Gu·ru: any person who counsels or advises; one who guides or inspires others; a mentor.

Hi, I'm Steve. So what qualifies me to be an endurance sport guru you ask?

I began participating as a bike racer at age 14 and kept going nonstop until I was 30. My best guess is that I raced ~1000x during those years including twice most weekends in-season, weekday training races, and quite a few multi-day stage races. I also figure I've put in at least 250,00 miles on a bike since I began riding!

With plenty of energy left for training and racing, yet in need of a change from pure bike racing, I got serious about running and racing duathlon. I had raced one or two local duathlons a year in my 20s, but that involved running just a few times before the race—then limping around on trashed legs the week after! Shifting focus from bike racing to duathlon, I was committed to see how fast I could go as a runner.

After 7 years of racing duathon I got tired of answering the question: "Why don't you race triathlons?" I taught myself to swim at the ripe old age of 39; a new challenge to keep my interest in endurance sports. I've been racing triathlon (with an occasional duathlon) ever since.

Thirty-five years participating nonstop in endurance sports is a lot by anyone's measure (~1000 bike races, ~80 duathlons, ~80 triathlons, not to mention all the run races and a few XC-ski races). I've had some excellent finishes, but there's still one more goal to accomplish before I hang up my race wheels...

First hand experience as an athlete certainly helps a coach, but the correlation between success as an athlete and efficacy as a coach is not a given. I know coaches who were elite athletes but have poor judgment when advising others. A good coach advises taking into account the athlete's experience level. Physical vitality and psychological affinity for training varies significantly from athlete to athlete, combining into a unique level of training ethic; essentially the drive one has to excel in endurance sports.

I'm very analytical. As a young bike racer trying to get the most speed out of myself I would study images of the pros, assessing seat heights, angles between legs, upper body, arms, reach to handlebars, symmetry of pedal stroke, how the body fit on the bike and transferred power most effectively. Applying those parameters, I experimented with my position, and was not shy about advising others.

I studied all the information I could get my hands on about training methods and nutrition. Several experienced coaches helped shape my thoughts over the years. It has always been my style to integrate all the information I came across rather than hold one method as the only way to go. It's clear that endurance athletes succeed with a variety of training regimes; some suit the individual better than others. Taking a macro view, all effective endurance training follows similar patterns, but in the micro view there's much variation...