I owe a tremendous amount of my athletic success to this guy. His name is Takao and he probably has no idea of the impact he has had on so many athletes. So let me take this opportunity to give him a big shout out and send off.
I have been part of a team (Team Total Training), based on Long Island NY, for about 3 years. But it was when I started working with Takao that things really started to click. From the time he video taped my swimming, right up until yesterday when he (again) corrected my swim stroke, my technique has continued to improve. I got the chance to take a couple of running clinics with him over the spring too and noticed a difference immediately.
Takao leaves to go home to Germany next week. His wife is due with their first child and heck, I don't blame him... he wants to be there. He is considering returning in the winter but right now, that feels like a long ways away. Best of luck to Takao and his family. But know this.... he has a lot of "family" right here in NY and I will certainly miss him.
