My story is your story. I have felt the joy, exhilaration, and pride that comes with accomplishing your goals, along with the frustration, fatigue, and physical and emotional pain that too often comes with it. I have competed at a high level, running in dozens of marathons (five Bostons) before finding competitive cycling later in life. I have also worked out for fitness (physical and emotional), fun, and the love of the sport, learning my training through trial and error, self experimentation, and study.
Along the way, running (and now cycling) has been an escape. It “centers” me. And while I may not have always gotten the race result I was training for, through running and cycling tomorrow was always a new day. These sports taught me life lessons like perseverance, self reliance, time management and the knowledge that sometimes life throws some things at you that you just have to work through.
My story in running begins at the namesake for my business: Lakeview Elementary in South Milwaukee. One day, the class was acting up and my teacher said, “I think you kids need some exercise. Why don’t you run around the building?” I did. It was January, six inches of snow on the ground – and we put on our galoshes and ran around the school for 30 minutes. The rest of the kids thought it was punishment. I thought it was fantastic.
So I ran, and I kept running. Cycling came later.
I ran cross-country and track at South Milwaukee High School, where I learned the value of consistent training. Hundred-mile weeks were the expectation, that was training in the 1970s, and my teammates and I embraced it, laughing and joking all the way. It was part of my life.
I was a walk-on for the cross-country team at Marquette University and lasted all of one race. It was too intense. I was way overtrained. I stagnated.
A friend suggested marathons, and I was hooked. I love marathons – the training, prep, organization and planning. I got pretty good at it, too. People began asking me for training advice, and I’d give it to them.
As I competed, I coached.
My coaching career extends more than 40 years. I was the head cross-country and track coach at St. Mary’s Academy and distance coach at South Milwaukee High School, and I have trained others on an individual basis since 1985.
All this while racing about 40 marathons, including five Bostons and a few ultras, including our local Ice Age 50-mile trail run. We had a group that trained together. Looking back, we didn’t think we were that fast, but those times we ran would put us in the top 100 in today’s Boston Marathon.
I shifted to cycling more than a decade ago while recovering from a work accident, and found that I really enjoyed it. I still use running as a supplement to my endurance training and winter activity.
Today, I am a USA Cycling Category 3 for Road Racing, Criterium, and Time Trial, and Category 4 for Cyclocross, where I competed in the 2020 Nationals. I am a USA Cycling Certified Coach, and because USA Cycling is the Olympic National Governing Body, I also have the national Safe Sport Certification.
Like you, running and cycling isn’t my job.
Entrepreneurship has been a big part of my professional life – and made me a better coach. In the late 1980s I opened my own East Side running store before taking over the family flooring business and eventually teaching future entrepreneurs as an instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
The lessons I have learned along the way will help you. The value of working hard, and smart. The importance of relationships. Goal setting. Perseverance. Trust.
Trust is the most important thing, more important than price. Flooring is the last part of a building project. People are completely frazzled by the time the carpet guy gets there; when we are done you could move in. They liked that I just gave everyone my cell phone number and said, ‘If there is a problem just call me.’”
That is exactly my approach with Lakeview Coaching. I will earn your trust.
Running and cycling requires persistence, even during your worst times. It won’t always be easy. But you keep going.
Training kept me grounded through some serious family tragedies. I knew the next morning I’d get on my bike or put on the running shoes, and get out. It was like hitting the reset button, a way to deal with the loss and stress. It puts things in perspective.
Let me help you persevere through running and cycling.
Now you know a little more about me. I want to hear your story. How did you come to running or cycling? Why do you do it? What are your goals? What motivates you?
I want to get to know you. I want to help.
Let’s build a relationship. Let’s get to work.
