I race to stay healthy. I have ridiculously high cholesterol and staying active keeps me off of many crazy medications. I also race to compete. I love the thrill of competition!

One of my goals was to finish a 70.3 and I reached that goal my very first season with the help of Coach Katie.

I have many goals for the future. One of my goals is to get back to racing the half Ironman distance. There is such a satisfying sense of accomplishment in completing that distance. Some day maybe I will be ready to tackle the full Ironman distance. My other goals include becoming more efficient on the bike and in the swim. Lastly, I’m working hard to find the work/life balance.

My first race was The Dam Tri in 2014. This is the last race in the South Carolina Set up events series. It’s a sprint international with an open water swim. I was relatively new to the bike so I had to stop on the side of the road to drink from my water bottle. I still remember crossing the finish line and feeling a wonderful sense of accomplishment.

Before I had started my journey towards triathlon, I had been a runner for 10 years. Due to many running injuries, I decided to ask Katie to teach me how to swim in 2013. She helped me learn to swim from no prior swimming experience. I swam and ran for about a year and in February 2014 I bought a used entry level bike. I spent the better part of the year riding with plastic pedals and getting comfortable on the bike. After my first triathlon, I had a moment of insanity and signed up for a half Ironman. The rest is history and I’m thrilled to be starting my fifth season of triathlon!

That’s a hard question. I enjoy the daily workouts and reaching my goal every day. But I also enjoy putting it all together in a race. I also look forward to reuniting with all my teammates at races and cheering everyone on.

Is coach reading this? I’ve always loved the run, but I’ve found a lot of happiness in a long bike ride out in the country. It feels like an adventure when you have to navigate and self support for that long. Not to mention, I almost always get to ride with teammates! I’ve also found a lot of peace and solitude in an after work swim. Just depends on the day and how much rest I get as to how much I enjoy the training.

The short answer is I’m a type A personality like most athletes. I’m very driven and I like to see how well I can do against my previous performances on the same course.  Coach says ultimately you’re competing against yourself. It takes a few races to realize that.