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How (& where) in the world does a commercial airline pilot have the time and ability to train for an Ironman triathlon? Good question!
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10 years after volunteering at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, HI, Shannon Harlow became an “ironman” and crossed the finish line at Ironman Lake Placid with a smile on his face.

​Karyn Lewis is a wife, working mom with kids and has been doing triathlons since 2009 before taking some time off. She also has a great attitude and an infectious smile. We love her! After stepping away from triathlon for a few years, she decided to get back into the sport and challenge herself to go further than she ever had.

This is a story about a true "Ironman." One who displays all of the qualities mentioned above and MANY more.

​The "journey" highlighted below belongs to Drew Cruz. It summarizes his long and patient journey to achieve his dream: qualify for and become an Ironman World Championship finisher. 

We hope you find this inspirational and informative.

Meredith Kursmark is an experienced triathlete. She has finished 7 half iron distance races in the past and has qualified for USAT Age Group Nationals several times. However, she was ready for a new challenge.
 
In December of 2021, she signed up for IRONMAN Lake Placid. She knew she would need an experienced triathlon coach for such a big undertaking, so she began to search on IRONMAN U® for coaches to interview.

For years, Matt Durkin’s closest friend, an experienced triathlete, encouraged him to sign up for a triathlon. Each year, Matt declined because the commitment to training was daunting… plus, he wasn’t exactly the greatest swimmer. However, in December of 2021, Matt finally took the leap. Matt and his friend signed up for a half ironman the following June. Ironman Eagleman 70.3 was their target race.

Matt not only CRUSHED his first 70.3 Triathlon (& only 2nd triathlon EVER!), but he qualified for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in the process. Holy Smokes!

Needless to say, Matt is a naturally gifted athlete, but he’s not superman. However, he is goal oriented, determined, discipline AND as a happily married, father of 2 young kids, he doesn’t have time to waste. He also knows what he knows and knows what he doesn’t know. Those characteristics are what will make ANYONE successful in the sport of triathlon.

Can you imagine swimming 2.4 miles and riding 112 miles with 1 hand? Me neither! However, despite having only 1 hand, Jim Williamson knew he could do it.

So, with the support of his family and a little guidance from his coaches, Jim set out to prove, “anything is possible!”

First and foremost, we’d like to give a HUGE SHOUT OUT to RTA coached athlete Drew C! He CRUSHED the 2020 Virtual Boston Marathon last month by running a 🔥3:05🔥 with a negative split of 1:30 on the back half. 😯 OUTSTANDING, especially considering all of the circumstances.
This was all done on his lightest run volume ever and in a very limited time frame leading up the the race.

2020 was the year RTA coached athlete, Ryan Astrup, planned to become an “IRONMAN.” He had planned to race the iconic IRONMAN Lake Placid triathlon in July. This race consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run. In one day. With no breaks. For those counting, that’s 140.6 miles in total. Due to the global pandemic, this triathlon was eventually postponed and finally canceled.

However, that would NOT prevent Ryan from achieving his goal.

We first met Brian Moran and his buddy Rob on the day of IRONMAN Lake Placid in 2015.

After talking to them for a couple minutes we quickly learned they were looking to get into triathlon and were hoping to do their first IRONMAN the following year in Lake Placid.

We tried to discourage them from doing an IRONMAN in their first year of triathlon, but they insisted. We gave them our card, parted ways and didn’t expect to hear from them again.

A few days later we received a phone call and the rest is history. After all, anything is possible.

Bob Brown is like most of the people we coach. He’s a family man, has a successful career and he is goal oriented. He is the classic, “over achiever,” who decides what he wants and figures out how to go and get it. Perhaps you can relate.

This was the year Bob wanted to break into triathlon. However, he didn’t want to “just do a sprint” triathlon.  He wanted to do a half IRONMAN or 70.3.

“I like signing up for things that are way out of my comfort zone and challenging myself to get them done,” Bob told us. “I constantly preach to my kids that they can do anything they want if they try. And I try to lead by example.”  We can DEFINITELY respect that!

Meet Jim Hollentein. RTA triathlon club member and super nice guy.

10 years ago a friend asked Jim if I wanted to do a triathlon. He had run a few 5k’s and done a couple mountain bike races so it sounded doable, but he needed to learn how to swim. Nearly EVERYONE looking to get into triathlon has to learn how to swim!

The next day he went to the pool and couldn’t swim 25 yards. Following that first experience, he thought completing a triathlon was going to be IMPOSSIBLE.

That’s when the triathlon journey began.

Commitment and Perseverance

Rohit Sharma first connected with us in November of 2018. He was brand new to the world of triathlon (i.e. had not yet completed a triathlon). However, despite not knowing how to swim, he had his eyes set on IRONMAN 70.3 Atlantic City the following September. The table for his triathlon journey was set.

Finishing a half IRONMAN in your first year in triathlon is a HUGE goal, but it can be done if the athlete is committed. Fortunately, Rohit was 100% committed to his triathlon training and we had 10 months to help prepare him.

Time to get to work!

Tommy Nolan was inspired to do a triathlon after watching his sister do the Jersey Girl Tri in August of 2012. The only problem was, he didn’t really know how to swim very well… Oh, and his ultimate DREAM was to do IRONMAN Lake Placid. Minor details. :)

Not too long ago Liz Harsley said “Hell no, I’m never doing a full IRONMAN, I don’t want to have to do that twice (referring to the Half-Iron distance)”. As she recalls saying this, she quickly follows up by saying “my old self was an idiot.”

LOL! We certainly wouldn’t call Liz an idiot, but it’s funny how many of us say we’ll never do something only to change our mind later. And more times than not, we’re happy with our decision.

RTA coached athlete, Nick W, qualified for the Boston Marathon for the SECOND TIME! And we couldn’t be more happy for him! However, his preparation this time, was significantly different.

On July 28th, 32 athletes from Team RTA Triathlon Club started the iconic IRONMAN Lake Placid and by midnight EVERYONE FINISHED! We had the most athletes of any group this year so there was plenty of team support to go around.

It’s hard to put into words just how special this event was for Team RTA so instead of trying, we created a short video to help caption the emotion from this triumphant weekend.

IRONMAN Mont Tremblant 70.3 was an RTA Tri Club Team Race again this year.  About a dozen RTA club members toed the line in Quebec, Canada on what was a beautiful day for a race. Everyone had a great time and all of the RTA coached athletes had outstanding races including 5 PR’s.

IRONMAN Mont Tremblant 70.3 has become a popular destination race among Team RTA triathlon club members. The area is filled with endless entertainment and recreational options for all ages. And the pedestrian layout makes the city inviting, accessible and spectator friendly.

Whether it’s this race or another destination race, there is nothing more fun then racing some place new and exciting with friends & teammates.

CONGRATS to all on outstanding races and a special mention to those athletes below who PR’d. Keep up the good work!!!

Rohit is new to triathlon. Like many overachievers, he has a “go big or go home” mentality. He signed up for his first triathlon, IRONMAN Atlantic City 70.3 and contacted us soon after.

Rohit had a decent understanding of triathlon, but he didn’t know how to swim and wasn’t sure how to best prepare for the race. However, he understands the value of professional guidance and proper preparation. He’s also determined to be successful and he’s willing to put the work in.

Despite all of this, the reality was Rohit had a massive goal. Like any BIG goal in life, the journey to his finish 70.3 finish line would likely have a couple bumps in the road. And it did.

We regularly test and re-test our athletes throughout their training programs. Positive test results ensure the athlete’s custom training plan is “working.” If results do not show improvement, it allows us time to ask, why, and make the necessary adjustments PRIOR to race day.

Test results provide us with valuable data for creating future workouts in order to maximize fitness gains for the athlete.  Ultimately the data will help to establish their race day strategy. Needless to say, the end goal is to put our athletes in optimal position to have the best race possible.

We are proud of our athletes and the hard work and dedication they put toward training. Below are a some of the test results we have seen recently.