as the screaming 12 mile downhill back into town.

 Climbing Richter Pass has always been a rite of passage for anyone who finished in the old days of Ironman Canada.

The bike course is back!

Ironman in recent years has been trending towards looped courses and a lot of people were worried that this legendary course would be scrapped for a boring looped course. That's not to be the case here!

The run course is still up in the air, but would most likely be looped. That's fine though, since the old out and back run in the early days was just rolling hills and such; nothing really stood out on that course as much as the ride.

Here is a podcast about the new RD of that race. To all those who are lucky enough to get in next year's race, you're in for a treat! To all those on the fence or waiting till 2021 (including me), trust me, you won't go wrong with choosing this race

Here is the link:  www.fitspeek.com



#ironmancanada #imc #imc2020 #triathlon #trichat #gofarthersports

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Mary Cain, Alberto Salazar, Nike. What Can Happen At The Top Level of Sport

I’m sure everyone has seen runner Mary Cain’s allegations against Nike coach Alberto Salazar. Some of you have also seen Alberto Salazar denying those allegations. Kara Goucher and others have also spoke out against Alberto Salazar, so a lot of these claims can be pretty legitimate.


The topic of this article is not to assign any type of blame (who is saying the truth, and who isn’t) because we honestly don't know where the truth lies in this case.

But everyone who does reads this needs to understand what can potentially happen at the higher level of sport. The public needs to know so that we can shed a light on this and make sure that our elite athletes are being looked after in terms of overall mental and physical well being. The potential for abuse is very high at the top level of sport.

99% of athletes are at the lower age group and recreational levels. Most of these recreational and age group athletes are there for the enjoyment of the sport and of fitness.

When one gets to the level of the professional athletes and the Olympics, things are drastically different. There is a “win at all costs” attitude that prevails at these high levels. This might be in the form of performance enhancing drugs, in which the sport of cycling has been plagued with in the past. Or, in this case, the riskiness of diet, weight, and supplementation that is alleged with Mary Cain, Alberto Salazar, and the Nike Oregon Project.
  

 This is the mindset at the top level of every sport and can come with many controversial and questionable methods of coaching. Please be warned.


Coaching, on the recreational level, involves a little risk taking. There’s always the risk of an injury here and there. At this level of coaching, it’s easy to prescribe rest, allow the injury to heal, and then resume the training from there.

When it comes to the competitive level, this risk does go up. Remember that at this level, performance starts to take priority over enjoyment. With tougher workouts comes the higher chance of injury. Every coach knows this. And if an injury does happen, instead of rest, coaches will try to train around the injury. In running, that might mean riding the bike instead for the lower levels of this level, or, on the higher level, coaches take more of a risk and try to “train through” the injury, knowing that there is a big risk of the body totally breaking down.

The question is, where is the ethical line crossed?

For coaches, this line is crossed when the overall physical and/or mental well being of the athlete is at risk.

At the highest level of sport (Olympics and such), coaches and their staff are pressured to satisfy their sponsors by prescribing questionable standards to get athletes to perform at the top part of their levels. Mary Cain is accusing Salazar of some of these questionable methods, including dropping weight beyond what is healthy, to the point that women were missing their periods. Mary Cain said that losing weight included birth control pills and diuretics, which is shocking to a lot of people who listened to her story.

Remember that these athletes are performing at the edge of human potential. If what Mary Cain says is true, I wouldn’t be surprised at all. At various levels, this is what happens at the top level of all sports. Running, gymnastics, swimming, weightlifting, etc. When pushing the boundaries of human potential, Olympic coaches are faced with taking huge risks with their athletes in order to “win at all costs.” There is a lot of pressure in this country, and in others, to see our athletes win on the world stage. With winning comes fame, and endorsements, and money.

We as a society are consumed with seeing our athletes winning in the Olympics and other world stages. Hopefully this will shed light on those athletes we want to win. We have to realize that these athletes we’re rooting to win are human beings and that they might be suffering in silence under pressure through their sporting programs in order to achieve this success.

Each of us coaches also have to draw the line on this risk taking also. How far do we take athletes to the point in which they risk permanently damaging their mental and physical health? It comes down to a question of ethics most of the time. A major sponsor wants results on the Olympic stage, needs coaches that produce those results at any cost. Unfortunately, there are a few coaches that will step forward that will throw ethics and the athletes’ well being aside to produce those results.

If you’re in a family of a very gifted athlete, please be vigilant and make sure that your athlete family member is happy and healthy. He or she might not tell it to you straight, but you can most likely see telltale signs if he or she is suffering, like depression, mood swings, or even physical signs (i.e. cutting or missed periods).

If you’re a coach, please be very mindful that this is a human being that you are training, not a robot. Ethics dictate that you take his or her overall well being into consideration when training the athlete. Although we coaches always want to see results, it never should be at the cost of the athlete’s healthiness and happiness. Not ever.

Coach “Iron” Pete Priolo

USA Triathlon Certified Coach
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Go Farther Sports

Friday, November 8, 2019

Registered for USATF National XC Championships

Registered! I have an affinity for National Championship races. Any why not? Nationals are the best races to compete against the best. I know some people are intimidated by this, but I've ALWAYS brought out my best in National Championship races.
 
Last time I attended Nats was #USAT #Triathlon in Cleveland this yr.

 
Last time I ran #USATF Nats was at the 100 mile Nationals at Rocky Raccoon in Texas 2 years ago (2nd place in AG with a time of 22 hour and 26 minutes).

This will be 10K, so I have to go fast!
#running #xc #rvrr
 
 
 

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Keeping The Speed in the Offseason - Local Races



It's pretty vital to keep the speed up during the offseason; doing several small local races is key to making that happen. Since I like to contribute to the teams of my local running club, Raritan Valley Road Runners, I will be running in the Ashenfelter 8K on Thanksgiving morning for the #USATFNJ Grand Prix Champs.

There will be more local races to follow...like the Squatchy Leftovers 5K and the USATF National Cross Country Championships in Bethlehem, PA in December.



Monday, November 4, 2019

Three Successful Finishers I Helped Coach Who Crushed NYC Marathon!

Congratulations to all who finished the #NYCMarathon yesterday. I want to especially acknowledge three individuals that rocked the race!


Lisa Lubarsky


Lisa Lubarsky - Ironman and marathon runner, she recovered from a bad accident on her bike last year to complete her first Ironman at Mont Tremblant last August, then did great yesterday at her first straight-up marathon yesterday with a time of 5:06! Congrats on coming completely back to crush this race!


Karen Snyder Soren

Karen Snyder Soren - Finished her first back-to-back marathons in as many weeks. She finished the Marine Corps Marathon last week in very stormy weather. She did a good recovery which involved swimming last week to come back strong at NYC yesterday, finishing with Lisa with a time of 5:06!


Kevin Nedza

Kevin Nedza - He's in the middle of an epic breakout season, setting a high PR of 3:45! He'll be in a short recovery period with his mind set on getting his first 50 miler done at the San Diego 50 this winter. Good luck!!!

Friday, November 1, 2019

NYC Marathon - I Will Be At The Start!



I will be either cycling or running to the corner of McClean Avenue and Lily Pond Ave (picture below, at the red dot), which should be the main entrance into the staging area of the marathon. Either look for a guy on a bike (if I'm cycling) or a Tilley hat (if I'm running) at that corner. I will be there until around 9:30AM.



Remember that there is a time change the night before the race; that might give you an extra hour to prepare...or to bite more of your nails in nervousness.

I want to wish everyone the best of luck in the big race!