Race Coverage

"The Solution For Not Going Crazy"...

Tuesday, 12 March 2019 23:10

By Andy Zabel

I don’t need to remind anyone how cold, dark and snowy February can be. I can’t fathom riding a bike in weather that freezes my nostrils and numbs my hands & feet to the point I’d rather cut them off. I can only spend so much time in my home gym, cycling on the trainer and binge watching Netflix shows....

Balancing Ultra-Running With Dog Care...

Friday, 08 March 2019 23:10

By Mike Ward (mikeward.cool)

I started this trip in my running gear plus my jacket, headphones in, plus a mug of coffee. I just started walking down the street. I knew I just had to start walking.

Rewind the last three months and my training plan for thru-hiking the Superior Hiking Trail has going half perfect and half totally falling apart. As it was written, every four weeks was supposed to be a “long trip” that is a thru-hike simulation, five in total. The first one was dead on. The second one was dead on. The third long trip was a bust. It was very icy. Very, very icy. I tried to take the SHT north from Jay Cooke State Park, way south on the trail, and it was impossibly icy and I pulled the plug when I was supposed to be loading up on pizza at my van. I just ate the pizza and drove off after racking 14 miles in 4 hours. The fourth long trip was just a complete bust. I just didn’t do it! Zero miles. Too hard, too cold, too snowy, I don’t know. It just didn’t materialize in the slightest bit and it kind of crushed me. I questioned the whole training program. Before this last long trip, I was two for four on arguably the most crucial component of this thru-hike training program....

Why Sprint Tris Are Awesome...

Saturday, 02 March 2019 23:10

By Reem Jishi (usatriathlon.org)

When I first entered the world of triathlon almost two decades ago, I followed the path of so many—I dove in head first, not knowing what I was taking on. My first race was an Olympic distance, followed quickly by a half IRONMAN, and then by an IRONMAN. Although I was an athlete growing up, more than 10 years had passed since my high school glory days. To say that I lived a sedentary lifestyle was an understatement. I was an attorney in New York City and all I did was work. As I approached 30, I became tired of being stressed and unfit. So in January of 2000, I hopped on the treadmill and did a two-mile run. It nearly killed me. But 18 months from that first run, I raced at the 2001 IRONMAN Lake Placid. It was an amazing experience, and to this day, one of my greatest athletic accomplishments.
 
But I haven't raced an ultra-distance event since. The process took a toll on me. At the time, I was working 80-hour weeks. I would wake up before work and do a short session, and then go to work for the day. My "evening" break would send me to the gym to run on the treadmill (I became part of the gym tour) or do a spin class. Then I would go back to work until into the night before crashing to begin it all over again the next day. For six months, I did nothing other than work and train. Somewhere in the process of the constant push, I also experienced a severe running injury, which kept me from running for the three months leading up to Ironman. But I was determined to race—and race I did....

Home Course Advantage...

Thursday, 28 February 2019 23:10

By Christina Orth

The University of Minnesota hosted the 15th annual Tri-U-Mah was hosted on Sunday, February 10th, 2019 at the U’s Recreation and Wellness Center. Preceded by the age-group competition on Saturday, the sprint collegiate race was an 800 yard swim, 10 mile bike, 3 mile run....

Cathy's Worlds....

Wednesday, 27 February 2019 23:10

ED. Recently we stumbled upon a 2017 70.3 World Championship race report by Minnesota's most decorated amateur multisportswoman, Cathy Yndestad. CY has lived, played, worked and studied in Europe for the last four-plus years and we miss her. This is a great read. Enjoy!

By Cathy Yndestad (cathyyndestad.com)

With so many interesting race and travel options these days, serious consideration is warranted before committing to any racecation. I love challenging (fair) courses, which seems to be harder and harder to find these days. When Ironman initially announced the 70.3 World Championship race course in Chattanooga, they said it would include ~5000ft of climbing. I was drooling at this set-up and immediately set my sights on earning a...

Record Numbers & Repeat Champions...

Tuesday, 19 February 2019 23:10

TRI-U-MAH - This has been our state's biggest indoor tri for a while now, and this year's turnout was by far the largest ever.

Typically about 200 athletes register and 160-180 ultimately show up and finish. This time, though, there were 179 individual finishers and 40 collegiate athletes. That's 219 line-crossers. Hopefully this marks a trend toward greater enrollment in outdoor races this summer. Fingers crossed.

Tri-U-Mah is not only our state's largest and longest (90 minutes broken into 30-minute segments) indoor swim-bike-run, it is also the most competitive. Leading the way for their respective genders were repeaters MICHAEL WEISSENBORN, who won here in 2017, and 2018 women's champ / future outdoor star PAIGE SCHULZ,  who was very impressive in two outdoor starts last summer and is the prohibitive favorite for Rookie of the Year in 2019.

Though Paige didn't match her 2018 distance total, she missed it by a almost neglible 1/100th of a mile.

Weissenborn, however, was able to better his 2017 distance by more than four tenths of a mile, thus his eventual margin of victory was huge: 1.09 miles. Michael had great bike and run splits, but it was in the water where he truly excelled. Only REED STEELE, who expects to be first out of the water in almost every multi he enters, touched more walls....