Happy 5th Birthday Train-This!

Five years ago I was on the phone with one of my lifelong friends, Rich. As I look back I think, man we've been through a lot as friends. The end of life, the beginning of life, our families growing...... Rich and his wife actually met at my baby shower. He's our son's Godfather. His family is family to us.

I don't know how many years ago Rich and his friends opened a company called Score-This. And on the phone that one day so long ago we joked around about companies with names that were a take off of Score-This.

If you were a dentist it'd be Yank-This, a home repair guy it'd be Fix-This, a photographer would be Flash-This, lawyer..... Sue-This.....a Hooker would be..... well you get the picture.

We joked that if I were a triathlon coach I could own a company called Train-This. I remember us laughing and I remember telling him how neat it would be to work with athletes as a coach in the sport I have essentially grown up in.

After hanging up the phone...... one of us called the other back and said..... you know what? I am interested. At the time I was working with Doug Bush of Endurance Factor, who was my encourager, my mentor and one of the biggest supporters in me moving forward.

Today Train-This turns five years old and as I look back I have to be absolutely honest..... it's been absolutely wonderful. Through the past five years I have had the honor of working with many athletes of all abilities, shapes, sizes, with different goals aspirations and dreams.

When I attended my first USAT Coaching Certification I remember Alan Lei, who I thought was a very gifted teacher tell us this:

"Remember that these are people's lives." That's my favorite thing.

I love coaching, I love what I do, it's very unique. I love that first meeting I have with my athletes, I love to do it over coffee (my office is Starbucks), because it's important to me to see the face of whom I am working with. I have a few new athletes on the roster whom I have spoken to yet have not met face to face and that's hard for me, but something I am trying to get used to.

I love to hear how and why people came to multsiport. It's exhilarating to me to listen to the first story of how someone got into their first tri, or 5K, or whatever it is. We have all been there. No one the in the world walks up to their first one entirely prepared for everything the day brings, yet nearly everyone walks away wanting to be a part of that lifestyle.

I love working with an athlete through the weeks that no one sees. The winter training rides in the basement, the field testing that they bring themselves to, the improvements, the ah-ha moments, the moments of: will I ever get there? I love to watch people grow. I love to learn from the people I work with. I learn so much more from them than I am sure they ever learn from me.

I love watching them race and watching them finish. Their finishes are always better than my own. I've been there, I have been there many times. I have won, lost, broken records, done it all. Through coaching I have learned that it's more than about first place and the accolades that come along with it, that by far is my most important lessons.

It's about being with people. Through coaching I ave gotten to work with some amazing people. Especially Rich and the crew from Score-This. Rich has been my friend, business advisor, and just about everything you can imagine. To the Train-This athletes Score-This is an extension of us.

First Russ and now Glenn of Tri Running and Walking gave us a place to find all the goods we need, proper running shoes, wetsuits, nutrition. A place to hang out.

John Galbraith of TWIN Advertising created our awesome website and we are working on an updated site that we will unveil in January. John and his staff worked so patiently with me to show me how this website stuff all works, I gave them creative control (just like my wedding.... whatever you think works best!)

Jeff Henderson and the whole Musselman crew. The Musselman came to town in 2004 and I have to say that Henderson is the absolute king of bringing pieces of a community together for a great cause. Your friendly Train-This Ironman Team is always your Musselman Transition crew, a job we've held proudly and done well for a few years now. remember the year we all dressed up? That's coming back baby!

Our athletes. Without you guys none of this would have ever happened. I remember the first male who came to me for coaching, he's part of our alumni group and his email made me laugh because at the time our website had sunflowers on it! The Wev is an absolute staple for our team.

The one person whom I must thank the most profusely, is Curt Eggers, pictured here in Germany 2007. I can't remember why we dines with his disc wheel but I do remember the time I stole it for a race and he almost had a heart attack.

Always always always Curt is the wind beneath my wings. I am very sure that there has been many times when this business has been irritating to him. The athletes invading our house, like the time Sarah practically broke in and gave him a heart attack in search of Carbo Pro. The half naked girls running around.... okay just kidding that doesn't happen all that often.

Curt and I met on a 50 mile ride back in 1995, or 96.... something like that. You could say the rest is history. As a girl I wondered what married life would be like..... and it's nothing I ever imagined it to be. I didn't know it could be so much fun. But I guess that's what happens when you find your soul mate, things just work when you click. I am so very lucky and blessed to have fallen in love with someone who loves life just as much as I do. Curt has supported me through more than you can imagine, listened and laughed with me more than anyone ever has and ever will. I am so incredibly proud to be his wife..... after all he's a sub ten doode, who wouldn't?

I also have to thank our son Luc, pictured below from Halloween last night (guess which one he is!)

Luc has been through a lot in his life. Open heart surgery, two broken legs. He was through his first Ironman finish at 11 months old....... without being forced into the sport he just seems to fall naturally into it. He's completed several kids races and this year is begging to join the swim team. This summer many of your timing chips were string by him (sorry about the double chips.....). I feel like in many ways the athletes that I work with have helped us raise him too.

He looks a little tortured in this picture however........
Lastly but certainly not least...... I must thank all of the athletes of Train-This. Past, present and future. For picking up the phone or sending the email of ..... can I do this? I laugh at where I have met some of these people. Ed for example thinks we met at 5:30 in the morning in line for IMLP but truthfully we met the day before at mile 18 of the Ironman marathon, for some reason he was at a God Loves You aid station (trust me.... everyone finds God at mile 18 of the Ironman....) and I begged him for salt......

Without the incredible people that I get to work with, none of this would exist. I am grateful to this team more than anything in the world. My vision in creating Train-This was to create a community, a family, a team. And that's what we have been able to do. We've got a branch in Washington DC, and here in Rochester we've just brought on an assistant coach. Not only have I been fortunate to work with amazing athletes, but amazing coaches who share in the vision of community.

A few images of the people I get to work with (hop by our page on FaceBook for many more pictures, loading pictures here is such an incredible pain.... we are under Train-This Multisport Coaching).

Sarah is on the right, I don't' even know which run this was after.........

Jon had a little issue with wanting his daughter's bike or something............

Some of the crew at our Ironman lake Placid camp.......

The past five years have been amazing. More than I could have ever imagined and dreamed of. The next five years ..... I am equally as excited for. We are traveling as a team, we are bringing out a new logo, a new team uniform. We have athletes from Atlanta, New Orleans, Michigan, Montreal, Memphis, Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo...... we are partnering up with places like Tri Spot, and gearing up for three multisport camps this summer.

And I have to thank you, our readers. More of you stop by for a laugh, or a cry, or just a story about life than I ever imagine. When I get the hit reports I think..... wow, I hope I can bring something to their day, I hope I can say one word, relay one story, or give them something to laugh about. To help you realize that we are all human. we make mistakes. We fall, we trip, we stand up, we laugh and we cry. No one is special because they are an Ironman finisher.... it won't cure Cancer or really matter in the end.....

Except to me. Your journey matters to me. If my words help you on that journey I am happy. If you stop by and I irritate the living sh** out of you to the point where you think.... someday I am gonna kick Mary's ass..... good, then I have helped you in some way.

So thanks to everyone for everything you do. Here is to another 5 years!