OVERCOMING THE JOURNEY

Many of you have read my backstory, the general “swimmer turned triathlete” story, but there is much more to the story than that…

Starting this blog journey was more of a race recap, general updating on my triathlon life, type of thing. I never planned on getting into any “personal” writing. But as I find myself chasing more of my true passions, I have found I would like to give a little more insight of what has made me into the person I am today, including all the hardships.

The story starts the same as usual: I have been a swimmer my whole life, starting as just a summer league swimmer at age 4. I was the youngest that year, and on the first day my mom said I was the only one in my group who got in and swam the whole length of the pool without stopping-crying the whole way as I did so. I remember the private lessons I took to improve my swimming over the next few years, and I still have a 25 yard breaststroke record to this day! At age 10, my best friend and I tried out for the prestigious club swim team in town-Fleet Swimming, or CFST. I had to quit the summer league team to meet the demands of club swimming, and I had to quit club volleyball soon after that (yes, I was a volleyball player in my junior high years!). The intensity of swimming only grew from there. Beginning in middle school, I had already started 5:15am swim practices, while also competing in junior high cross country and volleyball. My age group years (10-15) of swimming were some of my best years and I was fortunate to work with some of the best developmental coaches. I loved swimming and I loved competing…and I was steadily improving every season.

I've always worked on my form! 

Due to my growth as a swimmer and my improving results, I, along with multiple friends, were promoted to the “Elite group”, which is the highest level you could reach in our club. This occurred at a much earlier point in my swim career than most people experienced in that time. A typical practice schedule consisted of two-a-days at least 3 times a week and 3+hour Saturday practices…all year long. At the same time, I was also beginning to compete in high school swimming and water polo, where most of my morning practices would be with our high school team. Everything seemed to be going smoothly and perfectly, I was swimming strong and continually improving every season.

Back in the high school prime 

But not long after moving up to the elite group and after my first year of high school, I hit the dreaded plateau... It wasn’t long before the people who I once beat and kept up with were now passing me by like I was a stump in the water. I wasn’t improving. In fact, I was sliding backwards in my progress, unable to hit any times I used to be able to hold. Being a very competitive sport, our head coach also lost any interest in me and I was soon pushed to the “slow lanes” to be forgotten. Favoritism can run very high in large club teams, and I was far from a favorite. Not only did I get pushed aside by the coach, my previous close friends (who would go on to be successful D1 swimmers and Olympic trials qualifiers and Olympic competitors) were forming their own “fast” cliques, which was something I was no longer a part of. I was becoming a loser to them, and I have no doubt that behind my back I was being made fun of by some of those people in the years where I had stopped progressing. I lost friends and I lost my high passion. My love for swimming soon came to a grinding halt. I wanted to quit, in fact I actually did quit very briefly, and even switched teams at one point because I felt like such an outsider. But none of these changes helped. To make matters worse, I was beginning to experience severe pain in my right shoulder that no one quite believed was real. I went into physical therapy, but that did not improve the situation, and people brushed it off as tendonitis. I was beginning to question if I even wanted to continue in the sport that I had dedicated so much time to. It has been said that High School is the best time of your life, but whoever said that was certainly lying.

Towards the end of high school, while all my other swimmer friends were taking coveted recruiting trips to big D1 schools, I was struggling to find a place where I would fit in. My swimming was finally improving by the time I turned 18, but I had regressed so much during my plateau years that I was still considered slow to the rest of my club swim team. I took a few small recruiting trips, first signing with a D2 school, Incarnate Word, but realizing my heart was at a small, liberal arts D1 school that would slowly make the change to a D3 school by the time I graduated: Centenary College of Louisiana. Also in my senior year of high school, I finally had my first shoulder surgery. After no one truly believing I had any structural problems in my shoulder, my first surgery ended with my doctor saying it was worse than they thought (go figure?!). I had a detached labrum, as well as a tear in the labrum, and a shoulder capsule that was too loose, causing my shoulder head to slightly pop out of socket and fray surrounding tendons. The tear was fixed and my labrum was anchored back down. They also shaved down some of the bone and cut down part of my bursae to help with swelling. To prevent my shoulder from becoming too loose again, they only tightened up the back of the capsule during the surgery procedure…which would prove to be not enough, because a year and a half later I had to have a second surgery, where they tightened the entire joint capsule and fixed another labral tear.

A look inside my 1st surgery

After those surgeries, there were 2 people who didn’t brush me aside and who believed in me and who would later fuel my passion to start my triathlon journey. One was my physical therapist, Markell, an Ironman athlete and fellow shoulder bum! She helped me regain my strength both mentally and physically and sparked my interest in triathlon. We had a similar swim background and similar body build, so hearing of her accomplishments made me believe I could do it as well! The other was my previous age group club coach, Allen Salinas. Even if I wasn’t as fast as I used to be or as fast as my fellow teammates, he never left me out of the equation and continued to encourage my progress. During my first year of college, the day after my birthday, Allen was struck by a car while training for his first full Ironman. It was that day that I vowed to compete my first full in his name.

I was more than excited to move onto the next journey of my life at Centenary, and while it proved to be one of my biggest challenges both in the classroom and in the pool, it definitely helped bring out the best in me. That’s not to say it came easy…because it most definitely did not and I most certainly struggled and encountered a few setbacks and of course, a few bad decisions (don’t we all have those??). During my time at Centenary, I studied History and Political Science and my senior thesis was about the effects of Title IX on sports at the school. I have always had an immense interest in learning about women’s past struggles in sports and helping women to succeed and have the same opportunities as men-which helps me in my job today! My paper ended up winning a Northern Louisiana Historical award; it was one of my proudest educational moments and a great way to finish off my college education.

While I may not have been at the fastest school in the swimming world, I had the best swim coaches in my career who I madly respect to this day, Butch Jordan and Joe Ferguson. They both could see the potential inside me and never gave me any slack. I fueled off of their hard work and efforts. I wanted to make them proud and I wanted to prove that I was plenty capable of great things. Their direction over my 4 years at Centenary shaped who I am as an athlete and brought out the real fight in me. During my time at Centenary, I relearned how to tap into my true potential, both in workouts and in a race setting. I set a couple school records and of course, multiple PRs for the majority of my events. I also officially joined the cross country team in my sophomore year of college. I was always a runner, but hadn’t been competitive really since junior high (and a short stint of longer track events in high school). I was reminded of how much I loved to run and I made huge improvements in my running over a short 2 years that sticks with me today. After my last conference swim meet (and finally earning an individual conference title in the 200 fly), my VO2 max was tested at 71.12. I had no idea what VO2 max even was, but it turns out I fall in the elite range with that number and even made the lab’s top 3 highest VO2 max! I knew that the potential was there inside me.

On my way to my 1st individual conference title

A little over halfway through college, as many of you already know, I was convinced to join the college triathlon team with the help of a donated bike, helmet, shoes, etc. It was the first time in my life that I had ever been on a road bike, much less a triathlon bike. Because of my background in running and swimming, the bike was the discipline I needed to focus on the most. It took me a little while to get accustomed to the tiny tires and getting into the aero position, but eventually I became comfortable on the bike. My first few rides were on a road bike with aero bars until my loaner tri bike was available-an older Quintana Roo Caliente. It was a great beginner bike, and I loved it and it most certainly treated me well for that first year and a half of competing!

I've come a long way since then!

My 1st tri! 

I first met John Cobb when I was fit by him on the QR leading up to collegiate nationals. I was definitely intimidated by him, and yes, probably even a little scared of him! My coaches knew him closely and greatly respected his knowledge, so of course I came back after receiving my college graduation present: my very first tri bike! After graduation I continued to compete and become more involved in Triathlon. It was then that John reached out to me about the possibility of working with him. I had never truly lived by myself, in a new town, with no solidified friends, but the idea of working in the industry with one of the greatest pioneers of the sport-helping women-it was too good to pass up. I started working for Cobb Cycling in December 2014.

1st Fit with John

While I was getting more into triathlon, I had a couple of coaches-some that worked and some that did not-and there were times where I just coached myself based on what others were doing. My direction was not very hard lined, even though I knew my ultimate goal deep down. I was sporadic at times, blew myself up training in 2015, and struggled with weight. The experience of witnessing the Kona World Championship this fall clarified my focus and intentions and intensified my passion to raise myself up to the highest level my body could reach. It was this renewed passion that drove me to take the initiative and reach out to one of the most incredible women in the sport to really try and take myself to the next level and not let my potential go to waste.

Looking forward to big things!

For 2017, I am more than ecstatic to announce that I will be working with Siri Lindley on Team Sirius! I know that she and I will be able to accomplish some amazing things and I cannot wait to see what is in store for me in this sport. This journey will not be an easy one, but that part excites me. I am ready to see what my body is capable of and really push myself. Also, I’m incredibly excited to be a part of such an amazing team of athletes!

Cheers to 2017 and amazing things to come!

“Though she be but little, she is fierce”