Tom Clifford has been a runner since he was in 8th grade.  His inspiration at the time was to follow in the footsteps of his sister katie who was a 4 time all state runner and 4 time all american at The University of Michigan.  She and her husband Bob  were the 2 initial people who gave him the love for running.  His Dad is his biggest inspiration.  He had a heart attack when he was 45 and when he recovered, he taught his family how to come back better and stronger than before. 

Tom got into triathlons when he moved to North Carolina 2 years ago.  He is from Michigan, the state that truely has made him a tough competitor and athlete.  His experiences from running at Eastern Michigan University and training with some of the best athletes in the country have helped Him become a better runner and a triathlete.  Triathlons are very new to him, but he really enjoys the challenge of multi-sports and using his running ablility to place high.  He is very proud of his performance at the White Lake Half of 2008.  He came into the run very dehydrated from lacking water on the bike, and his legs gave out at mile 1.  He didnt quit and still placed 5th overall with a 17 minute PR in the entire race.  His upcoming races are Bandits Challenge, Duke Liver Center Half and Beach2Battleship Full.

 www.withoutlimitsrunning.com

Training Tip:

Challenge yourself with running.  It is a very mental sport, and you have to play a lot of games with yourself to make you faster.  I believe If you can be a tough runner, you will understand how to push yourself in the other 2 sports.  Also for swimming.....Work on swim stroke, if you dont have the right form in swimming, you are wasting a lot of energy.