45°
NORWALK, Conn. All the hours of running, riding and training this summer come down to Sunday for Norwalk's Eneas Freyre. That's when Freyre, who helped open and runs the fitness programs at Targetraining in Westport, competes in the Duathlon World Championships in Gijon, Spain.
Freyre, 35, competed locally throughout the summer, including running in the Lightfoot Summer Series races in Norwalk and winning a duathlon in Ridgefield last weekend. The Greenwich native is anxious to see how his training stacks up against the best in the world as he shoots for the world title in the 35-39 age group.
"This year has been a long but successful one,'' said Freyre, who won an age group national title earlier this year. "It is hard to time peak fitness, especially when attempting to do so in two sports. I feel you often have to sacrifice peak performance in one leg of a duathlon to improve on the other. I think I have found a good balance of fitness with running and cycling for worlds, so we will see how we do."
Freyre said Hurricane Irene, which knocked the whole region for a loop in August, did not dramatically alter his training regimen. "Natural disasters put things into perspective and remind you of what things in life are truly important,'' Freyre said. "Training for worlds is a hiatus from the daily stress that life throws your way. I am lucky to have the Targetraining indoor facility to escape to for training. In fact, I use our indoor training methodologies for running and cycling on a regular basis even during ideal outdoor conditions. The specificity of Targetraining's indoor program is hard to beat."
Freyre finished third in his age group three years ago in the world championships when the race was held in North Carolina. In that race, he broke his foot on the first running leg and still managed to finish the race. He comes into Sunday's race healthy, prepared and focused. He knows his competition will be stiff.
"There is no doubt that the level of competition internationally is no joke,'' Freyre said. "There are some seriously talented people out there, but I always say that you need to focus on improving your abilities and not be distracted by the surrounding noise. I am proud to be competing and look forward to representing my country. There are countless people who have helped to get me to where I am now, and I will give it full gas on Sunday to make them proud."
Contact Tom Renner at trenner@mainstreetconnect.us.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Norwalk and receive free news updates.
