Race Coverage
Clear Instruction, Encouraging Words, Constant Cheers....
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Thursday, 23 January 2020 23:10
The 2020 Indoor Triathlon season is underway. A pair of Life Time Fitness events were contested on January 5. Individual race results aren't posted online, so we are contacting the race directors. Hopefully, they will share the results with us, so we can share them with you.
The first of four YWCA Indoor Triathlons happened last weekend (January 19) and results are available. A link will be included at the end of this post....
Acari Bowls, Manta Rays and Handfuls of Vaseline....
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Saturday, 28 December 2019 23:10
By David Koppel(davidkoppeltriathlon.blogspot.com)
Kelsie and I traveled to the IRONMAN World Championships on the Big Island of Hawaii on Tuesday, October 8th, 2019, with no kids! The race was on Saturday, so it gave me three full days to get all ready and acclimate a bit with the heat I’d be racing in. We also enjoyed some touristy stuff in the days leading up, as I didn’t want to make every single minute about my race. Kelsie sacrificed plenty for me to be able to qualify for Kona and we both wanted to have a relaxing trip in paradise. If you want to just hear about the vacation, read the days leading up to the race and the days following!
The cliff notes version of the race is: Swim went as expected even with choppy conditions, bike was slow and legs were not feeling strong, and run was a mess for 2 hours until I pulled it together a bit for the last 14 miles. Slowest and hardest Ironman by 70 minutes, but an amazing experience that I’ll never forget.
Since this is a long post, I’ll start by thanking my wife, Kelsie, for her unconditional support with training and racing across the US. She didn’t hesitate when we found out I had a slot to Kona and said I had to take it! My in-laws were also...
"Life Outside Triathlon Exists..."
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Saturday, 21 December 2019 23:10
By Erin Weiler (sweetsweatlife.com)
TCM Race Report - Racing’s taken a backseat this year – more on the season of travel and fun later – but I knew I had to do something. So after my hammie (mostly) healed and I was home long enough to string together some consistent weeks of training, I signed up for my second ever 26.2: Twin Cities Marathon.
Not gonna lie, it was weird dialing back the swim and bike volume and keeping the run volume the same as an ironman build. And there was fomo as Nick hopped on his bike for seven-hour Sundays. But like anything, I adjusted and found the time back in my week pretty fantastic. Life outside of triathlon exists, and it’s been pretty fun to find it again (don’t worry, I still love triathlon! It’s just been refreshing to step back for a bit).
Anyway, my build was a bit shorter than coach and I would have liked – my longest run was 17 miles – but unlike the past couple years of training, I thoroughly enjoyed almost every training mile. Sure, there were weeks I didn’t wanna run...
"A PERFECT Race"...
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Friday, 13 December 2019 23:10
By Ruth Brennan Morrey
2:43:41! 2020 Olympic Trial Qualifying Standard at age 44! See you in Atlanta!
Twenty years ago I ran 2:48:17 at the 2000 Olympic Trials. Today, 20 years later, I smashed my PR by 4 1/2 minutes. I don't know how I did it, but I do know a few things:
1) Today's California International Marathon was a PERFECT race. It was easy. No rough patches. Smart execution. I ran the last 5 miles at 5:55-6:10 after 21 miles of rolling hills at 6:17/mile. I cannot believe how effortless it felt. I am so thankful for a GREAT day!
2) Never lose hope in training. After Grandmas marathon, I became frustrated at the heaviness and difficult effort it took during my typical run paces. I thought it was old age. I became frustrated, but never relented. Turns out, I required patience and perseverance. I kept running, I then became peppy, energized, and invincible.
3) Focus on COURAGE. Full disclosure....I cry over courage. I am inspired by courage. I am inspired by my kids and my 12 year old soccer players who show me what courage REALLY looks like. They were my deepest lesson today. I'd imagine their examples throughout my run today, and repeat George S. Patton's quote "Courage is fear holding on for one more minute." ...
St. Cloud's Ultra-Triathlete...
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Monday, 09 December 2019 23:10
By N
ora G. Hertel (sctimes.com - Dec. 9)
BOULDER, Colorado — Laura Knoblach says she's "super slow" in short races.
But the St. Cloud native has world-record-breaking endurance.
Knoblach completed the equivalent of 20 Ironman triathlons in October, back to back to back.
In the span of about 26 days Knoblach swam 48 miles, biked 2,240 and ran 534. It's called a double deca triathlon, and Knoblach won the event held in Leon, Mexico.
The 24-year-old beat the women's double deca world record by more than 9 hours. And she beat the U.S. men's record by more than 44 hours, she said....
That Time I Almost Drown (Or How I Became a Triathlete)...
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Friday, 06 December 2019 23:10
By Binam Shrestha
The year was 2004. I had recently moved to the United States from Nepal, a developing nation with few swimming opportunities for lower and middle class families. Like most people, I never learned how to swim. Now in my new American apartment building was a small swimming pool. The weather was hot and the pool was cool. One thing lead to another and I tried my hand at “swimming”. I put that in quotation marks because what I was doing couldn’t really be called swimming. Eventually, I lost my momentum in the middle of the pool, away from any walls. My head slipped below the water at 9 feet deep and I had no way of getting back to the surface. My only saving grace was another person from the building who was also at the pool that day who dove in to pull me out. Needless to say, my relationship with water and swimming from then on was one of anxiety and fear.
Over the years, I tried – and failed – at swim lessons at my local gym because I couldn’t get over my fear of the water. In 2015, my 3 year old daughter started swimming lessons and was surprisingly good. Watching her learn and develop motivated me to try again. I observed her swimming, and some of the things the swim teachers told to timid preschoolers to get them in the water. I started personal lessons once again, and started to slowly improve. By early 2018 I could swim a few laps in a pool, but I was always exhausted after doing only a few lengths. Fortunately I met an amazing group of people, including Coach Luke and some great Triathletes from Gear West. They encouraged me to continue to develop my swimming, and even took me swimming in open water for the first time! ...
