Home

Lessons to Build Upon...

Wednesday, 01 July 2026 00:10

By Micah Warning

IRONMAN 70.3 OMAHA - Race recap and personal grades - This race was all about execution. A lot of positives, but also several lessons moving forward.

 Swim – 28:00 | Grade: B

Felt strong but could definitely go faster. Still exited only 2:15 down from the leaders.

 T1 – 4:18 | Grade: F

Costly transition. Unique setup with gear bagging and no flying mounts. Chose to run in road shoes through wet grass, slipped, crashed, dropped nutrition, and had a chain issue that required assistance. Turned a small deficit into a much larger one.

 Bike – 2:17 | 24.5 mph Avg | 278W Avg | 299W NP | Grade: B

Toughest 70.3 bike course I’ve done with ~3,000 ft of climbing. Stayed focused riding solo and came away with a power PR. Progress on the bike.

 T2 – Grade: B

Clean and uneventful.

 Run – 1:25 | 6:30/mile | Grade: C-

Running is my strength, but I overcooked the first mile (5:38) and paid for it. GI distress started around mile 3 and impacted the rest of the run.

Overall, mixed execution across the day. Encouraging progress in areas I’ve been targeting, but clear lessons in others. Looking forward to building on it.

Thank you to everyone who supports the journey, and TerraLocoMN for the support with shoes, nutrition, and everything in between.

Back to work.

Syvertson and Wellman Excel at Average Jo....

Sunday, 28 June 2026 00:10

2026 Average Jo Coverage - Seeing his name atop the final leaderboard at yesterday's Average Jo Triathlon, we became excited and anxious to read Spencer Syvertson's upcoming race report. This is because his goal was to chase clear favorite Brandon Scheel, a seasoned pro (and respected tri coach!) with the kind of run credentials that elite amateurs like Spencer seem doomed to envy from afar, and trim some of the time that separated the two men at last year's race. Instead, he won by the thick margin  of 2:55.

Spencer's clocking--54:18--is likely an amateur race record, and featured terrific bike and run splits.

On paper, Scheels runner-up time--57:13--looked solid, albeit  five-plus minutes off his pro CR set here in 2023. Brandon's signature 5:15-5:20 per-mile running pace was absent yesterday morning and we are anxious to know why. Injury? We hope not. A training day? A day more focused on athletes he coaches than on himself?

We're anxious to find out because we are big Branden Scheel fans.

But wait a minute! Are we selling Syvertson short? After his huge bike split (28-mph), his lead was unchallengable, even by a former Div. 1 runner.

Like we said in the opening paragraph, we can't wait to read Spencer's race report.

Finishing 3rd for the men, and rounding out the predicted Top 3, though with 1st and 2nd flip-flopped, was two-time Average Jo amateur winner NIck Jasmer, who's 59:40 was a personal best on this course. On Facebook, Nick credits his performance to the excellent coaching he receives from guess who? Yup. Branden Scheel.

We mentioned in our preview the AG battle between fifty-genarians Brett Lovaas and David Lewis. It was Lewis who came out on top on Saturday, taking 4th overall to Brett's 6th. We extend extra applause to Brett, though, because Average Jo marked the beginning of his 40th! season of triathlon racing. How cool is that!

The women's race yesterday featured a truly fine performance by Alexis Wellman, a 19-year-old who is an avid runner and nordic skier with limited tri experience. She's from the tiny hamlet of Erhard, Minnesota, and though she only raced in two prior triathlons, she finished 2nd overall woman both times. Her splits yesterday, though, demonstrated significant improvement as a cyclist and a runner. 

We are anxious to follow Alexis' tri career.

So you know, Wellman's time at Average Jo was 1:13:05, which very likely is a junior record and her margin of victory over 2nd placing Audrey Davison, 31, of Detroit Lakes, whose resume boasts impressive performances at Buffalo Sprint (11th in 2026) and Lakes Country (5th in 2024). Davison's 1:15:24 was more than seven minutes faster than her last Average Jo appearnce in 2024.

Heather Lund, 45, of Horace, ND, rounded out the women's overall podium.

The last 100+ finisher edition of Average Jo was back in 2016, that is until yesterday when exactly 100 athletes (97 individuals, one three-person relay) crossed the finsh line. RESULTS - https://www.mtecresults.com/race/leaderboard/20974/2026_Average_Jo_Triathlon-Individual_Results

Preferring Chasing to Leading...

Thursday, 25 June 2026 00:10

By Jennifer Martone

Women's Trifecta Race Report - What I love most about racing is the singular focus of being in the moment, testing mybody’s limits, and allowing my mind to push past discomfort, all while wearing a smile. Five weeks ago I lost my Dad to a tragic mowing accident, a loss that is hard to describe, but one that reminded me that we can perish at any time, so do the things daily that fill you up. For me, that’s swim-bike-run.

On Saturday I toed the line at the Women’s Trifecta Sprint, a gorgeous, blue-sky day at Turtle Lake Park. My Coeur teammate and friend, Kris Anderson, signed up for the Olympic race after having to miss Buffalo when her Dad experienced a health event that same weekend (good news, he’s doing well). One of the joys of triathlons are the people you meet along the way, and Kris is delightful.

After a quick pre-race overview of the swim, bike, run, the athletes entered the water in a timed-entry format, two by two. Based on where I was standing on the beach I entered the water first – not necessarily my choice as the swim leg is not my strong suit, but always willing to go with the flow. I swam a bit too far to the right, meaning a diagonal correction was necessary to make sure I hit the first red buoy. In between the 1st and 2nd buoy I noticed that a handful of swimmers were out much further in the distance and stopped mid swim to assess my route. I was on the right track and continued to swim exit – Turtle Lake is very shallow, so the final 30 yards require a run/walk out of the water. As I rushed through T1 I forgot my sunglasses, decided I could bike without them, and with a wobbly bike mount on the steep hill out of transition, was officially on leg two of the race. There was no one on the bike course to chase, so I did my best to stay above 20 mph and carefully watched for course markings since this was my first time doing this race. I typically feed off the energy of other athletes so being in the lead isn’t my preference, as I’d much rather chase. The quiet bike course had me questioning if I was riding correctly so I was elated to get to the 2nd to last intersection to see a cop directing traffic for the left-hand turn. I fled through T2 and heard my work colleague Kevin cheering me on as I started the run (he lives 2 blocks away, a bonus to have cheer support!). About .25 miles into the run, I stopped to make sure I was going the right way on theneighborhood street – from a distance I saw runners on the road adjacent to the bike course, and they turned out to be Saturday joggers, and not Tri racers so I assumed I was on the correct route. Once again, I wished I had someone to chase versus being in the lead as the run course was super quiet with no volunteers until the shorter VirginCourse turnaround spot at mile one. I continued to the Sprint turnaround spot and at approximately mile two spotted a fast athlete coming towards me on the course. This helped speed me up as she seemed capable of running me down. I kept up a steady pace, heard Kevin shouting my name again, and picked up my speed to the finish line, the first one to cross the Sprint finish line. I wasn’t too surprised to learn I took 2nd place as Floria, the 20-year-old behind me, ran a speedy 5k (and since she started the swim after me, beat my overall time by a solid 30 seconds or so). 

I hung around to watch the Olympic distance finishers and was pleased to see Kris cross the line in second! We gathered with a few other seasoned triathletes to wait for awards. Trifecta was giving awards to top two overall, along with top two age groupers. The printed results had me in 2nd place overall, with Anna Cook rounding out the 3rd place podium with a time of 1:18 and change. When my name wasn’t called I went over to the results table and found out that the 4 or so athletes that swam off course in the Sprint swim, approached the race directors to show them their extra yardage (they had swam 900ish yards instead of 600), and were compensated with a 4-minute subtraction in their total race time. This put Anna in second place by a margin of 7 seconds (1:14:11 to my 1:14:18). I’ve been doing triathlons since 2008, and I had never heard of race directors subtracting time for athletes who go off course in a race, so I asked about it. The response I received was that they “determined that

the swim course had not been marked as clearly as intended and that additional sighting markers should have been in place. Because we believed this lack of clarity contributed to athletes navigating the swim differently than designed, we made the decision to address that specific issue.” The directors did not respond specifically on how they calculated the extra time allowance, however it was evident in results published later that day, that these athletes received the fastest swim splits of the race. Was this time subtraction legal? I don’t work for USAT so I can’t say for sure. If you’re a seasoned triathlete with thoughts on the topic, please feel free to leave a note in the FB comments.

I do want to say that Lisa and Vicki are lovely, kind, thoughtful, inclusive race directors, who put together a triathlon that welcomes newcomers to the sport. The number of first-time triathletes on the beach was inspiring to see. Kudos to all that raced and completed Women’s Trifecta on Saturday, June 13th…cheers to a healthy, fun, summer of racing in Minnesota.

A Podium in Her First Long-Course Triathlon!

Monday, 22 June 2026 00:10

 By Megan Ehlen

The sport of triathlon first piqued my interest a little over a year ago. As my friends and I huddled around a high-top at our local saloon with beers in hand, we decided that we would partake in our first sprint triathlon together at Buffalo. I left that night with a buzz that went far beyond the drinks we shared.

Reality set in the next morning as it occurred to me that my swimming background was limited to an occasional dip in a lake on a hot summer day, and I had only owned a bike for about 48 hours. Despite the uphill battles I faced in two out of the three disciplines, I was a seasoned runner with a can-do attitude. I worked hard in the coming weeks and finished that sprint triathlon first in my age group.

Fast forward fifteen months to today. I sit staring at the piles of gear that I am still working to unpack following my first long-course triathlon: Ironman 70.3 Omaha. I have acquired a shocking amount of carbon fiber and Lycra gear since my first sprint-distance race, and I have also learned so much about this sport that I have come to love. After a near-seamless race day, I was able to snag 5th place in my age group (F25–29). In reflecting on what made my preparation and execution on race day such a success, I believe it comes down to a few simple categories: adaptability, discipline, and community.

Adaptability

I have always taken great pride in my ability to put my head down and perfectly execute a run-specific training plan. I learned, however, that when you add biking and swimming to the mix,you must be willing to be flexible.

There was not a week that went by during this training block where I didn't have to adapt myplan to some degree. Between pool closures, workdays running long, or an unexpected puncture interrupting a long ride, learning to take "setbacks" on the chin and keep moving forward became second nature. I consistently reminded myself that perfection is the enemy of progress, and learning how to adapt in training translates directly to how you handle potential adversity on race day.

Discipline

In addition to being able to adapt, I have learned just how important discipline is when training for a big goal. It is a common opinion in the world of endurance sports that discipline is more important than motivation. I had always subscribed to this logic, but it wasn't until I started training for a 70.3-distance triathlon that I truly understood the depth of the concept.

Having the discipline to complete scheduled training sessions is the most obvious example of this notion. But beyond simply ticking the boxes each week, I learned to have the discipline to get to bed early so my body could recover. I learned to have the discipline to eat enough to support the high volume of training I was doing. I learned how to stick to my Zone 2 training days, even when I was getting passed at run club. Most importantly, I learned to have the discipline to rest when my body was asking for it. Understanding the difference between normal training fatigue and pure exhaustion is ultimately what helped me arrive at the start line happy, healthy, and ready to race!

Community

If it is true that we become who we spend time with, I have really hit the jackpot. I am beyond fortunate to have acquired wonderful mentors, friends, and training partners who inspire me every day. As someone who already puts a great deal of pressure on myself, having family and friends who I knew would be proud of me regardless of my performance did wonders to ease my pre-race nerves. I knew this was especially true of my husband and best friend who accompanied me on the long trek to Nebraska to cheer me on (fully equip with an oversized cutout of my own face)!

I must give a special shout-out to triathlon veteran Ken Downer, or "Koach Ken," as I refer to him. Ken is incredibly humble despite his mile-long list of accolades that would give him every reason not to be. With decades of Ironman racing under his belt, it is no surprise that he also took home 1st place in his age group at Ironman 70.3 Omaha. In addition to physically training with me, Ken has been incredibly generous in sharing his extensive knowledge of the sport. He dedicated hours to helping me nail down both my training process and my mental preparation for this race. This mentorship, combined with the widespread support of our shared run group, is what I am certain gave me a leg up against the competition in Omaha.

Crossing the Finish Line

Triathlon might technically be an individual sport, but it takes a village of support just to get to the start line. Standing on the podium at Ironman 70.3 Omaha was an unforgettable milestone, but the true reward was the journey it took to get there. By embracing flexibility when things went wrong, staying disciplined in the quiet moments of training, and leaning on an incredible community, I found a passion for a sport that once felt entirely out of reach. The gear might finally be unpacked, but I am already looking forward to the next starting line—and whatever lessons it decides to teach me next.

Megan lives and trains in the west metro. Ironman 70.3 Omaha was her second-ever triathlon and first attempt at long-course racing. When Megan isn’t training, she is curating content for her triathlon themed Instagram account @meg_does_sports, sharing useful tips and less useful memes about the sport we all love.

70.3 Omaha: My Overview...

Friday, 19 June 2026 00:10

Photo: Megan Ehlen and Ken Downer celebrate the end of a successful race. NOTE: This pic was uploaded before uploading photos became problematic.

By Kenneth Downer

Inaugural 70.3 Omaha Race Report - If you are looking for an Ironman-branded race near the Twin Cities, Omaha 70.3 is a good one.  The inaugural edition of this event was held last Sunday (June 7).  Despite a few hiccups that any new race is liable to have, this was a well-organized race on an honest course that may be worth adding to your race schedule.  Here is an overview of the new race in Omaha and the results of some of the Minnesota athletes who competed there.

One of the unique features of this race was its split transition configuration.  The swim takes place in Lake Cunningham fifteen miles northwest of the city, while the run starts in downtown Omaha.  This adds a layer of logistic complexity for both race organizers and athletes, but makes the most of the few available swim options, provides access to excellent cycling roads, and ends with a mostly flat, scenic run that is spectator-friendly.  To tackle organizing this challenge, Ironman tapped veteran race director Corey Roberts, who added strong communication skills and personal flair to the recipe to pull off a successful race....

Read more ...