Starkermann Success
By · CommentsWe had 3 athletes compete at the “New and Improved” Starkerman event in Grayling this past weekend. This was formerly a 3 day event which has now been reduced to a single day tri and du.
In the reverse triathlon event, John Wilson took 2nd place overall, while Don Nurkala was 4th across the line out of a total of 22 athletes.
The duathlon event had Ger Lupini take first overall female and 5th overall of the 20 athletes.
Great start to the year guys and gals.
Spring Racing
By · CommentsWe had a few more athletes out testing their winter fitness with some early springtime racing.
Ger Lupini- our resident DU champion, raced the Dooby Du to a 1st place AG finish(by almost 20 minutes!)/4th overall female; along with a 2nd place overall female at the Out For Blood Du. She’s in top race form for this weekend’s upcoming USAT Duathlon Nationals.
Joe Stepulla had a solid performance at the Martian Half Marathon with a 1:38 finish to go 22nd out of 136 in his age group. According to Joe; “by far, my best race yet.”
Lloyd Brombach also had a solid run at the Martian Half Marathon with a 1:59 finish to put a nice start on his IM AZ preparation.
The ole’ coach had 1:00 improvement in his Martian 10k over last year. (I’ll take it!)
Spring run performances
By · CommentsWe’ve had a few runners out on the roads to kick start their seasons.
Bill Pinches recently finished 4th in his age group at the Mad Dog Half Marathon with an 8 min PR.
Joe Stepulla finished 10th in his age group at the CF Grosse Isle Half Marthon with a solid 1:40 performance.
Alex Russeau had a quick performance as part of Playmakers elite run team at the Shamrock Shuffle (40k participants). He was 40th overall with a 4:59/mile average over the 8k distance.
Draft Legal Racing-Clermont
By · CommentsAs a coach who is part of the USAT Collegiate Recruitment program, run by former Olympian Barb Lindquist, I get a great opportunity to work with a group of talented, previously single sport athletes, that are trying to make the transition over to the draft legal style of triathlon racing that is featured at the Olympics. This style of racing is still in it’s infancy in the US, but is starting to grow due to the hard work of USAT. They are trying to fill the pipeline for the upcoming Olympic programs and get this format more available to more athletes.
The first race of the year was held this past weekend in Clermont, Florida. They had a record high on Saturday with the weather in the 80′s and some pretty serious winds. Needless to say; it was a shock to the system for some athletes coming from the upper states. We had our athlete, Alex Russeau, who was participating in his first draft legal triathlon. The athletes in this race that finished in the top 3 for each male and female, earn their elite or professional license and can then move up to the elite level races and take the next steps to try and make a run for an Olympic spot in Rio and beyond.
Fast guy and slow guy
Alex is a former cross country runner from MSU that was brought to us by Barb. We had reasonable expectations for his race, and talked more about performance goals and did a lot of role playing on how to react to certain situations. Draft legal racing is much more dynamic than non drafting racing. Much like road cycling and track running racing; it requires a great deal of “in the moment” decisions. The group dynamic comes much more in to play.
Clermont is a sprint distance race at 750 yard swim/20k bike-3 loops/5k run-2 loops. So you have plenty of time to see your competitors. Transitions are even more critical. This format lends itself well to strong swimmers and fast runners. The key is to get into a lead pack of cyclists, so your swim splits are crucial.
Alex came out in the 3rd group of the swim and got into a group of riders that was 2 groups back of the lead cyclist. He worked his way up with the group to come off the bike in about 25th position out of 75 overall competitors. However, since he was the stronger rider in his group; he did more work than his competitors; which took some zap out of his legs. But, as with any racing, not quitting is the key. Alex fought through the heat and wind and battled his way up to 9th place overall at the finish with the 4th fastest run of the day. It was an awesome performance. Despite not having any outdoor riding; the heat and it being the first race of the year; we were both very happy with his outcome.
Next on his plate is Collegiate Nationals in April in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
As you can see in this video; bike handling skills are critical for this type of racing.
IRONMAN FLORIDA
By · CommentsWe were 4 for 4 this year with Ironman Finishers. Joe Stepulla added number 4 to the roster of GRC.
