I started playing soccer in middle school, covering the whole field as a right wing midfielder, but it wasn't until after college that I began to emotionally connect how essential speed work, coupled with tempo pacing, would become to pounding the pavement for mental and physical health.

My entire relationship to sports and wellness has always been based around running. Running was always the simplest, most natural, low-cost way to feel good. But, as every runner knows, there are periods of monotony, which is why I purchased my first road bike on May 29th, 2017. I rode it for a few days and signed up for a sprint duathlon on a whim... and after placing First Overall Female, I was completely hooked and knew I needed to explore how that might have happened.

The more I cycled, the more I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes work that went into new skill development, and the more I admired triathlon athletes that could perform well across the entire cardio-endurance ecosystem. At the same time, this was so frustrating, because I knew that would never be me: I was completely terrified of swimming.

I could doggie paddle when I needed to stay alive; I didn't like putting my face in the water or going under it, and couldn't freestyle at all. The thought of choppy waves, and whatever brushes past your legs just under them, actually gave me nightmares. This was June 2017.

Fast forward 10 months and I'm in the pool at least three times a week, shaving time off of my pace with a great training system. I spend every few weekends at a lake just north of Atlanta, acclimating to the unpredictability and different challenges of open water. 2018 will be my first full year in the world of triathlon, and I'm looking forward to competing in my first Olympic length, and hope to make the jump to a Half Ironman in 2019.

The TriDot training system keeps me motivated with its ever changing workouts, and also provides a plan that I can work into my busy daily life. The training has kept me engaged, and I've learned to love it almost as much as race day.