Nicki Leo

Coach Nicki has been a part of C26 since November 2019. Like many, she found this amazing team through the Crushing Iron Podcast, and her life in sport has never been the same. Though she coaches and has an educational background in endurance sports, she still utilizes a coach for herself. Utilizing a coach offers an athlete the opportunity to share their journey and goals, and it gives them someone to celebrate victories as well as understand the defeats.

She was born and raised in Missouri, though she has spent most of her adult life traveling for school and finally settling in Colorado for the last 25 years. She lives just outside the mecca of triathlon, Boulder, and enjoys the accessibility of sport on a daily basis: great trails, abundance of race venues, and daily pro athlete sightings.

Coach Nicki started triathlon in the year 2000, competing in sprint and Olympic distance events, eventually moving up to her first full in 2002. However, she was hit by a car while cycling and didn’t compete again until 2011. Since then, she has completed 17 full Ironmans (including qualifying and participating in World Championships in Kona), over 50 70.3 Ironmans, and various single sport activities. Since finding C26, her mantra has been to try anything that scares her…physically, emotionally, or a combo of both…because she can…because she wants to be braver with her life.

By day, she runs an employee wellness program and onsite medical clinic for city employees and their family members. Working in the benefits world has given her a wealth of knowledge about a variety of health topics. Her education includes a degree in Cardiac Nursing, a Master’s in Exercise Physiology and Business Administration, and a Doctorate in Exercise Physiology with emphasis on Health Education. She is an endurance sport nerd—following in any way she can—to better understand and just have a ton of useless information at hand for conversation at C26 camps.

Family is very important to her: She has been married to her husband, Will, for 20 years and they have a 16 year-old (adopted son from Guatemala) named Dominic. She is also a huge advocate for the following causes: mental health and addiction, cancer (she is a 3-time cancer survivor), and animals.

As your coach, she can offer you this: Her passion for sport and her devoted attention in making you the best HUMAN you can be…and when sport fits in there, that is even better! She believes in a holistic approach when developing an athlete, looking at all factors in your life that can help you succeed and reach your goals. So, let’s do this…together.