Waste Management’s Tom Carpenter on Athletics, Resilience, and Corporate Wellness

By David Fouse and Margeaux Appel

Some executives play golf on their day off, and some run, bike and swim so they can compete in Iron Man triathlons. Tom Carpenter falls into the latter category. As the Director of Sustainability Services at Waste Management and a veteran triathlete, we decided that we had to sit down and chat with him. Tom graciously took the time to talk about his training regimen, family life, and the impact of his fitness on his colleagues at Waste Management. Our conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.

Wellness Inspired: What does your day-to-day fitness routine look like?

Tom: It depends on what area of the season, I’m typically racing May through September, whether it be triathlons, or a half-marathon. I have a 50K trail run coming up in December, but those are more just to keep active, you know, just keeping fit, having fun. A normal routine for me when triathlon training is I’ll swim probably 2–3 days a week, run 5 days a week and Tuesdays, whether I’m “in-season” or out of season, Tuesdays are my “speed day.” I have a routine I’ve been doing on a treadmill for probably 2 or 3 years where I just do mile repeats. And that’s for when I travel as well: Every hotel has a treadmill and I’m able to do that. I throw on some tunes, I warm up for a mile, 3 one-mile repeats and then cool down.

You know, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that this routine has helped me keep my speed up- last year I did one of my faster half marathons, one of my fastest 5Ks and 10Ks in years, and I attribute it mainly to that speed routine. Thursdays are my “long-run” days, and that will vary from an hour and a half. As I get closer to an Iron Man race that time will get up to a 2.5 hour run. It’s more based on time than distance though. Weekends are my “bike days,” and typically I have a transition run in there and then I’ll bike on Wednesdays as well. I know I jumped around a bit, but it’s usually 3 bikes, 5 runs, and 2 or 3 swims when I’m in season.

WI: During a heavy, competitive season, when you’re really focused on triathlons or longer “distance-type” training, are you doing “2-a-days?”

Tom: I am. Typically it’s either 2-a-days or it’s a brisk workout, so while there are 5 runs, 2 of those runs are more of a transition run after a bike. So, really the “meat and potatoes” are that speed workout and the distance runs. The others are either a kind of “re-run,” or a transition run out of a bike. Occasionally, I’ll throw in a swim in the morning, run in the evening type thing like that.

WI: Just out of curiosity, what’s your weakest leg of a triathlon?

Tom: That’s a good question. I get asked that quite often, and I always say that my strength is that I’m “above-average” or “pretty darn good” in each of the disciplines, but if I have to pinpoint… if you look at rankings during a race, I’m always just after the big leaders in the swim in an Iron Man or half Iron Man. I’m in the leader, or close-to-leader pack, but I definitely hold my own on the bike and the run, and I’m really good in both of those.

WI: We know you said you’re training for a 50K that’s coming up, can you tell us about that?

Tom: It’s actually in Indiana, it’s called the HUFF, the Huntington Ultra Frigid Fifty. It was always located in Huntington, and now it’s a bit north up in Chanta Lake State Park. It’s a 50K, and most of my training buddies jump in and have fun with it. Sometimes we train, sometimes we don’t train quite enough, but it’s one of those “fun-to-do things” if you can call it “fun.” Why is it that other runners look at us strangely when we want jump into things like that? It’s another carrot out there during the cold months in Indiana to get you out the door.

WI: Can you give us a rough estimate of how many hours a day you commit to exercise?

Tom: Early on in my competing career I’d say I was upwards of 20 or 25 on average. Now, I’d say I’m closer to 13–15 hours. I’m focused more on intensity, really quality workouts. I’ve found a program that works for me, and I work in really hard efforts, even my long bikes I have some hard efforts, sets and other things, and that’s allowed me to have quality over quantity.

WI: Any injuries you’ve been working through?

Tom: No, luckily, not many injuries at all. I’ve never been sidelined for a real long time. Last year was the first, I guess. I’ve had two bike wrecks, last year was the worst. I was just beginning my training luckily, and starting my 20 week ramp-up, and I had a bike wreck and broke my metacarpal, my fifth digit, and I was in a cast. I was in a trainer for running and couldn’t swim so that sidelined me for about a month, but no major injuries, and definitely no overuse injuries, my body’s been good to me that way.

WI: As you’re doing all this, what’s driving you? What is it that gets you out of bed in the morning?

Tom: You know, I’ve always been a competitive person, not necessarily aggressively competitive but internally competitive and driven. I feel that way in the workplace, I feel that way with many of the things that I do, and this has just been a way to help channel that a little bit. When I workout, there’s nothing like the feeling, my mind’s clearer, I think better at work, and I’m a better husband and father at home when I workout, so it’s just that feeling and that clarity. I really dig the feeling of a bit of that pain, on a windy day and you’re pushing on the bike or doing a mile repeat and you kind of get that sensation in your nose. I don’t know how to describe it, just that breathing heavy, you can kind of just smell the blood, and you can just get that feeling of being alive and the challenge and the excitement of the finish line, especially in Iron Man. it’s what I enjoy doing. Every day is a test to see if you’re going to give up.

WI: Anyone who’s training for an Iron Man is committing time to training, but how’s it work with your family? Have they been supportive, and have you been able to spend time with them?

Tom: You know, I started back in 1998, and kind of the first chapter of that was when I first started training was more time, more volume, and other things. I’d say I learned the hard way, with my kids or my wife wanting more time. So I worked out earlier in the morning, to get it out of the way, especially on Saturdays. By that time when they’re waking up, things are done. As the kids got older, my son’s in college now, my daughter’s a junior, there’s been that good kind of balance. And I’ve found over the years a bit of it’s rubbed off on them. My son, before he left for college, we did a half-Iron Man together. That was probably one of the highlights of my athletic career: A simple half-Iron Man I’ve done probably 10 other times, but doing it with him was probably one of the best.

WI: That’s pretty awesome. Does your wife compete at all?

Tom: No. She’s been the most awesome fan, supporter and cheerleader through all of this. She’s been at every finish line. I’ve been to 16 Iron Man events and she’s been at every one of them. It’s a harder day on a fan, in my mind, because they’re up just as early as you, and they don’t get the adrenaline kick you do competing, but she’s been there. She’ll occasionally do a 5K, like we’ve done a Thanksgiving run, but she’s happy to let me and the kids do the crazy stuff so she’ll be the smart one in the family.

WI: Okay, let’s pivot a bit. A while back we noticed Mark Cuban got into a debate with some people on Twitter, he was saying he gets regular blood tests every year and he thought it was important for everybody to do that, to know where they are from a physical standpoint. Is there anything you do every year in a similar vein?

Tom: I do now. I’m in my 40s now and I started that even last year with blood tests, and it’s part of our wellness program at Waste Management. It’s kind of that season of life to check up a bit more. I used to check up every other year or so. I have, during different periods, conducted more physiology-type tests and stuff, to know heart rate zones and other things. I think that since I’ve been training with different things, there are the toys that you have that monitor things, there’s definitely a sure sign of you know, “something’s wrong” when different workouts are off. You can quickly look to eating and sleeping habits, but then if a problem is prolonged I think that more than anything I know my body better from doing all of this training than most people who are not active. I think that helps as well.

I could go back to your question of “what gets you out of bed in the morning.” If you think about it, the ultimate goal is self-awareness, if you will, and then completely understanding not only your body, but also what it’s capable of mentally, physically. Not getting out there would be like if you had a great sports car just stuck in the garage and you always forgot about it.

WI: Now let’s transition to the Waste Management side, we are pretty interested in your thoughts on this as well. There’s a lot of conversation today about corporate wellness: How do we get employees engaged in their own health, how do we cut costs, which are skyrocketing in healthcare? You’re super-active, do people at the office know? Are they pretty in-tune with what you have going on?

Tom: Yeah, I think my employees are aware. In my role I interact with customers quite a bit, and it’s pretty talked-about in customer meetings. Sometimes it’s more of the kind of poking fun at me, “Tom’s that crazy triathlete guy,” but often times it’s more admiration than pointing those things out. So I’ve noticed more and more there are active leaders in organizations, so you kind of hit it off talking about running or other things like that.

WI: So, with your colleagues or customers in mind, what are some of the benefits of you being active?

Tom: Sure. I know just in sharing the stories of being active, or encouraging others, I think there’s just that natural benefit of others being inspired by leadership throughout the organization. I’ve noticed, even over the last several months, our senior leadership, our CEO and CFO, they’re wearing those active bands tracking their steps and their workouts, and that spills over into the other employees. Beyond kind of health benefits, I’ve found personally that I think better when I’ve had a good workout or when I regularly exercise, and I think I’ve read enough studies that reflect that. I don’t think you have a healthier employee necessarily, but you have a more engaged and actively thinking employee from that standpoint.

Another benefit is that, when I attend conferences, I often reach out and try to figure out who the runners are. You know there’s interaction on the golf course, maybe others go out and have a few drinks, but there’s nothing like sharing a running experience with fellow leaders within a company. I’m not a golfer so I can’t speak to that, maybe there’s some connection there, but you just ran in a great, beautiful place eight miles together, that person remembers you pretty well. There’s plenty of time to just chat back and forth. I’ve had a lot of good conversation with leaders and others, and it’s good to share that with them. You feel good about the start of your day if you knock that down when you’re sitting around at a conference all day.

WI: How would you say your fitness habits have benefited your career?

Tom: Yeah, definitely, beyond the mental clarity, just learning to channel strengths, especially competitiveness. I think endurance sports reveal what you’re made of and what you’re capable of. I’ve had some races that went south, some bad choices of nutrition and other things, stomach shutting down, eating bad, etc. Every part of you mentally wants to drop out or quit, but somehow you need to shut the negativity aside and push through and persevere. Perseverance is something you need to draw on when there’s a heavy workload, stressful situations, and confrontation in the workplace, or an unhappy customer, and you learn to stay calm through all of that. It’s similar to the feeling of being on the starting line, facing those things. I know I can conquer that, I know I can get through it, and I automatically draw back and think of a race. There’s that self-confidence that “this will pass,” that this is tough and hard right now, but this will pass, and you can get through it, and you will succeed. It’s not just limping along, you’re going to get to the finish line and the finish line is going to be magnificent. I’ve drawn upon that quite a bit, not that I’ve had all these stressful situations in my career, but more than one person has come up to me and surprised with how I handle myself in very, very stressful situations or trying situations or public speaking or other things. I owe it to being tested so often in different events, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without sports, without endurance sports in particular.

WI: There are other executives out there, that are going to look at this conversation and say “Listen, I’m busy, I’ve got family, I’ve got tons of things on my plate at work, I just don’t have time to do this right now.” Talk to them to them, what would you say?

Tom: I’d say honestly, there’s never going to be enough time. If that’s the way you look at it, it’s like any other thing that you make a priority. If you have some emergency at home you need to appropriately devote time to that. I think it’s being the master of your own schedule, and taking the necessary time to make sure you have your priorities in order. I think we all can carve out enough time to adjust ourselves, to make ourselves better. Whether it be going to a conference, reading a book, or other things, I think this is a piece we often neglect, especially as we get higher up in our careers. Your time is very precious, but you need to take some of that back for yourself and prioritize. You know, sometimes that dinner meeting’s not important, or you go to bed a bit earlier, and I do that so the next day I can hit the hotel gym or whatever. You have more control over your time, especially now that you’re a leader, so take advantage of that, and give yourself some time, because everybody else is always going to take it away from you.

WI: Last question: Is there anything else you would want to bring up, or discuss?

Tom: That’s a good question. I think we covered most of it, but as a closing statement, I would say this: There’s nothing like knocking out the challenge of completing a race, whether it be a 5K, a 10K, a half-marathon. Going through the process of training for an event like that, or a triathlon or an Iron Man or things like that, I think everybody should do that at least once, just to see what it reveals in you going through that process, and really be devoted to it. I’ve seen people go back to their normal workout routines, but I’ve yet to find somebody who hasn’t been inspired a bit more, just about themselves, and what it revealed to them.

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At a time when it seems like so many Americans, especially those with demanding responsibilities like executives, struggle to maintain healthy lifestyles, it’s inspiring to talk with someone so committed to maintaining a healthy mind and body. Tom is an inspiring reminder that corporate wellness is a direct result of company leadership, because a healthy company starts at the top. Many thanks to Tom for taking the time to share his valuable perspective with us- Maybe we’ll see each other out on the course soon!

David Fouse is a partner at the Pinkston Group, a Washington, D.C.-area public relations firm. Follow David on Instagram @davidwfouse.

Margeaux Appel is an Account Executive at the Pinkston Group.

Wellness Inspired is part of an ongoing effort to highlight great examples of executive leadership in health and wellness. If you think you have a candidate that meets that criterion please submit their name and a quick background to appel@pinkstongroup.com.