About me...

I'm a very competitive person. I don't triathlon for the heck of it...I want to be good at this and I think I can. However, EVERY time I'd start making some progress with training on my own...I'd get sick or I'd get injured and then stop training....rinse, repeat x the last 8 years. I'd actually wondered if I should just give this up but my wife knew I needed to keep on going with it and she and I agreed I needed someone who knew what the heck they were doing to coach me up. 

What I needed, was someone I could trust, someone with a proven track record of success and someone who could take as much of the thinking out of it for me. I'm used to being in charge, and I don't cede control easily so the trust factor was easily the most important. I've got more injuries than I care to remember and I'm coming off a complete reconstruction of my right shoulder last May. This is my last real shot at serious training so I had to get this right. 

I've known Eric for the better part of the last 8 years and always enjoyed it when he was part of a group ride or training event. I've seen the success his cats have had over the years and he's never been hesitant to give me some advice when I asked so he was naturally someone I considered. We met and talked about all my issues (and there are many!) and I came away impressed with the in depth knowledge he possess as well as the attention to detail. I was also impressed that he does not hand out 'cookie-cutter' programs...that's the sign of an inferior coach in my opinion as everybody has different needs to achieve their goals. So, long and short I hired Eric on November 10th. I hadn't run in forever, swan the most gingerly 5 x 100 in history but was hitting the trainer pretty hard so I felt ok there. 

2 months later...WOW. All I can say is I'm nearly back in my paratrooper shape days! I am running (Pain free for the first time in 8 years) and getting faster all the time. Nothing hurts and I look forward every day to the challenge. After he tweaked a few things, my swimming is really coming along as well and I LOVE the bike workouts (well, love/hate) Let me be clear...if you aren't ready to be challenged...you may need to re-think your commitment. This stuff is WORK. Hard work. He has a unique ability to design a workout that I go into feeling good about..then once I get going the dread kicks in...and I wonder if I'm going to finish...but there there hasn't been workout that I couldn't do. I'm in the best shape I can remember and I have Eric to thank for it. I'm SUPER pumped about my race qualifying race in late April (St.Anthony's triathlon in Tampa) and I really think I can achieve me race goals which are to eventually qualify for worlds at Olympic distance. Thanks for every Coach! 

Joe