Our athlete of the week is Monica Woodward! Monica has been with us for three years now and her dedication to improvement and diligence in setting goals and training for them has been a huge inspiration for us.
In her words, fitness has changed Monica’s life. She had always admired triathlon from afar, but in 2015 she decided to start training for and racing in triathlon. Since then, she’s participated in over 50 running and triathlon races, including 5ks, 10ks, half marathons, sprints, and olympic triathlons. She has considered doing a Half Ironman, but at the end of the day, her goals are just to swim faster, bike faster, and run faster!
Monica says that diligence in her training has had a huge positive impact on her life overall. Even though she seems confident and focused on the outside, she says oftentimes she’s over-analyzing what she’s about to do. However, with a commitment to practice and training, when she’s done, she’s amazed at not only what she did and that she survived, but that she really conquered the challenge and overcame it. This helps her build confidence both in her athletic pursuits and in her everyday life.
Her season this year got off to an uncertain start, and she missed some goals with early season running races. She attributes it to either injury or unfavorable weather, but she didn’t let not seeing the results that she had been training for hold her back. She persisted, and at the RTC sprint triathlon she set a massive PR and boosted her confidence in an amazing way for the rest of the season. It was the best she had ever felt on the bike, and she said that it was exhilarating to be able to stay in the aero position and pass people on the bike for the first time.
Monica pays attention to the details, and her advice to beginners reflects that. She says to practice your transitions; while many people practice getting faster in the three main events, she says that being able to save time in transitions is basically like free time.
Monica has been an inspiration in her focus and commitment to training and improvement. Way to go Monica!
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