Category: Coaches Corner

Empire Tri Club Coach and Co-Founder, Alison Kreideweis was recently interviewed by Triathlete Magazine about how the Coronavirus is impacting our club and coaching business.  Author Chris Foster writes, “As the coronavirus continues to affect our world and change the way we live, we check in with six triathletes to see how one big thing can be experienced in so many different ways.

As of this writing, roughly 850,000 people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, and as the pandemic continues to spread, COVID-19 is something that will likely change the rhythm of our world and our sport for a very long time. As triathletes, our very nature is to seek out challenges, then prepare, adapt, and try to overcome them. In some ways, this crisis is no different. Many triathletes are faced with an ever-shrinking physical world while simultaneously trying to continue doing at least one of the things we love: swim, bike, and/or run. Virtual training groups, virtual races, and “quaranteams” have sprung up to form the communities and challenges that we look for, and triathletes have continued to identify as part of the multisport world even in conditions that were unimaginable only months ago.

We’ve spoken to six triathletes—each in very different geographical areas, with different athletic experience levels, and in different situations. They range from international-level pros to age-groupers to coaches to college athletes. Below we’ve collected some of their observations about how the coronavirus has affected their tiny corner of the world and their perspectives on how they’re coping and what they hope will come next.

Over the next two weeks, we’ll be posting expanded dispatches from each of these six triathletes to give you a closer look at how restrictions, wellness, goals, and personal decisions effectively “create” the smaller world that now surrounds each of them. While not everything is rosy all of the time—in fact, much of it isn’t at all—the fact remains that we are still triathletes preparing, adapting, and overcoming together, even if the challenges have drastically changed.”

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I have been very lucky in being able to take part in athletic competition from early on in my life. Growing up in Germany, I competed as a track runner and swimmer. I took part in my first triathlon at age fourteen. To date, I competed in three Ironman events (just missing a Kona spot in my first attempt), ten Half Ironman events (including the 70.3 World Championship), two NYC marathons and over one hundred smaller events. I was named 2007 Best Male Triathlete by SBR Multisports, 2007 USAT All-American, and accrued many podium finishes. My true passion being cycling, I rode my bike over 1,100 miles in nine days from Germany to Barcelona entirely self-supported in 2009. The highlight of my short bike racing career was winning my category at a New York Time Trial in 2010, placing sixth overall, including pros.

However, only a few weeks later I experienced first symptoms of what was soon diagnosed as Popliteal Artery Entrapment causing a severe reduction of blood flow below my left knee resulting in immediate surgery. The following years lead to eleven more surgeries including a bypass which then failed in 2016. Replacing this bypass was a high-risk procedure which could have led to immediate amputation, so instead I have been rehabbing my left leg from only 30% blood flow with the goal of making it the best it can be. When faced with the decision to keep or amputate my leg, the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) introduced me to athletes and their families who have gone through similar life experiences. It is through my whole family’s interactions with the CAF family we have been able to push through merely losing my left leg. Rather than watching TV in self misery, I was inspired to rally and eventually complete events such as the Dirty Kanza 200, a 200-mile same-day race on gravel with over 11,000 feet of climbing. Now, I am hoping to qualify for Leadville 100 and then attempt the Leadboat after that.

Beyond my personal experiences, CAF is an inspiring non-profit organization that gives hope to thousands of individuals with physical disabilities around the world by providing support, mentoring and grants for adaptive sports equipment, competition and training expenses. The courage and perseverance of these athletes has influenced me and my entire family since we first attended their Heroes, Heart & Hope Gala in 2007. From then we have only become more involved by offering athletes to participate in Empire workouts, volunteering at adaptive swim & run clinics as well as the NYC triathlon and participating in the Million Dollar Challenge , a 7-day cycling event over 620+ miles together with para-athletes.

Start and end with a 1/2 mile warmup/cool down and a short dynamic stretching session. The base for the workout will be your real, 5K race pace. The key is consistency for each 400. (i.e. if you are an 8 minute/mile then your 400 should be at 2:00, your 800 at 4:00 your 1600 at 8:00).

Start and end with a 1/2 mile warmup/cool down and a short dynamic stretching session. The base for the workout will be your real, 5K race pace. The key is consistency for each 400. (i.e. if you are an 8 minute/mile then your 400 should be at 2:00, your 800 at 4:00 your 1600 at 8:00).

Start and end with a 1/2 mile warmup/cool down and a short dynamic stretching session. The base for the workout will be your real, 5K race pace. The key is consistency for each 400. (i.e. if you are an 8 minute/mile then your 400 should be at 2:00, your 800 at 4:00 your 1600 at 8:00).

Start and end with a 1/2 mile warmup/cool down and a short dynamic stretching session. The base for the workout will be your real, 5K race pace. The key is consistency for each 400. (i.e. if you are an 8 minute/mile then your 400 should be at 2:00, your 800 at 4:00 your 1600 at 8:00).

Start and end with a 1/2 mile warmup/cool down and a short dynamic stretching session. The base for the workout will be your real, 5K race pace. The key is consistency for each 400. (i.e. if you are an 8 minute/mile then your 400 should be at 2:00, your 800 at 4:00 your 1600 at 8:00).

Start and end with a 1/2 mile warmup/cool down and a short dynamic stretching session. The base for the workout will be your real, 5K race pace. The key is consistency for each 400. (i.e. if you are an 8 minute/mile then your 400 should be at 2:00, your 800 at 4:00 your 1600 at 8:00).