Well-Fit Announces Tri-Specific Training Center
Friday, October 24, 2008 at 3:54pm
October 24, 2008. Chicago, IL -- Well-Fit Triathlon and Training, Inc. announced plans to open the first triathlon-specific training facility in the Midwest this January 2009. Well-Fit has leased more than 5,000 square feet of environmentally friendly space at 1700 West Hubbard where it plans to install 17 CompuTrainer cycling machines, 12 treadmills, an Endless Pool and a personal training studio stocked with the latest strength and conditioning equipment. In addition, the facility will offer a recovery room, a multi-purpose studio for performance testing, yoga, functional conditioning, educational workshops, and men's and women's locker rooms and showers.
"The Well-Fit Training Center will be the first of its kind in the Midwest, maybe in the country," said Sharone Aharon, Well-Fit's founder and head coach. "The center will provide everything that a triathlete needs to maximize his or her training and, maybe even more importantly, it will be a true home for Chicago's multi-sport athletes. This has been a dream of mine since I started coaching triathletes back in 1998. For the first time anywhere, we will have elite athletes training alongside beginners and age groupers under the supervision of some of the top coaches in the area."
While there are many great triathlon clubs, multi-sport coaches and general purpose fitness centers in the Chicago-area, no facility fully supports multi-sport athletes or provides a permanent location where multi-sport athletes can find a sense community. The Well-Fit Training Center should fill that void. Well-Fit worked closely with USA Triathlon to develop the Well-Fit Elite Team in 2008, and Well-Fit continues to consult with the triathlon's governing body in developing the training center. The Well-Fit Elite Team has become a model of what USA Triathlon would like to see across the country, and the same should be true of the Well-Fit Training Center.
"Many of the top endurance athletes call the Chicago home, but when it comes time to turn professional they head to the west coast or Colorado," said Aharon. "We hope that having all the necessary training resources available in Chicago will stop, or at least slow, that talent drain. San Diego has it's advantages, but we hope to prove that you don't have to leave Illinois to be serious about multi-sport."
Illinois finished fifth among states at the USAT Age Group National Championships in Portland, Oregon, and 17 Chicago-area athletes qualified to represent Team USA at next year's world championships in Gold Coast, Australia by finishing in the top 16 in their respective age groups. Overall winners from the Chicago area included Lindsey Whalen and Elizabeth Brackett, who is coached by Aharon. Well-Fit Elite team members Brian Fort, John Wiberg, Simon Trude and Kevin McCarthy qualified for Team USA, and Kenny Maruyama and Geoff Mikelsons may qualify via the "roll-down" process. Well-Fit coached athletes Matthew Gibson and Patrick Jones also may have qualified for ITU World Championships in Perth, Australia in 2009.
"The results at Nationals proved to everyone that the Midwest has talent," commented Aharon. "As more and more of the top athletes make use of the Center, I think Illinois will continue to gain the respect of athletes across the country. I look at the region's top athletes who trained by themselves and still came so close to the podium in Portland, and I wonder if they could reach that step if they were surrounded and pushed every day by other top athletes. And, that doesn't even begin to touch on the influence that these athletes can have on athletes just beginning to find their way in the sport. The center creates such amazing possibilities."
The Well-Fit Training Center will focus on every level of triathlete, as well as individuals who are interested in overall fitness. "The elite athletes are fun to coach, but the lifeblood of the sport is the 'everyday heroes' who make up the vast majority of races and fill up our training programs and technique classes," added Well-Fit Coach Lara Mele (formerly Battalini). "I get the most enjoyment from coaching someone to their first triathlon finish, regardless of the distance or the time; that's when the sport is the most challenging and the most rewarding."
Well-Fit will continue to offer personal training and triathlon coaching services as it has for more than ten years. Additionally, Well-Fit plans to continue to sponsor the key regional races like the US women series, Harbor Lights, the Spirit of Racine 1/2IM, Big Foot and Steelhead Ironman 70.3, and will offer training programs led by USAT certified coaches while taking full advantage of the facility. Well-Fit also will add a 9-month Ironman Wisconsin training program in February 2009, and coached by professional triathlete and established coach Elizabeth Fedofsky.
"We are very excited to announce that area pro and noted coach Liz Fedofsky Waterstaat will join the Well-Fit team in 2009 to lead the Ironman Wisconsin program. The program will take advantage of everything that the training center has to offer," said Aharon," including V02max performance testing, bike fitting with Get a Grip Cycles, swim technique in the Endless Pool, 'CompuTrain-the-course' classes on at least two weekends during the winter, and at least two group training sessions at the Center per week. If you're going to dedicate yourself to training for an Ironman, you want to know that you're doing it right." Fedofsky also will coach the female members of the Well-Fit Elite team and maintain her established triathlon coaching business.
Well-Fit will begin selling memberships to the Well-Fit Training Center in December 2008, and will hold a pre-sale event at 1700 West Hubbard in mid-December when it will auction off the right to purchase first membership, various training programs for 2009 and triathlon equipment, among other items. All proceeds from the auction will benefit the Well-Fit Elite Foundation, which was formed for the purpose of creating a pipeline in the Midwest for U.S. National Team and is the sponsor of the Well-Fit Elite Team. Well-Fit plans to give away winter cycling jackets to the first 50 individuals who join during the pre-sale period. Members will have access to all of the center's equipment and the UIC pool, designated "members only" CompuTrainer and swim sessions, monthly consultation with a USAT certified coach, and discounted rates on triathlon coaching services, race-specific training programs and personal training.
"Look out San Diego and Boulder," said Aharon, "Chicago is getting serious about triathlon!" For more information about the center, please contact Patrick Jones at (312) 404-3225, or oupatjones@gmail.com.