Katy Price only recently started out on her triathlon but has big ambitions for the months and years ahead.

KATY PRICE had urges to run and get fit throughout her 20s but never quite acted on her desire to become an athlete. However, after some personal battles and a change in location her burning passions for sport have come to fruition. She was inspired by cyclists on a local course for IMTX and soon set herself the challenge to train for a triathlon.

In her first race the swim got cancelled and she was so frustrated that she found a race for the following weekend which she finished with joy. She had well and truly caught the triathlon bug and has now raced all over the state of Texas. She will compete in Canada next year and has plans to race in Wales soon after that. Here she talks about her journey in the sport and the places she hopes it will take her in time to come. 

When did you start out in triathlon and who or what inspired you to give the sport a try?

I completed my first triathlon as a teenager, with no thought, no training, and had a (perhaps unsurprisingly) painful experience. I’d toyed on and off with running in my mid to late 20s and then slowly that faded away after I’d moved to Texas. I was at a crossroads in my life, and I went through many years of pain and depression while I came out to myself and to the world. During this time I was living in The Woodlands and was right on the bike course for IMTX.

The first year I watched the athletes was inspiring, and the second year was enough to make me realize how amazing I found the idea of the race, having always had an affinity for longer distances. I spent hours out taking photos as the athletes shot past, my daughter happily by my side and helping as we counted the bikes – and always more coming through.

I’ve always found exercise to be my meditation, my down-time in a weirdly paradoxical way, and the thought of committing myself to the distance was intoxicating. I had my ups and downs for a few years, including various life events that curtailed training but I’ve always come back to it when physically able, and now I’m in a position to complete my full distance next year in Mont Tremblant.

Katy is currently training for a full distance next year in Mont Tremblant.

What were some of your earliest triathlon triumphs?

My first race, planned with a little over four months to train, was Austin 70.3 in 2016. I was so nervous and excited, and crossing that finish line was one of the most amazing feelings I’d had until that point.

Unfortunately the swim was cancelled due to a hazy fog that lingered for far too long on race morning.

Not wanting to finish the year having ‘semi-completed’ a race (in my head anyway), I immediately signed up for Oilman 70.3 just north of Houston, in Conroe, the next weekend. Crossing that finish line, just under seven hours, a week after my first race, was enough of an accomplishment that I knew I was hooked for life at that point.

This year hasn’t been kind to me and I had to DNS my planned races in the first half of the year (IMTX 70.3, and Fort Worth Tri 140.6) due primarily to recovering from surgery. I competed in a few smaller sprint tri’s recently and picked up some age-group awards which definitely helped me feel better!

What do you see as your biggest overall achievements in the sport?

So far just finishing every race I’ve finished. I’m not (yet) competing at the front of the pack in general for an age group podium place, and while that would be a nice result, I’m happy just to keep improving on my times while I enjoy the journey right now. I’ve fared better in local sprint events and won my age group in the most recent race I competed in, despite swimming with one eye open and one closed for the entire swim! I fully realize that was just a small, local event but I’m hoping to make that result a spring board into the future!

Katy is now looking forward to racing overseas and will compete in Canada next year.

Where in the world has the sport taken you and what have been some of the highlights?

So far, Triathlon specifically has just kept me in Texas. I’m new enough to the sport in terms of competing that the races I’ve competed in have all been within a few hours drive of home. That’s going to change soon though! I’m competing in Canada next year for my first full distance race, and I’m planning to head to IM Wales (the country where I was born) in 2019.

Outside of that it’s nice to think I’ll make it to Kona one day too. Now I just need to find friends who want to travel with me all over the world to compete!

At which discipline of triathlon do you excel at and at which do you have to work the hardest?

The bike is what comes easiest to me. I never would have guessed before jumping into the sport – my history had all been running prior to taking the plunge and starting to train – but I find a peace and serenity in the saddle that is hard to match anywhere else. Working hardest should be swimming (my technique is fairly terrible thus far), but it’s actually in the running. I’ve spent some time focusing on low heart-rate long distance running to start trying to address that and I’m hoping that spending some time in trail running events over Fall and Winter will pay off dividends for next year.

Katy is currently training hard for her final two races of the season.

How hard are you currently training and what events and races do you have coming up in the months ahead?

I’m still training for two more races this year at this point so I haven’t really eased off at all except for recovery in the days immediately after an event. I’m going to be competing at Austin 70.3 again later this month, and then I have a 50-mile trail race planned in December. After that, the next concrete (as in paid for) event on my calender is IM Mont Tremblant in 2018! It’s going to be my year!