The very busy Daniel Brienza
Daniel Brienza is not only a fast racing age grouper, this team Timex athlete runs the triathlon business side of Life Time Fitness and makes sure that he spends ample quality time with his family.
Slowtwitch: Daniel, thank you for your time.
Daniel Brienza: Thank you Herbert for your patience – it has been a few crazy weeks.
ST: Explain FeXY Guy to us, and should we call you by that name?
Daniel: You can call me whatever you would like. But I prefer it is something nice. I actually recently changed my handle on ST back to my name but I’m not sure why.
FeXY was born years ago from one of my first training partners and initial tri mentors, Scott Baldwin. It grew into a great team and coaching service in Northern Virginia. As most people on ST could probably guess, FeXY is a double entendre of sorts. One meaning is Ironman (Fe is the periodic symbol for iron and XY is the male genetic chromosome combination). Or, if you go by urban dictionary= So F'n Sexy. I prefer the latter.
For me, FeXY has always been a bit ‘tongue in cheek’ – it pretty much means don’t be a tool. It is the anti-thesis to some of the things in triathlon that I find hilarious: people taking themselves way too seriously, egos, worrying more about how ‘fast’ the guy next to them looks, etc. I prefer the mindset that sport is about conspiring together to bring out the best in each of us and there is something intangible and amazing about training hard, racing harder, being purposeful and pushing yourself day in and day out but most importantly, just enjoying the ride. It’s about enjoying the experiences, the friendships, and not taking yourself too seriously because after all – you are simply running in spandex for hours at a time.
ST: Last year we met in NY at the Team Timex camp, but this year neither of us went there. It does not really matter why I was absent, but why were you not there?
Daniel: Missing the Timex camp was a really tough decision for me. It is an absolute privilege to be part of such a great team with great friends and the support of so many sponsors who are truly iconic brands in the sport. The team camp is a highlight of my year, every year.
With that said, a decision had to be made. In lieu of the Timex Camp, I was in AZ attending to work for my new job at Life Time Fitness, attending the LT Cycle Team Camp and then had to shoot over to Triathlon America. Travel wise, it meant not going across the country twice in 4-days, which was an added bonus.
ST: When we last spoke wit each other you were working for a big advertising agency in Los Angeles.
Daniel: I spent 4 amazing years at Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles, where I worked with some of the most creative and brilliant people in the industry. At SSLA, I worked on Toyota’s engagement marketing efforts where my primary focus was endurance sports and healthy lifestyle marketing but I also managed the research group.
Now, at Life Time I run the triathlon business, which includes: LT Tri, LT Tri Race To The Toyota Cup, SheRox, LT Indoor Tri, LT Kids Tri and Leadman Tri.
ST: How much time do you spend on the road?
Daniel: 'Much more than I would like to' is the short answer. It seems like a dream job to travel to events, travel for work, etc but racing and working do not mix very well.
Last year was really crazy – I probably spent 20+ weeks on the road based on miles and my Marriott status. My wife is a major in the Air Force and requires travel fairly often as well which further complicates things.
Last summer, my wife and I were on the road (with our 7 month old daughter) for the entire month of June, 3 weeks in July, 1.5 weeks in August, 2 weeks in September, and 2 weeks in October. This does not include random 2-3 day trips, a few races, training camps and some other miscellaneous travel. We were lucky that my wife’s travel typically puts her someplace for 2-3 weeks at a time; so we would just setup home base and I would travel from there.
ST: Being so busy, how do you manage to get any training time in?
Daniel: I am notoriously consistent and I always prepare in advance. I know that I function better when I train, so I make sure we have the support we need so I can have those 2-5 hours a day to train. Training is part of my daily routine and has been since I was a young child. I grew up as a soccer player and trained with some of the best teams in the world, (Lask Linz, Austria, Sao Paolo FC-Brazil) where we trained two to three times a day, everyday. I do not know anything else and is a big reason why I started in triathlon.
So, just like I get up and brush my teeth, I get up and head to the pool. Typically, I swim/run before my wife and daughter are even out of bed. Biking is always a bit more complicated but I am not afraid of a solid trainer session during my daughter’s afternoon nap or when she is at daycare. I also don’t really bike more than 1.5-2.5 hours on a normal day, so it’s not really hard to find a window at some point in the day.
ST: Do you still play soccer here and there and what position do you typically play?
Daniel: I actually do not play at all anymore and most people are surprised when I tell them that I also do not follow soccer at all either. I can appreciate a good match and sometimes have an itch to play but it’s just not something that is part of my life anymore.
I was still coaching at Georgetown and part time with youth players around the time I found triathlon but stopped pretty soon thereafter. Like many others who find the sport of triathlon, I found it when I was at somewhat of a cross roads in my life. Soccer was such a big part of my life that I gave absolutely everything to. When my career was over; I needed a clean break. One could say I gave up one addiction for another… it’s almost like when you break up with a girlfriend; you just need to get away.
ST: Along those lines, how do you manage quality family time?
Daniel:: As I mentioned, I try to swim/run before my family is up. I have breakfast with them every morning and I have a ban on all training after 3pm. I also try to always leave 1 day on the weekend completely free or for something active and fun, like a family run or just going to the park together. There are always exceptions when I train a little more or a little less but I try to keep a cool head and think about the big picture. In the end, I am not going to miss one bike session at the end of the season but I will certainly miss the memories I can create with my family. This is something that I struggle with or question everyday but I have found that I am a better father and husband when I do train.
This could be just me rationalizing my OCD, but I hope not.
The most crucial piece of making this all work is my wife, she is absolutely amazing and more understanding than I will ever fully comprehend or fully appreciate.
ST: Back to Team Timex, how long have you been on the team?
Daniel: This will be my 3rd year with the team and every year I am more amazed by the level of athletes, friendships I have made, professionalism of the team and innovation and commitment to the sport by Timex. Most people do not know that Timex was the first company to actually offer GPS; some of the new products they are working on will revolutionize the industry again.
ST: You had some good results in 2011, are there any races you are particularly happy with?
Daniel: 2011 was interesting – it took me until really late in the year to find my form.
SOMA 70.3 was my best complete race I have had in a few years and a solid result with a 3rd place overall and a PR of 4:06. With that said, I know I left some time on the course and am itching to break 4 hours. The one thing SOMA did show me was that it is a lot easier racing when you have people to race with – I caught a fair amount of the pro men within the first 5 miles of the bike and having a group to work off of is a lot different then riding/running alone for an entire race.
Beyond SOMA, IMAZ was pretty exciting because I have never performed well at the IM distance and I was really happy going 9:24 on sub par day and some issues with my overall performance.
The most memorable day of the year had to be Leadville 100MTB. In one day, I doubled my lifetime cumulative hours on a mountain bike, made some great friends, saw some unbelievable sights and really just had a great adventure; which is one of the main reason I got into endurance sports to begin with.
ST: What is on plan for this year?
Daniel: I honestly have no idea and it scares the crud out of me.
Originally, I was going to race a ton before the birth of my 2nd child in May and then re-evaluate. Unfortunately, with my broken scapula, I have to re-evaluate the entire year. I am hoping to get fit by August and have a strong second half of the year. The ‘inner circle’, Mike Doane, Andy Potts and I, will sit down at some point and come up with a plan. Right now the #1 priority is getting fully healed and range of motion back in my arm.
Truth be told, with my job at Life Time, I could race every weekend for the rest of the year as we have so many great events between the LT Tri, Leadman, Leadville, LT Cycle and LT Run events. It’s going to be hard to choose once I get fit. But when I do – watch Out.
ST: Anything else we should know?
Daniel: Yes. Everyone can log this in their trainingpeaks account as “30 minutes on the bike” as I was wearing my bib shorts during the interview. Also, come Race Leadman Tri or LT Tri Race To The Toyota Cup Event; they are some of the most epic events with unbelievable race experiences for everyone to enjoy!
Oh yeah, if you have never read Jeff Johnson’s speech from Nike’s Border Clash in 2001, it’s worth a read. To me, it puts into words some of the most profound reasons for participating and celebrating sport together.
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