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| 5/6/2009 2:58:00 PM |
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Triathlete coach Mary
Meyer, focuses on her students at the Queen Anne
Aquatics Center. If students start to complain,
friends say she'll be the first to tell them to
'suck it up.' |
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When it comes to
swimming, the mental aspect will set the winners
apart from the losers, Meyer
said. | | An
inspiration to tri
Magnolia woman brings out the best in
athletes
By Stephanie
Martin
The triathlon is a tricky race. A
scary open-water swim and a difficult transition out of
wet clothes onto a bike before finishing on foot takes
more preparation than many think. Even the most
experienced triathletes can run into unexpected
obstacles.
Magnolia resident Mary Meyer knows
the process well, and she's dedicated her time to train
people to prepare for those moments. To have the best
triathlon experience, she said, you need to be more than
physically prepared for the race.
"You've got to
have the physical ability," she said, "but understanding
what goes on in your head will set you apart from
everybody else."
Mary Meyer Life Fitness venues
(MMLF) prepare people for both, offering clinics and
training in Seattle and in Chicago that focus on
strength, technique and mental agility.
MMLF
recently teamed up with John Curley, former host of
Evening Magazine and a former student of Meyer's, to
host two triathlons in the Seattle area this summer.
Cottage Lake Super-Sprint is more for beginners with a
short distance, flat course and fewer participants than
most triathlons: About 300 are expected to participate
in the 400-yard swim, 9-mile bike and 1.6-mile run.
Sammamish Splash will be one of the first triathlons
just for kids age 5 to 15.
Meyer started her
career as a personal trainer more than 20 years ago, and
in 1992 she started her own business. She's expanded
MMLF to prepare people for open-water swims - the most
commonly feared leg of triathlons. Along with her team
of trainers, Meyer runs clinics in the pool and in the
open water. On Sundays at the Queen Anne Aquatic Center,
swimmers of every skill level come to the MMLF pool
clinic to improve their stroke and their attitude with
help from her highly praised trainers.
"One of
the things she's really good at is identifying talented
people who can do good jobs," said Ed Artis, founder and
coach of the Queen Anne Masters Swim Club. "She's been
able to put this entire system together, and she manages
it to let those people be able to express themselves. To
find someone that can do that is rare."
Artis
has been a huge contributor to Meyer's success, coaching
for MMLF, but he says her personality and her drive to
help others are what got her this far.
"She's
very professional, she's highly energetic and she cuts
to the chase," he said. "Swimming is so hard to learn,
and it's easy to get incredibly disappointed and
frustrated, but Mary has a very good way of intervening
on that and giving you the light at the end of the
tunnel."
Meyer was an All-American National
Collegiate Swimmer and formerly served as a strength and
power-training coach for O'Dea High School boys' swim
team. She coaches all levels of difficulty and has
become known throughout the Seattle area as one of the
best coaches around, according to her trainers and
students. She's taught skilled swimmers how to perfect
their stroke and has given beginners afraid to get in
the pool the confidence to do triathlons.
To deal
with anxieties around swimming in a pool or in open
water, Meyer tells her students to acknowledge what she
calls "mind chatter."
"Everybody's going to have
negative chatter; what sets it apart is who gets stuck
on that and who can just acknowledge it's there," she
said. "You don't have to get down about it-just realize
it's there and move forward to the next thing, what your
coach said or what moves you forward."
MMLF is
about getting over that "negative chatter" and about
bringing the fun and motivation of fitness to a larger
community, showing people the benefits are more than
just physical and that mental strength is important to
all life challenges, Meyer said.
"You just go do
your thing and you've got to constantly, just
acknowledge yourself for getting in the water and
learning," she added.
Tim Rood, who coaches MMLF
swim clinics, said Meyer works closely with students and
truly wants them to succeed. He said she's known to tell
students to "suck it up" or to "get over it and get out
there," but it's always understood in a positive way.
"Mary just inspires everybody - you know she
believes in them, that they can do it; they just gotta
stick with it. It's the sincerity that everybody really
hooks into with her."
For more information about
MMLF or the triathlons, visit
www.marymeyerlifefitness.com or call
206-282-3959.
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