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Two Joshes, Sean and Patrick...
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Thursday, 14 November 2019 12:10
MINNESOTA MULTISPORT HONORS - Here are the four finalists for male TRIATHLETE OF THE YEAR, and their 2019 tri-highlights:
JOSH BLANKENHEIM, 39, Duluth
- 1st @ Timberman Olympic - 1:56:42
- 1st @ Brewhouse Olympic - 1:57:15 - Course record
- 1st @ Lakes Country - 57:49
- 2nd @ Heart of the Lakes
- 3rd @ Lake Minnetonka
COMMENT: Josh's results since 2014 have been stellar, and 2019 may be his most successful season yet....
Calm Mind & Pop Strategy...
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Tuesday, 12 November 2019 23:10
By Hanna Grinaker (thefitspace.com)
Hawaii Ironman World Championships Race Report - I didn’t expect to love racing in Kona. In fact, I prepared to hate it (or at least parts of it). I anticipated feelings of dread, doom or even death wash over me like a tidal wave at various points over the 140.6 mile distance, but you know what? They never came.
Isn’t that interesting how that works? Perception of effort has always been so mysterious to me. There have been races that, on paper, have been equally demanding, but for whatever reason, I had been on top of my suffering in one, and completely overwhelmed by it in another. With time though, I’ve learned it’s usually my thoughts about how hard a race will be that drives how well my brain will cope. Instead of hoping a race won’t be one of those grinding affairs, I brace myself, expecting the hurt to come and welcoming it when it does. “Can it hurt more....?” Oh I’m sure it can.
Ever since watching Sean race Kona in 2016, and then tuning in to the live broadcast on TV the 2 years after that, I developed some ideas about what I would endure. When I stepped off the plane in Kona to a blast of hot air to the face like the feeling you get when you pop the oven door to check on your pizza, I felt relieved. The heat felt like a huge hug—a promise delivered, rather than a bad dream come true....
Dan, Hanna, Josh and Becky....
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Monday, 11 November 2019 23:10
MINNESOTA MUTISPORT HONORS - Here are the finalists, and their 2019 highlights, for LONG DISTANCE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR:
DAN ARLANDSON, 42, Burnsville
- 3rd amateur @ Ironman Wisconsin - 9:20:31 (fastest IM time by a Minnesota male in 2019)
- 5th @ Chisago Lakes - 4:20:39
HANNA GRINAKER, 31, St. Paul
- 1st @ Ironman 70.3 Canada - 4:38:36 (17:24 behind male winner)
- 2nd US / 13th amateur @ Hawaii Ironman World Championships - 9:55:58 ...
Part II: Hanna's Ironman Love Story...
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Friday, 08 November 2019 23:10
By Bob Williams (DL-Onine.com / photo by Kelly Olson)
This story is the second of a two-part series on the training of former Laker running star Hanna Grinaker and her fiancé Sean Cooley culminating at the Ironman World Championship last month.
In 2013, Hanna Grinaker and Sean Cooley ran together at the Fargo Marathon. That chance meeting turned into a relationship and over the next six years the duo found love on a path to the Ironman World Championship this October in Hawaii where the week of competition ended in a marriage proposal....
2019 POY Finalists...
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Thursday, 07 November 2019 23:10
MINNESOTA MULTISPORT HONORS - Determining the four male and four female PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR finalists wasn't easy. In fact, it was contentious at times. For those of us who enjoy arguing, it was a lot of fun. And like the contemporary British philosopher Mick Jagger reminds us, "You can't always get what you want."
In other words, none of the five Committee Members correctly picked all of the nominated performances.
Starting with the women, here are the POY nominations:
POY FINALISTS - Women:
- HANNA GRINAKER's course-record-shattering (2:06:57!) victory at Buffalo Olympic. Her margin of victory was 5:59.
- HANNA GRINAKER's 13th amateur / 2nd US @ the Hawaiian Ironman World Championships. Her 9:55:58 is the 2nd fastest IM time ever by a Minnesota amateur woman.
- DANI VSETECKA's victorious 4:23:56 at Ironman Texas 70.3 (photo L), the fasest half IM time by a Minnesota woman in 2019 by more than eight minutes....
