Meat Pie Tri

By Deb Lyons

MEAT PIE TRI you say? Here's the history.

You probably can't spell or pronounce it, but might remember Natchitoches (NACK-uh-tush) from Steel Magnolias or when Oprah Winfrey declared it the Best Little Town in the Whole USA! Louisianians knew about this quaint historic town long before the stars arrived. Since the 1700's it's been home to the famous Natchitoches Meat Pie, when street vendors chanted Hotta meat pies!

This year former Ironman Champ, Peter Reid, was on hand to encourage the participants. Among them were Dana Lyons and Kent Morris. Both enjoyed themselves and even sampled the famous meat pies offered post-race. Meat Pie Tri began at 7am on Sunday, September 27 with a very spectator friendly 1/2 mile swim in Cane River Lake. Then out of T1 up a short steep incline onto Front Street for a 20 mile out and back ride over some light rolling terrain. Participants racked their bikes and headed out of T2 up the steps of the Riverbank for a 5K under the beautiful canopy of oaks along the lake.

Dana finished the race in 1:24:27 placing 3rd overall and top masters. Dana had the fourth strongest bike at 50:22 for the 20mile leg. His run was the sixth fastest overall at 19:34 for the 5K run. Kent finished 3rd in his age group with a time of 1:35:19. In his age group, Kent had the third fastest at 15:21 for the 1/2 mile distance, the second fastest bike at 54:33, and the third fastest run at 22:30. Way to go!

USAT Halfmax Redman Triathlon Championship

The USAT Halfmax Redman Triathlon Championships was held September 19 in Oklahoma City. The event was a half Ironman distance with 1.2 mile swim/56 mile bike/13.1 mile run.

The race was delayed due to rain. Competitors had to dismount their bikes during the bike leg and wade through 14 inches of rain. Still 574 competitors managed to finish the race - 152 female and 422 male.

Finish Strong coached athletes had a good showing. Tommy Sustala and Mike Bard both posted PRs at this race.

Tommy Sustala, 49, came in 10th in his age group of 75 competitors, 45th of all 421 males. Tommy swam the 1.2 mile swim in 26:49, biked 56 miles in 2:31:54 and ran a fast half marathon in 1:44:11 for an overall time of 4:48:05.

Kyle Mays, 46, finished the half ironman championship race in 5:06:16. Kyle came in 20th out of 50 competitors in his age group and 127 out of 422 males. Kyle completed the swim in 32:55, the bike in 2:40:55 and the final half marathon in 1:47:54.

Mike Bard came in 5:15:13 setting a PR and placing 3rd in the Clydesdale division. Mike swam a solid 29:41 swim, completed the bike leg in 2:37:53 and final half marathon in 2:04:17.

Grand Prairie Half Iron Man

By Tom Schwartzkopf

Everyone loves good pictures of a tough race. This is the Prairie Man Half Iron race at Joe Poole Lake in Grand Prairie Texas. This was my toughest race this year in both distance and overcoming adversity. The word of the day today was "adapt". It rained all day and night before the race. The rain never let up during the day but that made for cool temperatures.

Here I am coming in after completing the 1.2 mile swim. The waves were tough to overcome and made navigation difficult. My plan was to relax and enjoy the swim. I did have fun but the waves, wind and current conditions made the swim difficult. A few swimmers were brought in by boat due to the tough conditions.

Look at the fat guy. I missed the swim exit by a few yards and had to run back to the water exit point. It was another lonely exit for me as few people wanted to stay out in the rain waiting for everyone to come in.

I can't help but look back and see how I fared with my competition. I did well on the swim and came out of the water in first place.


Here I am exiting the transition area prior to the bike ride. As you can see, the rain is coming down pretty hard. The roads were slick and slowed everyone down. The bike course was shortened from 56 miles to 42 miles. I did have a setback on the bike by falling down on the course. I'm ok but my bike is still in the shop.


This is me in the center of the photo at mile 2 on the run. The rain made it nice and cool for a long run.


The only real draw-back to all this rain is running in wet shoes.


I finished the 13.1 mile run averaging 9:41 per mile. Not my best but I was able to keep the pace for the entire run. My goals for the race were to finish without stopping to rest and to validate a nutrition plan.

Another long race under my belt. I was feeling good but also tired. My final time was 4:51:49. This is my last race before heading to Arizona in November. Ironman Arizona is twice as long as this race and is truly an endurance event. As always, my goals are to finish the race without stopping and having fun. For me, these are personal challenges but I also enjoy the friendly competition I have with the many friends I have in this sport. I will keep you posted on my progress. Ironman Arizona will take place on November 22nd.

Nutrition and Hydration Seminar

Thirty-nine people recently attended my "Nutrition and Hydration for Endurance Athlete" seminar held at TEKTONIC on Sunday, September 13.

I always hope that participants find the information helpful. Here's a sampling of feedback...

"I enjoyed your seminar very much as it represents an extremely important part of an endurance athletes training which is often overlooked. In my case, based on my age having a good understanding of proper nutrition and hydration makes all the difference between a good performance and a poor one. Sorry my nutrition coach (wife) could not have seen the seminar as she is trying her best to ensure I am properly fueled. I will look forward to your upcoming seminars." (Richard Lewellen)

"Great information on nutrition before,during and after the Race. I learned a lot about not to overdue it and be in tune with your body. Great insight from speaker on Ironman length events !! 1st hand experience. Will recommend!" (Patrick Sexton)

More seminars to come. Stay tuned!

PrairieMan Half Ironman

Two Finish Strong Athletes Tom Schwarzkopf and Michael Lechtenberg finished a grueling Half Ironman in Grand Prairie, TX on September 13.

According to Tom, the weather was nasty with constant rain, cold temperatures, flooded roads. The surf was so high and the wind so fierce that several swimmers had to be rescued. The slick roads led to treacherous conditions for the bike. Blown down course signs on the final run lead many to run extra mileage.

Despite these brutal conditions, Tom and Mike managed to finish the race. Tom in 4:51:49 and and Mike in 4:57:45.

Tom's final analysis,"Overall, I'm happy that I finished the entire race without stopping…or quitting."

IronKids Alpharetta Race

Submitted by Carolyn BarronHannah and Lane Barron competed in the IronKids Alpharetta (Atlanta, GA) race on Sunday, September 13. This was the largest kids’ race we’ve ever seen much less participated in. Almost 900 kids ages 6-15 were registered.

Hannah competed in the 11-year old female category which had a total of 38 girls. She had a solid 150 meter swim, a super 4 mile bike on a course with some long hills (2nd fastest bike split in her age group) and a good run (3rd fastest run) to claim the 2nd place in her age group!

Lane also raced well in the 10 year old male category and completed his swim easily, rode hard on the bike (fastest bike split of all 66 ten-year old males) and finished strong with the fastest run split of all his 10-year old male competitors as well! He placed 1st in his age group.

This race qualified both to race at IronKids nationals in Tucson, Arizona in October. Watch out …here we come!

Clear Lake International Triathlon - Olympic & Sprint

Five Finish Strong coached athletes (L to R) Tim Monk, Kyle Mays, Tommy Sustala, Rodrigo Abascal and Mike Bard (not pictured) have award winning performances at the recent Clear Lake International Triathlon held on August 22.

Tim Monk was the overall winner of the Clear Lake Triathlon Olympic distance open race. Tim finished the 1.5k/40k/10k race in 2:05:33. He finished the swim in 21:10, the bike in 59:55 and the final run in 42:06 at a brisk 6:47 pace.

Kyle Mays placed second in his 45 to 49 age group in the Olympic distance. Kyle had the second fastest run and completed the race in 2:25:45.

Mike Bard placed second in the Clydesdale group in the Olympic distance. Mike finished in 2:27:49. He had a strong swim at 24:04 and bike at just 1:01:15.

Tommy Sustala came in third in the enormous 40 to 44 age group in the Olympic distance. He finished in 2:16:38 with the fastest swim in his age group of just 21:40.

In the Sprint distance race, Rodrigo Abascal won his 15 to 19 year old age group and placed 10th overall! Rodrigo had the fastest run and bike in his age group and the second fastest swim. He swam the .75K distance in 11:50, completed the 30K bike in a blistering 47:37 at a 23.4 mph pace, and finished strong with a 21:12 5K run at a 6:50 pace.

Special thanks to Irasema (Rodrigo's mom) for snapping these photos at Clear Lake.

Tuesday Night Track Group!

The Tuesday Night Track program continues to grow. We recently did a 1,600 and 3,000 time trial. Based on the time trial, we each learned our VDOT that helps us with our training intensities for different paces and distances.

Darnd'st Duathlon San Marcos

Here we are at the start of the Darnd'st Duathlon in San Marcos on August 16, 2009.

I'm running near the outlet mall. My daughters told me they came along to watch me, but I think they really wanted to shop!

Biking and more running!

I was 4th overall and 3rd in my age group. Congrats to Rodrigo who was 1st in his age group!

Tri-Arkansas Triathlon

By Tom Schwartzkopf

I just finished the Tri-Arkansas Triathlon Festival in Arkadelphia Arkansas. It was fun but very tough due to the hills.

This is me coming in on the 1500 meter swim. I'm all alone. The pack is back behind me

about 100 meters. I'm in second place here. The kid who beat me did so by over a minute. Fast little critter.

I could have sworn there were people at my feet. I was surprised by the lonely welcome I got coming out of the water.

Alright, time to go to work. The girl at the top asked me if I wanted a drink of water. I told her I swallowed enough lake water to last me the entire day.

This is what it looks like at the start of the bike. I'm not in the picture. This was one of the easier hills on the 28 mile course.

This is me on the run heading up the hill. Yea, I'm tired but I'm ready for the 6.5 miles ahead of me.

Here I am at the end of the run. Coming down the hill was a lot easier than going up. My age group was tough. I came in fourth but I was pleased with my performance.

Austin Triathlon

Kudos to Finish Strong coached athletes Jim Harrington and Richard Lewellen who competed in the Austin Triathlon on Labor Day, September 7.

Jim Harrington, 45, competed in the Olympic distance 1500 meter swim/40K bike/10K run event. He placed 6th in his mammoth age group 62 deep of (45 to 49 year olds) and 69th overall in a field of nearly 650 age groupers. Jim had a particularly strong bike leg covering the 40K distance in just over 1:05.

Richard Lewellen, 65, competed in the Sprint distance 700 meter swim/27k bike/5K run event.
He placed 5th in his age group of die-hard 60 to 64 year olds. Richard had an excellent swim of just over 17:37 for the 700 meter.

Way to go!