FEATURES
Winter Tri Preview...
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Monday, 22 January 2018 23:10
KING BOREAS WINTER TRIATHLON 2018 PREVIEW - We're writing this on Monday afternoon and it's snowing like a banshee. This gladdens our hearts 'cuz we LOVE snow and all the ways that it can be played in.
We are also stoked that this means that Saturday's King Boreas Winter Triathlon will actually be a triathlon, not a du like it was in 2017. Please note that a du is included as part of the program, but is not part of the National Championships.
The race is expecting about 100 entrants, which is awesome. Winter tri is a relatively new sport in the US, and there aren't enough races to justify specific training. Unlike our European counterparts, there are few, if any, dedicated winter triathletes in America.
We'd love to see that change, and Jeremy Sartain and Coack K are doing their part to help that along.
In it's 3rd year, the King B is a HOOT! Less a cutthroat competitive race than an athletic experience. More than anything else, it's a celebration of winter in Minnesota.It is, after all, an official St. Paul Winter Carnival event.
Because it is what we do, we are going to preview the race, concentrating on the frontrunners and making predictions. The first prediction that we'll make is that everyone will love it, even those who are on skis for the first time.
So who are the Top Guys, in our humble opinion? ...
Flying to Races Doesn't Have to Suck...
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Friday, 19 January 2018 23:10
By Matt Dixon (tiathlete.com)
Long gone are the days when flying was fun! Or so we’re told by those who remember the days of in-flight meals and sharp-dressed passengers. Today, flying is downright unpleasant. For athletes, getting from city to city can cause huge disruptions to workout schedules, recovery, sleeping, and eating schedules not to mention suffering through flight delays and cramped conditions.
From choosing flight times to dealing with delays, reducing swelling and flight fatigue, Matt Dixon’s book Fast-Track Triathlete offers two dozen smart ways athletes can ensure that air travel impacts them less. Here are eight travel tips for athletes to make your next flight more “Meh.” and less, “Argh!”
Maintaining Nutrition and Hydration
Make it your mission to be appropriately fed, hydrated, rested, and as limber as possible. However, you don’t want to consume too many calories. Going into a flight even a little bit hungry or semi-fasting is preferable to eating heavy foods like a burger and fries or fish and chips at the airport....
Super Simple Half IM Training Plan...
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Thursday, 18 January 2018 23:10
ED. Minnesota has several great half IMs--Liberty, Chisago, Superior Tri and the resurrected Square Lake Half. You don't have to leave the state to get your long course fix. We hope that your 2018 schedule includes at least one of the aforemention races.
Matt Fitzgerald provides a simple-to-follow 16 week training plan for the half Ironman distance.
By Matt Fitzgerald (triathlete.com)
Variety is overrated in triathlon training. It’s certainly important, but coaches often make it out to be more important than repetition when the opposite is true. There are only a handful of workout types that you need to include in your training program. You can practice these basic types of workouts in all kinds of different ways, and doing so may make the training process more interesting for you, but there is no particular physiological advantage of complex training compared to basic training....
Gratitude, Sadness & Optimism...
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Wednesday, 17 January 2018 14:10
THANKS - To KEVIN O'CONNOR for 15 years of tireless work that made Minnesota's multisport scene one of the best, if not THE best, in the US. We hope he trains hard and races often in 2018. If he does, he'll once again assert himself as one of our country's very best masters. He's won national awards before, and we hope new ones are in his immediate future.
THANKS - Thanks UNCLE RANDY (photo L - Randy Fulton and Smokey) for all you've done over almost two decades for our multisport community. Though you will not be producing races, you will be serving races as a timer. We're glad that your smile and joyful spirit will remain part of the scene.
THANKS - To JUDI and VICKI for taking over Uncle's Randy's great races. It's good to know that Oakdale, Du, New Bri Tri, St. Paul Tri, Square Lake 70.3 & Sprint and Fall Classic Du are not going away.
THANKS - To the porducers of the ELYSIAN TRIATHLON for scheduling their 2018 race--the 30-somethingth--on July 7, which is smack-dab in the middle that gaping two-week hole in the middle of our tri calendar....
Fear Facing....
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Tuesday, 16 January 2018 23:10
By Mike Buenting (mikebuenting.wordpress.com)
Take on your Fears with passion and desire!
We all have things we are afraid of. Nobody likes to fail either, we all like to do what we are good at our strengths. But we all have things we aspire to do and want to pursue but fear typically stands in the way and holds us back. What we need to do is ask ourselves what scares us most about that thing? And then get into the right mindset and be dedicated and diligent about following through on what we set out to accomplish. We can’t make excuses and we can’t quit.
2018 is a new year for me, one where I am doing just this; taking on a challenge and working on a weakness. Swimming, I have been competing in Triathlon for over 12 years now from sprint distance to full Ironman distance and everything in between. But for all these years the swim has been that daunting Achilles heal to me. I come from a running back ground and don’t have a swim back ground. Sure I can swim and use to play in lakes and water ski and all that jazz in my younger days but I was never a “lap swimmer” someone who was focused on swimming for fitness. So when I...
