Rebekah S.

Over the years, I have helped new triathletes develop their training plans and helped mentor them along the way towards their goals. Most recently, I acted as an “Ironmate” mentor for Ironman Maryland 2018. This meant that I worked with two aspiring Ironman competitors who were slated to race Ironman Maryland 2018. I had regular check-in calls/emails with them on their training plans and helped them prepare - both nutritionally and physically - for the upcoming race, and also gave them as a sense of what to expect. I also went on training rides with the athlete who was based in the local area (the other being in Seattle).

I’ve also unofficially coached colleagues from the workplace who were generally seeking to improve their fitness goals. This included leading them on group runs and a series of interval-style bodyweight workouts over the course of several months.

I played sports throughout high school: varsity volleyball, varsity soccer, and ran cross country; in college I focused on intramurals and more running. After graduation I focused on marathon training, but was sidelined for 6 months with a serious hip stress fracture. Not to be deterred, I started all over again and ran the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon. After that point, I decided that the orthopedist might actually be on to something when he recommended swimming and biking (and less running)… combine those three, and voila, a whole other sport!

I fell in love with triathlon after my very first sprint – in October 2010. At the time, I thought I would never run an Ironman. Now I’m about to race my 7th Ironman and have raced 20+ half-Ironmans, countless marathons and half-marathons, sprint and Olympic triathlons. Along the way, I picked up Crossfit (in my spare time) which has been a welcome addition and given me greater strength in all three of the triathlon disciplines. I’ve qualified and raced in the 2012 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships; qualified for the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championship; and am an Ironman All-World Athlete (2015-present). I’m competing in my 6th Crossfit competition in the fall of 2019.

The first thing I seek to learn about my athletes is the “why.” Why do you want to complete a triathlon? Additional questions lead to the implementing the “how” of accomplishing that goal. What distance are you hoping to complete? A sprint or all the way to Ironman? Are you new to the sport or are you a seasoned competitor? What are your physical weaknesses? What is your nutrition plan? What sports are you using to cross-train?

After establishing the athlete’s goals, I lay out the building blocks for success and we discuss the significance of each: rest, nutrition, yoga, the right equipment, and listening to your body. The other piece of the sport which is less understood by those new to it, is the amount of time that is required to train for an event of this nature. Even sprint triathlons – if the athlete has never participated in one – requires a certain amount of training time, primarily due to the many moving parts of the event itself. There a race rules to understand, warning signs to look for during the event itself, and TRANSITIONS TRANSITIONS TRANSITIONS.

Having laid this solid foundation, I then work on a training plan for the athlete – is there a particular event (date specific) that they are training towards? Then I will work backwards. Otherwise, I focus on building a very strong training base that we can build up as the athlete moves closer to the event date or into higher mileage.

I’m a very hands-on coach – whenever I can, I like to participate in my athlete's training. This includes being in the pool for swims (if necessary), biking with my athlete, and most certainly running with the athlete. So much of triathlon is getting to a place of mental strength, and that only comes from building trust both in the sport and in your abilities.

I’m a big believer in assessing movement to make sure the athlete is wearing the right shoes or is fitted correctly on the bike. And after countless injuries, I also believe in infusing walking into the run (train like you race!) and NEVER STRETCHING COLD, and if you don’t have a foam roller now, it will become your best friend! Rest and recovery are every bit as important as ticking off the programmed training swims/rides/runs.