Background
I got started in endurance sports in 2012. At the time, I was in my mid-50s, had raised my two daughters, watched my oldest graduate from college and who now was overseas chasing her dreams of being a professional volleyball player in Europe and actually accomplishing that life long goal! My youngest daughter had also graduated from high school and received a basketball scholarship and was in the midst of her career in the restaurant industry managing two restaurants, and she was in her 20s. So I had done my job as a mother. I had raised two very successful young women who were now pursuing their passions.
How did you get started in endurance sports?
So what’s a mom to do now that her daughters are out of the house? I had been a lifelong athlete playing volleyball since the age of 10, but when my daughters entered high school and had both announced they wanted to try to go to college on athletic scholarships, my volleyball came to a screeching halt in order to take them to club practices and attend tournaments. In that time, I had also packed on the weight again. I had managed to drop 20 pounds on my own, but had come to that plateau, so I decided to do the only thing that had ever taken the weight off before and that is run. Now, I am not a long distance runner. . .not by any stretch of the means. In high school and college, I was a sprinter doing 100s, 200s, 400s at most, and relays. But here was in my 50s trying to make myself do something that I really didn’t like doing. But I have always been someone who could do something for someone else so I sought out and found a race in town that had charity bibs. I signed up for my first ever half marathon through Team in Training. They provided coaches, training plans, a weekly working out together, and all I had to do was raise a few thousand dollars for Team in Training. Piece of cake!
What was the transition like to triathlon?
About a month before the half marathon, the coaches of Team in Training said that there was another event coming up if we were interested. A triathlon! Oh, my gosh! I had always wanted to do a triathlon when I watched one over 30 years ago on NBC’s Wide World of Sports. I was hooked when I saw it and now here was my opportunity. But I had never swam competitively; hadn’t ridden a bike since high school; and really couldn’t stand running anything over 100 yards, but I was about to compete in my first 13.1 and this triathlon only had a 10K run on the end. I could do that. Or at least that’s what I was telling myself I thought for sure, I’d be a one and done. I just wanted to do a triathlon so I could say I did one. The training was great! And before I knew it, I had surpassed my weight loss goal and was down to a weight I had not seen in years.
The triathlon was an Olympic Distance in San Diego. And while I could barely feel my legs when I came across the finish line, I felt an exhilaration I had not felt in years, and knew I’d be looking to do another one.
And then just two months after that, competed in my first century ride (100 miles cycling), again, with Team in Training. It was awesome. I met even more people, raised more money for Team in Training, was getting coaching, and having a wonderful time, all by pushing myself beyond what I ever thought possible.
It all started with stepping outside my comfort zone. And thinking back on it now, had it not been for doing it for a charity, I don’t know that I would have done it if it was just for me.
How did you progress to longer distance events?
Well, fast forward a couple years, and I’ve had some minor success with Sprints and Olys, when a friend who was also a coach talks me into doing a 70.3. I did not have enough training, but knew I’d be good in the water because as it turns out, swim at the time was my strongest of the three disciplines. But I was ill prepared for the bike, and the run was my Achilles heel. That race was in NM, and the day was horrible. But with that being said, I learned a tremendous amount that day. I walked across the finish line almost 9 hours after I started. It was embarrassing I was defeated. And I almost never stepped back on a triathlon course after.
I said almost. After I cried in my beer and had a very long conversation with myself, I knew I did not want to finish on that note. I started scouring the internet for other 70.3 races. This was going to be a soul-searching race. Either I was going to make this happen or not. I had also volunteered at Ironman Arizona 140.6 in 2015 just two months after my disastrous performance at Toughman NM. IMAZ was cold, rainy, and I was at the run aid station under the Mill Street bridge from the first pros that went through until about 10:30 p.m., when I finally called it a day. It was incredible what I witnessed that day. From Lionel Sanders and all of the other pros blowing through the aid station all the way through the age groupers cold, shivering, looking for chicken broth and the strength to make it the last several miles to cross the finish line. The human spirit soared that day and I wanted to be a part of it. So I went home that night and after a long search, I found my race. Ironman New Orleans 70.3, which was just five months later. I loved Louisiana as my daughter had attended Louisiana Tech, and my husband and I had ventured down to New Orleans for a surprise birthday party for his high school classmate in 2011 and had an incredible time.
So for the next few months, I trained by myself off of training plans in the back of a book, and made my travel plans. It was a long drive, but it gave me plenty of time to think about what it was I was about to embark on, and I told myself that no matter what, I was going to cross that finish line. And I did! An hour faster than I had just a few months before. And when I got home, one of my friends talked me into meeting with an ambassador with Smile Train to race under one of their charity bibs at the 2016 Ironman Arizona. Prior to this, anytime anyone had mentioned Ironman or 140.6, my answer had always been an absolute NO, no way that was happening. But here we were again with another charity and my friend was doing it, too, so what the heck. Might as well. And the minute I signed the paperwork and began fundraising, I had butterflies in my stomach right up until Mike Reilly patted me on the shoulder as I entered the water that day. And yep, I did get to hear him announce, “Christine Clayton from Tucson, Arizona, you are an Ironman!”
Can you please describe any challenges you’ve faced?
Major setbacks I have encountered, other than my own brain telling me I’m not good enough on bad days was a severe ankle injury I suffered two months after completing my first Ironman when I was in a volleyball tournament and come down on someone’s foot under the net rolling it and ultimately requiring major reconstructive surgery. I’m still not back to where I was athletically or emotionally before that accident, and that was three years ago. But I have never stopped. Stalled several times, but never stopped. Although there are some days I wonder if I will ever get there and wondering if my triathlon days are over, but even as I’m writing this and reflecting on the ups and downs along with the life lessons I have learned stemming from this incredible sport, the people I’ve met (pros, elites, and even celebrities including the Iron Nun herself, Sister Madonna Bruder, Mike Reilly, Heather Jackson, Lesley Paterson and Simon Marshal, etc.) and thinking about the lofty goals I have set for myself, I am feeling an excitement building in me and maybe even the fire I needed to get myself moving and pushing myself harder than I have ever done before.
Any advice for others?
Whether it is triathlon, duathlon, aquabike, ultra running, a marathon, half marathon, century bike ride, or simply stepping outside your comfort zone to go on a hike on a trail for the first time, this is our time. Explore. Experiment. Do something you’ve never done before. Do not sit on the couch wondering what will become of your life but letting it pass you by. Go live it.
