Meet Eric Kenney

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Kenney. 

Hi Eric, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I grew up outdoors. skiing, hiking rock and ice climbing, etc. While I enjoyed soccer in high school I didn’t really get into competitive sports until college when I joined the rowing team. The summer of 1996 everything changed. I wanted the men’s lightweight 4 win a silver medal in rowing and I was all in. I was already a science major in school so learning about physiology, training methods, etc. not only seemed to come naturally but I found myself more interested in it than anything else I had before. After college when I was Browing for a national team development camp I got an assistant varsity men’s coaching job in Boston. At Buckingham brown and Nicoles. I was immediately in love with the process of coaching. Everything about it. The planning. The physiology and psychology, logistics, and having to be adaptable. Even the best-laid plans need to be adjusted. I worked in the health club industry and corporate sales briefly and then during a February of not having a job I started my coaching business. In the early 2000s, this wasn’t commonplace at all like it is today. A few people asked me to help them train. and a few yrs. later it was going really well. 

I moved to CO in 2006 from then until now I have worked with all types of athletes. mostly triathletes and cyclist but rowing ski mountaineering, climbing, trail runners, mtb’ers xterra, athletes still come to me regularly. I work with athletes now in different ways depending on what they need. I have worked with many teams a clubs in different campsites. currently, I work with athletes remotely and in person. I run an amateur development team and work with the CU Rowing team as a training consultant and assistant coach. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Sure, there always are. this started very small. It’s not a business that I started with 10’s of thousands of dollars employees and a building I was paying a lease on. so, in that sense, it was must easier and smoother. I still work on finding a balance of being self-employed. I am the only one. I’m the coach. the marketing director, the IT guy (my least favorite role). 

I love my job. I love helping athletes be smarter, stronger, and faster. But this has led to never taking a break. it’s easy to become obsessed with small things and lose the big picture. 

Finding balance is always a work in progress. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I like to think I don’t specialize in anything. I love working with different types and different level athletes. it keeps me thinking. keeps me exploring new methods, new ideas, etc. While I mostly work with triathletes and cyclist. I also work with rowers, climbers, ski mountaineers, mtn bike athletes, trail runners, etc. People would say I specialize in amateurs/ elite amateurs in long-course triathlon. this has been the majority of my work in the last 10 years. 

I’d say the moments and athletes I am most proud of are the ones that really dedicated themselves to making a big change. Matt Bevil an athlete I had known for some time, really struggling with performance, race day psychology, and having consistently good workouts. The things that we worked on the most were not what most people thought. That year he got just enough points to turn pro. Then won the overall amateur race at Boulder 70.3 by 25 seconds in some of the hottest, hardest conditions I have ever seen there. 

Liz west another athlete that I still work with 10+ years after meeting here. in 2011 she was having surgery on both lower legs, when she did get back into running, she’d couldn’t run 3 miles at 9:30 pace. in 2016 she was on the podium at almost every race she did. in 2017 she qualified for Kona at IM Boulder. 

The other thing that makes me really proud is the Boulder Racing team. the way the guy’s act and conduct themselves at races. the way they work together at group workouts (even when I am not there) makes me feel really fortunate to have all of them on that squad. Another coach came up to me at a race and said, your guys looked really good at (this race 2 weeks before) humble, very approachable, they were having fun but they race like animals! When peers come up to you and say stuff like that. that’s probably the biggest complement you canget as a coach, teacher, or leader. 

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Tougher than it sounds. I think a good mentor is not only someone who has been Successful in your area but someone you click with. And at the same time does things differently than you. you don’t want a bunch of “yes men” on your advisory board. 

Start by finding someone whose work you admire. then be prepared to be let down. You might not be but everyone is human and as you get to know that amazing business person, coach, whatever you might find the not so nice things about them. 

Don’t force it. Don’t start planning and searching for a mentor. It’s gotta happen more organically. 

Contact Info:

• Website: http://ekendurancecoaching.com/
• Instagram: @ekendurance
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ekendurancecoaching
• Twitter: @ekendurance
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAYNOLwnrc9lIT1bvLXNy4TIZuzjR8ff8
• Other: http://boulderracing.com/

Image Credits
Kenny Withrow