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Hasselhoff Running & Public Drooling...

Friday, 05 July 2024 00:10

By Brandon Lee

Manitou Race Recap - First double for me last weekend, even though these are shorter races, the intensity is much higher, and the Manitou Olympic was another 2 hours of near red line on Sunday.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t carry any fatigue over from Saturdays sprint, but overall I felt pretty strong. The weather was so nice, and the sun was bright over WBL Sunday morning. It felt like it had been 10 days since that big orange thing in the sky revealed itself. That same sun was directly in our eyes for the first 600 or so yards l, and I had a lot of trouble sighting, nonetheless I felt very loose and fresh in the water, it was like a cold competition pool feeling and you can definitely push a bit harder and not worry about overheating. I was caught off guard at the end of the swim, it’s very shallow and my David Hasselhoff water running skills are not up to par. Hamstring cramped in transition but was able to peel out and get on the bike. I knew I had my work cut out for me as Marcus Duval was probably 3 minutes ahead at this point.

The bike course was fantastic, pretty much in my backyard and I ride these roads all the time, so I had a good tactical plan and knew where the hills were and when to push hard on the descents. Started to run out of gas at mile 20, but kept on pushing....

Happy 4th of July From MTN!

Tuesday, 02 July 2024 00:10

"You Really Have to Hang On Tight"...

Sunday, 30 June 2024 00:10

By Brandon Lee

Graniteman Clearwater Sprint Race Report - Fun weekend of local racing. Saturday I raced a sprint distance at Graniteman (Clearwater, MN) and took 1st place overall. Sunday I raced Manitou Olympic in White Bear Lake, 2nd place overall.

Graniteman is a bit longer than standard distance sprint, I was very happy with my time of 1:06, just edged out Brooks Grossinger by 24 seconds. Hats off to you on another great performance bud!

My strategy was pretty simple. Swim, bike, and run as hard as possible for an hour, and let the dust settle. That’s sprint distance racing, and I’m always so humbled by this distance, you really have to hang on tight.

Didn’t feel great on the bike for the first 15 minutes, the air was super heavy as it had been raining all night, but I was able to push some good power and have a lead coming into T2. The run course is super tough, the first and last miles are a trail run with some punchy hills and the one mile of road running has some elevation as well. At the turnaround I figured I had about 45 seconds on Brooks and I just told myself to keep fighting, because I knew he was pulling me back, barely hung on for the win. You’re a class act my friend!

2024 Graniteman - Clearwater

Friday, 21 June 2024 00:09

2024 Clearwater Preview...

Wednesday, 19 June 2024 00:10

GRANITEMAN CLEARWATER PREVIEW - The original Graniteman Triathlon was launched 21-years ago in a bucolic venue southwest of St. Cloud, where it lasted six years. Then in relocated to Warner Lake Park near Clearwater where it hopes to remain in perpetuity. It's cool venue with a terrific swim course that crosses Warner Lake. The bike portions on both the Sprint and Olympic races are significantly longer than standard, e.g. 14.3, not 12.4 in the Sprint, and 28:66, not 24.8 in the Olympic. Minnesotans love bike-heavy races.

Since the purpose of this post is to preview the competition, let's share what we think based on the list of those we know are racing. If additional competitive racers sign up after this posts, we will update.

Who's racing this Saturday? Here, in alpha order, are some of the people we expect to excel: ...