February Athlete of the Month: Mike Foote

Congratulations Mike, you are our February Athlete of the Month!

At 53, Mike, a longtime endurance athlete proves that fitness is a lifelong evolution. With a background in high school wrestling and football that eventually turned into competitive cycling and now long distance gravel racing, Mike came to NoCoast in 2019 looking to build more than just bike fitness. What he found was a humbling but rewarding reset: strengthening weaknesses, rebuilding his core, and discovering new challenges along the way. From embracing the assault bike to conquering Murph pull ups, Mike’s story is one of steady progress, resilience, and a belief that small, consistent gains can add up to something big, at any age.

Age: 53

Athletic/Sports history/highlights: 

I was a high school wrestler and football player and before my senior year I competed in a triathlon more or less on a dare. In college I turned that into racing bikes and have been doing bike races most of the years since then. Lately I've been focusing on the longer distance gravel road races.

How long have you been at NoCoast? 

Since October of 2019.

How did you get into fitness/exercise? 

I felt like I needed to work my entire body, not just ride my bike more. Plus I was injuring my back on a semi-regular basis just by doing things like yard work and putting dishes away and felt like I needed to strengthen my core specifically. What I found when I started at the gym was a bit of a rude awakening because everything else had atrophied from years of little use. So while I could race a bike for long distances, I was having trouble with basic upper body and core movements. NoCoast has helped me get much better at that though.

What is your favorite workout or movement? 

The assault bike, obviously. But probably close behind are push presses and box jumps. I have no idea why I seem to like those movements, but if a workout has some combination of the bike, push press, and box jumps I can usually do it well.

What is your least favorite workout or movement? 

Right now that's definitely double unders. I can do single unders all day long but for some reason my brain has just not figured out how to hit more than a couple double unders in a row yet.

What is your most memorable NoCoast moment? 

I'd say two for different reasons. The first was after the first week of being at the gym. I was sore all over and could barely move, yet I knew I wanted to keep going because it was a good kind of sore. The next was my first Murph because I'd had so much trouble figuring out kipping pull-ups and I used the Murph date as motivation to finally figure it out. Doing a total of a hundred kipping pull-ups, when six months before I could barely do one, was really rewarding.

How does nutrition play a role in your fitness and recovery? 

Super important. Cycling emphasizes the importance of carbs before, during, and after the ride but it wasn't until starting NoCoast that I realized the importance of getting enough protein too. The nutrition challenges and otherwise learning more about this area has helped me dial that part in much better and I've felt a huge difference in recovery since then. Also cutting out a lot of added sugars has helped my overall wellness, but I must admit I still enjoy the occasional ice cream run.

How has NoCoast improved your overall wellness? 

I'm in better overall shape and recover much better than I did 25 years ago. And I feel like I can improve more despite being on the other side of 50 at this point. Also mentally it has really helped me have a better overall state of mind and be more resilient to life's inevitable difficulties.

Advice to new people: 

I'm a big believer in the 1% principle which says small gains over a sustained period add up to really big improvements. Stick with it consistently for six months and look back at how much you got better. And then maybe you can teach me how to do double unders.