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Packing For Races...

compex.gifBy Heather Lendway (heatherlendway.com)

I thought it would be timely, with the season approaching, to talk about packing for races (my season opener was last Saturday, you can read more on my schedule on the Gear West Blog).  I keep a packing list for race travel and race day gear on my phone so I can stress a little less leading into races.  Some of the items on here may seem very obvious but it takes away some worry and makes packing mostly mindless.

Travel Race
These are my notes for packing for a “travel” race, a race where you are driving or flying and are staying in a hotel or doing a home stay.  All subsequent lists are relevant to this as well so I didn’t add items here that are already on another list.

Trainer – nice to have if you can, for a quick warm-up or workout, pending trip length.
Pedal wrench – If you have multiple bikes and need to move pedals around.
Bike lock – Nice to make it more difficult if someone were to break into your car . I also highly recommend insuring your bikes.
Travel coffee mug – If you like to carry coffee with you race day.
Jump rope – I always carry this for an easy workout or warmup....

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PAYNE & FISCHER ARE DOYs. 5 Other MNs Honored...

matt-and-dani.gifUSAT PRESS RELEASE:

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The best run-bike-run athletes in the United States are recognized today with the announcement of USA Triathlon’s 2014 Duathletes of the Year, including age-group, junior and elite duathletes. The award is presented annually by Garmin and selected by the USA Triathlon Age Group Committee, following nominations by the Duathlon Committee.

“We are seeing a resurgence in duathlon, and in 2014 our duathletes turned in impressive race results across the board, making the selection process challenging but very satisfying for the selection subcommittee,” said Steve Sutherland, chair of the USA Triathlon Age Group Committee Athlete of the Year Subcommittee. “Many of these fine athletes were also outstanding competitors in triathlon, showing diversity and depth of athletic talent in all age groups.”

Matthew Payne (Columbia Heights, Minn.-  photo) and Dani Fischer (Wausau, Wis. - photo) earned overall Duathlete of the Year titles. Payne was the overall champion of the standard-distance event at 2014 USA Triathlon Duathlon Nationals, as well as the first amateur finisher at the Oakdale Duathlon and Gear West Duathlon. Fischer claimed the women’s 25-29 championship title in the standard-distance Duathlon Nationals, finishing second overall. She was also the first overall amateur at the Apple Duathlon and winner of the Badger State Games Duathlon....

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LENDWAY IS AOY! MATT & TONY ARE HM...

HL-and-DF.gifPhoto - 2014 AOY Heather Lendway and AOY HM Dani Fischer.

BREAKING NEWS - We are bumping Jeff Gilmer's Life Time - Maple Grove Indoor Tri race report, which posted this morning, until Sunday so that we can link to USAT's announcement of the 2014 Athletes of the Year and the Honorable Mentions. As expected, HEATHER LENDWAY was the female AOY. HMs were earned by MATTHEW PAYNE (AOY) and TONY SCHILLER (Master of the Year). Honorary Minnesotans DANI FISHCER and GREG TAYLOR were aslo honored. Taylor blew away his competition for Grand Master of the Year, and Fischer was runner-up to Lendway for the AOY.

Tomorrow we will post USAT Duathletes of the Year, which were dominated by Minnesotans. If it wasn't clear before, it should be obvious now that Minnesota is America's Duathlon Capitol.

Here is USAT's AOY Press Release:

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Eight top amateur triathletes in the United States, including national and world champions, have been named USA Triathlon’s 2014 Age-Group Triathletes of the Year, an award presented annually by Garmin and selected by USA Triathlon’s Age Group Committee....

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Turtleman's Return & Other Stuff...

turtle-man-1.gifTURTLEMAN IS BACK – In 2011, at the age of 28, the Turtleman Triathlon dropped off the Minnesota calendar. Why? Turtle Lake had become too shallow to support a triathlon. Well, the water level has risen, as has the enthusiasm for reviving the classic event, which will be produced by TriFitness Events. The Shoreview event will happen on Saturday, August 8. Stay tuned for more information.

Photo - A guy from Kentucky who calls himself Turtle Man. He has nothing to do with the race.

 

RACE NEWS – Grand Forks’ Sean Cooley has won five of the six editions of his hometown Ice Man Triathlon. FYI, Coolio did not win the inaugural race for a very good reason. He wasn’t there.

The Ice Man, which is one of the coolest events ever, is actually a quadrathlon. It starts with a cross country ski segment, followed by a mountain (or Fat) bike leg and run. Then participants jump on their sleds and slide to finish line. Cool, huh? ...

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Ideal Racing Weight Debate: When to Eat Cheesecake...

craigwaltonaustralia-280x42.gifED. This is a fascinatingly awesome article.

Brett Sutton reacts to Chris McCormack’s article on finding the ideal racing weight for optimal performance on the race course. This response originally appeared on Trisutto.com.

By Brett Sutton (triathlon.competitor.com - Feb. 25, 2015)

I would like to take the time to further explain a very important, if not the most important, item in our sport. This concerns the matter of an athlete’s weight.

Last week many people alerted me to a re-release of an article written by Chris McCormack discussing optimal weights for individual athletes.

I’d like to thank him for his words and intelligent insight into this matter. However, I would also like to clarify some observations about my own thoughts on the weight debate given the very real implications for athletes reading such material....

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