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More From the Most Interesting Man in Columbia Heights...

Monday, 31 October 2011 03:00

By Matthew Payne

Soma Half - I always swore up and down that I'd never become one of those people. You know, the ones who spam up the internets with a bazillion pictures of their kid(s). But oh well, screw it... this little dude--Mikey--is too cute to not share. He must get that from his mom...

I debated hanging up the Lycra for the season back in September after Best of the US. Going out on top and all... but that lasted all of a day or two before I found myself spending a good deal of my free time searching for a mid-October half iron race to jump into. I eventually settled on the weekend of 10/22-10/23, which narrowed my choices down to 70.3 Austin and the Soma Half, in Tempe, AZ. Soma won out on the basis of logistics. Fights were way cheaper and it would be much easier to pull off in a 3-day weekend. Doing Austin on that timeframe would've required flying on Delta, and I'll see them and their $175 each way bike fee in hell.

So... on Saturday morning I packed up the trusty Orbea and made my way to the airport for my flight to Phoenix....

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Diva Dashing & Trail Shoes...

Sunday, 30 October 2011 03:00

*Diva Dash Race Gearing Up For Second Year (Final Stretch Release)

More than 1,200 Expected to Run in Women-Only 5K and 10K Races Benefiting the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance

(MINNEAPOLIS, MINN., October 28, 2011) For the second year in a row, more than a thousand women from across Minnesota are expected to lace up their running shoes and race in the Diva Dash on Saturday, Nov. 12. Located in Circle Pines, Minn. and one of the largest women-only races in the state, the Diva Dash is organized by Final Stretch, Inc. and benefits the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance (MOCA). MOCA is a Minnesota-based non-profit dedicated to raising awareness and funding research needed to detect ovarian cancer early and treat it properly....

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Why We Race....

Friday, 28 October 2011 03:00

(Famous Photo - Two guys racing.)

By Mark Allen (for Xtri.com)

Have you ever asked yourself why you race, especially a triathlon as grueling as an Ironman? I have, partly so I can remind myself of my own motivations and partly so that I have an answer ready when people ask me. "I love being in great shape" sounds like an overdose of overkill to someone who confides in you that their fitness is limited to walking Fido when their kids have too much homework to take him out. "I race to test myself" does little to connect the incredible feeling you get completing an Ironman with an inquisitive out of shape coach potato sitting in the seat next to you on the plane.

So why do we race? What is so fun about keeping going when your body is screaming for you to stop? What's so fulfilling about ending up with blisters and walking funny for a few days? What is it about crossing a finish line that has us replaying that moment and all the day's unfoldings over and over in our...

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The "Josh Riff" Award...

Tuesday, 25 October 2011 03:20

(Photo - Josh Riff. Had the Long Distance Athlete of the Year award been instituted in 2010, the Riffster would have won it, hands down.)

Minnesota Multisport Awards - Our final 2011 MMA nominees are in the new Long Distance Athlete of the Year category, and are contending for what could be called "The Josh Riff Award."

In 2010, Riff won THREE half IM races but went home empty-handed after the Tri Night festivities. It was clear that the MMAs needed to honor those who excel in long distance races. If Josh didn't deserve an award last year, nobody did.

Because the new award category was not announced until mid-season, the MMA Selectors chose to make the rules and criteria as simple as possible. To be eligible for consideration, an athlete must....

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