Update from Alex McDonald: EM Contributor/Pro Triathlete

Thys Wind — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:00:00 +0100

Many of you probably already know who Alex McDonald is. Alex moved to NC last year after completing medical school and his full-time gig is now as a professional triathlete for Timex - something most of us can only dream about. Alex is obviously known for being fast (2007 IM Lake Placid winner, 2007 & 2008 Duke Half IM winner, etc.), but he's also a super nice guy. Most age-groupers know Alex as the "fast guy that cheers for everyone as he's winning the race." I received an email fromRead More...

Battle of the Beards Score Card

Thys Wind — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:00:00 +0100

The winner of the first annual Uwharrie 20-Mile Mountain Run "Battle of the Beards" contest will be determined by the total score of the following 3 categories.

1. FINISH TIME (Thys "The Terror" Wind has the advantage.)
Based on official time rounded off the nearest minute.
3:00 or faster = 10 pts
3:01-3:15 = 9 pts
3:16-3:45 = 8 pts

Competing Ideas

Thys Wind — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:00:00 +0100

At the risk of oversimplifying things, I think you can pretty much divide endurance athletes into 2 groups: competitors and casual athletes. The former group is focused primarily on attaining PRs, podiums, trying out the latest and greatest training strategies and equipment, and always striving to go longer and/or faster. Suffering is an acceptable part of the equation. The latter group seems more interested in the more, shall we say, "organic" reasons for partaking in endRead More...

Bailout Plan for the Endurance Athlete

Thys Wind — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:00:00 +0100

The other day I was running through the quiet forest in Umstead State Park. With the leaves falling to the ground around me and the oxygen-rich air feeding my brain, I started thinking about the Bailout Plan. Not the one that we've all heard so much about on the news lately, but the one that you actually have some degree of control over, and one that has been shown to be absolutely 1Read More...

Race Without A Trace logo 2.0

Thys Wind — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:00:00 +0100

Our "green" initiative, Race Without A Trace, has been a huge success this year. Stay tuned for some hard data on just how effective it really was with respect to the amount of event-related waste we saved/recycled and the extent to which we minimized our carbon footprint across the 5 events that Read More...

Cross-training-it does a body good!

Thys Wind — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:00:00 +0100

There is not a single training methodology that endurance athletes should embrace more than the concept of cross-training. Most endurance athletes are aware of the importance of varying their training intensity and duration over the course of any training cycle. Many, however, do not vary their mode of training often enough, if at all. Some runners, for example, train foRead More...

Newton Running Shoe Review

Thys Wind — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:00:00 +0100

Getting new running shoes is always exciting, especially if you have an interest in the constantly-emerging shoe technologies available on the market. At the top of my most recent wish list was a pair of Newton Running shoes. Fortunately, they were kind enough to send us a pair to review. The shoes came in a cool mesh bag along with a free pair of socks and a DVD. Good first impression: check. Read More...

Perks & Bennies

Thys Wind — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:00:00 +0100

Working a "traditional" job is so over-rated! Take it from me. I've been on both sides of the fence, and now that I'm fortunate enough to work at Endurance Magazine I'm certain that the grass is NOT greener on the other side. Why, you ask. Well, here's just a sampler of some of the perks & benefits (bennies) that life at EM HQ affords us: flexible workRead More...

How about now?

Thys Wind — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:00:00 +0100

Sunday the 13th of July started early for me. I arrived at Lake Crabtree at about 6:15 AM to take part in the Triangle Triathlon. Joe and Steve had other commitments so I was there to represent Endurance Magazine the best I could. The race went well and I enjoyed hanging out with my good friend Ricardo (November 2007 cover and star WindSpeed client) afterwards. Just as a side note, Ricardo told me about how he's "building" a bike, which to me means you just order a frame and a bunch of coRead More...

The Lead Pack: Marshall Ulrich

Thys Wind — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:00:00 +0100

Joe sent me a random link this week with a subject line that read "Check out this guy...." I opened it and was introduced to a guy I have never heard about, but certainly should have. Now I know that Marshall Ulrich is the man! No, I mean THE man (if you're into feats of endurance). Marshall is gearing up to run across the country in record time with another amazing athlete, Charlie Engel. As a warmRead More...

Endurance (Dual) Citizen

Thys Wind — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:00:00 +0100

Steve has been busy designing some very slick race kits for our team to wear at upcoming triathlons and running events. While we all enjoy competing, none of us are elite athletes. Instead, it might be more appropriate to refer to us as "endurance citizens". We are part of the same community that we also work so hard to inspire. Without giving away too much, these race kits will embrace that notion.

Read More...

"green" coffee drinkers

Thys Wind — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:45:54 +0100

Our twice-a-day trip to the Starbucks next door is always worthwhile, but it results in a pile of used coffee cups. We're reminded of that when it comes time to take out the trash, when we find out that 90% of what we're throwing out consists of used java cups.

Today Joe and I decided enough is enough. We are now proud owners of reusable coffee mugs. I tell ya, being "green" feels good!

Check out this site that Joe pointed me to: http://sustainability.publicradio.Read More...

Catching our breath.

Thys Wind — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:16:33 +0100

Wow, what a ride!

It's May 1st and all of us here in the office are still catching our breath from an exhilarating month of April. In the past few weeks we produced the Carrboro Classic Endurance Sports Festival, Franklin 5000, and Tar Heel 10 Miler, and based on the feedback that we're getting I feel confident that we did a good job of it. Of course, we had tremendous support from our key sponsors and benefactors, most notably Fleet Feet Carrboro, the Swim for Smiles FoundatioRead More...

Hot off the press! Get your Carrboro Classic Digital Goodie Bag!

Thys Wind — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:02:09 +0100

For those of you who have not been following our environmental "makeover", we have rolled out the Race Without A Trace initiative to help make our events more environmentally-friendly. Perhaps THE best way to start making a positive difference with respect to eliminating waste is to revamp the idea of a traditional goodie bag. As you know, goodie bags, while sometimes fun, lead to a tremendous amount of paper and plastic waste, much of which doesn't make it to the recycling bin.

Read More...

Carrboro Classic to host local farmers!

Thys Wind — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:38:01 +0100

The Carrboro Farmers Market has committed to coming out to this year's Carrboro Classic on April 6th! I'm hopeful that this will be the start of a long-term association between the event and the Farmer's Market.

Fresh kale, collards, sweet potatoes, savoy cabbage, turnips, and other locally-grown treats will be provided by the ever-populated Stanley Hughes from the Pine Knot Farm. Leslie Heinzeman from Sari Sari Sweets will be bringing her tasty home-baked goods, including oatmeaRead More...

Time to go bananas!

Thys Wind — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 15:09:57 +0100

Whole Foods Market of Chapel Hill has just committed to providing about 500 organically-grown bananas for our Carrboro Classic and Franklin 5000/Tar Heel 10 Miler events. That's a lot of bananas, so you can be sure that your potassium needs will be met on April 6th and April 26th.

With only 3 weeks to go before the Carrboro Classic (4/6), things will likely be very busy around the office as we go down our pre-race checklist of things to do, including wrapping up volunteer recruiRead More...

Volunteer at our April events!

Thys Wind — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:53:28 +0100

Our events are great for many reasons. That's usually what I rant and rave about in these blogs. One thing I should mention, however, is that NOTHING is as important to ensuring a successful race day outcome than volunteers.

Next month we're putting on two large events; the Carrboro Classic Endurance Sports Festival on April 6 and the Franklin 5000/Tar Heel 10 Miler April 26. Thankfully, we receive tremendous volunteer support from our charitable benefactors, but there are stillRead More...

LET'S GO GREG! #219 Rocks!

Thys Wind — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:32:16 +0100

After a year of really dedicated training, my good friend and coaching client, Greg Mathe is taking on his first Ironman today!

He's actually in the water right now for the swim portion of this year's IM New Zealand. The water is calm and looks oh so inviting. Should prove to be a fast day of racing!

Thanks to Ironmanlive I can follow his every move. It'll be a long day. Hopefully Greg executes his gameplan to perfection.

Tar Heel 10 Miler approved!

Thys Wind — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:03:51 +0100

The Town of Carrboro has approved the Tar Heel 10 Miler! This is a big deal as it's now the longest distance running event on record approved for the Chapel Hill/Carrboro community!

This landmark event will showcases downtown Chapel Hill, downtown Carrboro and the beautiful neighborhoods in this region. Our hope is that it will help put our running community on the 'national map'.

The Tar Heel 10 Miler takes place in conjunction wRead More...

ON AIR

Thys Wind — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:44:47 +0100

This morning Steve and I met at the 1360 WCHL studio, in Chapel Hill. WCHL is a proud sponsor of the Franklin5000 and they've agreed to conduct several radio interviews with our team to help us get the word out about Chapel Hill's Premier Running Experience.

Things were surprisingly casual. I was half hoping to be whisked off to some sort of green room where I would be tRead More...

Blog entries from Thys Wind