FEATURES

Looking Back. Looking Ahead....

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By Branden Scheel

 

What an incredible year. Started with finding the woman of my dreams in Tucson. Alexa has changed my life in ways i never thought possible. Found something that makes me so happy and feel so loved.


Followed that with a great... adventurous road trip to Tennessee where I ended up qualifying for my Pro License in triathlon with a great performance at Chattanooga coming 2nd overall.


Climbed the grand canyon in under 7 hours with Alexa, followed by 2 more beautiful hikes the following day :D


Set a few course records this summer around the area.


Went on a few day mountain biking trip....

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Choosing What You Eat After a Workout...

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By John Hansen (usatriathlon.org)

 

So you have done a great job to fuel and stay hydrated prior to your long workout or your race but afterwards you don’t eat for three hours, or you take in a big cheesy burger and fries and you only have a couple glasses of water. You go for an easy spin the next day and wonder why your energy is low and you don’t feel recovered.   


Executing a successful nutrition and hydration plan after your workouts is one key element to successful training and racing. When considering nutrition and hydration after a workout and race, it is important not only to choose the right type of foods and fluid but also the amount of food and hydration to optimize your recovery. 


This is particularly true for triathletes who: ...

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Ripe For Rescue...

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In the 90s, Minnesota multisport racing schedule started earlier (April - Owatonna Triathlon - Brrrr) and ended earlier (mid August - Turtleman).

At the beginning of this century, a pair of road race directors, RANDY FULTON and MARK BONGERS decided to create some new multisport events, ones that would add several weeks to our tri/du season. Uncle Randy introduced the Square Lake races, and Mark gave us the St. Croix Valley Triathlon.

Other September races--various duathlons, One Last Tri, Hopkins Royals etc.-- followed.

Now, almost two decades later, Randy and Mark have retired from multisport production. Fortuitously in Randy's case, another company--TriFitness Events--have acquired his races. Other directors have yet to claim Bongers' races, which include the iconic Liberty Half IM and Olympic and Lake Waconia Sprint, events that Mark's company (Final Stretch) rescued, as well as smaller "local" events, North Mankato, which Final Stretch also rescued, and the Waseca Triathlon....

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Hanna Versus Gaby...Part II...

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Photo - Hanna at HOLT with a guy.

 

MINNESOTA MULTISPORT HONORS - After winning the POY for his victory at the Apple Duathlon in 2017, WADE CRUSER contacted members of the MMH Committee to state his disagreement. He believed, as did some of the Selectors, that SEAN COOLEY's win at Chisago Half was more deserving.

Some of us rethought our positions, though it was too late to do anything about it. We were comforted by the fact that honoring athletes is inherently controversial, and that strong arguments could be made for both performances, his and Sean's.

Well, determining this year's women's PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR was even controversialier than last year's men's battle for that honor. After it was revealed on MTN last month that HANNA GRINAKER's victory at Heart of the Lakes was selected ahead of GABY BUNTEN's win at the USAT National Championships, we received a bit of expected blowback. One person even wondered why Hanna's win at Minneapolis wasn't selected. After all, she outraced future National Champ Bunten in that event.

Great argument. (One Selector did favor Hanna's Minneapolis effort. And two Selectors stridently believed that Gaby's Nationals win was the POY.)...

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Debunking Nutrition Myths...

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By Bob Seebohar, MS, RD, CSSD, CSCS, METS II (powertap.com)


Do this, not that. It seems like everyone has a way of doing things these days, and with that comes a few myths that develop from the “n-of-1” experiments, or even better - from watching what pro cyclists do. Ah yes, this is the most popular method of receiving information and wondering if we should implement some of these “professional” nutrition strategies.


Let's go ahead and jump into two of the more common nutrition myths that cyclists encounter these days.


MYTH #1: I NEED TO DO ALL MY TRAINING SESSIONS FASTED TO BURN MORE FAT.


I have read that quite a few Tour riders embark on this type of training, but it is monitored closely and meticulously periodized by their coaches and physiologists, so it does not have a negative impact on their performance. While there is some promising research showing fasted training can produce beneficial results in terms of fat adaptation and mitochondrial biogenesis, hopping on the bike in a fasted state for all sessions is simply not a good idea....

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