I blame my older brother. He completed his first triathlon in 2014 (and being the lunatic he is, went all in, completing IM Cour d’Alene 2 months later). While I had cheered him on from afar for years, I finally went to see him race at 70.3 Worlds in St. George in October 2022. The athletes, the atmosphere and the strong sense of community there all inspired me to sign up for a triathlon. Also, my mother in law passed away from ALS just a month before and seeing the disease rob her of the ability to move pushed me toward making the most of what I had.

It’s hard to imagine now but I didn’t have aspirations beyond just completing the Napa Oly distance initially. But I really loved all the learning and adventure that was part of the 0-60 program so as the weeks went by, and there started to be talk about the 60 to 70.3 program, I knew I wanted to do it, even though it seemed completely out of reach at the moment.

I definitely did not consider myself an athlete at the start but had run a few half marathons right before the pandemic and running was generally my go-to stress buster. I “went to the gym” for spin class and weights here and there (Bodypump anyone?). That was really it. Growing up in Finland, we rode our bikes around all summer but I hadn’t ridden outside really since then, and I did most of the 0-60 program on a pretty ill-fitted rental bike from Sports Basement. Swimming was new to me aside from being able to swim the requisite yardage for the program.

I joined the club in January of 2023 for 0-60, right at the start of my tri training. Hands down, one of the best decisions I’ve made — I don’t know that I’d be doing this had I just signed up for a race on my own. This group is so inspiring, knowledgeable and generous with their insights. I often think about how much my world has expanded over the last 3 years as a result of being part of this adventurous group.

How it can and will transform you. And learning to actually trust the process. Also, it’s a great way to fall in love with the Bay Area again.

IM South Hokkaido Japan — I got to race with my brother and it was my first full IM distance race on an absolutely stunning course. I would say Marbella is a close second for the vibes and that hilly bike course with glorious descents on pristine roads.

hmmm…each race has many hard moments. The now infamous Morro Bay swim and resulting near hypothermia was tough. But the really memorable one for me is back stroking in Napa during my first triathlon swim. I was a hyperventilating mess for that swim and I wasn’t convinced I’d make it out of there alive and if I did, I didn’t think I would even get on the bike. I swore off triathlon while splashing my limbs around to keep going. But thankfully I’m quite stubborn (and also Finnish and we have something called sisu) and when I DID make it out of the water and heard all the encouraging cheers of the SF Tri Crew, I was able to mentally move on to the bike and run and ended up having a great rest of the race. I think you have to be able to move on from setbacks and things that don’t go as you imagined or planned and try to focus on the next step and what is still ahead.

Consistency in training is key and you absolutely need recovery days. I learned this the hard way and developed some overuse injuries so now I pay a lot more attention to sleep and fueling to make sure my body recovers well. Oh and progress over perfection always. And SMILE because you’re out there doing some amazing stuff!

I think it has to be consistency and learning about the goals of different types of sessions (and then doing my best to follow the session coach has given me :).

Thinking I had to go hard all the time. I didn’t understand/appreciate that different workouts had different goals and all played different roles.

I think partly it’s setting a big goal that scares you a little. If motivation is low, and that happens more than I’d like to admit, I remind myself of the goal and how much I actually always love the workout once I get started. Also, while injured, I had to stop run and bike for over 2 months, and that was incredibly hard. This season I’m thankful to be able to train without injury and bad pain and when I struggle to get going, I remind myself — or someone else does — not to take that ability for granted. And Coach Meg!

I’m planning on Oly at Wildflower, then 70.3 Northern California in August and then I hope to survive the heat and humidity and be fit enough to really enjoy WCs in Kona in October.