About Racheal
I am an ordinary person that has had the opportunity
to do extraordinary things. I started
competing in triathlons and running road races as a
graduate assistant and student in the Exercise
Science Department at Florida Atlantic University.
Like many athletes, after my first race I was
absolutely hooked. I loved the training and it was a
great way to become physically fit. Through a
lot of determination and hard work, I went from
being an middle of the pack age grouper to racing in the Elite
divisions. I also took up mountain
biking and off road running.
After a few years I turned my sights to longer
distance racing, qualifying for Kona by winning my
age group in my first Ironman. I finished the 2000 IM Florida with a
10:09:15 finish, good enough for 9th overall
including the pro women. I went on to compete
in 4 more IM's, all of which I was in the top 5 in
my age group, with my best being a 2002 Age Group
and overall Female Masters win at the World Championships
in Hawaii.
In 2004, I decided to take a break from serious
training to spend more time with my family;
daughter Ellen aged 10 and my husband of 20
years Brian. I also had a
strong desire to do more mountain biking. My
dream has always been to do the AA Hawaiian double;
to compete in the IM World Championships in Kona and
than a week later go to Maui and do the XTERRA World
Championships. I joined the Ford Team and
focused on improving my mountain bike skills.
At the same time I wanted to give back to the
Triathlon community in our area and did so by
starting a new Triathlon Club; The Gold Coast
Triathletes. I also wanted to focus more on
coaching along with teaching health and physical
education at a K-9 school.
In 2005, my coaching really took off and I opted
to pursue it full time. I gave up my teaching
and athletic director job. My husband became
quite the mountain bike racer and I focused
more on my athletes. I started coached
training groups (open water swims, running drills
and speed sessions with instruction, brick and
transition workouts along with various clinics
related to bike skills, transitions, open water
swimming, etc.). I also continued to do a
little more mountain bike racing.
2006 proved to be a very busy year. I took
on being President of the Triathlon Club The Gold
Coast Triathletes. I had many of my athletes
helping me out with the club. We worked very
hard and accomplished a great deal over the course
of the year. At the same time my coaching
really took off and my training groups doubled in
size. I was able to compete in a couple
mountain bike races, 2 Florida XTERRA races and
raced for fun with a bunch of my athletes at The
Escape to Miami at the end of the year. I had
hoped to race IM Florida, but could not find the
time I needed to train properly for the event.
Instead I went to the race as a Coach and supported
the athletes. I was so inspired, I signed up
for IM Florida in 2007!
In 2007....I returned back to training for triathlon
and continued to coach full time. It was a
tough year trying to just build a base back after
being out of the sport for 4 years. Plus I had
some great athletes I was coaching and training
groups! I was only able to
complete in 6 races in 2007, but it was a good start
in trying to get back to racing and in shape.
I had a rough start of the year having a difficult
time with races at Florida Great Escape and IM 70.3,
did fairly well at XTERRA in Miami, had a pretty
decent race (all things considered) in the Cancun
70.3, did the Tradewinds race as a C practice race
for IM. I was able to complete IM FL and do
well enough to qualify for Kona for 2008!
However it was a tough day out there....and I
learned a lot about what it was like to do an
Ironman without having the huge fitness I had back
in 2000-2003. I think in the end it made
me able to relate so much more to the average
athlete. It was a great experience and just
GREAT being back out there again!
Very motivating!
2008 is going to be a super big year for me
racing wise. I plan on limiting my personally
coached athletes to 12 or less so I have time to
devote to them and my training. I hired a strength
coach to help me build back up my strength and
fitness. I will hold training groups,
but they will not be as elaborate as in the past
which will allow more flexibility for athletes as
well as myself. Instead of having a huge
training group that meets a few days a week, I
separated out the groups so that athletes can sign
up for them separately along with the training
program. It allows much more flexibility with
scheduling for both me and my athletes. I am hoping to
qualify for XTERRA in Maui and try to do the AA
Hawaiian double this year if possible.
It is going to be a FUN and EXCITING YEAR all the
way around! You can check
out my race schedule below!
|