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The latest news:

5/10/08 Congrats RSC Coach Tess Taintor on your first place overall female and 2nd place overall human in the Waukee CARE 10k race!

5/6/08 Coach Mike Garton is back from Africa. Mike was honored to be asked to serve as the Assistant coach for Team USA at the Richard's Bay Triathlon World Cup in South Africa. Mike spent the week supporting the team for this May 4th event. Matt Reed placed second with some help from his team mates Matt Chrabot and Brian Fleischmann. Sarah Groff dominated the swim and was off the front (leading) the women through lap 4 of the bike. Working with the team was a great experience. Event photos below courtesy of South African amateur photographer Graeme Swarts. Rhino shot was taken by Mike with a point and shoot camera the day after the World Cup.

4/26/08 Congrats RSC Coach Tess Taintor on 3rd overall female in the Drake Half Marathon! Great job Josh Wandrey with a 1:26:50 in the half.

4/19/08 Congrats David Jass on your IM Arizona finish! For his first Iron Man, David faced 20-35mph winds and 90 degree heat. The conditions caused the 3rd highest drop out rate in IM history. Great job on getting it done David!

4/19/08 Congrats Patrick Davis on breaking 2 hours at the Collegiate Nationals! Patrick placed 15th of 755.

4/2/08 Rocket Science Coaching will lead a free transition clinic May 12th at 6:30pm Space limited to the first 150 people. To reserve your spot and receive details email us

3/30/08 Rocket Science coached athlete Patrick Davis followed up his 2nd place overall yesterday with a 1:59:14 and overall amateur WIN in a field of 616 in the Quarter IM race in Galveston. Congrats to Kristen Burgess for placing 8/37 in her age group in the Quarter! Congrats to Rachelle Little for a strong 6:10:41 in her first Half IM race!

3/29/08 Congrats to Rocket Science Athlete Patrick Davis for placing 2nd out of 868 finishers at Galveston with a 56.16 in the sprint length triathlon! Patrick is on the right in black in the image below.

3/14/08 Group Triathlon Training is Now Offered Four Evenings a Week The Ankeny YMCA and Rocket Science Coaching are expanding their very successful group Triathlon Training program. The Ankeny YMCA has the largest and longest running triathlon training program in the region. The classes are lead by USA Triathlon Level II coach Mike Garton. Participants refine their skills, get in super shape and make a bunch of new friends. A one year membership in the TriRacers club is included.

We provide adult swim lessons for beginners. The intermediates and experts get coached swim-team-style workouts. We have all levels of athletes up through race-winners returning session after session. Technical lectures, demos, and guest speakers are scheduled in the class. The typical two hour class includes an hour of swimming plus indoor biking or outdoor running in pace groups. Some of the classes late in the session will meet at the Big Creek beach for open water swim training, outdoor biking, and race simulations.

The session starts the first week of April and runs through June 19th. Starting after the first class is no problem. Late entries allowed until full. Sign up for one, two, three, or all nights. Class meets 6:30-8:30pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Most participants choose to register for two or one evenings per week but you can register for three or four if you like. Participants can only attend swimming and spinning on the nights they officially registered for. Participants can attend the outdoor runs and technical lectures on any night.

The cost for YMCA members is $100 for once a week, $200 for twice a week, $300 for three per week, or $400 for four times per week. Non-YMCA members pay $180 for each night. Register by phone 965-8800, online, or download the form and bring it to the Ankeny YMCA lobby.

3/6/08 Triathlon Kids Program: In another first-in-the-region program, Rocket Science Coaching has created an 8 week triathlon training program for kids 7-14 years old. Held at the beautiful Prairie Ridge Sports Complex in Ankeny. Emphasis will be on fun but the kids will prepare for the Ankeny Youth Triathlon. To register first find the word "register" in the middle of the page here then click on "programs" and find "2008 Triathlon Kids Training".

3/2/08 Open Water Swim Clinic in Ames: Attendees from Ames, Ankeny, and Des Moines got a rare chance to learn and practice open water skills in the winter. .

2/12/08 Fitness Testing at ISU. Rocket Science Coaches tested 25 athletes. Training heart rate intensity zones were established.

2/5/08 Hot swim practice + cold day + open door = Fog swimming.

1/22/08 Rocket Science Coaching was chosen in a competitve pitch as the official coaches of the Iowa State Triathlon Club. The students get swim coaching, training plans, clinics, and fitness testing.

1/2/08 Triathlon Training group sells out again in record time! The Triathlon class that RSC Head Coach Mike Garton leads has once again sold out. Mike has been leading Triathlon Training classes at the Ankeny YMCA since January of 2006. They meet twice a week. October through June.

1/1/08 Tri Racers Big Spin Series continues. We have been hosting weekly 3 hour indoor bike rides. Not everyone chooses to stay for the whole ride. Here is a picture from our December 30th ride (32 athletes in attendance).