By: Katja Opfer My second Iceman marks the end of my second year on TAMJD, and I have been taking some time to reflect on everything we accomplished this year. It seems like I raced practically every weekend from April to November, adding up to over thirty races in four different disciplines (mountain bike, gravel, cyclocross, and road). My season started off strong at Barry Roubaix in April. After winning the 18-mile “Chiller” last year, I moved up to the 36-mile “Thriller” and won first overall female, setting a new course record in the process. Englewood in mid-May was my first national-level race of the season, where I got to test my strength and skills against girls from all over
By: Miriam Bretzlaff I made a goal for the 2023-2024 season to expand my training and racing into multiple disciplines; and I am happy to say that I was successful in doing so. This year I began to take part in several Team Athletic Mentors road, gravel, and cyclocross functions which provided me with enjoyable and interesting experiences. I have predominantly raced MTB cross country (XC) for the past eight years since I started MiSCA and Ore to Shore, and my training and riding has reflected this. XC has always been a ton of fun but I’m really glad I started trying new things, too. Road: Before this season, the only road riding I took part in was a few weekly
By: Dawn Hinz Team Athletic Mentors > Athletic Mentors > Mentors What is in a name? What does a name mean? What are the core values that drive that name? Team Athletic Mentors is composed of almost 100 individuals who are determined to achieve two main purposes. Sure, we’re athletic, meaning we value the health benefits of staying fit, healthy and competitive throughout all stages of life. But even more than that, we are there to guide people, not just to be healthy and active but in any way we can support a mentee to grow and succeed in life, especially sharing endurance sports with youth. We had the privilege of spending a weekend with our Junior Development Triathletes and were
By: Brie Siems In what ways does consistent training boost our overall performance? Having consistency while training for a sport is an important part of improving performance. Regular training helps build a great base for achieving and maintaining excellence. There are many different ways training consistently can help improve your overall performance, whether mentally or physically. Repetitive skill development helps increase our performance. When you go to the gym or practice field consistently, you may work on the same skills at every training session. Repetition in training while adding intensity helps to build your ability to perform better and faster every week. Each training builds onto the next. This means that over time if you practice your sport regularly, you
By: Cate Wittman Any athlete that has experienced an injury understands how it can be hard to bounce back. Often, you lose a lot of ability due to the rest and recovery process. It’s normal to feel like things are out of your control and there’s nothing you can do about it, but it’s important to keep calm. The main thing you can focus on is what is in your control; things like staying healthy with nutrition, keeping your physical ability in check with stretches and/or walks (if possible), and most importantly, resting! While recovering, it’s easy to forget the fact that you have to let your body rest and get your health back before pushing yourself again. My experience with
What an athlete consumes before an event could mean the difference between making the podium or not! It is important to adequately fuel your body and avoid any negative effects such as GI upset or feelings of sluggishness. Eat to Meet Your Needs Fueling for an endurance event will look quite different than fueling for a golf tournament. High-intensity events or those that last longer than 90 minutes require more fuel. For shorter events or low-moderate intensity events, focusing on a balanced meal is typically adequate without the need for additional carbohydrates. For higher-intensity sports and endurance events, athletes benefit from an additional serving of healthy carbohydrates leading up to the event. Be sure to include a source of protein
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