Aug 3, 2015

Coached by Karen Mackin.

On July 27th, 2015, Nicole Sheahan crossed the finish line at Ironman Lake Placid, officially finishing the entire Ironman distance! This year was a re-take from last year because due to thunderstorms she was not allowed to finish the second loop of the swim course. She felt like she didn't quite get the honors of being called an "Ironman" even after finishing the entire bike and run course.

The 2015 training season leading up to this race was exceptionally challenging for Nicole. She had to overcome a few extra health issues that certainly wreaked havoc on the original training program that her coach Karen Mackin had developed. But together they managed to come up with a few altered plans that ultimately lead to a great race. 

Nicole made a few changes for this year. The first was made through focused work throughout the season on improving her running cadence. In addition, on race day she employed a new run/walk strategy focusing on a brisker walking pace. Another change this year was on HOW she generated the watts on the bike. Again, this work was the culmination of hours and hours of practice riding steady (with a lower variability index) throughout her training. Nicole and Coach Karen believe these efforts contributed largely to her ability to complete the marathon 50 minutes FASTER than last year!

Her effort on race day showed amazing spirit and determination and conquering the full distance put a big smile on her face! Congratulations Nicole!

0 comments:

Post a Comment