In addition to being a website with information about fitness for everyone, Tri4Fitness.net serves as the official homepage for Triathlete Michael Harper.

Michael Harper is a proponent of fitness for everyone, while competing in triathlons may be taking fitness to the extreme, Harper believes everyone can obtain at least some form of fitness.

Also, a special thanks to the sponsors below who allow this site to run and support the cause of total health related physical fitness.

Click on image for how you can help save lives.

Michael          

Born in Stillwater, MN and raised in Round Rock, TX, Michael Harper has always been involved in physical activity. Throughout Harper’s childhood he was involved in soccer and in middle school began football, basketball and track. As a competitive individual in all aspects, in addition to competing in football and rugby in high school, Harper went to the National DECA Business Education Competition. After finishing a college football career at Howard Payne University, Harper moved to Lubbock, TX where interests in the sport of triathlon were sparked.

Harper began racing sprint triathlons (300-800m swim, 12-18mi bike, 5k run) in 2006.  Since then, Harper has moved to Olympic (.9mi swim, 25mi bike, 10k run) and Half-Ironman (1.2mi swim, 56mi bike, 13.1mi run) triathlons. Involvement in triathlons first came because of the challenge and excitement it brought. Now the races continue to bring an excitement and rush that is filled with accomplishment unlike anything else after 2 hours or more of racing, depending on the race length. But the race is a short lived moment, compared to the tranquility that is felt while cycling on the road or indoor trainer for hours on end. Harper shows this true love and passion as he spends endless hours training and gets up at 4:30am to train.

In addition to just enjoying the sport, triathlons resonate with Harper’s core values of fitness for everyone. Triathlons provide a platform to be an advocate of all kinds of fitness for others. Through Tri4Fitness.Net Harper shares information about his racing but also fitness, cardio, nutrition and workout tips for individuals in all walks of life along with weight loss challenges and much more. In addition to providing fitness tips on the web, Harper is the Head Strength Coach at Tarleton State University where he works with 13 teams to develop their strength, conditioning and nutrition.

Harper’s father, whom was relatively healthy, passed away in 2005 from a heart attack. Not a year later, one of Harper’s best friends who was a former quarterback at Iowa State was diagnosed with cancer and passed away. It was at this time that Harper truly became dedicated to being an advocate of fitness for everyone. While fitness may not necessarily prevent cancer or death, Harper believes that healthier individuals will have a much better chance to fight these ailments than otherwise and hopes to use racing as an opportunity to open up a door to talk to others about fitness in their life too.

Harper has been successful as an advocate for fitness in the lives of others as he has helped organize weight loss challenges. This same success has been evident in this past season where he placed in the top ten in his division and overall top 10% in almost every race. Now his energies are focusing on the 2008-2009 season and posting even more impressive results in an attempt to race at the elite level. His ultimate goal is competing as a full time pro triathlete with full funding from race winnings.

E-mail Michael

2008 Race Results & Schedule

• St. Patty's Day Sprint Tri - 3/15/08 - 2nd place in division - Keller, TX
• Lavaman Olympic Tri - 4/6/08 - 7th place in division, 81 of 665, time of 2:34:21 - Kona, HI
• Playtri Sprint Tri - 4/12/08 - 3rd place in division, 13th overall - Irving, TX
• CapTex Olympic Tri - 5/25/08 - 8 of 66 in division - 292 of 1442 overall Austin, TX
• Buffalo Springs  Lake Half Ironman Tri - 6/29/08 - 4th in division - 374 of 1016 overall - 5:41:22 - Lubbock, TX
• Toyota US Open Olympic Tri - 10/05/08 - 2nd in division - 87 of 394 males - 2:24:51 - Dallas, TX
• Tarleton State University 5K - 10/18/08 - 1st in division - 4th overall - Stephenville, TX

Special thanks to the sponsors below who allow this site to run and support the cause of total health related physical fitness.


     

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of this site and the racing of those on the site, please contact individuals listed above via e-mail.