inspired Insp athletes A by Jennifer Brown
MAC members f ind the inspirat ion to redef ine middle age as they learn a new sport and invigorate their competitive spirit.
KATHERINE BURNS As a mother of three boys – ages 14, 11 and 8 – Katherine Burns has plenty to keep her busy. All three boys play three sports a year, with some sports often overlapping, all on separate teams that practice and play at different places and at different times. Burns also volunteers at the children’s schools, is a member of MAC’s Running and Triathlon Committee, and teaches Sunday School. Yet it was a change in her daily schedule that helped direct her toward triathlons when she turned 40 years old.
“My youngest child started elementary school, which allowed me to have more time to learn something new and train for it,” she explains. “A typical week of training for me during the school year is Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays spin class or yoga at noon; Tuesdays and Thursdays I run after the boys leave for school, and a masters swim workout at noon. During the summer, I just work out when I can, which is not very often.” Athleticism is nothing new for Burns. In high school, she played soccer and swam. After college she began running in local running races and played co-ed soccer.
“I felt comfortable with swimming and running and I just started cycling so I thought it would be fun to put it all together,” she says. “A couple of friends told me the MAC Triathlon and Running Committee started a training course for fi rst-time triathletes, and I gave it a try.” To reach competition level in triath- lons, Burns participated in many of the
36 | The Wınged M | MAY 2010 AUGUST 2010
Triathlon and Running Committee clinics and used their online weekly training schedule as a guide. “I learned a lot from MAC’s member coaches and other well- seasoned MAC triathletes,” she adds. She currently competes at local and regional races; the most recent being the Blue Lake Sprint Triathlon in June and the Hagg Lake Olympic Triathlon in July.
Burns says the biggest obstacle she’s faced is trying to fi nd time to complete the training needed with three different sports. Although she says the training took a lot out of her when she fi rst started, the benefi ts are obvious.
“Alternating workouts, or cross training, has felt really good on my body,” she says. “I used to run every day and as I age, my body is able to handle the cross training much better.
“I really enjoy the cycling part of training and this year my husband and I are going to try Cycle Oregon for the fi rst time,” she adds.
“Befriend others in the sport and learn all you can from them,” Burns advises. “Find a support group that makes training fun.”
DAVE PRESTON Dave Preston is another competitive post-40 triathlete.
“I played soccer in middle school, high school and college,” he says. “After gradu- ating I played in adult soccer leagues for a while but got tired of getting hacked and hurt so took up running. Around 2004 a lot of my friends with whom I’d been running for many years were getting hurt so that they could not run any longer. I was sore from running every day too.” In order to cut back on running yet still
stay fi t, Preston took up swimming. But he didn’t stop there.
Katherine burns, right, took advantage of the MAC Triathlon and running committee’s program for first-time triathletes.
“A colleague at work said that if I was running and swimming I might as well get a bike and do triathlons,” he explains. “I’d always loved riding bikes as a kid and I
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