More about MArcel Neiber
The beginning is the most crucial part of the work
People I work with are at the beginning of a journey, looking for a personal goal, an improvement to something new, or facing challenges to make the acquired feeling of happiness repeatable.
As a coach, I have to understand precisely this and have experienced or suffered through the journey myself often enough. In a quarter of a century as a triathlete and as a passionate classic multisport coach, I follow the maxim of triathlon father John Collins:
The pain is temporary, the memories will last the rest of your life.
Since my youth, I have been passionate about sports in general and multisport in particular. I was particularly fascinated by combining technology and science to create a physical challenge. The material, the training, the history of the sport, and the question of how to get better.
Born in Minden, Westphalia, I built my first racing bike myself at 11. Back then, it was childlike curiosity and the pursuit of a unique attitude to life. Thanks to my parents' support in my sporting interests, I quickly gained a certain level and was discovered in the classic way "on the street". My first cycling race, rowing as a competitive sport at sports high school, and athletics quickly followed at the age of 14.
More than 30 years ago, I completed my first triathlon, and many were to follow.
At the beginning of the 90s, triathlon was still inconspicuous. Despite several good participations in the German Olympic Championships, overall cycling times were always under the magic hour, fast 10k times, and sponsors were still veryl rare. Only a few people were able to make a living from triathlon. That's why I went to study and continued my sport in my free time.
But the inner sporting demon was too present. A steep path to success in sports retail opened up new opportunities for me. With my experience, I soon managed two sports departments and worked as a bicycle mechanic. I started on the path to becoming a professional again and focused on the Olympic distance as a semi-professional with 6-8 hours of daily training. Fortunately, there were still non-drafting races back then. And yes, I belong to the tuning generation, to the crazy people with swimming trunks, the small 26-inch wheels, and the strange handlebar attachments that we built ourselves. We weren't lonely, but we were isolated, and we all dreamed of Hawaii.
During this time, I learned much about professional sports and its organization. The hour-long training sessions and the lack of resources at the time, such as online media, heart rate/wattage monitors, GPS, and social platforms, and the high costs of this sport made us a unique generation from today's perspective. We all wrote and coordinated our training plans with our body feelings and the hand on the pulsating main artery. There were no templates nor experienced coaches. Hard to believe today, but back then, it was a new sport - a pioneering spirit was required.
In 2000, I decided to forgo the path to becoming a professional again for financial reasons. Of course, the sport stayed, shifted, and returned for me with a vengeance as an age grouper. Since I belong to the non-drafting generation, I am now home my new home on the long-distance route. In addition to marathons, I found my love for the 70.3 race.
Triathlon is passion, life elixir...
... and gives the mind a continuous impulse to achieve goals in the long term.
I am "just" an ambitious age grouper but with all my passion. My focus has realigned in the last few years. Coaching became increasingly important.
I wrote my first training plan when I was 16. When I was 24, I created my first electronic version. Since then, I have created countless plans and filled out databases. First of all, for me and increasingly for other athletes too. Coaching has increasingly fulfilled me.
As an athlete, manager, and coach, I know what it means to have a goal, tackle it, and continually work on it. I have been leading and managing people professionally for more than 20 years, which helps me enormously with coaching. I have also experienced and lived through pretty much every change in this sport.
To create a professional basis, I also got certified. I relied less on the national certificates and emphasized modern and international training - IRONMAN® Certified since 2016, Trainingpeaks Level 2 Certified, STRYD Coach Certified - which must be refreshed annually. But in the end, it's the experience that counts!
I have expanded my expertise to include Ultra-Running, Ultra-Cycling, Mushing, and CrossFit/Hyrox.
I've been living my absolute dream for decades and carrying on my passion for sports daily. No sport has had as much influence as triathlon with its myth "Kona" and the combination of sports and technology.