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21st Century Renaissance Man Do-Do...

mikey(Photo - Mikey Payne chowing down on dad's homemade thin-crust pizza, not that deep-dish Chicago-style crap.)

Cooking with Matt

By Matt Payne
(http://www.matthew-payne.blogspot.com)

Alright... my first ever off-season update. When I started this blog I had every intention of posting regular updates on a wide variety of topics, yet here I sit 2+ years later and every single post is a race report. So how can I go on calling this The Most Interesting Man in Columbia Heights? Well...

I pretty much am that one-dimensional and boring. Now I could do the standard training update you routinely see on your typical triathlon-focused blog, but that would be even more boring and repetitive than an endless stream of very-much-identical race reports. It's December. I'm swimming a lot. We'll leave it at that....

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More 2012 Phab Photos...

chrisGLOW-BASKING - Chris Sachs (L) is not a glass-half-full kind of guy. He's more than that. He's one of those life-lovers whose cup always seems to be runnething over.

In this photo, which is one of our all-time faves, he is basking in the glow of a victory (One Last Tri), his body overrun by marauding endorphins; his total being swaddled in contentment. But this pic could have been taken at New Bri, where his final result wasn't something to, as they say, write home about. After that race he still did his share of glow-basking and celebrating, though. Chris understands that there is ALWAYS something to celebrate. At New Bri he celebrated the performances of others, and the weather, which was awesome, and the knowledge that he and 400 others had just done something that was totally good and cool.

People who are not like Chris should strive to be more like him....

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Phavorite Photos of 2012...

bethWe recently looked back at all the photos and artwork that was posted on MTN in 2012. More than 1000 images. All good stuff. It reminded us of how blessed we are here in Minnesota to have talented guys like Kerry (Yndestad) and Nick (Morales) and Paul (Phillips) and Steve (Stenzel), among others, allowing us to use their shots.

Certain pics really jumped off the cyber page at us, shots that touch us in special ways. For instance, we posted a photo of Beth Guck playing the viola (photo L), which is kinda like a pregnant violin with a string missing. Most folks would say it's a cool shot, but not necessarily extraordinary. We would disagree for a zillion reasons. We LOVE this shot because we love Beth. She's a HOOT! We also like to see her with her hair down. This girl's got major hair.

We also love the fact that the pic is shot in black and white, which reeks of artsy-fartsy-iosity. But most of all, we love the shot because it depicts a triathlete excelling at non-triathletic stuff. Beth is an elite AGer, who probably should have been nominated for Grand Master of the Year in 2012, who is also a world class musician and teacher. We're proud to know her and this pic clearly reminds us of that....

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Extreme Recovery...

cold bathThis article was originally published in the July/August 2011 edition of Inside Triathlon magazine.

By Matt Fitzgerald

In 2008, professional triathlete TJ Tollakson, whose home base is Des Moines, Iowa, spent a couple of months living and training with fellow pro Craig Alexander in Boulder, Colo. Both men were preparing for October

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Important Stuff About Breathing...

exhaleimportant!
(From swimsmooth.com)

Very few novice swimmers exhale properly into the water.

Nearly all intermediate swimmers think they are exhaling correctly - at least, that's what they say when we ask them. Do they? Very few do.

Even amongst advanced swimmers, quite a few like to hold onto their breath under the water.

Why is this an important swimming technique? Getting your exhalation right will make freestyle feel much easier, get you balanced in the water and as a bonus, make you more relaxed whilst swimming. This will benefit any swimmer, from beginner to elite.

In this article we're going to give you some very simple exercises to perform to improve your breathing technique and this will help you become a much better swimmer....

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