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Why Patrick?

Thursday, 08 November 2018 12:10

MINNESOTA MULTISPORT HONORS - As with the MOST IMPROVED - WOMEN category, the men's PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR was a very close race, with every nominated effort worthy of the final honor.

Why then, did PATRICK PARISH's victory at Lake Waconia rise to the top?

Let's Break it down, starting with TED TREISE's win at Augusta 70.3.

On paper, Ted's 4:08:29 was the fastest "official" 70.3 clocking by a Minnesota male in 2018. Unofficially, though, he probably had a faster race at Superior Man, where the swim was significantly longer than 1.9K.

At SM, though, he was beaten by a small margin--51 seconds--by Sean Cooley, the man who has reigned as our state's premier half IM racer for the past few years.

Next, we checked on Ted's closest competition at Augusta, a South Carolinian named Nathan Buttrick. The guy is "for real," with a 70.3 PR of 4:02 and a sub-9-hour IM best. The fact that Ted beat him and won the race proved that his nomination was well-earned.

Why then, didn't Ted win?

Well, let's look at WADE CRUSER's nominated course record victory at Maple Grove Olympic in 1:54:18...

Why Wade, not Sean?

Sunday, 04 November 2018 23:10

MINNESOTA MULTISPORT HONORS - Until now, we have explained the reasoning behind the categories with slam dunk, and semi-slam winners, women's Most Improved notwithstanding,

Now we move to the remaining categories, those that are controversial, thus much harder to explain.

Let's start with male TRIATHLETE OF THE YEAR, a race that came down to two guys: 2017 TOY SEAN COOLEY, and this year's honoree WADE CRUSER (photo L).

Let's look at atheir respective highlights: 

SEAN (photo below) - 

- 1st @ Liberty Long Course

- 1st @ Minnespolis Olympic

- 1st @ Superiorman Half IM

- 2nd @ Heart of the Lakes ...

Metabolic Syndrome: Gaining Weight During Training...

Saturday, 03 November 2018 23:10

By Gale Bernhardt (trainingleaks.com)

In the fall of 2014 an athlete, Mike Berland, came to me frustrated because whenever he began training for events longer than an hour, he gained weight. He trained for the New York Marathon twice and each time he put on about 12 pounds or so, in spite of doing several weekday and long weekend runs building up to approximately three hours. Sound familiar?

On Mike’s bucket list was a goal to complete the Hawaiian Ironman. He was concerned that training for an Ironman would make him gain even more weight. He sought the advice of doctors and other experts, who told him that he should never do workouts over an hour long because he had a condition called Metabolic Syndrome.

Not willing to settle for an answer of “No Ironman,” he contacted me....

Why Hanna? Why Jesson?

Thursday, 01 November 2018 23:10

MINNESOTA MULTISPORT HONORS - We have already discussed the slam-dunkiness of the selections of HEATHER TAYLOR for Rookie of the Year, BECKY YOUNGBERG for female Master of the Year and TED TREISE for male Most Improved.

Let's add another: HANNA GRINAKER for Long Distance Athlete of the Year.

Though her fellow nominees--SEAN COOLEY and TED TREISE--turned in multiple impressive long course efforts, Hanna's resume was almost perfect. She raced in three half IMs, winning each time in sub-4:30, or equivalent, clockings (Liberty's course was abbreviated & Superior Man's swim was long), and made her IM debut at Wisonsin, where she placed 2nd in 10:08:33, the fastest first-time 140.6 ever by a Minnesota female amateur. 

Every one of Hanna's long distance performances were worthy of a POY nomination, indeed every race she entered last season produced a POY nomination-worthy result. ...

Tattoo Boy's Journey....

Wednesday, 31 October 2018 23:10

By MedCityBeat.com (Oct.22, 2018)

Among the brilliant neon tones of running shoes and technical outerwear at TerraLoco in Rochester, there’s another bright spot: Team USA triathlete, 36 year-old Michael Karau.
Just a few short years ago, though, you’d have been hard-pressed to get him into a shop like this.

“I thought athletes were silly,” explains Karau. “I thought, ‘They wear bright stuff, they look like goofballs, they’re wearing spandex. Who would want to do that?’”

“At that point in my life, I wasn’t really taking care of myself the best. I was using drugs, drinking a lot of energy drinks, drinking a lot of alcohol, just making a lot of bad decisions.”  ...