Tuesday, April 28, 2015

From today thru May, FSC Athletes get 15% off therapies at The Woodlands Fascial Stretch

Finish Strong Coaching Athletes - Get in peak condition for IMTX!

From today thru May, FSC Athletes get 15% off therapies at The Woodlands Fascial Stretch:

* Fascial Stretch Therapy - decompresses joints, improves circulation, hydrates muscles/fascia, great for restoring strength, and recovering strong.

* NeuroKinetic Therapy & P-DTR - relieve and eliminate pain quickly by finding the source of pain, and repairing muscular/neural dysfunction. These are painless techniques to help you attain optimum athletic performance.

Appointments can be scheduled at http://www.fascial-stretch.com/

The Woodlands Fascial Stretch is a place to find long term relief from muscular pain. See Dutch for  advanced therapies to help end pain, improve energy, increase strength, and boost athletic performance.

Fascial Stretch Therapy, and NeuroKinetic Therapy are two key therapies Dutch uses to assess and correct body imbalances that cause pain, and restrict athletic performance.


Monday, April 27, 2015

IM TX 70.3 - Galveston

Finish Strong Coaching looked awesome with 28 triathletes at the Ironman Texas 70.3 in Galveston on Sunday, April 26.  The swim was not wet suit legal, so everyone did a great job adjusting mentally and physically to the last minute change.  Bob Bailey noted it was his furthest distance swim in non-wet suit.  Then athletes had rain on the bike with some wind on the return and of course  the sun came out in time for the run making it hot and steamy.  Nonetheless, Finish Strong athletes prevailed. Good prep for those doing IM TX.  Congrats to Dana Lyons and Kent Morris for their 2nd and 3rd AG podium finish. Many PRs including Jeanette's amazing 45 minute PR!

Kathleen, Bob, Sara, Ileana, Ryan - post race smiles!
Lee Allen on run for relay

Eduardo at finish!

Carl on run


Ed, Danny, Dana

Eduardo, Bob, Ryan

Kent and Dana take 3rd and 2nd respectively in AG.

Here are results:

Bailey, Robert  00:51:23 02:43:41 02:55:28 06:39:52
Bailey, Ryan 00:41:12 02:37:13 02:42:12 06:07:52 (Bob's son)
Carroll, Ileana   00:53:17 03:09:58 02:30:29 06:41:21
Cormier, Troy        00:37:45 02:43:16 02:11:29 05:37:38
Crea, Kathleen       00:49:20 03:16:00 02:38:02 06:53:17
Felsen, Ligia        00:49:53 02:58:28 02:27:27 06:23:42
Garzon, Eduardo 00:55:41 03:03:16 02:17:08 06:24:04
Goodwin, Jeff        00:37:19 02:54:24 02:37:14 06:17:57
Hagelskaer, Jeanette :45:19 02:38:54 02:06:33 05:36:13 - 45 min PR!
Hannon, Daniel 00:45:45 02:33:31 02:33:37 05:59:28 - 1st 70.3!
Harrington, Jim      00:32:20 02:39:26 02:40:18 05:56:13 1871
Holt, Carl          00:50:07 03:03:32 02:03:06 06:05:02 - PR!
Howard, Michelle 00:41:05 03:01:17 02:22:19 06:10:40
Lyons, Dana                 00:42:11 02:17:11 01:34:58 04:39:09 - 2nd in AG
Martin, Debbie         00:51:40 02:41:48 02:20:41 06:00:39 - 8th in AG
Mezzatesta, Federico 00:49:09 03:05:41 02:43:46 06:48:14
Morris, Kent                   00:43:03 02:22:59  01:38:21 04:49:00 - 3rd in AG
Myers, Ryan          00:37:12 03:08:59 02:10:22 06:05:02
Page, Kenneth 00:58:13 03:26:35 02:37:24 07:11:09 Mission accomplished!
Rogers, Lisanne 00:40:42 02:54:15 02:19:48 05:59:51
Thomson, Karen 00:35:13 02:59:16 02:05:56 05:47:13- PR!
Trousdale, Paola 00:45:44 03:05:28 01:55:30 05:51:57
Vanderford, Sara 00:53:47 03:00:53 02:42:28 06:47:52
Weis, Heather 00:47:34 02:58:08 02:10:23 06:03:16
York, Ed        00:37:22 02:28:01 01:48:25 04:58:15
Zicarelli, Geno 00:40:37 02:31:53 02:23:59 05:40:22 - PR!

Participating in relays:

Lee Allen (run)
Sara Hartley (run)
*Sorry, I couldn't find posting for relay results.

Originally from: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman-70.3/texas/results.aspx#ixzz3YY5kLhzv

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Boston Marathon

Congratulations to Finish Strong's Amber Swam who ran the Boston Marathon.  Way to go, Amber!

Way to finish the Boston Marathon, Amber!

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Luke's Locker Run and Expo on April 23


Our sponsor, Luke's Locker, has invited us to join them for a run on Thursday, April 23 at 6:30pm followed by an Expo from 7-8:30pm.  15% shopping discount (with normal exclusions) and 10% off watches.

Luke's Locker Earth Day - Donate used shoes for $20 gift card promotion


How to change a bike tire video

Bob Bailey had a bike tire changing session and learned a lot from the following video.   Bob said he had to rewind it a lot to follow.

We decided to share on the blog.  Thanks, Bob!

http://youtu.be/iIYE6z5W0o8

New Orleans 70.3

Congrats to Finish Strong Coaching's Dale Claudel, John Tortorici, John McGowan, Ellen Kurtz-Hammond and Gloria Shrewsbury for completing the New Orleans Ironman 70.3 race held on Sunday, April 19.


Great pre-race photo of John Tortorici, Gloria Shrewsbury, Ellen Kurtz-Hammond, and John McGowan!
Participants from Finish Strong: Ellen Hammond-Kurtz, Gloria Shrewsbury, John McGowan, Dale Claudel, Razvan Dumitru, Jesus Carias and John Tortorici

Getting ready for the swim

John M., Gloria, John T, and Ellen

Raz is ready to go!

Gator-infested waters!  Yikes!


Here's a race report from John T:

"After a week of watching a horrible weather forecast, several members of FSC descended on New Orleans for the Ironman 70.3.  The weekend forecast was for 100% chance of storms Friday - Sunday.  On Saturday morning a light drizzle turned into a pretty good downpour for John and Rebecca during their morning run, so the weather was looking to be pretty horrible for the race, assuming it didn't get cancelled.  Mandatory bike check-in was turned into optional check-in (very critical decision as it turns out).  Because the weather was looking to clear, and not wanting to deal with bikes at 4am, we decided to check in our bikes, which as it turned out, VERY FEW PEOPLE DID.  Saturday night was on-and-off rain, but by Sunday morning it was just overcast with a cool breeze.

Sunday morning we arrived at the race site to a VERY long line of cars, all with their bikes on their bike racks.  After getting set up there was an announcement that the race would be delayed by 30 minutes due to cars parking and bike check-in \ inspection... see critical decision above.  7:30am the gun goes off for the pros.  By 8:00 they are finally to the 40 year old men and then the females are the last group off at nearly 8:30.  Swim times were incredibly fast for everyone.  John M finished in 28 minutes, John T and Ellen in 31 minutes and Gloria in 34 minutes.  This was due in part to the alligator infested waters that we were swimming in (pictures attached).

Once on the bike, we were greeted with 72 degree temperatures, overcast, with a slight 4mph tailwind.  John T was averaging over 21mph with almost no effort for the majority of the bike ride.  The tailwind that turned into a headwind at the turn-arounds was barely noticeable... until the last turn.  With about 8 miles to go on the bike ride, the skies completely cleared, and we were greeted with a 20-25 mph headwind, and a temperature rise of about 15 degrees (again, see critical decision above).  The bike ride concluded with a monstrous climb up a bridge before descending back down to transition.

The run was along Lakeshore Drive.  The run starts and ends with a pretty severe 3/4 mile climb up a drawbridge.  It's an out and back run that is mostly flat, but the hills are all bridges.  Not to be outdone but the bridges was the WIND.  As Gloria put it, it was like someone mixed the heat of IMTX 2013 with the wind of IMTX 2014 and served it up on one glorious dish.  Not only was the wind dead in our face for the first 6.5 miles, but when it was to our back, it nearly stopped.  That's when it got really hot.  I have never talked to so many people during a race that said the same thing "what the heck happened?".  The heat did not discriminate against anyone.  Once I realized that my 5:15 race time was not going to happen, I made the race about having fun and helping other athletes on the course.  I even stopped to help a girl I had earlier given a gel to because I watched both of her calves ball up and she went down (on the downhill of the bridge).  It turned out she was a 3:20 marathoner that had never walked in a race in her life.  She didn't even know what a calf cramp felt like (now she does).

In all, New Orleans is off the bucket list.  The race was fun because of the company, but the weatherman totally screwed up the forecast.  I think the majority of us would have rather had the rain storms then the 25 mph sauna."

Race Results
Claudel, W Dale    USA    9    104    125    00:34:45    02:21:35    01:43:10    04:45:33
Tortorici, John    USA    83    455    595    00:31:16    02:47:04    02:22:38    05:47:04
Shrewsbury, Gloria    USA    28    280    984    00:36:31    03:21:12    02:22:33    06:29:44
Kurtz-Hammond, Ellen    USA    13    345    1158    00:31:21    03:34:05    02:40:07    06:54:59
Dumitru, Razvan    ROU    120    614    833    00:42:11    02:53:34    02:25:03    06:12:20
Mcgowan, John    USA    116    581    780    00:29:31    03:00:48    02:29:17    06:06:12
Carias, Jesus    HND    69    396    515    00:31:52    02:46:10    02:12:19    05:38:35

Photos
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbN2TFu2auHDnI

For more results, go to:

Sunday, April 19, 2015

MS 150

Despite the cancellation of Day 1 of BP MS 150 due to bad weather, Day 2 started on Sunday, April 19 in La Grange, Texas to Austin.  Participating in the fund-raising bike ride from Finish Strong Coaching are Scott Farrand, Jed Beck, Khurram Khan, and Chantal Requier.  

Khurram reports, "Finishing like champions!  Glad to be part of this great cause."  Khurram finished the 67.1 mile ride in 3:43:38. 



Hog's Hunt Ultra 50K Run

Congrats to Finish Strong's Julio Morales who completed the Hog's Hunt Ultra 50K run on Saturday, April 18, 2015.  Julio finished the long race in 5:38:02.8. He came in 11th out of 41 finishers overall in the 50K Run Race.  For more on results, go to www.mcmtiming.com.

Any pics?

Training for Ironman Texas

Finish Strong athletes train hard and celebrate their milestone rides and runs along their journey to Ironman Texas!

Cheers!  After long bike training ride on Saturday!



Diva's Half Marathon

Congrats to Cheryl Perry who ran the Diva's Half Marathon in Galveston on Sunday, April 19.  Cheryl received her well-deserved medal, tiara and champagne at the finish line.  Cheryl finished the race in 2:17.

Diva of the Day - Cheryl Perry!


Sunday long run locations for The Woodlands Run Club for May and June.

Sunday long run locations for The Woodlands Run Club for May and June.

May 3
Place:  Brooklyn Bagel Panther Creek Village Center
Time:  6:45am
Mileage:  9 & 11

May 10
Place:  Whole Foods Market Hughes Landing
Time:  6:45am
Mileage:  6.5, 9, 11.5

May 17
Place:  Hubble & Hudson Research Forest
Time:  6:45am
Mileage:  7 & 11

May 24
Place:  Brooklyn Bagel
Time:  6:45am
Mileage:  9 & 11

May 31
Place:  Starbucks/Sterling Ridge
Time:  6:45am
Mileage:  7 & 12

June 7
Place:  Villa Sport
Time:  6:45am
Mileage:  TBA
port

June 14
Place:  Whole Foods Market
Time:  6:45am
Mileage:  6.5, 9, 11.5

June 21
Place:  Brooklyn Bagel
Time:  6:45am
Mileage:  9 & 11

June 28
Place:  Hubble & Hudson
Time:  6:45am
Mileage: 7 & 11

  
*Whole Foods Market Start
Includes several distances to choose from:

6.5 out and back to Sawdust bridge
9.0 out and back to GP park
11.5 without GP park loop (old 5K)
14.5 whole thing
Can add Millbend loop for 3.3 more miles for almost 18 total...
Could make it a ~7 miler by taking the Nature trail after mile 2.
Etc...


Interfaith to East Panther is not perfect; I don't think Google has all the trails.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Ironman Taiwan

Congrats to Finish Strong's Jerry Palmer who took on Ironman Taiwan.  Jerry light-heartedly reports, "As expected. Very hard and highly entertaining. I saw a guy with his wetsuit inside out, many people on their phones while cycling and running, noodle station on the run and more 3-legged country dogs than I could count." Jerry's splits were swim 1:30, Bike 7:41, Run : 6:45 Total 16:22.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Big D Half Marathon

Congrats to Finish Strong's Lara Dunlap-Font for winning the female master's winner at the Big D Half Marathon on Sunday, April 12 in Dallas.  Way to go, Lara!  Great way to celebrate your birthday a day early. Lara reports, "Humid and hilly. Rolling hills. 1:38 overall time but we all ended up with 13.3 on watch."

Lara (far right) wins female master's at Big D half marathon!



Sunday, April 12, 2015

Kemah Olympic/Sprint Triathlon

Twenty-six triathletes from Finish Strong Coaching competetd at Kemah race on Sunday, April 12.  18 in the Olympic race and 8 in the sprint race. For both distances, the Kemah Triathlon offers a unique and challenging swim that begins with jumping off the Colonel nearly 1 mile into the Kemah bay with typically chompy with 1-3′ swells. The Olympic race is an Escape to Alcatraz Qualifier allowing top age group winners to receive a qualification spot to one of the most sought after races in the world. FSC Kent Morris, Zach Miller, Taylor Riall,  and Kari Gilley all qualified for Escape to Alcatraz by earning top spot in their AG.  Kent won Grand Master's Male. Zach won his 25-29 AG, Kari won her 35-39 AG; Taylor won her 40-45 AG! Also finishing on the podium in the Olympic race was Alan Jones taking 3rd in 40-44 AG.  Other fine Olympic races by Liah Olson, Nicole Schoppe, Irasema De Aquino, Lisanne Rogers, Jeanette Hagelskaar, Sara Binau, Rodrigo Abascal, Mike Flake, Charles Lussier, Eduardo Garzon, Troy Cormier, Alan Ramsey and Kyle Hanna.

In the sprint tri, Richard MacNamee, Jack Alexander won their AGs. Richard took 1st in 45-49 AG and Jack in the 60-64 AG.  Placing 2nd in their AGs were CJ Stewart (50-54 AG) and Kathy Morris (Athena 40+).  Also competing in the sprint race were Amanda Keeter, Cindy Weller (Byer), Chris Hirsekorn, and Adnan Afzal.  Congrats to all our athletes!  More photos to come.

Kathy Morris on the podium for sprint distance!
Kent Morris wins Grand Master's in Olympic!



Mike Flake and Coach Kim post-race.

Coach Richard MacNamee final run to finish 1st in his AG in sprint.

Lisanne Rogers.





Olympic
Kent Morris 32:27.0 swim;  1:03:15.2 (23.5mph ) bike; 43:06.0 (6:57/M)  2:23:10.0  - Male Grand Master's Winner!

Kari Gilley 36:44.6 swim; 1:05:54 bike (22.6mph); 46:19.2 (7:28/M) run 2:32:05.0  overall - 1st in 35-39 AG!

Liah Olson 46:44.0 swim; 1:52:58 bike(13.2mph); 1:01:41.8(9:57/M) run 3:49:33.6 overall

Taylor Riall  30:38.8 swim; 1:11:55 bike (20.7mph)  48:57.9 (7:54/M) run  2:36:18.4 overall - 1st in her 40-45 AG!

Nicole Schoppe 36:23.7 swim; 1:16:59 bike(19.3mph) 47:06.3 (7:36/M) run  2:46:11.2 - 7th in AG

Irasema De Aquino 45:29.6 swim;  1:35:41.0 (15.6mph); 1:04:57.4 (10:29/M) run 3:33:09.1

Lisanne Rogers 33:59.5 swim;  1:20:58.9 (18.4mph); 50:42.4 (8:11/M) run 2:50:52.7 - 5th in 45-49 AG

Jeanette Hagelskaer 39:17.8 swim; 1:20:15.9 (18.5mph); 56:52.4 (9:10/M) run 3:02:09.9 - 7th in AG

Sara Binau  42:14.4 swim; 1:19:50 bike (18.6mph); 58:01.4 (9:21/M) run  3:05:15.7 - 5th in 55-59 AG

Rodrigo Abascal 31:22.8 swim;  1:14:45.9 (19.9mph) 49:24.1 (7:58/M) 2:36:47.0  - 5th in 20-24 AG

Zachary Miller 27:08.1 swim; 1:04:08.9 (23.2mph) 37:05.1 (5:59/M) 2:11:24.6 - 1st in 25-29 AG!

Alan Jones 31:17.3  swim; 1:06:36.9 (22.3mph) bike: 43:44.4 (7:03/M) run  2:25:06.6 - 3rd in 40-44 AG!

Michael Flake 37:15.7 swim;  1:16:30.1 (19.5mph) bike; 51:40.6 (8:20/M) run 2:51:37.4

Charles Lussier 39:13.6 swim;  1:22:33.4 (18.0mph) bike; 52:48.9 (8:31/M) run  2:58:43.5

Eduardo Garzon 42:58.3 swim, 1:23:02.0 (17.9mph) bike; 49:11.8 (7:56/M) run  3:02:13.3

Troy Cormier  37:08.5 swim;  1:08:24.0 (21.8mph) bike; 47:51.9 (7:43/M) run  2:37:34.2  - 10th in 45-49 AG!

Alan Ramsey 33:47.0 swim;  1:16:43.4 (19.4mph) bike;  47:26.7 (7:39/M) run 2:43:48.7

Kyle Hanna 43:55.3 swim;  1:13:44.3 (20.2mph) bike;  52:45.0 (8:30/M) run 2:56:43.8

Sprint results:
Richard Mac Namee  9:36.5 swim; 32:51.6 (22.8mph) bike; 20:39.2 (6:40/M) run 1:06:21.6  - 1st in 45-49 AG!

Amanda Keeter 13:32.7 swim; 45:56.6 (16.3mph) bike; 29:35.1 (9:33/M) run 1:34:10.5  - 7th in AG!

Cindy Weller 16:32.8 swim;  43:43.4 (17.2mph) bike; 24:14.0 (7:49/M) run 1:29:37.4  - 5th in 40-44 AG!

Chris Hirsekorn 18:46.6 swim;  39:26.0 (19.0mph) bike;  23:34.6 (7:36/M) run;  1:25:53.6  - 9th in 35-39 AG!

Adnan Afzal 28:13.5 swim;  39:38.3   (18.9mph) bike; 26:07.8 (8:25/M) run; 1:40:27.8

Cj Stewart  12:05.8 swim; 36:09.7 (20.7mph) bike; 20:49.6 (6:43/M) run 1:12:01.5 - 2nd in 50-54 AG!

Jack Alexander 10:08.0 swim; 35:11.5 (21.3mph) bike; 22:09.5 (7:09/M) run 1:11:08.9  - 1st in 60-64 AG!

Kathy Morris 17:24.0 swim;  43:31.0 (17.2mph) bike; 34:55.3 (11:16/M) run 1:41:43.0 - 2nd in over 40 Athena!

Lots more photos from Manuel Abascal - check it out: FSC @ Kemah Triathlon 2015

For more on results, go to:
http://kemahtriathlon.com/results/ or
https://www.nolimitstiming.com/results/default.aspx?event=32726&term=undefined&r=10228



West Conroe Duathlon

Congrats to Finish Strong's Sara Portilla who was top female and 3rd overall at the West Conroe Duathlon held Saturday, April 11.  Although the bike course was hilly and windy, Sara still managed to finish in 1:48.  As female winner, Sara was awarded a kid's bike.  She graciously declined and had the organization donate it to a child in need.  Nicely done, Sara!

Sara Portilla wins overall female at West Conroe Duathlon!

Monday, April 6, 2015

100 Mile Support Bike Ride

Congrats to all the athletes who biked the Ironman Texas course on Saturday!  Huge thanks to our sag support drivers - Barry Carroll and David Warren.  Athletes, y'all looked good out there.





Muddy Trails 5K/10K

Finish Strong Coaching had a good showing at the Muddy Trails Bash held on Saturday, April 4th at Rob Fleming Park in The Woodlands.  Mike Menster won the male master's at the 5K.  Gabe Beltran, Anna Lyons, Shyla Stone, and Frank Halter all won their AGs at the 5K distance. Randall Bolt came in 3rd in his AG. And Sara Portilla who biked 100 miles in the morning ran 5K and finished 3rd in her AG. In the 10K, Tim Monk won his AG and came in 5th overall and Phillip DePrang won his AG.  Bill Glaser took 2nd in his AG and Bret Strong and Derya Tolukan took 3rd in their AGs.  Other fine performances from our athletes.  See below for more results.

Gabe and Mike rocked the 5k finishing 8th and 4th overall respectively!


Bret Strong took 3rd in his AG in the 10K.

Sara P-M giving thumbs up at the start of the 10K!

Gabe celebrates with his kids after winning his AG in the 5K!

Anna Lyons won her AG in the 5k raning 9th overall - 4th female.

Sara Portilla took 3rd in her AG in the 5K (after morning 100 mile bike ride!)

Shyla Stone and Anna-Claire Biggerstaff took 1st and 3rd in their AG in the 5K!

Frank Halter won his AG in the 5K!

Mike Menster won master's in the 5k!


5K Results:
Michael Menster 4 overall Master's winner 19:53.26 (6:24/mi pace)
Gabriel Belforti 8th overall 1st in AG  20:00.28 (6:26/mi pace)
Anna Lyons 9th overall 1st in AG  20:02.71  (6:27/mi pace)
Shyla Stone        19th overall  1st in AG  20:41.72   (6:39/mi pace)
Anna-Claire Biggerstaff            3rd in AG 22:35.35    (7:16/mi pace)
Sara Portilla                           3rd in AG 23:03.83    (7:25/mi pace) 
Frank Halter                           1st in AG  24:59.66    (8:02/mi pace)
Jesse Balboa                                    5th in AG        25:12.06    (8:07/mi pace)
Randal Bolt                           3rd in AG 31:27.49     (10:07/mi pace)


10K Results:
Timothy Monk 5th overall 1st in AG  40:32.87  (6:31/mi pace)
William Glaser 9th overall 2nd in AG 41:36.60  (6:42/mi pace)
Ron McCauley         5th in AG 45:36.83  (7:20/mi pace)
Edson Jones                    8th in AG        46:58.55  (7:34/mi pace)
Bret Strong                            3rd in AG 47:31.93  (7:39/mi pace)
Derya Tolukan                        3rd in AG    49:35.93  (7:59/mi pace)
Phillip Deprang                   1st in AG 51:16.22  (8:15/mi pace)
Sarah Pietraszek-Mattner 8th in AG 59:35.33  (9:35/mi pace)
Dr. Stephen Clouthier                          1:05:33.42  (10:33/mi pace)
Dan Kennedy                                         1:05:49.31  (10:36/mi pace)


For more results, go to:
https://www.athleteguild.com/running/the-woodlands-tx/2015-twfg-muddy-trails-bash/results/agegroup