We hope you have enjoyed Mike's story so far, read on to see how Mike met Giana and how she helped him activate his potential.

I met Giana in early 2004 when I signed up for a challenging Tour de France Tour where she was working as a guide. At the time, she was readying herself for the World Championship Time Trial Race later that Summer which she won. We met by phone and set up a 3 month program to ready me for the challenges of the Col du Tourmelet, Col de l'Aspin, Col du Solour, and other tough climbs in the Pyrenees.

I'd raced a bit at the cat 5 level the season before and had upgraded to a cat 4 that season, but had no idea how to train. My training at that point consisted of riding with the local club and my only barometer for measuring fitness/improvement was how I fared against the other guys in such randomly placed goals as the "hill sprint" and the "paragould stop sign hill." We spoke by phone 3 months prior to my France trip and it was immediately apparent that things were about to change for me. The call lasted 40 minutes or so, and we went over an amazing amount of detail; what kind of bike I was riding, its dimensions, my measurements, how was my flexibility, what riding I had been doing to that point, what zones I usually rode in during training rides, what racing I'd done, what my goals were, how many hours/week I had to devote to training and on and on. We put together my program and as part of it I began using a PowerTap monitor.

The France trip went quite well for me and it was great getting to know and ride with her while there. I was amazed at the power she showed on the bike, but more amazed at the methodical way that she rode and trained. She clearly had a purpose behind each ride. I admired her for putting some of her own goals/priorities on the back burner for the purposes of shepherding us around the roads of France as she had a key race (Tour d'Etape which she won!!) on her calendar that Summer.

I was fortunate enough to share a van ride with her on the morning of the Tour d'Etape and I watched her focus on her ride, check her equipment, nutrition, course map/cue sheet, and close her eyes while visualizing the race and her goals. These were things I had never dreamed of doing before my races. It was indeed a pleasure to see how a world-level racer prepared for their day. These are things which I've been able to apply to my own preparation since.

She had set up programs for some of the other tour riders but it was evident that she seemed to take a special interest in me that trip. It was as if she seemed to see some sort of potential in me as a rider.

After our first tough day of climbing where I struggled to keep up with the strongest rider in our bunch (but managed to pull myself inside out and pushed hard to stay with him) she later told me how much she admired me for sticking with him. She later told me that seeing me suffer that day showed her that I had what it took to be a successful bike racer. This was something that I had never thought about. Until that point, races had been more or less a weekend drinking trip with the guys. To have a world champion tell me that she saw potential in me and that she admired the suffering I could put myself through....that made an absolutely immeasurable difference to me. It is something that I will always credit her for and I was deeply touched by her comment. After the trip I asked her to continue to coach me which she agreed to. At the time she was racing actively and I knew she was going out of her way to accommodate me. This touched me and provided me with extra motivation.

The one thing that has been a constant in our coach/athlete relationship has been change. I work as a physician and travel often. As such, there have been many times when I've had to call her on a chaotic Monday to have my schedule scrapped and redone. She's always handled such situations well, and its been one of the main reasons why I would work with no other coach.

I've had friends who had done various coaching services, and many of them have had the same experience of being fed a 'cookie cutter' program. They only have limited communication with their coach, oftentimes having to speak with different people each week when calling in to update. My relationship with Coach Giana is so far beyond this.

After a year of bike racing, I was roped into doing a 2005 Ironman with a friend. At the time, I'd not swam more than 300 meters, nor run more than 5 miles. I was having some serious self-doubts about doing this tri, since I'd not done a single tri of any distance up to that point. When I asked her about it, she had not a moment of hesitation and said, "Mike, you have all that it takes to be an excellent endurance athlete. You have the cycling aerobic fitness and power to do very, very well as an age group in an Ironman. You have plenty of time to build your running fitness and swimming technique. I say you should go for it!" Such comments helped give me that extra bit of belief in myself.

I went on to do my 'crash course' in 'triology' by doing a sprint tri in June, a 70.3 in August, and a 140.6 in November, finishing in 12:26. Coach Giana was with me on the phone every weekend; dissecting the weekend's run and bike, providing pointers and feedback, but also becoming a true friend (beyond coaching) as I was going through some tough family times.

A few years later I completed my second Ironman, this time with a 12:16 on a very hot and challenging Louisville course where I crushed the bike with a 5:21. I can still hear her coach's voice in my ear saying "Hit the hills hard and go hard into the wind. Be willing to do what the other athletes are not willing to do and gain time on them where you are strong." She was genuinely happy for me afterward when we visited by phone and I could hear her pride coming through the line as she talked about how pleased she was while following my bike splits online that day.

It is this friendship and pride that we share that helps most in hitting my goals. I feel that our friendship adds yet another level of 'accountability' to my training and it's a force I've leaned on many times while gutting out a tough 3 by 20 workout. I consider her a friend, not just someone to lean on for training advice. I'm to be engaged soon and I feel like coach is almost a "big sister" to me. She has taken an interest in my courtship with my future wife and being genuinely happy for me. It's a joy to see pics of her son and family, and I answer them in kind with "simple pleasure in life" photos that show glimpses of the things that make my life joyful, be they pics of my fiancee/me on a beach trip, Vegas trip, pics of my cats, or of my most recently perfectly pulled home espresso shot.

One of my best moments with Coach was when she helped me through one of my toughest days. A day where I had my first DNF in a tri meet ever. It came on the heels of several months of compromised training schedules due to a new relationship that I was in. She reminded me that I'd come to a point in my "athletic career" that all of her athletes arrive at in one form or another; that being the point where you realize that family life/love take priority over weekend age group/cat 4 race goals. She did a great job of helping me realize priorities, consoled my disappointment, and gave me hope that I could balance newer athletic goals with a new courtship/engagement. As evidence of that, last year I met my goal of winning my state TT championship while at the same time growing in my interpersonal/family life goals.

My crowning race achievement with coach has been winning my state's TT championship. On a tough windy day, everything came together for me and I had my state's top time for all ages, all classes. Again I heard her voice in my head during the race..."it's going to be windy, so it'll be a fight. It'll be a sufferfest. What are your willing to do to yourself to push through the wind that the other racers are not?!?!?" Most of all I remember her saying, "Mike, I know you. I know what kind of a rider you are. If you kickass on your first 20 min set, you always do better on your next several intervals".....and "Mike, you are an athlete that responds to intensity training. Some athletes cannot do it and have to limit their intensity, but you...you thrive on it. On race day, know that you've done your homework!!! Just go out and let it go!!" Calling her after the race I was a bit tearful. Her comments about knowing that this race would come together perfectly for me remain some of my most treasured athletic compliments that I've received.

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