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2021 Observations...
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Sunday, 09 January 2022 00:10
2021 Observations and comments:
- YWCA WOMEN'S TRI is back! After a two-year Covid hiatus, the YWCA Women's Tri, truly one of the US' premier women's-only endurance events, is returning to the schedule. The date should be announced soon.
- MTN congratulates the organizers of the "new" ALEXANDRIA TRIATHLON on the success of their inaugural event last year. The race was awesome, featuring great courses, large-than-anticipated turnout (230 finishers!) and enthusiastic community support (volunteers, sponsors, race management). (ED. Alexandria has lots of reasonabley priced hotels!)
- MTN also congratulates organizers of the HEART OF THE LAKES TRIATHLON on the changes they instituted in 2021, especially the new transition layout and the reconfigured run course for its short course race. Another 2021 HOLT brightspot was the women in the crowd, who in the absence of pre-recorded (Whitney) music, stepped in and blew us all away with her powerful rendition of our national anthem. Who was that women? We hope she returns to HOLT next July.
A Year of Questions...
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Tuesday, 04 January 2022 00:10
By Shyanne McGregor
“There are years that ask questions, and years that answer.” - Zora Neale Hurston
As with every start of a year, 2021 was no different- I had big goals. After a year of cancelled races and a disappointing end to Ironman Florida the year before, I was ready to make 2021 a year of big things.
Little did I know it would be a year of learning patience and postponing goals for another time.
I haven’t talked much about this but I really haven’t been able to do much running since April due to fibular head instability issue leading to a tibial stress fracture. I finally healed from those and then got a hamstring injury in my last race in August. Last year We couldn’t race due to a pandemic and now races were happening again and I still couldn’t race. I’m not getting any younger!!! ...
Why Triathletes Should Nordic Ski...
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Saturday, 01 January 2022 00:10
By John "Fast Big Dog" Shafer (Slowtwitch.com - Dec. 2015)
If you've been around the sport of triathlon for a while, you've seen lots of fads come and go: gear, nutrition and training plans can all suffer from the "flavor of the month" syndrome. Cross-training was all the rage in the 80's for a while and guess what, what's new is what's old again. Cross-training, in particular strength training, is now widely considered to be beneficial to athletes of all ages and abilities, but what about off-season aerobic training? Are there viable alternatives to cranking out mind-numbing miles on the trainer and treadmill?
Yes. Cross-country skiing (or "Nordic skiing," if you are in the know) is one of the best full-body workouts, with elite Nordic skiers occupying much of the top of the list of VO2 max tests. And here's the really good news - Nordic skiing isn't just a great all-around fitness exercise, it is also an excellent sport-specific exercise for swimming, biking and running. In part 1 of this multi-part series, SlowTwitch is ...
We Need a Break...
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Monday, 29 November 2021 00:10
The MTN Guys need a break. We, therefore, will not be posting new content during the month of December. We plan to return by January 1. Until then, we hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday season.
2021 TEAM MINNESOTA....
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Monday, 22 November 2021 00:10
2021 TEAM MINNESOTA - MEN
Several years back, a prominent Minnesota triathlete suggested that Team Minnesota athletes should not be ranked. Instead, they should be listed alphabetically. Rankings can easily be misunderstood and often unnecesariy controversial because many of the spots are interchangeable, i.e. it is not uncommon for, say, the resumes of the 4th through seventh-ranked athletes to be quantitatively equal. For instance, should AJ MANNING be ranked ahead of HENRY JESSEN , or vice versa? Should Henry's outstanding Nationals performances outweigh AJ's regional wins and course records?
So, let's give the alphabetical format a try and see if that sticks. Remember, this list is based on competitive performances and consistency, not reputation or past history. Also note that the reduction in races, and other factors (life!, pandemics), have eliminated many of the elite "ususal suspects." Some chose not to race this season. Others raced less frequenty, thus they didn't meet minimum "volume" requirements (3 outstanding / competitive performances *). For those reasons, as in 2020, Team Minnesota will be comprised of five members, not 10. ...
