Athletes from the Mid-Atlantic Region took both the men’s and women’s titles at this year’s Great Floridian in Clermont, Florida, which was designated the USA Triathlon Ultra Distance Championship. Christopher Martin (Princeton Junction, NJ), 28, took the men’s title with a time of 9:40:47. Staci Studer (Virginia Beach, VA), 31, won the women’s overall title with a time of 11:25:54. The event was Studer’s first iron-distance race.
 

The Mid-Atlantic Region’s very own Ken Glah (West Chester, PA) made history in Kona this year. On October 16, 2004, Glah finished his 21^st consecutive Ironman Triathlon World Championship, breaking Lynn Brook’s record of 20 straight finishes. Glah’s 21 Ironman Hawaii races include an amazing 10 top 10 finishes, which ties him for third with the legendary Dave Scott.
 
The overall winners of the men's race was Germany’s Normann Stadler (8:33:29). Nina Kraft was the first female to cross the finish line. However, this past week, she admitted to using an illegal substance (EPO) in the weeks leading up to Hawaii. Kraft has been stripped of her title and second-place finisher Natascha Badmann will reign as the 2004 world champion. See Full Story, for the top five male and female finishers from the Mid-Atlantic Region.
 

 
What a way to end the season. The Cape Henlopon Triathlon and Duathlon, the sixth and final race in the Greater Atlantic Multisport Series, was held on October 10^th, 2004 under beautiful Indian summer skies. The winners in the triathlon were Hollie Kenney (Baltimore, MD) and, in a bit of a surprise finish, Clydesdale John Hartpence (Carlisle, PA). In the duathlon, Matt Cooke, a professional duathlete from Washington, DC, took top honors. The female winner of the duathlon was Heather Houseknecht (Furlong, PA). Houseknecht edged out second place finisher Maggie Freeman (Sea Girt, NJ) by less than 20 seconds.
 

Each month, “Hurricane” Bob Mina joins us to preview a race scheduled to occur in the Mid-Atlantic Region.  This month, Bob previews the Wilkes-Barre Triathlon and the Lums Pond Triathlon and Duathlon.

 The triathlon season is over.  All we have left to look forward to now are the sweet sounds of Al Trautwig telling us all about the day that was IMH, sometime in December, right?  WRONG!  C’mon, cupcake!  You’re fit!  You’re flowing!  You’ve got all this mileage in your legs with nowhere left to go, right?  So run a marathon.  Seriously.  What better way to either improve your running, use the fitness that you’ve got, or at the very least, burn a big enough caloric hole to allow yourself a truly wonderful Thanksgiving feast?
 
The Philadelphia Marathon is what you need.  It’s central to the region.  It’s flat (sort of – not Kansas or New Jersey or Delaware flat, but flat for here).  It’s a Boston Qualifier.  It never closes – you can wait until the day before the race to sign up!
 

The science of speed combines two expert perspectives on seasonal triathlon testing, training, and racing and is sponsored by ELITE Testing (a division of ELITE Health & Wellness) (http://www.elitetesting.com), located in Philadelphia.
 
I’m sure you are all still on cloud 9 after applying the Coach’s prescription for optimal race day mental preparation to hit new PRs in your final races of the season. This month we will focus on one facet that keeps multisport interesting—at times puzzling—that is the difference in heart rates (HRs) between the events. How do you shift your training HRs from running for the bike and swim?

Tara L. DeSorbo, R.D. joins us each month to answer your nutrition questions.  If you have a question that you would like to see answered by Tara in this newsletter, please e-mail her at nutritionalhs@hotmail.com
 
Q:  I am a 40 year old male triathlete.  Each year, as the winter sets in, my training load decreases and I tend to gain a few extra pounds.  Recently, it has been harder and harder to lose this excess weight when my more intense training resumes in the spring.  This winter I was hoping to avoid excessive weight gain so that my whole season isn’t spent trying to get back to where I started.  The problem is that my hunger doesn’t seem to decrease with my training.  I was wondering if you have any ideas as to why I continue to be as hungry and how I can get through this winter lighter.
 
Todd
Downingtown, PA
 

Trenton Tollakson (Hutchinson, KN) and Sunny Gilbert (Boulder, CO) overcame brutally hot weather conditions to prevail at the USA Triathlon National Age Group Championships held on September 18, 2004 in Shreveport, LA. Competitors from the Mid-Atlantic Region also fared well in the heat in Shreveport. Margaret Shapiro (Annandale, VA) finished fifth woman overall and crossed the line less than thirty seconds behind Gilbert, with a time of 2:12:30. Christopher Martin (Princeton Junction, NJ) was the age group champion in the Men’s 25-29 year old category, and Robert Eazer (Murrysville, PA) was the champion in the Men’s 75-79 year old category.
 

USA Triathlon has hired Mike Greer to serve as interim executive director until a permanent executive director is named. Greer, of Ransom, Texas, has served on the USA South Midwest Regional Board, the USAT Board of Directors, and the USAT Race Director’s Commission. He served as president of the USAT Board of Directors in 1994, and also is a past chairman of the Race Director’s Commission.

The Mid-Atlantic Monthly Web Site
http://www.midatlanticmonthly.com
 
USAT Mid-Atlantic Web Site
http://www.usat-ma.org
 
USA Triathlon Web Site
http://www.usatriathlon.org
 
Mid-Atlantic Region Rankings
http://www.lin-mark.com/usat_rank/index.asp
 
Mid-Atlantic Region Club Directory
http://www.lin-mark.com/usatclubsma.htm
 
World Triathlon Corporation (Ironman)
http://www.ironmanlive.com
 
Duathlon.com
http://www.duathlon.com