By: Kathy Braginton Are you a triathlete looking to spice up your triathlon race? Or, maybe you are a cyclist with a gravel/mountain bike thinking about trying a triathlon? With their latest event that made its debut this past weekend, the race directors of GR Tri and MiTi have found the solution: The Dirty Mitten. It was composed of a swim, gravel bike and trail run that spanned over the grounds of the YMCA’s Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville, Michigan. The Dirty Mitten featured both sprint and olympic distances, also known as the Shorty and the Long One. You don’t like to swim or run? No problem! This race also offered Duathlon (run/bike/run), Aquabike (swim/bike), and Relay options! The swim distances
By: Jonathan Meyer My name is Jonathan Meyer, and I am going into my junior year of high school and have just joined Team Athletic Mentors. Prior to this, the only team I raced with was my Lake Orion High School team, which is only really in effect during the fall season when the Michigan Scholastic Cycling Association mountain bike race series takes place. Outside of this time, there is not much support or action from the high school team, so for the most part I was alone, outside of my parents. That being said, I still enjoy being a part of my MISCA team very much. Shortly after starting my sophomore year, a member of Team Athletic Mentors that I
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The 4 F’s of a Successful Triathlon Season (without using the F-word)
By: Belinda Vinton I have been racing triathlon for 10 years. Some seasons have been more successful than others! So how can an athlete prepare for a successful season? Besides spending time swimming, biking, and running, here are 4 ways to help make your season a good one. Focus – Carve out some time each day to workout. Concentrate on upcoming races. Set some goals for yourself. It always helps me to write out my goals and put them in a place where I can see them each day. Read books about triathlon. Join a triathlon Facebook group and follow some triathletes on social media. You will find that your focus on the sport will improve! Follow the plan – Find a
By: Ross DiFalco Day 3 We were off! After you cross the 4001 bridge, you are officially in the Huron National Forest. It’s hillier in this section and you see a lot less homes. I don’t know if we were canoeing ourselves into shape, but we felt the best on day 3. The only problem is that we were running low on water, and now that we were in the Huron National Forest, it would be harder to come by. Today we needed to make it to just before the loud dam. Between that dam and us was 28 miles and one more dam, the Alcona. When we reached the Alcona, it was a more difficult portage. There was construction, so there
By: Ross DiFalco For those of you that don’t know, in northern Michigan there lies a beautiful winding river with an incredible amount of wildlife and diversity. The Au Sable is a fly angler’s paradise, and is professionally managed to keep it that way. The other reason that people know of the Au Sable River is for the Au Sable Canoe Marathon that takes place each year in July. The Marathon, as it’s commonly called, is a 120 mile canoe race from Grayling to Oscoda. This is where our story begins, kind of. My dad has wanted to canoe the entire length of the Au Sable since he was a kid. This spring, he asked me if I would join
By: Dawn Hinz What do you consider a “long” swim? Anything over a mile? How about 2 or 3 miles? Or have you ever done a point to point swim? Is it crazy to swim 8.2 miles around Mackinac Island? Yes it is. Crazy, exciting and beautiful! The event starts on the shoreline in front of the Grand Hotel and then goes clockwise around Mackinac Island to Mission Point Resort. (Optional to swim around marker buoys near the harbor to make up for not being allowed to swim through the harbor itself.) Water conditions could be wavy and rough or flat, cold or not as cold but crystal clear and rocky. You could stand or reach shore quickly if you wanted
Athletic Mentors