BreakAway Sport, Cyborg has feelings too!

On the record with Jeff Teach AKA Cyborg:

Q: What did you miss most from working out after surgery?

A: Lifting

Good mornings!

Q: Did you ever think you would need surgery?

A: I never thought I would need surgery because I take good care of myself. Since in the past I did very stressful things to my body with throwing the shot put and Olympic weightlifting. Those are probably two of the most stressful activities I could have done and I never needed surgery.

University of Illinois-All American and Big Ten Champion

Q: Why do you think you are recovering so quickly and seeing gains so quickly?

A: I think I’m recovering quickly because I was extremely patient with my post-surgery rehab. I did nothing to put stress on my shoulder, and I was completely conscious of every movement I made. I didn’t sleep on it, I didn’t use it to eat or use my arm for anything.

A couple days after surgery!

Q: Prior to surgery, what would you say your greatest physical achievement is to date?

A: When I was lifting at the Olympic training center for the US team I was injured and couldn’t lift for over 3 months and I came back and hit a personal record (PR) on the Snatch in less than a month. That was huge!

Q: At this point, are you able do everything you’d done before like mountain bike and snowboard, or do you have some hesitation or limitations?

A: I’ll put it this way: I don’t want to do anything stupid. I’ll do snowboarding and mountain biking or any other physical things I like to do with caution. After I get my strength back and my mobility back, I’ll feel confident that I can do anything without thinking about it.

Q: As a predominantly strength-based athlete, why did you two marathons?

A: At the time I was training people who were doing marathons and iron mans and in order to gain a little bit more respect and perspective, I decided to train for a marathon. My goal was to stay over 200 pounds and maintain my strength while trying to run a fast-paced marathon. Running the Marine Corps qualified me for Boston and I just couldn’t give that up and ran Boston.

Marine Corp-3:04 finish

Q: Would you run one again or just get roped into doing sprints with your wife?

A: Unofficially, I am officially retired from running marathons. Yes, my wife roped me in to do sprints: IMG_0273

Q: Why don’t you race bikes anymore?

It takes too much time. I don’t have that kind of time to train.

Q: Will you ever compete in Olympic lifting again?

A: That’s yet to be determined. Stay tuned.

Q: How did you get the nickname Cyborg?

A: Years ago I joined some friends that for the last 38 years have been doing an informal group ride from McLean to Dewey Beach. I had never ridden with these people and they are all great riders. However, something came over me and I was a machine on my bike. I pulled the pace all the way from over the bridge to Dewey and I think there was shock because of my size so they called me Cyborg. That evening one of the guys had a dream that went like this: Mrs. Cyborg you have to tell me what Cyborg’s secret is. Okay, I will tell you but you have to promise to stop calling him Cyborg as it hurts his feelings. He said okay I will cut it out please just tell me his secret. Mrs. Cyborg said every twenty minutes he eats 2 double stuffed Oreos. The name just stuck!