Colorado Athletes in Kona: Mike Breyer

I was a competitive tennis player throughout my youth but eventually left that and the fitness just kind of got whittled away throughout the years.  I went to medical school, onto an Emergency Medicine Residency and became an Attending MD at Christiana Care in Delaware, a large tertiary care hospital where I taught, did research and traveled quite a bit.  In my mid-30’s, my career had taken off but so had my waist-line, I was nearly 40 pounds overweight with a blood pressure pushing up into the problematic zone when a friend mentioned a triathlon he had recently done.  I went out the next day, bought a bike off the rack and signed up for my first tri – an Olympic in Jim Thorpe, PA.  I came out of the water 2nd and proceeded to watch nearly everyone ride right through me.  That was in 2009.
 
So I bought a Real Ryder training bike – the best investment I ever made – and set off to fix my lack of bike fitness.  In 2010 I did my first Ironman (Lake Placid) and I was completely hooked.  I made workouts for myself in my basement and spent about 90% of my training there.  The pounds disappeared and my cycling fitness slowly got better.  Today, my FTP is up around 370 watts ( >5 watts/kg) and my bike times are among the best for age groupers.  I’m a very average swimmer and a mediocre runner but my bike splits have afforded me the opportunity to qualify for Kona 3x so far.
 
This doesn’t get done without the important people in my life though.  My wife Klem has been terrific, giving me the time I need to train every day and encouraging me along the way.  My friends and colleagues at Denver Health Medical Center have been supportive, knowledgeable and are just the best training partners anyone could ever hope for.  I have been fortunate to be able to work with a terrific team at Wheat Ridge Cyclery who have been amazing with helping me dial in my bike.  And of course I get to live in beautiful, sunny Colorado – we’re actually up in Genesee at 7400ft where I get some benefit of high altitude and some of the best cycling roads in the US.  It’s been a great adventure and I feel incredibly lucky to have met the community of people along the way.
 
Looking forward to racing Kona with all my 303triathlon and fellow Coloradans!
 
Denver Medical Health Center Tri Team IM Canada Race Report Here