When someone meaningful walks in your life - you hold onto that! Coach Carl has made this impact with so many... not only his athletes, but his co-coaches, his colleagues at work, and certainly his friends & family. He's a gem! Coach Carl has a very caring way of listening, asking thoughtful questions, and is unbelievably good at reflection. His close attention to details have allowed him to become one of the best coaches out there! He is a master of capitalizing on the "little things - that make the BIG differences" - all while keeping the big picture of life...BALANCE. He helps his athletes to reach their goals without sacrificing all the other important aspects of life. T3 Coaching is grateful for having Coach Carl on staff, not only as a coach, but as an individual who brings a "fun" factor to every setting. Congratulations Coach Carl - a well deserved recognition!!!

A:   Carl Regenauer, Saratoga Springs, NY

A:   Electrical Engineering, Triathlon Coaching.

A:   My first triathlon was a sprint in Lake Placid in August 2006.

A:   The ITU Sprint World Championship in Cozumel was probably my best race ever. It was my first draft-legal race and the first time that the age group championship was draft-legal. I had a good swim and bike and was in the middle of the pack in my age group at the start of the run. I tried to establish a good pace in the first 2k followed by a strong push in the final 3k. I moved up 34 places from the end of the bike to the finish to place 17th out of 82 in my age group.

A:   I completed my coaching certification in 2014.

A:   After two years of being coached by Kevin, I had learned so much that I thought I should pass on some of that knowledge and experience. Now, I would miss coaching more than I would miss participating in triathlon.

A:   No.

A:   The most important focuses for me are for the process to be enjoyable and for my athletes to have balance in their lives. One year, I compared the distance I covered in training for swimming, biking, and running to the distance I covered in each of those distances in races. The ratio was about twenty to one. If the training isn’t an enjoyable experience, the overall experience isn’t going to be very good. With respect to balance, I want my athletes to be good parents, spouses, work colleagues, and so on, before we even begin to think about what we do with triathlon. The process has to fit the rest of our lives first. Then we can try to be the best triathletes we can be within those limitations.

A:   Having to pick only one, I would have to say the whole 2019 season. I have a picture on the wall of my office at work with everyone I was coaching that season. Each one of them had a noteworthy result that year: Two first IM finishers, one overall race winner, one with an AG win at a very large race, and one with an IM PR measured in hours! That group all became each other’s biggest fans.

A:   My best races seem to happen when you would least expect it. I came down with a cold the night before the race in Cozumel that I mentioned earlier. In Montréal, I was racing with a toe injury that had kept me from running in the week leading up to the race, and even hurt while swimming. There was heavy rain during the race. My goggles got knocked off during the swim. That was the day I set my Olympic distance PR. My highest place finish at age group national championships came a week after crashing on the bike in another race. I was still wearing eight or nine bandages from the road rash.

A:   The best part is the relationships that I develop with each athlete. Everyone is different in terms of ability, communications style, time constraints, and personality so it’s very important to get to know them well. The better we communicate, the better the coaching experience is, but it goes beyond the coaching experience as well. The more I get to know the individuals, the more I care about them and want all aspects of their lives to go well.

A:   Do the races you want to do, not the ones your friends think you should do or even the ones that you think you “are supposed to do”. It’s easy to get pulled into races that are too much, too soon. Think about why you are participating in triathlons. For most of us, it’s to be active and have fun. If it will be fun to go to a destination race with friends, go do that! But think twice before taking on a new distance, which is like taking on a new sport, just because that’s what everyone else is doing.

A:   I’ll share three:

The workouts that are most likely to get done are the ones that fit your schedule, fit the weather, and are the ones you like to do. You can’t just do the workouts you like most, but getting two out of the three above helps get workouts done.

In years when I didn’t have big performance goals, I’ve limited the number of workouts that I would do per week to maximize free time for other things. It gave a really good perspective on where I would gain the most benefit from one additional workout, that is, should it be a swim, a bike, or a run?

Hard efforts late in a workout build fatigue resistance in races.

A:   I have a family of workouts on the bike that involve one minute intervals with one minute rest. Each interval has a successively higher power target and you keep increasing until you can’t hit the target. It’s a mental and physical challenge because, to do your best, you have to hit the targets, but avoid overshooting so that you have something left for the remaining intervals. Additionally, the targets get higher as you get more fatigued, so it’s the sort of challenge that prepares you for maintaining your level of effort late in a race.

A:   I don’t have any that I give, but don’t do myself. I’m not energized by doing a long bike workout at an even power level, but I still do them when training for longer distances.

A:   I’m not built for long distance running so the jungle run is out. The Death Ride is appealing as I like climbs a lot. The Tsugaru Strait may be a bit long for me, but I am interested in swimming the Strait of Messina and the Bosporus Strait.

A:   T3 is a family. When I go to a race and meet up with other T3ers, it’s always a welcoming experience. And, with the colorful kits from the last few years, it’s easy to spot the others in a crowd! You know that you have support and assistance when you need it. I’m a big fan of the T3ers and other triathletes from this area so I enjoy cheering them on.

A:   The memories of triathlon that really stick with me are all people related. From having Kevin Crossman’s kids cheering for me at the Hudson Crossing Triathlon to high-fiving my wife as we passed each other on a run course to racing with a grade school classmate (a nine-time Kona finisher!) to running into other T3ers in far off places, it’s the people that keep me involved.