Ironmom of 2 beautiful kids, love pushing my body to the absolute limit and a professional procrastinator – especially when it comes to races. I am a triathlete at heart, the running thing is just one of the required disciplines.  I love this sport and love helping people get started and hooked! The dark side is the best side – right Charlene? I enjoy all 3 disciplines but really enjoy adding strength training to the mix. And yes, I’m always hungry. ALWAYS.

1. How many years have you been in triathlon? 11 – that’s crazy!  
2. How many years have you been apart of HEAT? At least 10, missing a couple years to have kids
3. How did you get started in triathlon? I entered my first sprint as a dare from a couple of coworkers. Didn’t own a bike, zero swim technique, and “ran” some. We all did Cedars that summer and I was completely hooked! Did my first 2 sprints on a 50lb mountain bike I bought at Walmart. Took ol’ blue to ACME to swap out the stubbies for racing tires…I’m sure they laughed at me. I thought I was sooo cool – doing a triathlon. I miss that store!
   
4. What is your favorite discipline?  Bike
5. What distances have you competed in?
   • Sprint
   • Intermediate  
   • 70.3  
   • 140.6
6. What has been your favorite race?  IMLou by far – it was one of the best days of my life! Met some amazing people throughout training and had the best sherpa crew anyone could ask for – it was a truly amazing experience. Never ever thought I could do a full – especially with my schedule
7. What is your go-to nutritional product for training/racing? Gu and gels can only get me so far. I like to eat – a lot – and real food. I’m a huge fan of uncrustables and those waffles. Huma gels are my go-to for marathons. Strawberry is the best – tastes like jelly!
8. What serves as your motivation to keep going when the training or the race seems too hard? Everyone has bad days and bad workouts – it’s inevitable. It’s the getting back up – that’s what matters. I’ve DNF’d, I’ve quit workouts, I’ve cried, bled, screamed, cursed (probably too much), but I kept going. You keep going because you have goals – scary goals – but that sweet taste of accomplishment and achievement is worth every minute of pain and frustration. And my babies – they’re always watching – I want to make them proud
9. What does your normal training week look like?                            Normal? What’s that??? I have a demanding job, work travel, and 2 small children – there is no normal training week. I cram it in when I can. I typically try and do something every single day though – mostly running and weight training. I panic train right before an event throwing in swimming and biking when I can. Lots of early, early mornings, late nights, and quality time spent on the trainer in my garage. Also very blessed to have a great gym on site at work.
10. What is your first thought after finishing a triathlon? That was the most fun ever! What are we doing next???
    Keep in mind, 3 miles or minutes before finishing the thoughts are quite different “why in the world are we doing this? we actually paid to be in pain. this is dumb”