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Mind-Body Reboot...
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Saturday, 01 November 2014 01:10
By Heather Lendway (heatherlendway.com)
When the season ended I was pretty ready for a break. I took some time away from the bike and away from running. I took a week or so to get back into workout mode for each sport before I added some more structured workouts again. It was a much needed reboot for my mind and body. I haven’t taken time away from the pool yet but I had a few down weeks, I’m sure I’ll have a more extended break from the pool at some point this winter.
A few weeks back into workouts, I’m still far from the fitness level I had over the summer but I’m starting to feel like a triathlete again. My nagging hamstring pain has calmed down quite a bit as I’ve been trying to work more on glute strength to help alleviate this. I also recently got a pair of...
Coming the Farthest the Fastest...
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Friday, 31 October 2014 01:10
Minnesota Multisport Awards - Here's a cursory explanation of how the women's MOST IMPROVED winner was determined.
DANI FISCHER won the award.
In 2013, the Wausau, Wisconsin pharmacist won a number of small events--Devil's Challenge, Woodson, Pardeeville, Unite Duathlon--in her adopted home state (she's originally from Rochester, MN) and placed 20th overall / 9th in her AG at Nationals. A pair of Wisconsin women--Cindi Bannink and Bailey Hinz--were on the national radar, but Fischer was not.
This year Dani is in the running for both the USAT AOY and DOY. She'll probably win the DOY and finish 2nd to St. Paul's Heather Lendway for the AOY. Additionally, she is ranked 2nd on Team Minnesota 2014. In ...
Relying on Our "Numbers Nerd"...
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Thursday, 30 October 2014 01:10
ED. Stephen Bullard has been an invaluable member of the MMA Selection Committee since 2002. This year the Selectors were split on who to name as Male Master of the Year. We relied on Stephen, the Committee's resident numbers nerd, who has developed a very conservative age-grading system, to change some minds.
By Stephen Bullard
Minnesota Multisport Awards - This year's men's master award (40-59) was age graded, meaning older triathletes times in this category are handicapped to compare results and times for award purposes. After researching age graded calculators for swimming, biking, and running, a system of handicapping was developed to even the playing field and to allow comparison of a 41 year old against the results of a 56 year old. Basically, the formula assumes in a triathlon, where the bike leg time makes up roughly half of the total time to complete triathlons, the triathlete will slow down .7% in time each year after 40....
Danielson is Junior of the Year...
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Wednesday, 29 October 2014 01:10
Minnesota Multisport Awards - Last Saturday evening, PAIGE DANIELSON (photo) was named 2014 JUNIOR OF THE YEAR. Here's why:
Though her resume appeared, at first glance, to be matched by fellow St. Cloud resident and ROY nominee Lauren Steinke, a closer look revealed that her (Paige's) scorecard was, in the opinion of all of the Selection Committee members, slightly superior. In her four non-drafting tris (we did not include her three DL races), Steinke, then age 14, never finished lower than 5th overall woman. She set AG records in three of those races. Brilliant. Hard to beat, right?
Danielson, 18, also raced four times, setting divisional CRs each time and finishing no lower than 4th in her regional starts. At Du Nationals she was Top Junior, placing 18th overall and her AG margin was more than 12-minutes. Moreover, her time--1:34:52--would have put her on the podium in the 20-24 (2nd), 25-29 (3rd) and 30-34 (2nd) AGs.
The goal of the JOY is to find the teen multisport athlete who is competitive with "credentialed" adult racers and has turned in times that rival or exceed existing divisional CRs. Like her...
The Slam Dunks & Race of the Year...
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Tuesday, 28 October 2014 01:10
Minnesota Multisport Awards - MMA winners in most of the categories--Rookies, Male Master, Junior, Most Improved (Men and Women), Duathlete, Long Distance Athlete of the Year and Performance of the Year (Men and Women)--were extremely difficult to determine and required much analysis and debate.
On the other hand, the winners in four of the categories were considered by the Committee to be "Slam Dunks".
Arguably, the Slam Dunkiest of all the categories was GRAND MASTER OF THE YEAR. Though there were four great nominees, all of whom had the kind of season that may have won the award in prior years, one guy stood tall above the rest: GREG TAYLOR. With his victory at Nationals (margin: 3:13), 70.3 Worlds (4:42:14 - Margin: 16:16) and at Kona (Margin: 30:02), not to mention his...
