Coach Al holds certifications from USA Triathlon, USA Cycling, the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research, and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He is also an Associate with Joe Friel's Ultrafit, which is universally recognized as among the most prestigious endurance coaching organizations in the world.

Mission: To help and inspire people of all ages and from every walk of life, to achieve their dreams and goals through their participation in endurance sports.
Coaching Philosophy: "I want to be the very best coach that I can be for every person I work with, and I will work as hard as humanly possible to achieve that end. I strive to develop a close relationship with every person I coach or come into contact with because I sincerely care about their success. There's nothing more enjoyable to me than helping others achieve their life goals and dreams through their participation in endurance sports!"

"I know through experience that there are no shortcuts or easy paths to achieving your goals. What is needed is a sound training program which is based on scientific principles and practical experience and works within the context of one's own life circumstances, as well as determination and desire to never give up, a deep belief in ourselves and our ability to be successful, and a coach who truly cares!"

"If you are willing to work hard, be consistent, and not give up, then I want to help you by merging the scientific and practical for optimal results.

Coach Al:   THE ATHLETE –

As an endurance athlete, Coach Al has competed in hundreds of run, bike, swim, and multisport races over a 25 year span as an endurance athlete and is an 8-time Ironman finisher, including 3 Hawaii Ironman World Championship finishes. He achieved his Ironman PR of 10 hrs 29 minutes at Ironman USA in Lake Placid, N.Y, and his marathon PR of 2 hrs 39 minutes at the Boston Marathon. He also holds a Half Ironman PR of 4 hrs 32 minutes, and a 50 mile run PR of 7 hrs 19 minutes.

Coach Al:   GIVING BACK –

Coach Al: "I believe that it is important to give back to the community, and I do so through my multisport lifestyle with an endowment fund that I established in 2000 within the Community Foundation of the Tri-County Area, aptly called The Pursuit Fitness Children's Fund. The specific purpose of this donor-advised fund is to support non-profit organizations that specifically cater to the needs of seriously ill, disabled, and disadvantaged children in his local area of Eastern Connecticut."

On a cloudy and cool morning on Patriots Day in April 1983, with a gleam in my eye and butterflies in my stomach, I arrived in Hopkinton with two friends. We were there with hundreds of others - "back of the packers" we called ourselves. Beginners, without a qualifying race finish on our resume, and all with the dream of being able to finish the most famous foot race in the world, the Boston Marathon. Little did I know, that innocent first attempt at the marathon distance would be the start of the most amazing and incredible journey imaginable-a journey that not only changed my life, but has truly defined it. I arrived that day NOT as a talented young runner with a list of lofty accomplishments over shorter distances, but rather as a complete novice who had, just a few years earlier, struggled as a high school senior to barely pass gym class because I had a hard time completing a one-mile run.

After over four hours of running on that fateful day, I crossed the line with a smile so wide it hurt, overcome with that incredible feeling of both euphoria and exhaustion! As soon as I finished "unofficially," the only thing I could think about was that I HAD to return some day to this historic race as an official entrant.

The years passed and I vowed to read everything I could get my hands on about running. I joined a local club, set goals of running the 5K and 5 mile faster, and along the way I suffered through all of the frustrations and every injury that a runner can have, as I tried, like so many of you, to find the best way to improve and run better and faster. I vowed that I wouldn't toe the line again for another marathon until I thought I was ready to run a qualifying time of 3 hours

Three years later I reached a milestone-running my 2nd marathon in a time of 3:01:20 at Marine Corp, a race that began a streak of 19 straight sub-3 hour marathons. Well, it was almost 3 hrs that day. After all, I started behind nearly 11,000 people as it took me 3 to 4 minutes just to reach the starting line. The race organizers at Boston accepted my plea and I was in! J I went on to many more Boston finishes, reaching another milestone in 1992 as I ran my personal best of 2 hours 39 minutes. It had been nine years since my first innocent attempt at Boston, and now I had achieved the seemingly impossible, running this historic race course at a 6-minute per mile average pace! Wow!

Despite this accomplishment, my journey didn't end there. It was really only beginning! While I had come far as a marathoner, I had another DREAM - another life goal that gnawed at me. In 1995, while watching the Ironman Triathlon on TV with my nine-year-old daughter, I turned to her and very matter-of-factly said, "Erin, I am gonna DO the Hawaii Ironman." Innocently, she looked at me and started laughing out loud because she knew something that not many people knew: her Dad had suffered a near drowning as a child and to that day, was deathly afraid of the open water. For that brief moment when I shouted out something that came straight from my heart, I never even stopped to think: How on earth could a 36-year-old man who was scared of the water find his way to being able to not only finish an Ironman with its 2.4 mile open water swim, but actually qualify for and compete at the Hawaii Ironman World Championship?

Overcoming the obstacles of fear and self-doubt that I faced every single day as I set upon the path of becoming a swimmer is absolutely the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Amazingly, with my family in full view, in 1998 I finished my first Ironman distance triathlon, and then in the summer of 2000, in my second Ironman distance race that year, I finally reached my goal - I won a slot to the Hawaii Ironman! I was finally headed to Kona! I've since been to Hawaii twice more for the World Championships and have finished eight Ironman races. It's hard to believe, and I still have to pinch myself whenever I look at that first Hawaii finisher's photo, with both of my children on my arms and the look of shear joy on their faces.

Through all of those years, while I wasn't a coach "officially," I felt like one on the inside. I knew that if I was to achieve my dreams, I would have to learn more and train smarter, because I never felt I had the talent of so many of my training partners. So I studied, asked questions, read, watched, listened, d learned, and studied some more, and then tried whatever I learned on myself! Even more importantly, I desperately yearned to share what I learned with others! I couldn't stop talking with other runners and athletes to tell them about my new discoveries. I felt empowered beyond my wildest imagination - I was finally doing something with my life that I was meant to do. I had overcome so many obstacles and had discovered this astonishing BELIEF in myself that I knew was special, and I wanted others to discover it within themselves and feel it too!

In what was surely destiny, in 1999 I finally "officially" became a coach. I worked for a coaching company for a while, but soon decided to pursue my own dream and start my own coaching business that I called Pursuit Fitness. The word "Pursuit," suggested to me by a client, seemed perfect. That person knew me well and knew that my mission as a coach would always be to help others PURSUE their life dreams and goals through their participation in endurance sports.

I share this story with you now, because I hope that it inspires you in some way, and reminds you that you ARE capable of so much more than you ever dreamed was possible.

Noted philosopher and leader, Kurt Hahn, said: "There is more in us than we know. If we can be made to see it, perhaps, for the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle for less."

The only limits you have are those you place upon yourself. I am living proof of that! Never EVER doubt yourself or your ability to be successful. You can do it, I KNOW you can. I believe in you. Best of luck!