Coach Kirk

Qualifications

• Professional Triathlete
• 12x Top-7 Finisher in 70.3 and 140.6
• 25x 70.3 Finisher
• Half Iron PR - 3:53
• World Championship Qualifier--70.3 and Short-Course
• USAT-Certified Coach Since 2006
• Coaching since 2004

Coach Kirk on His Philosophy & Focus

I am absolutely blessed to be in a career that combines my passions for coaching, triathlon, and ministry. In my eight years of triathlon coaching, I've worked with just about every athlete type and category -- from first-timers to 10+ year veterans, from 15-hour iron-distance age-group finishers to 9-hour Elites, from 8-year old youths up to 60+ age-group winners, and from the "just-want-to-finish" to the "just-want-to-win-it." Regardless of background, I welcome the opportunity to accompany you in your journey to becoming better at both life and triathlon.

I believe there are 6 keys to reaching your God-given potential in anything you attempt in life, whether in sports, business, family, or your personal walk with God:

1. Practice -- To make something second nature (swim form, parenting, Bible reading, healthy eating) we have to practice regularly, and with good "form"
2. Support -- We were designed for community and relationship -- we rely on God, coach, family, and friends to hold us accountable, lift us up, and encourage us to persevere and Finish Strong
3. Learning -- utilizing both our own knowledge/experiences as well as others/resources outside ourselves to seek better, more effective, more healthy ways to do things
4. Efficiency -- moving farther and/or faster for a given effort, better usage of available time/energy/money/resources, making wise decisions
5. Planning -- Success in life and sport requires putting into action a game plan makes sense and honors God
6. Patience -- Anything worth gaining like spiritual growth, physical improvement, or success requires patience and perseverance through struggles and challenges.

Much like many of you, I first started racing triathlons as an adult. I understand the unique challenges of learning new sports as an adult without prior middle or high school experience in swim/bike/run. Additionally, I understand the challenge of balancing family, life, work, social commitments, and a spiritual walk, as I have a wife and two children of my own.

I consider myself a long-time student of the sport of triathlon. As such, I enjoy teaching the ins-and-outs of the sport to my athletes -- nutrition, mechanics, pacing, recovery, racing strategy, tapering, transitions, gear selection, bike fit, etc...

One of my greatest strengths as a coach is my ability to instruct athletes on how to swim/bike/run with better mechanics. In a sport where energy conservation and efficiency are so important, I can teach you how to move farther and faster with less effort.

Whether you are a top Elite Amateur or brand new to the sport, we all have something in common -- a desire to reach our God-given potential and challenge ourselves. Utilizing Tri4HIM's TriDot System and seeking the 6 keys above, I'd love to join you in your quest to seeing what's possible when you combine all the proper elements for success.

...but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
- Philippians 3:13-14

Coaching Background

Kirk is an accomplished professional triathlete and USAT-Certified Triathlon Coach. A consistent top-7 finisher on the Long Course (70.3/140.6) Professional racing circuit, Kirk has won over 20 triathlons, from sprint up to half-iron distance races. In addition to racing fast, Kirk has been coaching, teaching, and/or tutoring since the young age of 16. Finding his calling in to the world of endurance sports at a later age, he knows how difficult it can be to learn technical sports like swimming and running with little to no prior endurance athletic background. As a life-long teacher and late-blooming triathlete, Kirk has exceptional technical skills and teaching ability as a coach.