Home
Ripe For Rescue...
-
Wednesday, 28 November 2018 23:10
In the 90s, Minnesota multisport racing schedule started earlier (April - Owatonna Triathlon - Brrrr) and ended earlier (mid August - Turtleman).
At the beginning of this century, a pair of road race directors, RANDY FULTON and MARK BONGERS decided to create some new multisport events, ones that would add several weeks to our tri/du season. Uncle Randy introduced the Square Lake races, and Mark gave us the St. Croix Valley Triathlon.
Other September races--various duathlons, One Last Tri, Hopkins Royals etc.-- followed.
Now, almost two decades later, Randy and Mark have retired from multisport production. Fortuitously in Randy's case, another company--TriFitness Events--have acquired his races. Other directors have yet to claim Bongers' races, which include the iconic Liberty Half IM and Olympic and Lake Waconia Sprint, events that Mark's company (Final Stretch) rescued, as well as smaller "local" events, North Mankato, which Final Stretch also rescued, and the Waseca Triathlon....
Hanna Versus Gaby...Part II...
-
Monday, 26 November 2018 23:10
Photo - Hanna at HOLT with a guy.
MINNESOTA MULTISPORT HONORS - After winning the POY for his victory at the Apple Duathlon in 2017, WADE CRUSER contacted members of the MMH Committee to state his disagreement. He believed, as did some of the Selectors, that SEAN COOLEY's win at Chisago Half was more deserving.
Some of us rethought our positions, though it was too late to do anything about it. We were comforted by the fact that honoring athletes is inherently controversial, and that strong arguments could be made for both performances, his and Sean's.
Well, determining this year's women's PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR was even controversialier than last year's men's battle for that honor. After it was revealed on MTN last month that HANNA GRINAKER's victory at Heart of the Lakes was selected ahead of GABY BUNTEN's win at the USAT National Championships, we received a bit of expected blowback. One person even wondered why Hanna's win at Minneapolis wasn't selected. After all, she outraced future National Champ Bunten in that event.
Great argument. (One Selector did favor Hanna's Minneapolis effort. And two Selectors stridently believed that Gaby's Nationals win was the POY.)...
"I Need a Hug More Than Anything"....
-
Saturday, 24 November 2018 23:10
By Branden Scheel (bscheeltri.com)
Ironman Arizona Race Report - Sunday morning we woke up knowing it was going to be a big day. Alexa and I met my mom and sister down in the lobby at 4:45am and headed out to the venue. We arrived in great time and were off to check gear bags with the rest of the Stallworths by 5:15. After getting all of our special needs bags set and all nutrition put into the right areas, we headed to the bikes to get everything race-ready. Tires were pumped up, nutrition was set, power meters calibrated, it was time to go! We went to the Smile Train tent for warm-up and to see family before heading to the start. After a quick snack and some warm-up, we gave the loved ones a hug goodbye and Alexa, Ayla, and I headed to the swim.
Ayla and Alexa are great swimmers so they weaved in and out of people to the front of the swim start. I had been improving steadily on the swim so I went with them hoping to stay on Alexa’s feet for as long as possible. After the...
Debunking Nutrition Myths...
-
Thursday, 22 November 2018 23:10
By Bob Seebohar, MS, RD, CSSD, CSCS, METS II (powertap.com)
Do this, not that. It seems like everyone has a way of doing things these days, and with that comes a few myths that develop from the “n-of-1” experiments, or even better - from watching what pro cyclists do. Ah yes, this is the most popular method of receiving information and wondering if we should implement some of these “professional” nutrition strategies.
Let's go ahead and jump into two of the more common nutrition myths that cyclists encounter these days.
MYTH #1: I NEED TO DO ALL MY TRAINING SESSIONS FASTED TO BURN MORE FAT.
I have read that quite a few Tour riders embark on this type of training, but it is monitored closely and meticulously periodized by their coaches and physiologists, so it does not have a negative impact on their performance. While there is some promising research showing fasted training can produce beneficial results in terms of fat adaptation and mitochondrial biogenesis, hopping on the bike in a fasted state for all sessions is simply not a good idea....
2018 WOMEN'S TEAM MINNESOTA - How & Why?
-
Monday, 19 November 2018 00:10
2018 MINNESOTA MULTISPORT HONORS – Last Wednesday we posted the MMH Selectors reasons behind their men's Team Minnesota rankings. Today, we will try to explain their reasoning underpinning the women's rankings.
2018 TEAM MINNESOTA – WOMEN
1. HANNA GRINAKER & 2. GABY BUNTEN – Two extraordinary triathletes with stellar 2018 resumes. Our guess is that Gaby will be named 2018 USAT AOY in a few months, and we think that is awesome. Hanna did not race at Nationals and Worlds, and as such, will probably not be included in USAT's AOY deliberations. For the Committee, however, that all six of her tri efforts were POY-nomination-worthy, and that she outraced Gaby in their only meeting, gave her the edge over Bunten for the #1 spot here.
3. BECKY YOUNGBERG – We scoured our results archives and concluded that Becky's 2018 resume was arguably the best ever by a female Minnesota master. The 43-year-old mom, a lapsed triathlete since 2011, came back stronger and faster than ever. She won five of the nine races she entered, setting two course records and six masters marks in the process. Her victorious 2:05:01 at Maple Grove earned a POY nomination, and her 4:37:07 second place finish at Chisago was probably the fastest 70.3 ever by a Minnesota female over the age of forty...
