FEBRUARY 2018 ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Name: Daniel Brewer
Age: 52
City/State: Seattle, WA
Primary sport: Triathlon

How many years in the sport: Four

What Zeren PT and Performance services have you used? Performance Coaching and PT.

Describe your athletic background and how you discovered your current sport? I grew up skateboarding.  Football, track, and cross country in high school.  Some running and cycling over the decades.  Boxing for four years before turning to triathlon.

What keeps you training and racing in your current sport?  Overall fitness, but more so the quest to deliver my best performance.

What are your go to Zeren PT exercise videos?  I do a LOT of exercises so there’s no particular favorite.  Having the visual is very helpful to do them properly.
Do you have kids? Three boys, ages 25, 20, and 11.

How does having kids affect your training? The older two are out of the house so I really have one to look after on a daily basis.  I’m fortunate to work for myself and have a lot of time to train, so most of the time I try to get sessions done during school hours.  

How do you balance it all? It’s not nearly as tough for me as it is for most triathletes given my very light work schedule.  Balance for me is more about not constantly having triathlon on the brain; training, researching, planning, ect… In order to stay fresh through a long season I need to remind myself to let it go.  It helps to have friends that get on my case.

What tips and tricks do you have for other athletes who struggle to balance training with family?  
When I can I involve my kids in my training. My favorite is having one of my boys ride his bike while I run.  The 11-year-old is at the right age where our speeds match up pretty well, and I enjoy the company since the vast majority of my training is solo.  Bike trainers help a lot as well because I can be at home with my son while my wife is out and still get bike sessions in.

What are your top tips for athletes, as it relates to staying happy, healthy and performing well? 
Having the right coach work with you is important to all three, and that might not be as easy as it sounds.  Chris is the third tri coach I’ve had and he’s helped me get much further in tri than I thought I could go.  As a Masters athlete (meaning old), the resistance training and drills that Chris has me doing have kept me training and racing without major injury.  What works for one doesn’t work for all, but I’ve found training at higher intensities has helped me race much better.  I’ve heard other older athletes say the same thing.  So while you might embrace a polarized approach to your training schedule, you better throw down with that 20%!

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How would you define athletic success as it relates to your personal journey? As long as I believe I can race faster I’ll keep at it in triathlon.  So success for me is mostly delivering faster times and better race execution. Just last year it crystalized for me how much I enjoy and need the competitive aspect of the sport.

What's your favorite post-race meal, drink or food? Pizza, though my appetite is always weird after longer races.  Just nothing that remotely tastes like sports drink.

What key races do you have planned in 2018? I’m planning on doing Ironman St. George 70.3 as a lead in to Ironman Canada, where I hope to qualify for Kona. The outcome in Whistler will define the rest of my season.  I love our local races near Seattle and hope to fit them in as well.  We need to keep smaller races in business.

What are your athletic goals for the next 5 years? Going to Kona has become my primary goal, which is a new thing.  I’m curious now how far I can go with my current training, to see if I can be playing near the top of my age group even in the World Championships.  At some point triathlon may fade in favor of something else.  Maybe I’ll make my wife happy by putting some muscle on and trying my hand at some obstacle racing.

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