Race Coverage
Guenther & LaFrance Are National Champs...Again!
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Monday, 18 March 2019 23:10
MINNEAPOLIS — Twenty athletes earned age-group national titles Sunday at the USA Triathlon Winter Triathlon National Championships, held as part of the Loppet Foundation’s Loppet Winter Triathlon at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis. Jan Guenther (Long Lake, Minn.) and Joel LaFrance (Plymouth, Minn.) led the way, claiming the overall women’s and men’s national titles respectively....
"This Just Got Real"....
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Saturday, 16 March 2019 23:10
ED. On June 11, 2017, MTN posted it's coverage of Ironman Wisconsin 70.3, which was won in Performance of the Year fashion by Dani Vsetecka. We just discovered that she had blogged about her experience. It's a terrific read. Enjoy.
By Dani Vsetecka (4iowasisters.blogspot.com)
“Is this real life?” This is the question I’ve had to repeatedly ask myself for the past few days. It’s difficult to put into words to describe the range of emotions I’ve felt. Disbelief, joy, exhilaration, nervousness, and most of all: gratitude, gratitude, and more gratitude. My last two races (the Apple Duathlon and Madison 70.3) have far exceeded my expectations and I can hardly believe what’s actually happened. The outcomes came, but more importantly so has amazing time with family, the opportunity to build friendships, and feelings of self-assurance.
The highlight of the Apple Duathlon was getting to slap my nephew's hand coming out of T2. All three nephews, my sister, my mom, and I spent the night before the race in my parent's RV basically on the race site the night before. We had a blast "camping" and getting to spend the 4 hour trip (2 hrs each way) talking to my sister ...
Randolph Keeps Winning!
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Thursday, 14 March 2019 23:10
The third of four YWCA INdoor Tris happened on March 10. Despite the seriously yucky driving conditions, nearly 100 athletes participated.
Grabbing our attention was the performance of KAITLIN RANDOLPH in the long course event. A relative newcomer to swim-bike-run, the cat-loving Kaitlin, who has a really big knife (photo), collected her third straight YWCA Indoor victory, her second at the longer distance. As in the February event, she placed 3rd overall, beaten only by a ubiquitous DANAHER, Noah to be exact (The many Danahers are regulars at the Y's INdoors), and NICHOLAS BOEHLAND, who rocked a Top 20 at One Last Tri last fall.
Noah Danaher was 3rd here in February. His clocking at the March event was 50:22, which was 1:38 faster than last time.
Back to Ms. Randolph, her time last Sunday was also faster than her time in February. We'd love to see Kaitlin on the starting line of several outdoor tris this summer. If she does, we wouldn't be surprised if she joins PAIGE SCHULZ as a Rookie of the Year nominee...
"The Solution For Not Going Crazy"...
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Tuesday, 12 March 2019 23:10
By Andy Zabel
I don’t need to remind anyone how cold, dark and snowy February can be. I can’t fathom riding a bike in weather that freezes my nostrils and numbs my hands & feet to the point I’d rather cut them off. I can only spend so much time in my home gym, cycling on the trainer and binge watching Netflix shows....
Balancing Ultra-Running With Dog Care...
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Friday, 08 March 2019 23:10
By Mike Ward (mikeward.cool)
I started this trip in my running gear plus my jacket, headphones in, plus a mug of coffee. I just started walking down the street. I knew I just had to start walking.
Rewind the last three months and my training plan for thru-hiking the Superior Hiking Trail has going half perfect and half totally falling apart. As it was written, every four weeks was supposed to be a “long trip” that is a thru-hike simulation, five in total. The first one was dead on. The second one was dead on. The third long trip was a bust. It was very icy. Very, very icy. I tried to take the SHT north from Jay Cooke State Park, way south on the trail, and it was impossibly icy and I pulled the plug when I was supposed to be loading up on pizza at my van. I just ate the pizza and drove off after racking 14 miles in 4 hours. The fourth long trip was just a complete bust. I just didn’t do it! Zero miles. Too hard, too cold, too snowy, I don’t know. It just didn’t materialize in the slightest bit and it kind of crushed me. I questioned the whole training program. Before this last long trip, I was two for four on arguably the most crucial component of this thru-hike training program....
Why Sprint Tris Are Awesome...
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Saturday, 02 March 2019 23:10
By Reem Jishi (usatriathlon.org)
When I first entered the world of triathlon almost two decades ago, I followed the path of so many—I dove in head first, not knowing what I was taking on. My first race was an Olympic distance, followed quickly by a half IRONMAN, and then by an IRONMAN. Although I was an athlete growing up, more than 10 years had passed since my high school glory days. To say that I lived a sedentary lifestyle was an understatement. I was an attorney in New York City and all I did was work. As I approached 30, I became tired of being stressed and unfit. So in January of 2000, I hopped on the treadmill and did a two-mile run. It nearly killed me. But 18 months from that first run, I raced at the 2001 IRONMAN Lake Placid. It was an amazing experience, and to this day, one of my greatest athletic accomplishments.
But I haven't raced an ultra-distance event since. The process took a toll on me. At the time, I was working 80-hour weeks. I would wake up before work and do a short session, and then go to work for the day. My "evening" break would send me to the gym to run on the treadmill (I became part of the gym tour) or do a spin class. Then I would go back to work until into the night before crashing to begin it all over again the next day. For six months, I did nothing other than work and train. Somewhere in the process of the constant push, I also experienced a severe running injury, which kept me from running for the three months leading up to Ironman. But I was determined to race—and race I did....
