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Noah's Journey - Part III
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Friday, 19 December 2025 00:10
By Noah Billings
IRONMAN FLORIDA -Goal: Complete the race, enjoy the day, be present--- I often had to be reminded of my goal because I can get really wound up about speeds. I have a history of going too hard too earlyon long races and falling apart at the end, so finishing strong was a big part of my goal. My mom said, “First Ironman you complete, then you can compete.”
The morning of the race was a little cold for Florida, around the mid 40’s, but my years racing TRI Clear Lake on Memorial Day weekend in northern Iowa helped me to know what to expect and I dressed warm. Hayes and I both made sure our bikes were ready, threw our wetsuits on and made our way to the swim start. The energy was great, I was ready, I was confident.
My swim in the Gulf felt like the best swim I had ever had. The water felt amazing, and I felt comfortable and felt like I was cruising through the water. However, as I wasswimming on the second lap, I was very startled when I saw a small jellyfish right near my chest, I reacted by kind of flailing around for a sec and then sprinting for 10 seconds. I had never encountered this before, so I may have overreacted. By the end of the second lap I was amazed to look down at my watch, and I saw that I completed the swim in 1 hour and 7 minutes. I was very far ahead of my anticipated swim time.
I ran into T1, grabbed my gear and my bike and started to ride. I was aiming for around a 19-mph average which was very hard to keep in the beginning because I was excited and I wanted to go faster. This is where having Hayes as a partner in the race was great as he kept me focused on the goal. The bike felt very nice, the weather warmed up, there wasn’t a ton of wind so it felt perfect all the way through the bike. I did it in 5 hours and 45 minutes. Looking back heading into T2 was a little funny for me. After 10 years of racking my own bike almost made me run past the bike handoff people. Either way I made sure to hand it off properly, grabbed my gear bag and started off on the marathon run....
Noah's Journey - Part II...
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Tuesday, 16 December 2025 00:10
By Noah Billings
At USAT Nationals in August 2025, I finished the Olympic distance race finishing 10th in my age group. After the race, Nik and I talked about my training goals, wishes, and barriers. I told him that despite how much I love racing, I had to be realistic about resources and my time. Recently I downgraded my training as I was working full time as a delivery driver for an Anheuser/Busch distributor and focusing on earning money. Also, after a full day delivering and stacking beer cases and kegs, I was often too tired to train. Pool access in Rochester, Minnesota is difficult. Nik provided an offer to help with my barriers to training. He proposed that I move to Florida to train with Chris. I could help Chris by providing peer support and encouragement and I could have freedom to train and freedom to recover. Also, there is MUCH more access to swim in the Florida climate.
I remember thinking he was joking at first. Who offers to let you live your dream? After Nik reassured me he was serious, I moved down to Florida.
Moving to FL was a bit of culture shock. In Minnesota, I lived in a rural setting with trees and cows. Now I live in an Orlando suburb. There is much more traffic, the nature is much more manicured. It’s a different setting for sure! I get a lot more opportunities for places to swim, work out and a lot freer time to just chill, do yoga, and enjoy the warmer weather. Swimming across Lucky Lake is a daily local open water swim event I am grateful to have access to several times a week. I am only slightly terrified of alligators, the motto for the swim is “Enter the Food Chain.” I even get to practice swims in the ocean! ...
1% Better & Ironman Florida - Part I
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Saturday, 13 December 2025 00:10
By Noah Billings
My Name is Noah Billings. I am a triathlete. I also have adiagnosis of Autism and ADHD.
I started triathlon a little over 10 years ago. I started for tworeasons. The first reason was to improve my health. Growing up I was a very sick kid. I had chronic asthma, frequent respiratory infections, pneumonia, pleural effusions, andatelectasis. I began working with Dr. Miguel Park at Mayo Clinic & he recommended some cardio to try to help buildstrength for my lungs.
Also, I was a high energy guy. A decade ago, my Autism was diagnosed, but my ADHD was not, and my body always feltlike it needed to be busy. I did a lot of swinging on my swing set and climbing on the trees in our woods, but my mom wanted me to participate in a sport. We tried several options with varying success. We found triathlon kind of accidentally, but it was the sport that immediately clicked for me. The structure of triathlon was perfect for a person with my special needs. Triathlons are essentially a big to do list. I am checklist driven. All my IEPs through my education have highlighted how well I perform when I have clear written steps and a plan. In my mind, triathlons are a series of steps, a checklist to be completed, it just makes sense to me.
When I started training, there was a small youth tri team in town. One of my favorite
memories is doing indoor spin workouts with the team. My coach at the time, Kris Koepp, would guide us through a bike workout while we would watch Ironman races on a big screen. That was my first introduction to Ironman. I remember being blown away by the distance, how strong everybody looked, and incredible race settings. These videos were so captivating to me. I watched those videos, and I was motivated like never before. This was the point in my life where I decided I not only wanted to do an...
Full List: 2025 MMHs...
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Wednesday, 10 December 2025 00:10
By Bonnie & Clyde
Here is the complete list of 2025 Minnesota Multisport Honorees, including the total number of MMHs won during their respective tri careers (in parentheses):
JUNIOR OF THE YEAR -
Corbin Deichman, 17, Mankato (2)
GRAND MASTERS OF THE YEAR -
Luke Harned, 73, Mahtomedi (1) & Cheryl Zitur, 60, Corcoran (4) ...
Nathan and Paige Again!
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Sunday, 07 December 2025 00:10
By Bonnie & Clyde
Bonnie - Picking the 2025 Performances of the Year was tough. Was Paige's PR victory at Madison 70.3 superior to her runner-up effort at Ironman Chattanooga? I not sure, but I'm leaning towards her IM performance. Next week I might change my mind.
The same difficulty befell me with the men's POY selection. Was Nathan Kim's 2nd at St. Anthony's Olympic (1:53:26) more noteworthy than his 2nd at Madison 70.3 in a personal best 4:05:48. The Florida race is arguably the most competitive non-National Championship race in the US. And the winner at Madison (Tyler Tanko) was arguably America's best male amateur 2025. Heads or tails? I chose heads. Next week I may change my mind.
My picks for 2025 Performances of the Year: Paige Schulz' 2nd at Ironman Chattanooga and Nathan Kim's 2nd at St. Anthony's....
