Ben Hoffman
They call me Hoff.
My life in triathlon began when I was a university student in Missoula, Montana, in the fall of 2003. Looking for a way to get some fitness back from the halcyon days of youth when I played soccer, basketball, golf, and rock climbed, I jumped in with the squad and began the arduous journey of learning to swim. Cycling came fairly easy from the days of riding tours with my parents across the American west, and I had run enough playing ball sports and two years of track in High School that I was able to get that back to a respectable level. After a couple of seasons with decent results, and a trip to South America to study for 6 months, I returned to get serious about the sport in late 2005. 2006 was the Summer of Glory, in which I lived out of a car with my friend while racing across Canada and the Pacific Northwest, earning enough money to put gas in the vehicle and pay for food. Upon returning to Missoula that fall, I had spent all of my money in Europe during a month-long adventure by rail, and I took care of a cabin high in the woods for a month. During the weeks of simple living, and running in the snow, I had the time I needed to figure out what I wanted to do next.
And what to do next was move to Durango, Colorado, where I could commit to the pursuit of professional triathleticism, logging the miles at altitude and even scoring a 3rd place at my first pro race at Wildflower in 2007. After a few years of doing the part-time work gig, I bagged my other job and went all-in with racing and training, winning an Ironman and 70.3 in 2010, and spending winters in Tucson, AZ. Feeling the need for a change of scenery and a boost to the training resources, I moved to Boulder in 2011, and have made it my summer base. I always told myself that I would only keep racing triathlon as long as it was fun, and so far I’m not too worried about that. The camaraderie amongst athletes, the challenge of training and competing, traveling to new places, helping develop the best equipment, and dedicating my days to health are all reasons why I have the best job around.
Here are some super interesting facts about me, and some not so interesting ones too, depending on your outlook!
Favorite Rides:
Mt. Lemmon, Coalbank and Molas Passes, Engine Creek Trail, Lefthand Canyon
Favorite Races:
Grizzly Triathlon, Boise 70.3, Wildflower, Ironman Lake Placid, Ironman St. George
Favorite Foods/Beverages:
Good pizza, fish tacos, bacon, chocolate, bacon chocolate, COFFEE, Pellegrino, wine.
First Bike:
Huffy with tiger stripes, but I still consider my 2001 Specialized Allez Elite M4 (a.ka. The Green Machine) the first bike I really rode hard, touring Colorado and other places, racing my first triathlons, and then converting to a fixed gear that caused me to crash on my face once when I tried to answer a phone call from my mom while commuting to work.
Future Goals:
I would like to keep winning races, and then win some bigger ones, like world championships. I like the half distance, but Ironman is where you always see the most potential for improvement, and the biggest stage, Kona.
What I ride:
Shiv- Wicked fast, comfortable for the long distances, and damn sexy!
Tarmac SL4- My go to for long road bike training rides. Incredibly light and stiff, yet plush for the miles ahead.
Venge- With a name like Venge, you know it’s good! Fast, fast, faster.
S-Works Epic 29er- Best mountain bike. Ever. Lighter, stiffer, and rolls over anything. Love me some trail shreddin’!
Specialized saddles (Toupe, Phenom, Romin), Shoes (S-Works road, S-Works MTB, S-Works Tri), and Helmets (TT, Prevail).
Support Crew:
Specialized has the best support around for its athletes, and it’s only getting better. Big shout out to ace wrenches Joe and Jeff, Mal and Sean, and all my teammates.

Doing Work
March 11, 2012The days are bleeding one into the next lately, but I am happy to report that training has picked up substantially, and the body is responding well to the increased load. With my sights set on racing Oceanside 70.3 in late March, and then tackling Ironman St. George in early May, it’s been important to ramp things up and get in good mileage. The beauty of training and racing at this stage in my life is that I come back each year with some benefit from the previous season, and the mind is more finely tuned with the accumulated experience. I will say that the volume of the training load has numbed my brain a little over the past month, but I’m finally coming up for air on an easier week and beginning to see some of the benefits from the miles I’ve logged.
Reflecting on the month of February, I can say without a doubt that I am ahead of where I was last year, and although I am not feeling particularly honed for racing just yet, I have been doing the necessary work from which I will gain that top end. The weather in Tucson has been absolute perfection this winter, with hardly any rain, and very few days below 65 degrees. I’ve had time to explore some new rides, including a favorite that made my list for three straight weeks. Arivaca is easily one of the best rides around, with gradual climbs and absolutely dead empty roads that cross the barren desert south of Tucson. It’s funny because every time I would come back into town from the 130 mile loop, I would start getting a little agro about traffic, but only because it seemed so intense after seeing just a handful of cars for the 4 hours prior. I also managed several assaults on Mt.Lemmon, including an epic day with The Cycling House crew where we tackled the backside: 102 miles round trip with somewhere near 8,000 feet of climbing and 30 miles of fairly rough dirt roads. Another highlight was a quick two day trip to Sierra Vista, where Brendan, Linsey, Drew, and I all rode through the higher elevation roads around Bisbee, Tombstone, and Sonoita. I’ll definitely look to get back there soon. Finally, SRAM had a dealer event here in Tucson, so I jumped in for a nice spin out west with the crew… Always great when the sponsors come to you!
But riding isn’t the only thing I’ve been up to. Running has been the area where I see the most potential for improvement right now, so I’ve been working hard on the new approach: speed differentiation and proper form for efficiency and injury prevention. Although I’ve got a long way to go, I can see the changes, and with an injection of new trails, plenty of laps on the Santa Cruz River path, and some video analysis, I’m getting faster all the time.
Finally, I’ve been hitting the pool hard, managing solid yards with the Ford Aquatics Masters group at U of A, smashing myself for long swims on Sunday afternoons with Dolphins of the Desert, doing stroke work with Sean in the evenings, and hitting the stretch cords and light weights at home. I’ve come a long way even from the end of last year, and things weren’t too shabby back then… Outlook is good!
After a slightly milder week, I’m back at it, upping the intensity some for Oceanside, but keeping my eye on the prize for St. George. Looking forward to the next big block, and the return to Boulder after the first two big races of the year. Full gas!
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Back [But Not Back to Back to Back] in Branson.
September 27, 2012 -
Putting the "W" in Wisconsin
September 17, 2012 -
Season Update
August 30, 2012 -
3rd Place Ironman Kansas 70.3
June 21, 2012 -
Ironman St. George Victory at Last
May 9, 2012 -
Oceanside
April 12, 2012 -
Desert Classic Duathlon Disaster
March 12, 2012 -
Doing Work
March 11, 2012 -
Chile
January 26, 2012 -
1st Place Ironman Branson 70.3
September 27, 2011 -
1st Place Ironman Muncie 70.3
August 9, 2011 -
1st Place Ironman Boise 70.3
August 9, 2011 -
4th Place Ironman St. George
May 24, 2011 -
Oceanside 70.3
April 14, 2011 -
4th Place Desert Classic Duathlon/ 2011 Kickoff
March 24, 2011 -
12th Place Abu Dhabi International Triathlon
March 24, 2011 -
Almost to Mexico...
December 28, 2010 -
Running.
November 10, 2010 -
Seasons of change
November 8, 2010 -
Island time... Pt. 3/Back home
October 25, 2010 -
Island Time... Pt. 2
October 20, 2010 -
Island Time... Pt. 1
October 19, 2010 -
Kona Race Report.
October 19, 2010 -
Aloha!
October 13, 2010 -
1st Place Black Canyon Sprint Triathlon
October 3, 2010 -
The Gathering.
September 29, 2010 -
Kona.
September 29, 2010 -
1st Place Ironman Branson 70.3
September 21, 2010 -
The past few weeks...
August 23, 2010 -
1st Place Ironman Lake Placid
August 16, 2010 -
Activation Energy.
July 7, 2010 -
3rd Place Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3
June 30, 2010 -
2nd Place Ironman Boise 70.3
June 18, 2010 -
1st Place Xterra Four Corners.
June 7, 2010 -
Iron Horse Weekend
June 7, 2010 -
I am Specialized.
May 11, 2010 -
2nd Place Ironman St. George
May 10, 2010 -
Spring Campaign
April 22, 2010 -
St. George.....
April 6, 2010 -
7th Place Oceanside 70.3
April 5, 2010 -
Happiness as Survival
March 10, 2010 -
2nd Place Desert Classic Duathlon
March 2, 2010 -
Triathlon Bootcamp/San Diego
February 22, 2010 -
Tucson Training
February 1, 2010 -
2010 Kickoff
January 21, 2010 -
Arizona Weekend/Offseason....
November 30, 2009 -
Winter Running
November 16, 2009 -
Perth/Offseason
November 10, 2009 -
Kona Report
October 23, 2009 -
Kona Week 3
September 28, 2009 -
Past the Illusion
September 24, 2009 -
Kona Week 2
September 22, 2009 -
1st Place Lavaman Keaohou Triathlon
September 15, 2009 -
Aloha!
September 14, 2009 -
Lake Stevens 78.3
August 22, 2009 -
2nd Place Ironman Calgary 70.3, Montana/Canada Roadtrip
August 3, 2009 -
6th Place Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3
July 5, 2009 -
4th Place Ironman Boise 70.3
June 15, 2009 -
Know your limits... and then change them.
May 26, 2009 -
Another solid week of training
May 12, 2009 -
9th Place Wildflower
May 6, 2009







