Welcome to Breakaway Training. My name is Eric and I’m going to be using this space to talk about my experiences with endurance sport and the tangential subjects that inedibly muck up an easy process. But first, a little more about me and why I am a coach.

Back in middle school I ran track and played tennis at a reasonably ok level and enjoyed the camaraderie and competition that came along with participating in sport. As with many kids, I was always out on my bike and running through the woods and simply existing as an active human. In highschool, I earned a lifeguarding certificate and was in the pool daily. When I got my first job before I could drive, I rode my bike in and worked in a busy and demanding kitchen washing dished and bussing tables. 

I was in the best shape of my life. 

Then I earned my drivers license and spent the next 15 years smoking and drinking and not really living my best life. I was disappointed I let myself stray so far from health. Pickup games of basketball and frisbee were not the fun an easy experience they were just a few years before. I reflected on my journey and loss of self and decided to make a change.

I was born on the day of the Indianapolis 500. I had a side gig writing indycar articles and race reports. I wanted to race! But I didn’t know how or where to start. The idea of go-karts and autocross had always swirled in my head, but I landed on bike racing as a cheep way to get fit and compete. 

The journey started with me simply getting on the bike. I was motivated by my fitness I had found at my first job and I attributed that to riding my bike every day. So that’s what I did. I rode my bike every single day for an entire summer and lost almost 100 pounds in the process. 

Cool. Now what? It was cold and snowy and I wasn’t able to ride my bike like I had during the previous summer. I didn’t have a way to ride it inside so I decided to run that winter. At some point during those cold runs, the idea of a triathlon popped into my head. I was already proficient on the bike, was currently running and knew I could get back in the pool. 

Now I really had a goal. 

I doubled up and swimming and running that winter while getting out on my bike when I could. I was lost in training, but I was absolutely motivated by fitness so it didn’t matter. I did what I could, when I could and was thankful I simply could do so. 

March rolled around and It was time to enter a race. I had no idea how to get into bike racing and it was winter so I entered a running race at my old high school. I smoked a cigarette in my car before the race and toed the line some 15 minutes later. I completed the race and was quite happy with my time; I wasn’t happy with the way my lungs were feeling. I smoked for exactly 2 more days before snuffing out the final cigarette of my life. 

The cool March weather gave way to the warmer April weather and I was able to find myself back on a bike in preparation for my first triathlon! It was a pool based triathlon with a 10 mile bike ride and a 5k run. I completed it and was hooked. I trained by butt off and entered 5 more triathlons that summer. 

I never got around to racing my road bike, but I also entered my first mountain bike race that same year. I was terrible and slow but I had a blast. 

It’s been over a decade since I put out that final cigarette. And in that time I have been to triathlon national competition 5 times, won a state champion in Mountain Biking, 2 state championships in Cyclocross, won multiple triathlons and running races and have expanded my love affair with endurance sport. 

Triathlon is my sport because of how dynamic and complex it is. From training to racing to recovering there really isn’t enough time for everything. I have been able to coalesce my 9-5 job of interpersonal skills, time management and project prioritization with my deep knowledge of training and endurance sport into a bright and successful coaching business. 

I’m so blessed I have been able to actualize my childhood dream of racing something while actualizing my adult dream of helping people reach their goals. I look forward to the future and what other amazing experiences coaching and endurance sport will have in store for me.