If you read our very first Athlete of the Month story about Mike Biarnesen, then you know that he is an athlete with amazing dedication and love of our sport.

What it didn’t say is what’s equally as big as his determination is his heart.  Besides training for Ironman, Madison this year, Mike participated in the Janus Charity Challenge to raise money for the Equestrian Connection , a charity that provides therapy for hundreds of children and adults with disabilities.

Janus has been a major sponsor for over six years, and to date the program has raised more than $18 million for hundreds of charities throughout the United States.

Mike shaved 32 minutes off his already impressive time from last year, finishing in 11:09:03, placing 262nd out of about 2,400 entrants overall and 29th out of 237 in his age group.

He finished first in the race to help others, raising over $200,000, with Janus kicking in another $10,000 to the cause!

We couldn’t be more proud of Mike for supporting such a great cause and for making it across the finish line once again!  

Though the race is over it’s still not too late to contribute to the Equestrian Connection or to find out more on how you can participate in the Janus Charity Challenge .

 To read more about Mike click here.

Before Triathlon, Psychologists Calm Athletes’ Fears

Courtesy The New York Times

Minutes before starting the New York City Triathlon, Angela Swift stood on the banks of the Hudson River in
her wetsuit and swim cap, struggling to catch her breath.

“I’m petrified of this swim,” said Swift, a 44-year-old real estate agent from Riverside, Conn.
“This is crazy. I know I can swim. I can do 60 laps in the pool, no problem. But here, I really feel like I’m
going to drown.”

Swift, a veteran of four mini-triathlons, did not have to face those fears on her own at yesterday’s
competition, a 0.9-mile swim, a 24.9-mile bike ride and a 6.2-mile run that began with a plunge into the
Hudson. While waiting for her race to begin in Riverside Park, she had professional help when a panic
attack threatened to ruin her day: a psychologist came to her rescue.

For the first time in the history of the triathlon in Manhattan, race officials arranged for a team of
psychologists to help competitors who had prerace jitters.

Courtesy The Sport Factory 

Exercising hard day after day tends to cause stiffness and soreness. Do you ever wonder if the food you consume after exercise can help you recover? As an athlete you have to not only decide what to eat to fuel optimally for the work out session, but also to ensure fast recovery following. People who strength train often question how much protein after a work outs aids in recovery. Endurance athletes often ask, how much carbohydrate will prevent chronic fatigue or glycogen depletion before the next training day.

Your body stores carbohydrates in very limited amounts in the form of glycogen, and during training glycogen gets used up fast. Recovery involves maximizing glycogen storage capacity, to be adequately prepared for the next work out, and to enhance muscle rebuild and restoration. The enzyme responsible for storing glycogen is elevated immediately after exercise. It remains elevated above normal levels for only a short window of time. It is therefore vital to take in an adequate amount of carbohydrates as soon after exercise as possible. Adding some protein to the post work out meal or snack enhances the glycogen uptake and aids in muscle repair. Foods eaten post exercise require just as much planning as your pre-workout meal. Consuming the appropriate foods and timing of post workout meals will improve your recovery and performance.

Blended drinks score the most points for providing those recovery nutrients. Not only are they easy, convenient, and nutritious for those on-the-go, the combination of calories, carbohydrates and protein can easily be adjusted to your individual needs. Overall nutritional recovery intake should include replenishment of calories burned during the training session in a ratio of about 3:1 carbohydrates to protein in a readily digestible format.

The ideal carbohydrate and protein combinations can be made using whey powder (for protein) and fruit, yogurt, milk (for the carbohydrate) and maybe some additional goodies like peanut butter, honey or almond extract (for taste).

All Photos Courtesy Frank Wechsel/Triathlon.org 

HAMBURG, Germany – Daniel Unger has become a national hero, booked a ticket to the Beijing Olympics and shocked the triathlon world all at once. Unger is the new triathlon world champion winning today in a time of 1 hour 43 minutes and 18 seconds. World number one Javier Gomez took the silver, just four seconds behind while Aussie Brad Kahlefeldt came across the line for bronze.

A full field of 80 dove into the Binnenalster lake in downtown Hamburg for the 1500-meter wetsuit swim. Many were tightly bunched after the swim turnaround but as they exited the water American Andy Potts led the field with Frenchman Stephane Poulat, Gomez and Belaubre nipping as his heels. The four men headed out of transition together and tried to break away from the chase pack. After the first lap the lead inflated to 16 seconds but it didn’t last long before the two groups came together by the second lap of the 40-kilometer flat, technical bike course. A few other men attempted breakaways including Poulat who broke away and opened up a 17-second lead on the bell lap. In that final lap many men began to surge to the front of the pack trying to position themselves for the second transition.

Courtesy Simon & Schuster

T-Dot is thrilled to be able to share an excerpt from Floyd Landis new book. Thank you to our friends at Simon & Schuster and of course to Floyd.

Breaking Away

I have nothing to hide.

As far as I'm concerned, people can know everything about me if they want: how much money I've made, when I've been a fool or felt regret or shed tears. I don't care. There's no reason to hold anything back. I don't feel the need to be selective in order to create some image of a person who isn't me. I'm me. That's it.

I ended up making a living in a sport where a bunch of men wear spandex and shave their legs -- and that's not even the funny part. The funny part is that cycling and its anti-doping program are run by people so incompetent they couldn't even run a Ralphs grocery store. I couldn't always laugh about it, because they wrecked my life. But I don't ask for sympathy. I take what I'm given in life and try to make some good out of it, always.

 In late 1963, at age 12, I tried out for a swim team for the first time. Though this was as grassroots as swimming gets – an elementary school squad put together to practice perhaps four times then compete in an annual Catholic schools meet – I didn't make the cut. In fact, my tryout lap prompted one coach to attempt a rescue. (I out swam him to the wall.)

Two years later I tried out for my high school team and made it – not because my swimming had progressed much; our first-year team was accepting all comers. I fell deeply in love with swimming from that moment and was undiscouraged when, as a senior, I qualified only for the "novice" championship, racing mostly against freshmen. (I won my first medal there and still have it.) As a college distance swimmer I managed to win a few races in dual meets against minor rivals, but nothing in my early years suggested any great swimming promise.

Yet this year, on the verge of turning 55, I set three goals that can only be called audacious for someone with such an unremarkable history: (1) to win a National Masters Long Distance Championship, (2) to break a National Masters Long Distance record and, (3) to win a medal at the World Masters Championship. Between June and August, I accomplished all three, winning two national titles (at 3K and 2-Miles) and breaking two national records (for the 1-Mile and 2-Mile Cable Swims) for good measure.

There.

Solace marches in synch,

Independently.

Beaten and bladed though folded still

within this want

unvanquished liberty’s William,

a resolve to till the earth

pray the clouds,

his curing rain softening

a shovel’s duty.

There is much work to do above