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Written by Suzanne Atkinson   
Escape from Alcatraz Run
Escape from Alcatraz, 2006

Background

Suzanne is a former Outward Bound Instructor, now Emergency Room Physician who has been training and competing in triathlons starting in 2002. Her mountain biking background goes back almost 20 years and is the pround owner of a vintage 1990 Bridgestone MB-4.

She attended University of PIttsburgh School of Medicine, and is a graduate of the Geisinger Emergency Medicine Residency Program where she worked as a Flight Physician and Course Director for a Wilderness EMT course. Competing and training for triathlons provided her with well needed and well deserved breaks from her medical training program. Mountain biking trails right behind the hospital were daily saving graces.

She is a coach with a unique perspective on physiology and performace due to her medical background and would like to help others achieve their goals with customized training and maximum performance gains.

Personal philosophy:
"We are capable of more than we think we are."

Working with Outward Bound Wilderness taught me that we can push ourselves far beyond our preconceived physical and emotional limits.

Disciplines:


Road Cycling, Triathlon, Mountain Biking

Racing Experience:

  • Endless Mountains, PA (02, Sprint)
  • Wilkes-Barre International, PA, (04, 05 Olympic/swim leg)
  • Pine Barrens Sprint, NJ (05, Long Sprint)
  • Great Lake Escape, OH (05/06, Olympic)
  • Escape from Alactraz, CA (06, Unique Distances...closest to Olympic)
  • Yellow Creek Sprint, PA (06, Sprint)
  • Month of Mud Mountain Bike Series, PA (06, 07)
  • Allegheny Cycling Association Criterium Series (07)
  • Boulder Racing Short Track Mountain Bike Criterium Series(07)
  • 2008 Planned: Mountaineer AquaBike Half Iron, ACA Criteriums, PA Cycling Calendar, Boulder Short Track Criterium, Month of Mud

Favorite Race Experience:

Swimming from Alcatraz Island in the San Fransisco Bay. The morning started out sunny and half-way through the swim I heard the fog horns blowing. Looking up, I had lost sight of my landmarks, Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and San Fransisco! I had mentally prepared myself for exactly these conditions and finishing the swim has been my best triathlon experience so far!

Coaching Certifications:

  • USA Triathlon Level I
  • USA Cycling Level II

Building a Training Plan:

I start your training plan with a personal evaluation of your current fitness, previous training and future goals. We work together to help select the races or events that are most important to you. I design your plan to help you reach your peak fitness for your most important event.

Taking your other obligations into account, such as work and family, we decide on how much time you are able to devote to training and then maximize that time. We all have a limited amount of time to train, so making those training hours productive is my main focus. Whether it's 2 hours or 20 hours a week, I can work with your schedule.