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New Year, New City, New Competition...

Monday, 09 February 2015 00:10

By Dani Fischer

I won’t spend too much time recapping 2014, but wow! What a year. Thinking back to what my goals were heading into 2014, I can’t say that I accomplished all of them, but it was an extremely successful season nonetheless. I was undefeated for all 5 races during the month of June, including a National Championship in Long Course, BOUS, and ITU Chicago, placed a close second to the best amateur in the country, Heather Lendway, at Age Group Nationals in August, and surprised myself with a third overall place at Worlds in September. Even if I didn’t accomplish all of my lofty goals, I can look back on 2014 as a year of great memories both on and off the course that will last a lifetime. None of it would have been possible without the continuous support of my family, my coach Mike McQueen, my friends, my coworkers, and all of those following my journey.

As many of you know, I was granted my pro card shortly after Worlds, as I was planning on debuting at Austin 70.3 in October last year. After a long season, my mind and body were not cooperating due to fatigue, so I decided to forgo Austin and take a much-needed break through the end of September....

There You Have It...

Saturday, 07 February 2015 06:10

By Sean Pease (gearwestbike.wordpress.com/blog)

Devon Palmer and I sat down and hashed through some dialogue mostly about him. He’s sort of selfish like that. Truth is, Devon isn’t selfish, he loves to share his knowledge and opinion with just about anyone who might listen. We think he learned to share at a young age. The second truth is that we didn’t actually sit down, well, together…I was sitting at my computer writing questions for the interview, and eventually Devon sat down at his laptop and answered them. He did this much later in the day, but we were both sitting; at some point. So, here ya go! A little look into Devon Palmer’s life.

Gear West Bike (GWB): Give us a little background on you…Where did you grow up and what types of sports did you do as a kid?

Devon Palmer (DP): I grew up in St Paul. I was an underachieving club swimmer growing up and also did fencing through junior high....

Are You an "A" or a "B"?

Friday, 06 February 2015 06:10

Coach Troy Training Tip: Welcome to the Off-Season

By Troy Jacobson (Dec. 2011)

Off-season. What in the world does that mean anymore for an Ironman triathlete? Is there such a thing as an off-season nowadays ... or does one phase of your training blend into the next, so it seems like there is just one continuous in-season? Confusing, right? Well, I'm going to confuse you a little more as well as, hopefully, give you some clarity at the same time.
First, I believe in having an off-season of some variety. We're not machines, even though many triathletes think they are. Exercise is stressful on the body. In fact, one of my favorite definitions of exercise is that it is "controlled injury." Exercise for Ironman competition and you're injuring the crap out of yourself each and every day per that definition! And, if you continue to do it week after week year-round, you'll traumatize your tissues to the extent that they'll break down and you will get hurt. From the perspective of avoiding classic overuse injury alone, you need a break ... but there's more to it than that...

Preseason Success...

Friday, 06 February 2015 00:10

By Dave Burgess (usatriathlon.org)

With the offseason behind us, we can now look ahead to the training and racing that we'll be doing in 2015. And to start off training properly, solid preseason work is required. But what are you really looking to accomplish in the preseason? What's the goal? What sort of work should be done?

Most individuals require work on their aerobic base as they come off their offseason. And, most people think that this requires boring, long and slow training. While base-building training isn't the most exciting, it does have great benefits. And it can be structured to not be all about long and slow efforts.

The primary goal of this lower intensity base training is to help build up the power plants in your muscles. By that I mean mitochondria. I'm not going to get overly scientific, but the goal here is to increase the number of these, building a bigger ...