BIOGRAPHY
Youngster:
I was born in Chippewa Falls, WI where I lived with my parents, Mike and Julie, and two sisters, Sarah and Melissa,
throughout my childhood. I've been hyperactive since the day I was born. As a youngster whenever I didn't have anyone to play
sports with I would get out there for hours on my own shooting free throws, throwing a baseball against
a wall, or tossing a football to myself. I had the drive to improve from an early age. I got started
with endurance sports at the age of 12 when I joined my middle school cross country team. I instantly
liked the fact that on race day I was the only one that could control whether I succeeded or not.
High School:
In my junior year of high school my track coach, Marty Bushland, convinced me to forego the basketball and baseball seasons
to focus solely on
running. This decision paid off as I went on to take 2nd at the WI State Meet in the 1600m and 3200m as well
as broke the school records in the 800m (1:57), 1600m (4:16), and 3200m (9:26). From these accomplishments
I earned a scholarship to run at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI where I would major in Information Technology.
College:
While at Marquette I was directed by
another great coach, Dave Uhrich, and worked my way to becoming captain of the cross country and track teams. This
is also where I met my beautiful wife Jen who just happens to be a national qualifier in the 5K (16:53).
Profession:
After graduating from Marquette Jen and I got married and decided to move away from the frigid Wisconsin weather so we each picked 5 cities and did some
research. We finally decided on Charlotte, NC as our new home and started looking for jobs. During this time I took
some time away from running to focus on my
career in web development, take on some new hobbies like real estate, and create athleticore.com. For my profession I started off at a small web consulting company working with Microsoft technologies such as ASP.Net and SQL Server
and after 5 years I moved on to work at one of the largest banks in the US as a web developer using the same
technologies as previously. Even though I continued to excel at my web development profession, I realized that something was missing.
Programming is not something that you can really compete at. At this time one of my friends was training
for an Ironman so I started training with him for a month and signed up for Ironman WI a month later.
Triathlon:
I started training for triathlon in August of 2004. Since I was now without a coach I read every book, magazine, article, and blog that
I could get my hands on to learn everything I could on the sport. After a year of training without a
coach I decided to work with another great triathlon coach, Sonni Dyer, and also worked with a nutrition coach, Rick Kattouf, to
learn everything that I could from the both of them. The knowledge I've accumulated over the years and
consistent hard work has taken me from an 11:47 first time Ironman in 2005 to an 8:49 Ironman PR in 2007. As an amateur
I qualified for the Ironman World Championships in 2006 and set a M30-34 course record at Florida in 2007 with my 8:49 performance.
I turned pro in 2008 and was plagued with a lower back injury thoughout the entire season. I spent the fall and winter of 2008 rehabbing my
injury and in 2009 I am 100% healthy again. For the 2009 season I have gone back to my fast twitch roots and have moved down to focus on the 70.3 distance
for this season.
Personality:
I can probably be best described as analytical, ultra competitive, hard working, and goal oriented. Even
though I've read my share about the sport, I also like to try different things on myself and ask a lot of
questions from those around me. I have time-trialed 240 miles straight, I test my
nutrition on the toughest courses I can find in the NC mountains, and try different strategies on race day
to see what works and what doesn't. I think that is where you truly learn about yourself and the sport. I like
to test my boundaries and I like to excel at anything that grabs my attention.
VITALS
- Height: 6'1"
- Weight: 160 lbs
- Resides: Charlotte, NC
- Hometown: Chippewa Falls, WI
- Wife: Jen
- Personal Records:
70.3 Distance: 4:02 (27:29, 2:13:03, 1:18:48)
Ironman: 8:49 (53:07, 4:49, 3:01)
Running: Mile - 4:09, 5K - 15:25, 8K - 24:42;
Cycling: 4 min Computrainer - 419 watts, 30 min Computrainer - 368 watts
Swimming: 50yds push - 0:26, 100yds push - 0:57, 500yds push - 5:54
ATHLETIC MERITS:
- Ironman personal best of 8:49 (53 min swim, 4:49 bike, 3:01 run)
- 70.3 personal best of 4:02 (27:29 swim, 2:13 bike, 1:18 run)
- Ironman Florida M30-34 Age Group Course Record Holder (8:49)
- Went from 11:47 IM to 8:49 IM in 2 year period
- Qualified for pro card after 3 years of racing triathlons
- 2006 M25-29 AG Ironman World Championships qualifier
- Marquette University Track & Cross Country Captain; Mile PR - 4:09
- Self taught swim from 1:03 IM swim to 53 min IM swim in 2 year period
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