Hi, I’m Coach Lee Crumbaugh.

Over the past 18 years, I have coached masters athletes. My specialty is personalized, tailored training that addresses the master runner's or triathlete's specific situation and goals.

Hi, I’m Coach Lee Crumbaugh. I would be honored to help you achieve your running or triathlon goals.

My sweet spot is coaching masters athletes to reach levels they never thought they could attain - and to make the journey fun!

I can get you to the next level and help you train and race better...and find great enjoyment and satisfaction along the way.

I know what it takes to succeed as a masters athlete.

I finished last in my first cross country race and was a so-so athlete in high school and as a young adult. Then, as a masters athlete, with great coaching I found I was capable of so much more than I had imagined.

The result? I have been a competitive runner for decades and I was a competitive short-track speed skater for 10 years. In 1990 I started competing in duathlons and triathlons and 1991 I began running marathons. I became an Ironman in 1999.

I have completed 60 marathons, 10 Ironman races, and many, many shorter triathlons and road races at all distances. Along the way I have won or placed in my age group and stood on the podium numerous times.

As a masters athlete, I have had the privilege and thrill to compete in two national short track speed skating championships and qualify for nine Boston Marathons and compete in seven. I have been fortunate to finish near the top of my age group in Ironman races, win my age group in the Chicago Triple Triathlon (twice!), qualify for USA Triathlon Nationals, and win or place in my age group in a bunch of sprint, Olympic distance, and half Ironman triathlons. I have won my age group in 5ks, 10Ks, 10 mile races, half marathons, and marathons. After age 50 I ran sub 3:28 in a marathon, ran a 20:09 5K, and finished an Ironman in 11:49. In 2018 I ran seven marathons and won my won my age group in three, including the Baltimore Marathon and the Richmond Marathon.

In 2018 the Annapolis Striders named me Male Runner of the Year.

I have coached for many years.

I have been writing workouts for myself and others for many years, based on continuous learning from theory and experience, coaches and other runners, certification classes, and my own experience. I have coached scores of masters runners and triathletes to greater success, and have also worked with high school and collegiate athletes.

My coaching has not just been restricted to individuals. For four years before moving to Annapolis I wrote the workouts for our masters swim team. Since 2016 when I moved to Annapolis, I have been coaching a track and road intervals group and have coached marathon and half marathon training for the Annapolis Striders. I am now Striders’ VP of Training and Education. I have helped coach clinics for the Annapolis Tri Crabs and through the Annapolis Running Shop, as well as offering my own running and triathlon two-day clinic.

In 2019 I earned the Road Runners Club of America running coach certification and also became a certified spin instructor. Until the Pandemic I taught spin at a local recreation center.

I have worked with great coaches.

My understanding of coaching started from working with great coaches who have brought me much further on the path to excellence than I could have imagined. I give all the.credit to:

• My high school cross country coach, John Zedrow.

• Olympic speed skater and gold, silver, and bronze medalist Diane Holum, Eric Heiden's coach, who, along with a cadre of other coaches and exercise physiologists, coached my daughter and me at and after Olympic Speed Skating camp in Marquette, Michigan.

• Jim Spivey, three-time Olympian who set records in the mile and other distances, from whom I have learned so much and whose guidance has been instrumental to my training and racing since 1993.

• Mike Plumb, former Canadian cross country champion and pro Ironman triathlete, whose distance coaching led to my first qualification and then requalifications for the Boston Marathon, a top-10 finish in my age group at Ironman Canada, age group victories and second place finishes in multiple half Ironman races in Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin, and many other podium finishes.

• Tom Olson, masters swim coach, under whom I greatly improved my swimming form and times.

My approach to coaching

I believe in periodization, varied paces and running the right pace, heart rate training, consistency, rest and recovery, running with others, avoiding over training, every workout having a purpose, peaking and tapering, the motivation of goals and meeting them, listening to the body and to others, injury prevention, cross-training...and most of all, fun and camaraderie.

As a long-time Ironman and marathoner, and from my daytime career as a strategy consultant and business coach, I know that planning and perseverance pay off big time. I know that training and racing are a metaphor for success in life. My mission as a coach and friend is to help others learn about themselves and what they can accomplish, to grow and achieve, not just in running and triathlon, but also in the personal and professional realms of their lives.

You can read more about my philosophy, approach, training, and racing on my blog.

Let’s talk.

Let’s talk about what you are seeking in better training and racing, and how my coaching can help you improve.