Blog Moving to Endurancemag.com

Hey, Everyone

We have started posting all of our blogs at our homesite www.endurancemag.com
For blog entries, you can go to http://www.endurancemag.com/endurance-blog.

Looking forward to seeing your comments!

Congrations IM Florida Participants!

Wow! 97 people from North Carolina raced in Saturday's IM Florida in Panama City Beach (my only IM to date) including Nick Frank who won the M30-34 Age Group and was 18th overall! Congratulations Nick! We'll put the full list of participants up here shortly!

Endurance Brand Peanut Butter

Okay, this is really just in the idea phase at this point. But we're thinking about making our own brand of peanut butter. Thys (pronounced tice), our Director of Events, eats so many PB&J's we think he is secretly sponsored by Smuckers. But don't be fooled, we are serious endurance athletes as evidenced by the community jar of peanut butter here in the office. You know a company is comprised of real endurance athletes when rather than having a coffee pot, we have a community peanut butter jar. Jelly varies. Clearly, this picture is not of the All Natural peanut butter, organic jelly and 100% Whole Wheat Bread we use... but you get the idea.

Congratulations Kona Participants!

North Carolina sent 14 athlete's to the big show at Kona this weekend! Congratulations to all who raced including our January cover story and double-lung transplant Scott Johnson, our October cover story Kelly Bruno, Inside Out Bike Sales Manager Mike Beaman, Charlotte Coach Lance Leo and Nasrin Azari and Denise Larson (I had the pleasure of trying to keep up with them on a 120-mile ride recently). Shout out to other Ironman who I haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet: Jeanna Chain, Farrell Hudzik, Brian Eitzen, Jason Schuette, David Daggett, Jessica Utter, Christopher Knighten.

Swim Times Posted for RR-Charlotte

All Ramblin' Rose Charlotte participants can now go online to see their official swim start time. Please remember that even though your swim time may not be until well after the first (and fastest) swimmers jump into the pool at 8:00 AM, the transition area will be CLOSED at 7:45 AM! Please have your transition area organized, bike racked, timing chip picked up, and your body marked well before then.

Good luck to everyone, and remember to smile during the race!

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Specialized Future Shock Pump

Stopped by the Bicycle Chain the other day and picked up the Specialized Future Shock Pump for my bike. If you don't already do so, you should check your shock pressure at least once a week (if you're riding 3-4 days like me). Your front shock should be 50% of your body weight and your rear shock should be 100%.

Mountain Biking at Umstead State Park

After two back to back days of 40+ miles each, I can safely say I know the trails at Umstead Park like the back of my hand. I rode mostly the Reedy Creek and N/S Turkey Loop trails on Friday, and more of the same on Saturday except that I threw in five climbs on Cedar Ridge, a more gravelly and steeper climb than other parts of the park. It's a great beginner's ride. Unfortunately, I probably won't ride it again until after La Ruta as I will be searching out more technical trails.