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Hippy Vibes, Buzzes & Moose Statues...
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Tuesday, 17 July 2018 23:20
WEEKEND PREVIEWS - There are three great Minnesota multis this weekend, each with its own special charm and challenge. We hope you will participate in one (or two?) of them, as almost all tris and dus, not just here, but everywhere, could use an attendance boost these days....
Couples Weekend...
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Monday, 16 July 2018 23:30
MINNEAPOLIS TRIATHLON & HEART OF THE LAKES - Something unprecedented happened last weekend. A triathlete turned in back-to-back Performance of the Year-worthy efforts. It would be almost unimaginable if both performances did not receive POY nominations.
But, who knows what super efforts this athlete will add to her incredible resume before the end of the season.
We're talking about HANNA GRINAKER (photo L). Last Saturday at the Minnespolis Olympic Triathlon she matched the event's 2nd fastest amateur women's time, a 2:08:07. That clocking matched the one recorded by North Carolina's Alyssa Doehla in her winning effort in 2016. (Doehla got her pro card later in the 2016 season.) It should be noted that wetsuits were allowed in 2016, but not this year.
What made Grinaker's race even more spectacular was the fact that conditions were brutal, and she managed to outrace defending champ GABY BUNTEN, who rocked a brilliant 2:09:12. Bunten, the 2017 Minnesota Female Triathlete of the Year, came into the race with a reputation for being one of the US's premier Olympic-distance amateurs. Her 2018 scorecard coming into the race boasted two major Olympic-distance wins and a 2nd at New York City.
Hanna followed up her Saturday performance with an equally, if not more, spectacular effort at Heart of the Lakes on Sunday, where she placed 6th overall in a time, the likes of which we hadn't seen since 2009, when Cathy Yndestad popped a 1:39:16, a performance that helped her WIN the USAT Athlete of the Year award. Cathy's effort was recorded during HOLT's wetsuit-legal days. Since then, wetsuits have not been allowed for Elite Division athletes. (Beside, the water temp on Sunday was 84-degrees.)...
Steamy North Country Experience...
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Sunday, 15 July 2018 23:20
TIMBERMAN SPRINT - When TAYLOR LUNDQUIST sped out of T2 she was in 3rd place, forty seconds behind TARA MAKINEN, a four-time winner of Timberman Sprint, and 1:53 in arrears of two-time champ / course record holder BETTINA KEPPERS.
At first, it seemed that if the teen from Osseo could hold her position against the aforementioned veterans, she just might come away with a new junior course record.
But TAYLOR seemed to have something else in mind. She was almost sprinting when she passed the finish line as she headed out on the three mile run. Would she pay for her aggresivenenss? Or would she settle into a pace that would allow her to catch one or both of the leaders?
Taylor was named 2017 Junior of the Year because, after an impressive, though not award-worthy first half of the season (two other juniors outraced her here last year), she cranked up her game and finished the season with three outright women's victories and a half dozen junior course records.
Would Saturday's Timberman Sprint be her turning point this time around?
It sure was. Lundquist not only overtook Makinen, she even managed to charge past Keppers. The result was not only Taylor's 4th career adult multisport win, but a total thrashing of the junior record.
But wait. There's more. Lundquist's final time was 1:02:57, which lowered Keppers' year-old CR by two full minutes! It needs to be noted here that runner-up Keppers turned in a 1:04:32, twenty-five seconds better than her prior best. Makinen also PRed, her 1:05:04 a 28-second improvement on her previous best time, set in 2014.
Singing Heart Rates & Wicked Pride...
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Sunday, 15 July 2018 23:10
By Ted Treise (venturetri.com)
Eagleman 70.3 Race Report - I get a nervous feeling before any race. It’s been there since my motocross days and has transitioned over to triathlon. We can call this feeling, maybe, the send-its? It’s a feeling of uncertainty like ‘Is this really about to happen?’ or ‘How did this moment actually arrive in the present?’. The send-its may come right before saying yes to a new job, going in for an unexpected first kiss, or even telling the barista with confidence, “Venti”, sacrificing the regular order and exploring something new on the menu. To me, the send-its are a rare feeling making life a heck of a ride. After standing in the swim start shoot at Eagleman and reaching over the banners for one last pre-race hug from mom, the send-its were in full force as the rolling start began. We are racing, I thought; this is actually happening.
Swim
I spent the greater part of the Minnesota spring swimming with Genesis Aquatics in Hopkins. Each lane has its own RX’ed yards and pacing creating a choose-your-own-adventure practice for each swimmer. My daily swim strategy with this format is to A.) Go into a lane that’s probably too fast, B.) Try to lead it until someone most the lane politely ask to cut ahead, and C.) Not get lapped on anything over 400 yards. I feel like this fish or fish bait strategy helped me greatly improve going into 2018. ...
Nebraska Road Trip...
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Saturday, 14 July 2018 23:10
Over the rocks and through the seaweed to transition one we flow. Minnesota knows the way, we’re ready to slay, a race we must undergo…
By Josh Reece
The University of Minnesota Collegiate Club Triathlon Team competed in Nebraska over the course of this weekend, in and around Werner Park in Omaha. With a unique dual-transition course setup, the Gophers battled through mounds of rocks and seaweed in the lake, climbed rolling hills and sand mounds on the bike route, and navigated challenging trails on the run. Despite the extreme conditions of the course, Minnesota came out on top of the Midwest conference colleges.
Gopher athletes swept the floor in the collegiate race with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishes in the individual Olympic men’s race alongside 1st and 2nd on the women’s side. Nikolas Pardoe took first for collegiate men, Andy Hardt took second, Joshua Reece took third, and Garrett Williams took fourth. Mélanie Mahoney took first for collegiate women and Julia Riedl wasn’t far behind in second place! Michelle Ring and Elizabeth van Laarhoven were fourth and fifth to round out the scoring for the Gophers....
