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Fueled Hunger...

Thursday, 07 January 2021 23:10

Last Monday we reached out to about fifty of our state's most accomplished triathletes. We asked them to offer some post-pandemic motivational words for Minnesota's multisport community. The goal is to get folks fired up for the 2021 season.

We immediately heard from several athletes, and chose to kick off these posts with the wise and inspiring comments of long-course stud DAN ARLANDSON, the only Minnesotan to win two Iron-distance races (Vineman and Great Floridian) in the same season.

Hi MTN, happy to share my thoughts: 

I am a fan of “Once a Runner” although the message of that book can be applied to triathlon, as well. This is one of my favorite quotes.
“You don't become a runner by winning a morning workout. The only true way is to marshal the ferocity of your ambition over the course of many day, weeks, months, and (if you could finally come to accept it) years.”
― John L. Parker Jr., Once a Runner

The “ferocity of my ambition” has been fueled by a lost season from the following realizations:
1)      We are lucky to be able to race and train for this silly sport. Super duper lucky.
2)      This silly sport is anything but silly....

The two might seem contradictory but let me explain: Triathlon bonds us all together. It is an outlet when we are stressed. It makes us happy when we are sad. Sometimes it makes us sad when we are happy, too. It is an absolute necessity of life at times and a frivolous distraction at others, although it can be tough to tell which is which.

Nonetheless, it was not until I was not able to race that I realized the void its absence left in my life. One year of without racing has only fueled my hunger to race even more.
Even if we do not know each other I have missed you all very much and look forward to seeing you in 2021! - Dan Arlandson