Local Racers Stay Grounded with Competitions

WILDWOOD CREST –It’s said that “anything is possible,” and for several local endurance racers, competing in marathons and Ironman competitions helps keep them grounded, in good physical health, and calms their mind, despite enduring some of the world’s toughest single-day sporting competitions.
Undergoing rigorous training for the events, Don Cabrera, of Wildwood Crest; Gary Osmundsen, Ph.D., a Cape May native who now lives in Avondale, Arizona; and Nancy Reilly, of Cape May, also want to set good examples of how to be healthy and fit.
Nicknamed the “Iron Mayor,” Cabrera competed in his first triathlon in 2014, when he was 49.
“The Escape the Cape Triathlon, in Lower Township, features a jump off the back of a ferry and swim to shore,” he said, recalling how he got started racing. “It is a local race, so a group of friends and my wife and I signed up. I was looking to try something new and crazy. After that, I was hooked on triathlons.”
As mayor of Wildwood Crest, Cabrera started the Wildwood Crest Mayor’s Wellness Campaign, along with the “great”recreation team.
“I try to lead by example,” he said. “I hope to inspire people. The Crest has won the Wellness Award three times now.”
The designation, by the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, in partnership with the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, considers the research done to identify the community’s health needs, how the local mayor’s wellness campaign is organized, and what activities are sponsored to make the community a healthier place to live, work and play.
“As for racing, it’s triathlon during the summer and running races in the offseason,” Cabrera said. “I try to do ‘race-cations,’ where my wife and I can tie a race in with a vacation to see new areas and new events. I train and race to ground me, but eat and drink and enjoy life. Running helps keep my mind calm and body in shape.”
Cabrera trains every day, starting around 5 a.m., he said.
“Each day is a different discipline or a combination of a few things,” he explained. “I swim three days a week in a pool, or, during the summer, in the bay/ocean at least 3-4 miles a week. I run three to four days a week, around 20-40 miles a week. I bike on a Peloton or road/tri-bike 50-110 miles a week.”
“I do yoga twice a week, which is key to being injury-free and stronger,” he noted, “and strength train at home twice a week. When I first started, it was probably one-fourth of that training regime.”
“I do 10-15 races a year,” he added. “In between races, I am training and socializing with our running club, the South Jersey Runners, and our Wild Harbor Triathlon Club, and working and being a mayor.”
For Cabrera, the biggest challenge “is being too critical of myself or pushing myself too hard where I forget it’s supposed to be fun. I am my own worst enemy. Although this year, I crashed my bike twice in two Ironman events, but I am still alive.”
At 56, Cabrera is most proud of completing in two full Ironman events, but he added he is “always looking for that bigger challenge. I did my first ultra-marathon in the snow and hills.”
His goal is to do five to 10 full Ironmans before he is 60. A full Ironman is a 2.4-mile swim, 112 miles on a bike, and a 26.2-mile run, and widely considered to be one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world. There is usually a 16–17-hour limit to the event, with the swimming aspect completed within 2 hours.
Osmundsen, who moved to Arizona six years ago, where he is a philosophy instructor at the College of Theology at Grand Canyon University, started doing sprint distance triathlons seven years ago.
He gradually worked up to longer distance races, completing his first marathon in 2017, the Phoenix-Mesa Marathon, and his first full Ironman in 2019, at the Ironman Lake Placid. 
This past September, he participated in his second full Ironman, in Maryland, and three weeks later, he ran the Boston Marathon for the fourth-consecutive year.
“I started endurance races as a result of treating lower back pain and sciatica in 2013,” the 46-year-old said. “After my physical therapist prescribed swimming, running, and other exercises, my back pain dissipated as my fitness level increased. I exchanged powerlifting and golf for swimming, biking, and running. I dropped about 30 pounds in just over a year. By the time I participated in my first triathlon, my back was healed. It was an easy decision to incorporate this new kind of training into my lifestyle.”
Osmundsen enjoys all the biological, psychological, and neurological benefits from exercising, and believes exercising also contributes to character formation.
“I make sure to do it every morning before work and on the weekends, averaging five to six days a week,” he said. “If I’m training for an Ironman, then I work from an eight-month program. If I’m training for a marathon, then I work from a four-month program. After a big race, I do light recovery runs every other day for two weeks, pick up the distance in the third week, and by the fourth week, start building a base again for the next race.”  
Osmundsen is most proud of completing a marathon in 2 hours, 55 minutes, and placing ninth in his age group, with a 10-hour, 25-minute finish in an Ironman competition. 
“I’d like to break 10 hours in a full-distance Ironman and place in the top five of my age group in a half-Ironman,” he said.
“The toughest aspect to big races is the 24 hours before it,” he noted. “I’m not comfortable waiting around for a big race to start. Any nervousness ceases once the race starts.”  
Osmundsen is using endurance sports training and races to gather thoughts, data, and new insights for a book project he has undertaken. He said the book will discuss how endurance sports can contribute to cultivating moral and intellectual virtues to transform one’s character. 
Reilly started racing about eight years ago. Her first big race was the Philly Half Marathon, in 2013. Her first triathlon was Escape the Cape, in 2014, which is still one of her favorite triathlons.
“I started running as a way to help get myself prepared for my workday, both mentally and physically,” said Reilly, 49, a veterinarian. “I quickly realized the days that I ran before work were so much better than the days that I didn’t run. My profession can be extremely challenging, and in a way, running and fitness saved my life. It saved me from drowning in the stress of it all.”
If Reilly is training for a marathon, she usually starts training five to six months before the actual race. She usually runs four to five days a week, and tries to get a speed workout, tempo workout, and a long run in. She often runs with her sons, Luke, 10, and Kyle, 9. They ride bikes, and she runs alongside them or one of her dogs.
“I am just trying to set a good example for my children, to show them how important it is to be fit and healthy, and how it can positively impact your whole life,” she noted.
If she is training for a triathlon, when she starts training depends on the distance. In 2019, she did her first full-distance Ironman, in Maryland, which is a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and 26.2-mile run. For that event, she trained about six to seven months with a coach, trying to get two to three workouts of each discipline in per week, along with strength training and yoga.
Reilly just completed the Chicago Marathon, so her season is officially over until spring. She will still do short runs with her dog, strength train, do yoga, and swim to keep in shape, though.
“The toughest aspect of the races can vary,” she noted. “For tris, there are so many things that can go wrong. You could lose your goggles in the swim or get kicked by another swimmer. You could get a flat tire or crash your bike. You could cramp on the run. There are just so many variables.”
For now, Reilly said she would “love to start doing some longer endurance races, like ultramarathons. It is amazing what one can do with the right mindset. One day, I would love to try to qualify for the Ironman World Championships, as well.” 
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.