FEATURES
Taylor Wins Grand Slam...
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Sunday, 19 April 2015 00:10
by Kara Deschenes (ironman.com)
Triathlon wasn’t Gregory Taylor’s first love, but it ended up being one of his most enduring. Having begun the sport as a side effect of off-season training for Nordic ski racing and biathlon (skiing and shooting), he entered a race deemed "The World’s Toughest Triathlon" at the urging of a friend in 1989. After swimming two miles in Lake Tahoe, cycling 100 miles in the Sierra Mountains, and running 18 miles on backcountry trails, Taylor finished the race in tenth place. With two IRONMAN World Championship slots rolling down as far as the seventh place athlete, he narrowly missed the chance to score a spot and left the race satisfied with his accomplishment....
Life's Demands...
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Wednesday, 15 April 2015 00:10
ED. Two-time Minnesota Triathlete of the Year nominee, Marcus Stromberg, who was ranked #2 on Team Minnesota in 2014, is at a crossroads in his life. Here he talks about a very important, and very difficult, decision he made recently.
By Marcus Stromberg (from Facebook)
Everyday we make decisions. Some are easy, some are hard, some are good, and some are bad. But each and everyone has consequences. On Nov. 9th, 2014 I made the decision to follow my dream of becoming a Residential General Contractor and started Stromberg Built, LLC. I knew it would be a life changing decision but wasn't sure what sacrafices I'd have to make to chase that dream....
Sophomore Success Stories...
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Monday, 13 April 2015 00:10
In 2010, first-year triathletes Dan Hedgecock and Claire Bootsma were outshined by fellow ROY nominees Jenny Shaughnessy and Sam Janicki. The MTN Guys did not predict that Hedge and Claire would achieve stardom in their sophomore seasons. In 2011, they were their respective gender's Triathletes of the Year. Hedge even earned a USAT AOY HM. Boots was considered for the same honor as well, but did not make the final cut. Claire did however end Cathy Yndestad's four-year reign atop Team Minnesota.
In 2003, CY was nominated for ROY. We did not foresee her winning the Most Improved award the next year, but she did.
Similarly, we did not predict Heather Lendway's mercurial ascension from MN Rookie of the Year in 2012 to arguably the the best female amateur triathlete that America has ever produced in just a year's time. In her first three seasons, ...
Stuff About Being the Only Triathlete in the Family...
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Friday, 10 April 2015 00:10
By Nicole Ekesten (nicolekesten.blogspot.com)
This post was shared on the Challenge Family America's Blog 3 weeks ago but wanted to re-share on my actual blog and add a few things that I couldn't share in my 850 limit :)
Many of us had similar starts to triathlon. We were drawn to the sport because it sounded intriguing, challenging and like something we wanted to accomplish for ourselves. I quickly learned, however, that my involvement in triathlon doesn’t just affect me–it affects my entire family. Endurance sports include more than just a few hours on random weekends; they can be consuming, expensive and sometimes cause a wedge in our relationships. As I enter my seventh year of triathlon, I want to share with you a few mantras I have found to keep myself and my family priorities balanced.
Racing isn’t just about me.
When I first started racing, my family would come with me to every race. We would drive all together, they would watch me set up transition, wait for me at the swim start and cheer throughout the day. It was great to have the support but I really didn’t think about them much and, after a while, they grew tired of supporting. I never considered that waking up at the butt-crack of dawn just to sit around on some camping chairs in a field (or better yet, a parking lot) to see me for a few glimpses over the course of a few hours wasn’t fun! ...
Getting Unafraid of Open Water...
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Thursday, 09 April 2015 00:10
Advice for avoiding panic attacks and other perceived perils of open-water swimming.
By Meredith Atwood (triathlon.competitor.com)
My first open-water training swim may have been one of the worst in the history of open-water swimming. The horrifying tale went something like this: 43 degrees outside, 62 degrees in the lake and my first time in a wetsuit. I knew the open water would be tough, but I was a good swimmer. I would be fine.
As I inched into the cold water, I noticed that my chest felt tight from the wetsuit, but I was hanging tough—until I put my face in the water. The shock of the cold floored me, and I immediately panicked and sucked in water. “I’m OK,” I said to myself. I put my face back into the water. More water in my lungs. I tried not to inhale the water, but the reaction was automatic. My coach at the time was gesturing: “We’re going to swim out to that first buoy and then take a left and swim past the four buoys and circle back.” I could not breathe. Swim? You want me to swim? ...
