Race Coverage
Cooley & Guenther Claim Winter Nationals Titles...
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Tuesday, 31 January 2017 23:10
ED. As promised, here is USAT's coverage of last Sunday's Winter Triathlon (Duathlon) National Championship in St. Paul:
By USA Triathlon (January 30, 2017)
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The 2017 USA Triathlon National Championships season opened Sunday with Minnesotans Sean Cooley and Jan Guenther capturing overall amateur titles at the USA Triathlon Winter Triathlon National Championships, held as part of the King Boreas Winter Triathlon at Lake Phalen....
Sean & Jan Are National Champions...
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Sunday, 29 January 2017 23:10
KING BOREAS WINTER MULTISPORT NATIONALS - Yesterday's national championship winter duathlon--5K-17K-3K--at Lake Phalen was a goodie. Close to 100 sign-ups, but there was some DNS attrition, probably due to the breezy conditions that made the 20-degree temps feel more like -5.
Still, the 75-or-so who raced had a great time.
Our earlier winner predictions were wrong, of course, though our prediction that we would be wrong was spot on. We picked Jason Toth to win the men's race, but veteran late registrant Sean Cooley snuck in and won rather convincingly. We picked Joel LaFrance, a Multisport Rookie of the Year nominee in 2015, to come in 2nd, and he did just that. He looked strong and finished only 1:11 behind national classer, Sean Cooley. Expect Joel to rock socks this summer, perhaps even earning a spot on Team Minnesota....
"...the words I needed to hear."
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Sunday, 22 January 2017 05:10
By Kristina Swenson (kristinaswenson.wixsite.com)
HITS-Naples Race Report - On Monday, January 2nd, 10 of my teammates from Iowa State and I packed a 15 passenger van to the brim, loaded our bikes in a trailer, and drove 23.5 hours down to Naples, Florida. This trip has become an annual event, and it's meant to be a week of laying on the beach, training, and fun. At the end of the week, on Sunday, everybody competes in the HITS Triathlon on Vanderbilt Beach. This is a pretty small local race. We are definitely among the youngest competitors, but it's fun to get a little warm weather training in and get excited for Collegiate Nationals which occurs in April every year.
The race began something like this... 38 degrees. 30 degree windchill. 8-10 foot swells on the beach. A rip tide and small craft warning. You'd think being from Minnesota that I'd be prepared for every race condition under the sun. Let me tell you, this wasn't one of them. I've been racing competitively for 7 years, and never have I been so unmotivated to start a race as much as this one....
More Indoor Tri Capsules...
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Wednesday, 18 January 2017 23:10
LIFE TIME FITNESS INDOOR TRIS - Here's a few more capsules from January 8:
MAPLE GROVE - Forty-eight finishers, 31 of whom were women. Elizabeth Zimmer broke the women's race open during the pedestrian phase, turning a very close competition into a runaway. Her closest challenger was Diane Kieckhefer. Diane is a Cubs fan who has a black lab and two handsome sons. We don't know anything about Elizabeth Zimmer, but wonder if she is related to the Vikings' head coach.
The fastest guy at Maple Grove was Michael Lahm. He's a graduate of North Carolina State. He likes Mumford & Sons (Who doesn't?) and The Walking Dead. Sometimes he pretends to play guitar (photo). RESULTS ...
A Spate of Indoor Tris...
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Monday, 16 January 2017 23:10
LIFE TIME FITNESS INDOOR TRIATHLONS - Do nine things constitute a "plethora?" Probably not.
Perhaps "spate" is a better word. The term refers to things that a substantial, though not necessarily plethoric.
We digress.
On January 8 there was a spate of indoor tris, which were staged at various Life Time Fitness clubs around the Twin Cities. They all consisted of a 10-minute pool swim, followed by 30-minutes on a spin bike and 20-minutes on a treadmill. The events were social and basically low key. Part of what makes them so cool is that you could ride alongside slower bikers, but not pass them. Or run next to faster runners, and not be passed by them.
Here are a few race capsules: ...
Smog, Smoke & Strange Porta Pottys...
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Wednesday, 11 January 2017 23:10
By Heather Lendway (heatherlendway.com)
Hefei 70.3 Race Report - With the purchase of Ironman by the Wanda group based in China, a few pro races were added in China. After a little research on China I decided it could be a worthwhile trip to take. There were a few hoops to jump through to get a Chinese Visa, including a letter from the entity that invited you to China, receipts for your flight and hotel stay and a new passport photo, so plan in advance if you ever want to go!
I didn’t have a ton of time off left at work so it would be a short trip, I left early Wednesday morning flying Minneapolis to LA to Shanghai to Hefei. I splurged and used all my sky...
