Meet Kathryn 👋🏻
Kathryn and I have worked together since 2011. A few years ago, she began dealing with joint issues that gently nudged her to step away from running. Rather than giving up sport, she pivoted: dabbling in gravel racing and aqua bikes to stay focused, engaged, and moving forward.
Last year, she started to wonder what it might look like to race a 70.3 again. She had plenty of reasons not to try, but she also kept an open mind and a flexible outlook. Together, we decided to go for it.
There is no standard way to train for a 70.3. Every athlete is a unique puzzle, and solving that puzzle is both my job and my joy as a coach.
We leaned into the bike and swim for intensity to safely drive fitness, while relying on aerobic training to build overall capacity and durability. We integrated run-walk from the start to increase time on feet, never abandoning the walk breaks. Steep incline walking helped engage muscles similar to running, and when running we embraced strict pace control. There was no speed work – nothing that carried unnecessary risk or compromised her ability to simply keep running.
We also expanded our focus beyond fitness, spending time learning, experimenting, and refining fueling, hydration, pacing, and mindset strategies.
La Quinta marked Kathryn’s return – nearly three years after last toeing the line at a 70.3. She didn’t just start; she finished in the top 15 of her age group, and the fire was lit again. In 2026, she’ll take on two 70.3 events.
In her words:
“I was so happy to be racing again. I love the process of getting better and answering questions on the day to get the best out of myself. I love the work of training and figuring out how to fit it into life.”
It’s never too late to become who you were meant to be. In Kathryn’s case, that person has always been a triathlete. It took courage to sign up again and pursue a goal that once carried risk. Together, as a team, we didn’t just solve the puzzle – we put the pieces in place to now build on it.
