Just talking on the phone with Sandy Bikus is motivating. One can only imagine what a training session with her would be like.

Bikus is the Endurance Coach at Life Time Fitness in Omaha, Nebraska. She sets up training programs for people looking to do triathlons. That’s the “by the book” description of what she does. However, it’s a little like saying “the President of the United States signs bills into law.” A vast understatement as far as what she really does for people.

Probably a more accurate assessment would be this: Sandy’s a tremendously focused and energetic person who keeps ordinary people motivated to perform a truly extraordinary feat – complete a triathlon.

Now, at first blush, that might seem like a simple matter of setting up workouts, monitoring progress, etc. But Bikus puts her own unique and enthusiastic spin on it:

“I believe in what I do and what you can accomplish,” Bikus said. She puts a lot of stock in monitoring and acknowledging successes along the way.

“At the end of every year we’ll go back through the training logs and tabulate the results,” Bikus said. “It’s important for us to look back at where we came from and what we accomplished.”

After all, it’s her job to pull you along, cajole you, and encourage you to become something better than what you currently are. “I spend a lot of time keeping people motivated,” Bikus said. “I spend a lot of time on the phone, coaching people, helping people.”

As part of her coaching strategy, Bikus organizes the indoor triathlons held at Life Time Fitness.

“We’re planning four smaller ones in the coming months to get people ready for the Omaha Triathlon (August 1, 2010)” Bikus said. This approach can be rewarding for athletes, but it’s actually more work for Bikus.

“It’s not all that efficient for me to do four smaller races – setting up the bikes takes a long time,” she said. “But having the smaller groups helps the athletes. I can engage with people more.”

Bikus said triathlon is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation. “A lot of my running club members are hooked on triathlon,” she said. “I’ve tried to involve more people because of all the injuries related to just running.” She said the cross-training aspect of triathlon helps reduce the number of overuse injuries.

In addition to shorter triathlons, Sandy competed in a half-ironman race in Austin, Texas, and plans on competing in Ironman Louisville and the Miami Marathon in 2010.

With four kids under the age of 10, you might wonder how she does it. “Once 24 hours is past — it’s gone,” she said. “I don’t hardly ever watch TV – I’m either working out, listening to music, praying or reading a book.”

What’s her advice for someone training for a triathlon?

“Go your hardest. If you’re not exhausted at the end of a workout, you need to go harder.”