Jeff Towner
City Of Residence:
Grand Rapids
Favorite Race:
Harbor Springs Triathlon. The transition area is literally in our cottage's backyard. The swim is in crystal clear water and the bike course is one of my favorite rides in Northern Michigan. It is one event everyone should do.
Biggest Accomplishments
My biggest accomplishment was to commit to doing my first half distance triathlon a few years ago. Up until that point, I just did triathlons for something to do on various weekends. My fitness was okay enough for me to be able to finish comfortably, but I was hardly competitive. Committing to racing for 70.3 miles forced me to take my fitness to a higher level. Now at age 53 I can honestly say I am in better physical shape than I have seen in 20 years.
Advice
Rest! The fastest way to age the human body is to not get enough sleep. The same goes for rest days. As triathletes, we stress about training in three different disciplines so we tend to overtrain, not get enough sleep and end up injured and/or sick. Build rest days into your training plans and take them seriously.
If I'm Not Competing...
Spending time with my family. My wife and I were blessed with a third child 17 years after our second. She is now 9 years old and very active in various activities. At this point in my career, I am able to participate in her life much more than I was able to do for the first two children and there is nothing that I would rather do. We ski, mountain bike, sail, swim and fish together every chance we get.
One Thing You Don't Know About Me:
I am afraid of heights. Not sure when it happened. As a teenager, I had no fear of heights. As a matter of fact, I was something of a small town water tower graffiti artist. I had no problem climbing the towers in the middle of the night hauling paint and supplies. Now I get queasy riding up chair lifts.
