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Getting Pissed & Stripping Wallpaper...

Thursday, 14 September 2017 09:10

By Erin Klegstad (sweetsweatife.com)

Here’s a look at what’s been up this summer. Well, mostly what’s been up since IRONMAN Canada. Because we all know that peak training doesn’t leave much time for anything besides swim bike run eat recover sleep repeat, right?

Feeling

Better and more settled. Not gonna lie, the post-race blues were legit. More so than after any other race. I cried a LOT – and then looked at the 35-39F AG race results and got pissed. I honestly don’t know that I’ll ever feel good about IRONMAN Canada – and that’s ok – but rather than dwell on it, I’m choosing to look at it as an opportunity. An opportunity to really recover physically andmentally (five IMs in two years… yikes), to strengthen + sharpen my mental game (lots of books to read!), replenish the well, to swim bike run when I feel like it, and to focus on things outside of triathlon. Five weeks out, I’m feeling immensely lighter and better – and am hungry for redemption. This journey isn’t over yet! ...

"I am Surprised How Much This Means to Me"...

Wednesday, 13 September 2017 19:10

By Greg Dummer (via Facebook)

I have been receiving a lot of emails and texts from friends asking me about my upcoming race. Admittedly, I don’t spend a lot of time on Facebook but I thought this would be the best way to share some information and a bit about my journey.

On Sunday, September 17th I will be racing in the ITU Triathlon Age Group World Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. I will be representing Team USA competing in the draft-legal sprint championship. The distances are a half mile swim, 12.5 mile bike and 3.1 mile run. While this may appear short to Ironman participants, at this level of competition…it is a red-line racing above any type of threshold you can measure for one hour. I love this distance, it is all about pure speed and fits my personality.

I started training for this race mid-December, after taking two months off from the 2016 season…eating and drinking anything in sight. For the people who know me well, this isn’t a joke! Seriously, one of these days I am going to try to temper myself. To kick start the season, my wife and I did a “cleanse” at the suggestion of my sister-in-law (Gianna) who sells Arbonne products. Although I was skeptical at first, it was a great experience and I had never felt energy like that before. Based on my assessment of my results from the National Championships last year, I decided I needed to get a little more serious about one of my glaring weaknesses in triathlon. The swim! Following the lead of my three beautiful...

RBM's "Gift to You"...

Tuesday, 12 September 2017 19:10

By Ruth Brennan Morrey (ruthbrennanmorrey.com)

Iconic. Legendary. Epic. World’s Best. Bucket List. Triathlon Mecca.

The above adjectives largely contributed to the intrigue that landed me in the beautiful Bavarian countryside of Roth, Germany for the full distance Challenge Roth race on July 9th, 2017. Historical race photographs well captured the crowd blanketed energy, picturesque villages and countryside, and the scope of the enthusiasm among pro athletes, age groupers and spectators alike. Within this quaint German rural town—a village of 24,000 residents—two hundred thousand dedicated course spectators halted all life responsibilities to invite athletes into their homes and show up on bridges, hills, villages, to rally alongside the athletes. Perhaps more staggering were the 7000 (!) volunteers—young and old—who would line the notoriously fast course to lend a hand to the day’s success. Imagining crowds lined five deep up Solar Hill—Tour de France style—while bashing long green and red noise making balloons together had this athlete’s blood pumping well before the gun would bang.
My mind had been exclusively training on this course for the previous 6 months and had been in my heart for a year in the making. During the 2016 race, from my computer screen, I witnessed exceptional, thorough, non-gender biased live race coverage. Strict drafting penalties and the manner in which Challenge Family treated its professional athletes would be a new and humbling experience. It was a clear observation even from across the Atlantic, that Challenge Family took incredible pride in this race. That alone excited me....

Adventure & Unpredictability...

Monday, 11 September 2017 23:10

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By Nathan Ansbaugh (nathanansbaugh.blogspot.com - September 7)

SUPERIOR MAN RACE REPORT - With Ironman Wisconsin looming two weeks down the road from Superior Man, I told myself to take it a little easy, don't over stretch, play it safe, etc... well you will see in a moment that this simply did not happen. Last year at Superior Man, I came off the bike in 3rd but had to call it quits after about 6 miles into the run due to a nagging calf injury that became a real issue for me a few miles into that run. It took almost four months after Superior Man last year for me to start to feel like I could get out for a run without worrying a ton about my calf, and that was thanks to a lot of conservative management, physical therapy, and trying to be a good patient since I am notoriously bad at this. Needless to say, last year's Superior Man race left something to be desired for me, and 2017 gave me exactly what I asked for.

In the weeks leading up to Superior Man, I put in several 20+ mile runs, multiple long trainer rides, and honestly as many somewhat moderate length swims as my schedule would allow, and then crammed a taper into the the 5 days leading up to Superior Man with the goal of Superior Man being the last big push "training day" before Madison. My legs felt a bit like sand bags until about 2 days before the race, but my excitement for this race in particular started to take over and all the aches and pains seemed to become a bit numb.

For those who haven't experienced Superior Man, this really is an epic race. Jumping off the Vista Fleet into the red waters of Lake Superior, hugging the North Shore on a fast but challenging run, and then hitting a spectator packed run along the lake shore makes for a fantastic venue. ...