Endurance Coaching for Triathletes, Cyclists, Swimmers & Runners. Certified coaches help you reach goals. http://www.steelcityendurance.com
05/18/2026
USA Elite Paratriathlete McLean Hermes won first place this past weekend at the 2026 WORLD TRIATHLON PARA SERIES YOKOHAMA with an overall time of 1:03:56.
McLean was guided by Steel City Endurance athlete Kirsten Sass. Kirsten has nearly a decade of experience guiding visually impaired paratriathletes, and guided Amy Dixon in the 2020/21 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Holy smokes these ladies are fabulous!
USA Elite Paratriathlete McClain Hermes, coached by won first place this past weekend at teh 2026 2026 WORLD TRIATHLON PARA SERIES YOKOHAMA with an overall time of 1:03:56.
McClain was guided by Steel City Endurance athlete Kirsten Sass. Kirsten has nearly a decade of experiene guiding visually impaired paratriathletes, and guided Amy Dixon in the 2020/21 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Not every race goes as planned. Learning to listen to what your body is saying can be hard for people who are driven to push through discomfort. Knowing when to stop so you can race again another day is juts as important as learning to recognize discomfort you can safely push through.
Get ready with me in 90 seconds for a Triathlon in the morning
Get ready with me in 90 seconds for a triathlon in the morning.
If you’ve got early spring races coming up, the water is likely to be cold. Whether you’re wearing a wetsuit or not, one thing you can do to help your mind and body accommodate to the cold water is start taking cold showers at home. Even if this is just washing your face with cold water, it will significantly reduce the shock you might experience on race day morning, which is going to lower your adrenaline and your heart rate spikes and help keep you calmer.
Exposure is what makes the difference, it’s not too soon to start if it’s still freezing in the morning when you wake up, and your first race is two weeks away.
I’m 100% serious about this. Do it in the safety of your own home where you have control rather than waiting for your first open water swim to be your first exposure to cold water this season.
04/28/2026
Missed the Week 1 Ready to Tri webinar? No problem! Sign up for teh rest of the (FREE) series and you'll get a link to the replay for our Mindset session
This Thursday April 30th @ 7pm is the 2nd of 4 free webinars called Ready to Tri — designed for anyone preparing for a sprint or Olympic distance tri.
I created it for specifically for athletes getting ready for the Mighty Moraine Man here in Pittsburgh, but the content applies to any race you have coming up this season.
Last week was Week 1 and we covered Mindset & Race Day Expectations.
Here's the upcoming schedule for the other 3 sessions:
📅 Week 2 - Thu, April 30 @ 7pm ET | Training Essentials: Swim, Bike & Run
📅 Week 3 - Wed, May 7 @ 7pm ET | Swim Form Deep Dive + Q&A
📅 Week 4 - Wed, May 14 @ 7pm ET | Pre-Race Prep + Open Q&A
All sessions are free, live on Zoom, and recorded.
Week 2 is Thursday April 30 @ 7pm night. Grab your spot here by registering, and I'll send you the zoom link as well as the replay from Week 1
go.steelcityendurance.com/ready-to-tri
See you there! 🏊🚴🏃
Have you ever wondered why it’s so hard to find the perfect training plan for yourself, or why you’re worried that your training isn’t working, or you’re so anxious about the race that’s coming up in three months you find it hard to even get out to train?
Join me tonight for a live Zoom session at 7 PM Eastern. We’ll talk all about mindset. Tonight is the first of four live sessions on Thursday evening leading up to our first local race here in Pittsburgh.
But everything we discussed applies no matter where you’re racing or what type of race you’re planning on.
Registration link is here in the description as well as in the first comment so that it’s easy to find. I hope you can join me.
Go.steelcityendurance.com/ready-to-tri
04/23/2026
Hey friends! 👋
I'm so excited to share this. Starting TONIGHT night I'm running a free 4-week live series called Ready to Tri, and I'd love for you to join us!
I put this together for athletes preparing for the Mighty Moraine Man triathlon here in Pittsburgh, but honestly if you have ANY sprint or Olympic tri on your calendar this spring or summer, this is for you too.
Here's what we're covering over the four weeks:
🏊 Week 1 - Tonight, April 23 @ 7pm ET
Mindset & Race Day Expectations
🚴 Week 2 - April 30 @ 7pm ET
Training Essentials: Swim, Bike & Run
🏊 Week 3 - May 7 @ 7pm ET
Swim Form Deep Dive + Live Q&A
🏃 Week 4 - May 14 @ 7pm ET
Pre-Race Prep + Open Q&A
Everything is FREE, live on Zoom, and recorded so even if you can't make every session you'll get the replay.
Grab your free spot here:
👉 go.steelcityendurance.com/ready-to-tri
And please share this with anyone you know who has a tri coming up. The more the merrier! 🏊🚴🏃
04/19/2026
Something from my softer side that I wanted to share with you.
I’ve spent the last 10 years of my life taking care of two other adults. Two of the most important adults in my life.
It’s normal for parents to age and die before you do. But no one prepares you for how difficult that physical and emotional roller coaster will be between denial that there’s a problem, and choosing a final resting place.
Similarly, when you meet someone, fall in love, move in together and plan a life together, both of you following your dreams and supporting each other, making each other stronger - no one prepares you for what it’s like to let all those dreams go and become a caregiver instead.
Over the past decade, I’ve let all my athletes go except for one or two resilient and faithful ones that I’ve stuck with me accepting what I’m able to give them.
I also let go most of my own fitness, I couldn’t bear riding a bike when my partner would’ve given anything in the world to be able to ride a bike again and he couldn’t.
But since January, I have felt this fog and uncertainty lifting. I’ve be begun, Coaching and Ernest again and enjoying it. I become training again and have my own coach.
The unexpected part was how suddenly effortlessly I was able to begin cleaning up my home and creating peaceful spaces that work for me.
Instead of the medication corner, why I would refill Michael’s heart, disease, and cancer medicines every week, I now have a coffee nook where I can perform my morning ritual of 3 tablespoons of coffee, beans, freshly ground to sip on while I work.
It became effortless to clean the rest of the counter so that when I think of fixing a snack, I actually have space to make things like avocado toast with chili lime sprinkles, and everything but the bagel seasoning.
And the most surprising thing is how this has changed the inner dialogue that I didn’t even realize what was going on in my mind.
It’s OK to take care of myself. I deserve to have clean and calming spaces. I deserve to be able to fix nutritious food to support my thinking, my work and my training.
You deserve it too. What have you learned as a result of going through a hardship?