08/28/2024
🚴‍♂️ **Exciting News!** 🚴‍♀️
I'm thrilled to announce that I am now taking on new athletes for professional coaching in endurance sports at CCNS! After years of focusing on scientific research during my PhD, I’m excited to transition into a more applied role, helping athletes achieve their goals with evidence-based strategies. Whether you're aiming to improve your performance, optimize your training, or just get started in endurance sports, I'm here to help guide your journey.
Let's work together to reach new heights! 🏅
Feel free to reach out if you're interested or know someone who might be.
05/06/2024
Had an awesome opportunity to go to Canterbury School in New Milford, CT and talk about the work I have done with the Korey Stringer Institute and the Connecticut Health, Athletic and Mental Performance Center at Southern Connecticut State University College of Health & Human Services. Our priority is athlete safety and performance, but also offering services to the public so they can be informed on their own personal health! From hydration assessments, to cardiovascular fitness, to strength testing, to bone density, the kids enjoyed hearing about possible paths for employment in the future. Excited to do more of these talks in the future.
04/18/2024
Really excited for the grand opening of CHAMP! If you are free and want to learn more about all our health, wellness, and exercise tests please come on April 24th at 4:00pm! We will have demonstrations of all our tests, packages, and will be providing food, beverages, and a raffle! Here is the link to RSVP! Please RSVP so we can get your a proper name tag!
https://form.jotform.com/240855705407054
12/14/2023
So its now year 4 of Perseverance Racing. What a journey…we now have a national champion on our team, Randy Puckett. Ben Tuff now has his movie on amazon prime “Swim Tuff” that has already won best picture at a film festival. Our athletes are getting faster, multiple personal bests over the year at all different types of races from many of our athletes like Clayton Northgraves, Peter DeWitt, Paolo Lubrano Mdt Celia Christake! Our coach Jon Fecik coached athletes to sub 9 hour ironman performances and raced back to back weekends. I had the chance to lecture at the nfl combine and be a part of a production for the new yorker as well as some personal bests in all of my races.
Im so proud of our team! I cant wait to see what is in store for us next year. If you want to be a part of this adventure, we just opened our store to purchase merchandise. The purchases help support our team through the year. Its perfect athletic clothing that will last you multiple years because its made that well.
We have changed the lime green on our uniforms to neon blue! We have t shirts, tank tops, shorts for your spin class you love so much, cycling gear, and the perfect hoodie thats great to run with in the winter.
Thanks everyone for your support!
Varlo - Perseverance Racing Winter 2023
07/24/2022
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/07/22/metro/ocean-advocate-pace-be-first-swim-length-narragansett-bay/
Ocean advocate becomes first to swim the length of Narragansett Bay - The Boston Globe
Ben Tuff, 42, made it nearly 24 miles in under 15 hours, swimming from Providence to Jamestown and raising nearly $100,000 for Clean Ocean Access, a Middletown environmental nonprofit where he serves as board president.
03/11/2022
Good luck to everyone racing at Miami! Racing on the track in was one of the best experiences I’ve had and also a PR for the distance. Staying hydrated on a hot day with was crucial! has me building the mileage to get ready for a great summer of racing I’m ready!!
02/04/2022
So proud of this creation! This is going to be a great year!
Dear athletes and sponsors, It’s my great pleasure to announce our team voted and decided on the name, Perseverance Racing! Oxford dictionary defines perseverance as persistence in doing a task despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. I feel that is a great description of how we have approached the pandemic. You all have worked incredibly hard despite many challenges. We will have more of a formal team announcement during our team meeting this February. The team store is now up!
You can access the Varlo Kit Store here:
https://www.varlocustom.com/perseverance
The kit store will be open through February 19, 2022
We also have tshirts and items for cyclists/runners for those who don't compete in triathlon!
12/06/2021
What a day at Daytona Speedway! 70.3 miles in the bag in 4 hours and 17 minutes! A personal best at the distance! I also ran a personal best 1/2 marathon off the bike in 1:24! 4th in my age group and 18th overall in a big international race!
I decided today my goal was to try and smile MOST of the race! I do this sport to have fun, and my family and fiancé go to great lengths to support me so I owe it to them and myself to have fun. I started the swim easy and smart and tried to build my pace through the swim. About 500 meters from the finish I got kicked in the face while taking a breath and swallowed so much water. I coughed, tread water, and a lifeguard came to check on me. After about a minute I started to slowly swim as my chest felt awkward. I got out of the water in 30 minutes which was still a good time for me! I got on the bike and smiled as I passed the 30 degree steep walls of the speedway. I started very conservative and found 2 other cyclists to work with as we closed on on some faster packs of riders. Working with other riders allowed me to stretch, sit up, drink water, push less power, and enjoy the bike ride. I got off the bike, started to run and I felt like I needed to throw up. I got to a point, heaved a bit, and then felt 100% better. I was able to start running at the speed I knew I was capable of but still holding back as the heat radiating off the track was intense! I picked off many runners! I was racing! Runners tried to grab my shoulder and stay with me but they slowly were left behind. The last 2 miles I needed to find mental grit as I was hurting! I crossed the finish line so happy. I stuck to my plan, I had fun, and I smiled ALMOST the entire way.
11/22/2021
Mud, 3000+ feet of climbing, 13.1 miles, steep descents and cowbells made for an incredibly exciting and tough half marathon! After a 3 1/2 hour workout the day before I wasn’t sure if I wanted to put my body through all the hills but I’m glad I did. I laughed with friends, had great competition, and pulled off a 1st place finish overall!
I started off the day with a Drink Simple maple water for some great hydration! I loved using my CamelBak soft flask to run with!
Thank you to Brian at Steep Endurance for putting on such a great event. To Nathan Samuel and .bittner for racing with me today and bringing all the laughs! Thanks to my coach Jon Fecik for believing in me and bringing out the best in me. Thank you to Art Marciano who surprised me at the finish! I love you and thank you for all the support.
Thank you as well to all the team sponsors who have helped me and my team compete this year! Varlo Muscle Feast