What Now?

For those amazing athletes out there that qualified for The ITU World Championships in London, or the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas, or the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona congratulations. You rule and I aspire to be you some day. But as for the rest of us, what do we do now? I was fortunate enough to compete in 3 triathlons this summer but now that the season is winding down, there aren’t many opportunities left in the Midwest as far as Triathlon goes.

So what do I do now? I’ve been training with my tri club, meeting twice, something 3 or 4 times a week. What am I supposed to do now that I’m in the best racing shape of the year and there are no more races for me to do? And what about next summer? I don’t want to have to regain all the aerobic ability I earned over the last season. Come on, there’s gotta be something!

Well, I’m no expert, but I’ve got a plan.  And it’s a pretty simple one. I’m going to keep training. And I’m going to keep racing. Now I probably won’t train as hard as I was in the summer. And I don’t have much of an option as far as racing triathlons. But there is something! I’m going back to my roots; running. Now to some it may come as a surprise, but I used be a lot faster. It’s a bit of a cliché, but back when I was in high school…

Running has always been my background. Running cross country, running track, running errands, running the lawn mower, well you get the idea. I’m going to do as many road and trail races as I can find. Not only to stay in shape in to winter, but for fun. Who says I can’t keep getting faster in the off season, too?

I guess you could say that I’m not really done with my racing season, yet. I’ve been planning to run the Sioux Falls Half Marathon since June. After this weekend, though, I decided to run the Jack 15 in Brookings. That isn’t until the end of September. So is my racing season done after that? Well, I did want to run the Newton Hills Trail Challenge. How about after that, though? Nope!

I want to run the Hobo Days 5k. Then I’ll probably run the Turkey Day 5k. Then probably the Jingle Bells Run. Then Maybe the Frosbite 4. Then I’ll probably run the St. Patty’s Day Mile, then hopefully in to early season training, getting ready for a triathlon at the end of April. So I’ll never really have an off season, will I?

I guess you could say that I really won’t have an off season. But isn’t that against the rules?

I’d argue that it’s far from that. And at the same time, I’d argue that it is an off season. I’m going to continue training, I’m going to continue racing, and I’m going to continue eating the right way. But what part about all of this makes it an off season? It’s simple: I’m not going to stress. If I can’t get in that hour long swim, but I have time for 30 minutes, then I’ll just get that in. If I have to get that project done and I’m running out of time, maybe I’ll just do a 3 miles tempo instead of a 5 mile tempo. Either way, I still get to train!

How is this different than what the pros do? I won’t be taking those 6 weeks off with what traditional off-season training calls for, many times with a few weeks of doing nothing. Instead, I plan to just take my training much less seriously for 8 to 10 weeks, even up to 12 weeks depending on how I feel. And I’ll probably get in a few races in that time, but I won’t be taking them quite as seriously.

This all kind of sounds forwards and backwards. That’s probably because it is. Basically, I’m going keep training and entering races. I’m going to do it because it’s fun. And when I start to feel tired (or when the blizzards start to hit), I’ll skip a couple workouts. And when the turkey and all those delicious sides and deserts come out, I’ll grab a second or third glass of wine to wash it all down.

Find local fun runs,  charity bike rides, or an obstacle race, maybe even enter an eating contest. Just make everything about having fun and being happy! And if that means keep training, keep training. Just focus on the fun.

Gomez and Moffat Earn 5150 Elite Cup Titles – Manning Earns 5150 Age Group Title

Over 2000 athletes came together to compete in a triathlon that offers the world’s largest prize purse, totaling nearly $650,000 across 34 categories. 30 Pro Men and 27 Pro Women competed for the 5150 Elite Cup Titles and $250,000 in prizes, while 603 athletes competed for the rest of the purse. Around 1500 athletes showed up to compete in Hy-Vee’s Age-Group and Relay Triathlon, as well.

Returning Champion and 2012 Olympic Silver-Medalist Javier Gomez was among the top Pros to make an appearance at the race. Hunter Kemper and Greg Bennet, 2nd and 3rd place in 2012, arrived to have their shot at taking home the $100,000 cash prize. Women’s favorite, Lisa Norden, was expected to have a fantastic performance. Like Gomez, she was the returning Champion and 2012 Olympic Silver-Medalist. Early in the morning Norden bowed out of the race.

Gomez was first out of the water in 17:17. He was quickly swallowed by the chase pack, finishing the bike in 6th place. Kemper, Cameron Dye, Paul Matthews, Greg Bennet, and Tom Davison came off the bike as a pack with more than 1 minute on Gomez. Hunter Kemper put out one of his game-winning 10K run splits with a time of 31:47 (5:08 per mile). But this incredible run time was not enough to claim his first 5150 Elite Cup Title. Gomez ran past Kemper with less than a 800-m to the finish, pressing an average 4:56 pace, to finish the 6.2 mile run in 30:30, making him a repeat champion by a mere 12 seconds. Kemper and Bennet finished 2nd and 3rd respectively, in a repeat of last year’s podium.

Moffat moved to the front of the swim, stepping in to T1 in second place. She quickly moved past the leader and rode with a strong lead pack to step in to T2 with 4 other racers in approximately 1:20:55. Moffat quickly abandoned her group to run in a time of 34:59, finished nearly 90 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Melissa Hauschildt had the fastest run time in the field of 34:52, but her swim time set her too far back to take the win.

 

South Dakota had several great performances on Sunday.

Sioux Falls amateur, Justin Manning, earned an Age-Group victory by putting nearly 4 minutes between himself and the 2nd place finisher. With a swim split of 21:34, a bike split of 1:02:31, and a run split of 36:54, Manning proved why he is an athlete that is here to win.

Mary Thum, last year’s Age-Group winner, finished 2nd with an incredible time of 2:20:34. Her powerful bike-leg helped her to secure the 2nd place finish, averaging 22.2 mph. Finishing this high two years in a row shows that this Sioux Falls native is one to keep an eye on for many years to come.

Sioux Falls Triathlon Coach, Kathy Grady moved consistently through the field to earn a 4th place finish. Grady pumped out a 26:33 swim split, 3rd in her division, helped her to maintain her place toward the front of the pack. She crossed the line in 2:33:02. Be sure to watch for her at the top of the results list at upcoming triathlons.

A 70-year triathlete of Sioux Falls, Emil Knapp finished 3rd in his Age-Group, to secure his place at the top of the field. Continue to watch for this athlete on the podium.

South Dakota Triathletes Profile Preview – US 5150 Championships

September will be rung in with one of the year’s largest triathlons, held in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Hy-Vee Triathlon and the US 5150 Championship bring some of the nation’s best triathletes, as well as some of the world’s best triathletes for the Elite Cup.

South Dakota has put up 13 of it’s best athletes from 8 cities to compete in the 5150 Championship race. Be sure to keep a close eye on these athletes Sunday morning.

2013 US 5150 Championship South Dakota Start List

Rolf Johnson – Aberdeen

Rolf will be competing in the Male 50-54 Age Group. He qualified at the 2013 5150 Kansas Triathlon with a time of 2:15:50*. He placed 11/17 in his division.

Estelle Meyers – Aberdeen

Estelle will be competing in the Female 45-49 Age Group. She qualified at the 2013 5150 Kansas Triathlon with a time of 2:16:13*. She placed 6/13 in her division.

Dana Locken – Bath

Dana will be competing in the Female 55-59 Age Group. She qualified at the 2012 Hy-Vee Triathlon with a time of 3:08:22. She placed 8/17 in her division.

Mike McCammack – Brookings

Mike will be competing in the Male 60-64 Age Group. He qualified at the 2013 St. Anthony’s Triathlon with a time of 2:29:31. He placed 10/59 in hisdivision.

James Thorp – Brookings

James will be competing in the Male 20-24 Age Group. He qualified at the 2012 Hy-Vee Triathlon with a time of 2:05:43. He placed 1/36 in his division, the first age-grouper to cross the line.

Corale Dorn – Dell Rapids

Corale will be competing in the Female 35-39 Age Group. She qualified at the 2012 Hy-Vee Triathlon with a time of 2:54:18. She placed 15/44 in her division.

Ken Winter – Harrisburg

Ken will be competing in the Male 50-54 Age Group. He qualified at the 2012 Hy-Vee Triathlon with a time of 2:25:43. He placed 3/48 in his division.

Jeremy Reimer – Jefferson

Jeremy will be competing in the Male 35-39 Age Group. He qualified at the 2013 5150 Kansas Triathlon with a time of 1:40:36*. He placed 1/40 in his division, the 1st age-grouper to cross the line.

Connor Branick – Sioux Falls

Connor will be competing in the Male 20-29 Age Group. He qualified at the 2012 Hy-Vee Triathlon with a time of 2:15:48. He placed 1/10 in his division.

Kathy Grady – Sioux Falls

Kathy will be competing in the Female 45-49 Age Group. She qualified at the 2012 5150 Championship with a time of 2:26:18. She placed 3/25 in her division.

Emil Knapp – Sioux Falls

Emil will be competing in the Male 70-74 Age Group. He qualified at the 2012 5150 Championship with a time of 3:54:33. He placed 8th in his division.

Justin Manning – Sioux Falls

Justin will be competing in the Male 25-29 Age Group. He qualified at the 2013 5150 Kansas Triathlon with a time of 1:46:02*. He placed 1/30 in his division.

Mary Thum – Sioux Falls

Mary will be competing in the Female 30-34 Age Group. She qualified at the 2012 5150 Championship with a time of 2:16:10. She placed 1/24 in her division.

*The swim portion of the 2013 5150 Kansas Triathlon was eliminated from the race due to unsafe water temperatures

5 Tips on Keeping Up the Triathlon Routine During the School Year

Like 15 million other college students in America, I have too many things to do and not enough time to do them in.
From attending class, to studying, to working, and back to studying, where are you supposed to find time for eating, sleeping, and hanging out with friends, let alone getting in those 2-hour bike rides and 2500 yard swim workouts, or those 45-minute tempo runs?

It’s not easy to fit everything in while being a student. There are ways to make everything fit, though. Here are some tips on making it through the year without losing everything you worked for over the summer, while keeping those grades up:

1. Schedule Classes In Blocks

Don’t sign up for classes that have 90-minute breaks between them. The problem that arises with this type of scheduling is that it begins to encompass large amounts of time spent just in class and waiting for class. If you have 3 one hour classes in a day, you’ve already committed 6 hours to 3 hours of class. That’s twice the time you spent sitting in the room. And these 90 minute breaks don’t include nearly the amount of time that it takes to get a sizable task like a good workout in.

This time would be better spent studying; students often study better in 90 minute periods. But who really wants to make themselves do all of their studying after sitting in an hour-long lecture? The things that will get done are likely to go as follows: checking Facebook, grabbing lunch, checking Facebook, checking emails, checking to see if you had reading before lecture, potentially speed-reading the chapter you forget about, checking Facebook again, then heading to class.

Instead, schedule as many classes as you can within a continuous period of time. Be careful not to schedule more than 4 hours of class in a row, though. This can be an incredible mental and physical strain. Try to get in 3 hours of class no more than 1 hour total time in between.  This will help eliminate that large amount of empty time often provided between classes.

2. Don’t Take Class Before 9 AM

Some times it is unavoidable, but do the best you can to sign up for classes that start no earlier than 9 AM. I am currently in a lab that has only one meeting time which takes place at 8 AM once a week. But the rest of the week my classes start at 9 AM. The principle behind this tip is that being a student requires a lot of sleep. Not only do workouts consume a lot of energy, but the mental stresses that come with studying and projects can be physically draining, as well.

By sleeping an extra hour college students are more likely to be focused, completing tasks in less time and with more accuracy. Along with that extra hour of sleep in the morning, be sure to be in bed by 11 PM. If not sleeping for those 9 hours, at least be resting, maybe reading those chapters for tomorrow’s assignment.

3. Get In Your Swim Workout Before Lunch

Running and biking burn a lot of calories and put more stress on the body than swimming. Running can burn as many as 1000 calories in an hour and cycling, nearly 1200 calories. Swimming, however, burns not quite half of that. Jumping in the pool for an hour can burn around 500 calories, leaving a person with plenty of energy to grab lunch and head off to one more lecture. I often feel refreshed after a swim, almost as if I have more energy, helping me to think more clearly and to accomplish tasks more effectively for the rest of the day.

4. Be Wary to Skip a Workout

Being  a college student myself, I know that there isn’t always time to get in all of my workouts. Occasionally it is necessary to skip the workout and fit in an extra hour to study for tomorrow’s test. Don’t skip too many workouts for these reasons, though. The biggest problem for a college student isn’t always losing fitness; it is more often the issue of restlessness and an accumulation of stress.

Endurance athletes’ bodies get used to burning all of those calories in a given day and week. If those calories aren’t burned, it becomes difficult to get quality rest, even if plenty of time is devoted to sleeping. If you can’t get in that run on Wednesday, or that swim on Monday afternoon, don’t beat yourself up. But be plenty careful not to make it a habit.

5. Join a Club

Socializing is a very important part of any person’s life, but it is especially important for students. One of my more valuable social experiences during a given week is when I’m meeting with my triathlon training club. Spending a couple hours a week with like-minded people doing something that you love can be more valuable than watching the game with your buddies. That is not to say that you should choose one or the other. Both are very valuable. It is more important to emphasize the great interpersonal, physical, and mental satisfaction that you will gain from working out with a group of people that also spend every minute of every day thinking about the next race.

Find your local triathlon club. If there’s no triathlon club, find the local Masters Swim program, cycling team/spin class, or running club. If all else fails, start your own program, inviting someone to coach you and others. It is often easier to schedule workouts when others are expecting you to be there to train with them. This is an added bonus!

 

Keep these 5 things in mind when beginning to plan your upcoming training. These things will help you to keep up on studies, focus better during classes, feel more energized during the day, and improve those upcoming race times.

Easton Unveils EC90 Aero 55 – “The Single Wheelset Arsenal”

In 2014 Easton Cycling will have one of the most innovative wheelsets available to the market.

The cycling company has always engineered products that seem to take traditional qualities to the extreme. The newest wheelset takes all of these extreme, high-quality characteristics and accumulates them in to one product; the EC90 Aero 55.

Easton started from scratch when creating these wheels, innovating every individual component; an unorthodox reinvention of the hubset helps make this set of wheels incredibly comfortable and durable. The Echo Hubset takes the traditional set up and flips it completely around
to introduce a 95-millimeter wide hubset. By placing the bearings to the outside, the hub can be wider, placing creating less stress and more comfort. This makes the hub nearly two-times wider than most hubs and nearly two-times more durable.

The 55-millimeter deep rims are boasted to be faster than the competitors wheels that have deeper rims (80-90-millimeters). The tubular wheelset weighs only just over 1300 grams, considerably close to most climbing wheels. Yet, the EC90 Aero 55’s, boasts a 14-second lead over the next fastest competitor in a 40k time trial, thanks to it’s Fantom Rim design.

With the addition of a 19-millimeter width, the Fantom Rim design provides much more comfort than the traditional racing wheels.

These features are make this wheelset perfect for nearly any and all conditions and courses; the Single Wheelset Arsenal.

The clincher wheelset is available starting at $2800 in the spring of 2014 and the tubular wheelset for $2400.00 in the Winter of 2014.