I received the below email from a young man in Minneapolis who had to find a rental bike the day before the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon this last weekend. I live in California, and I’d like to give him some direction…any thoughts on coaching, a good tri-club, masters swimming, and network of people to train with in the Twin Cities??? Read below…this kids got potential!!
Mr. Davidson,
I hope you enjoyed Saturday’s beautiful race as much as I did.
The
weather was perfect and the course was great.
My mom said that she talked to you at Colonial and that you might have some advice to help my tri career. First, do you know of any affordable swimming programs or master classes that are available in the metro? I just started to learn how to swim and see this as one of my week spots.
I was also wondering if you know of any training groups or coaches that you would recommend to help guide my training. This is my first triathlon so I really don’t know how to properly train for these events.
Finally, I am also looking for a local businesses sponsor to help me continue racing. I am planning on competing in 2 more short tri’s, a half Iron-Man and the Twin Cities Marathon. Having a front-runner in these highly visible events could be a very effective marketing tool for a metro business.
Below are some results from my racing events over the past year.
2006 Twin City Marathon, Oct 1 1st in age div.,
154th/10,500 overall, 2:55:26
2006 Madison Endurance Race, Oct 21 2nd/21 overall, 3:50:00
2006 Cornell, NY Sprint Triathlon 2nd/58 overall
2006 Cornell, NY 10K, Nov 2nd/117 overall
2007 Boston Marathon, April 16th 193th/22,500
overall, 2:44:47
2007 Back In Shape 5k, Bloomington, June 23rd 17th/350 overall, 16:48
2007 Firecracker, Excelsior 10K - July 4th 11th/1500,
overall
2007 Life Time Fitness Triathlon - July 14th 2nd in age div.,
2:23:55
I appreciate your advice in any of these areas.
Thanks for your help,
Neal N. Nelson
I think we aren’t supposed to post emails on here. He really just looks like he needs to train more on the bike and swim. He’s a good runner but very avg on the other two.
I had an awful run saturday but still had 12 mins on him coming off the bike. I can’t be much help as far as triclubs and coaching But the one thing i would say is to lay off the running and only maintain it because hes doing just fine there.
He needs to just race in some local MN races first, he will learn a lot perhaps now is not the time for sponsors. The best idea I have is to find people to train with. I live in shoreview, and meet with two of my friends (who look a lot alike for some reason) for bike workouts on tuesday. If he is interested have him email me at sam.hauck@gmail.com I would also suggest joining one of the numerous local racing teams for running.
For his needs, I recommend looking in to the Minnesota Triathlon Club (MNTriClub) http://www.mntriclub.com since they have an associated masters swim club (MNTriMasters) with a swim coach.
Two shops to mention. Gear West is definately the most ellite team with a lot of good athletes on them. Also one of the very few tri-specific shops in the twin cities. The bad new is that they’re in Wayzata (extreme west side of the cities) so, depending on where your friend lives, it can be a pain to go out there.
County Cycles is on the east side of the cities and has a more recreational tri team. There are a couple ellite females and a couple ellite males, but no pros. Depending on how new to the sport your friend is, they offer a triathlete development program in the spring that has a strong emphasis on swimming.
scsmultisport.com has a bunch of training options/coaching. gear west tri club has wednesday rides. mntrimasters.com has swimming stuff almost 3 times per week. erick’s and freewheel have group rides, but they are prob less tri-centric. midwestevents.com is a good spot to research coaching stuff.
This kid is 20, right? He should definitely try contacting scs multisport, as they train a lot of juniors (U-23) and have a very strong contingent of guys he could potentially train with or at least get advice from.
Swimming: The U of M has a swim club that’s supposed to be pretty good. They work out in the mornings at 6:30 or so. I don’t swim with them, but do swim at the U during the academic year - it’s a nice facility that’s open to the public during some times. Other than that, lots of people swim at Lifetime clubs, the Highland pool (50m outdoors), or the Lillydale Yacht Club. Square Lake is a bit of a drive, but it’s the best open water around.
Biking: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday rides leave from Grand Performance in St. Paul at 7:30am. Tuesday is intervals, Thursday is sprints, and Saturday is a longer mix. Do not show up with aero bars. It’s a Pro/1/2 vibe, especially during the week. A good way to get fast quick. Advise him to ride hard and keep his mouth shut.
Running: The good clubs in town are invitation-only, but if he can get in 2:30 marathon shape he might be welcome. I don’t know about the more pedestrian clubs, but they do exist. For solo running, the river, lakes, greenway, and Summit Ave are the best places in the city.
My email address is in my profile; feel free to contact me directly with any further questions.