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No Money. No Fun.

fun-button.gifBy Devon Palmer (palmertri.wordpress.com)

As I write about leaving the illustrious ranks of professional triathlon I want to be clear: there were lots of great things about it and I fully appreciate what a privilege the opportunity was. I just want to relate a realistic picture of my experiences the last couple years.

The biggest reason I’m going amateur is the last few seasons as a pro I’ve made no money and had no fun. My first three pro seasons I earned a check in a pro race and made some money at local events. This was important in my mind, obviously professionals should make money. After two mediocre seasons where I hadn’t met my personal standard of earning a check in a pro race I was really questioning remaining pro. Upon further reflection, I realized not only was I not making any money, I wasn’t having any fun. If I’m not making money I should be having fun and enjoying the process. This was not happening. No money, no fun. I couldn’t see any point continuing on that path. There was no joy in it and no incentive....

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Minnesota's All American Duathletes...

bennett-ride.gifALL AMERICAN DUATHLETES - The MTN Guys congratulate our state's USAT All American Duathletes.

BENNETT ISABELLA - #2 - 30-34M (photo L)

CHAD MILLNER - #7 - 35-39M

KEVIN O'CONNOR - #4 - 40-44M

MIKE BUENTING - #10 - 40-44M

PETER RAINEY - #19 - 45-49M

DEREK HAGER - #10 - 50-54M

JAMES HANNON - #3 - 55-59M

 

WOMEN:

JASMINE CARLSON - #3 - 25-29W...

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New Year, New City, New Competition...

dani-indy.gifBy 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....

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There You Have It...

devon-omg.gifBy 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....

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

Troy_coaching.gifCoach 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...

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