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Athlete of the Month: Patrick Ryan
Last
month, Patrick Ryan completed his first Ironman in style. He raced at the European
Championships in Frankfurt, Germany and crossed the finish line in 13:49. His first
words were: "I want to do another one and I know where I could knock off some time."
This guy is hooked!
Patrick came a long way to cross that finish line. In 2003 he was a smoker who weighed
215. Today, a non-smoker, he's a svelte 180. Along the weight loss road, he ran
a few marathons and did some short triathlons but
he wanted to see what he was really capable of. An Ironman was the answer. He started
training on his own, but found himself getting burned out. So in April he came to
Triathletix and began his grand adventure.
As a flight attendant, Patrick often had to train very creatively. One night he
called from a gym in a faraway locale during a layover where he was doing his 5 hour ride. He missed Wildflower because he couldn't change his shift, so he did
his own simulated Wildflower the next day. He never let his travel schedule interfere
with his training.
He was also undisturbed by a flat in T1 on race morning, a torrential rainstorm
on the bike and "off the charts" humidity on the run. He thoroughly enjoyed the
swim, had only one down-time on the bike (between mile 60-70) and had a negative
split on the run. He finished with a big smile on his face and lots of family and
friends to share his victory.
We believe this is only the beginning for Patrick.
Congratulations!
View Previous Athletes of
the Month
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