Kate Brown
I’ve just got back from Europe after racing IMWC in Nice.
How long have you been a member of NHTC?
I joined NHTC this year after moving to Auckland from Taupo.
What is your favourite discipline? What is your favourite race?
My favourite discipline is swimming- especially in the open water. I’ve been lucky enough to race in Ibiza, Kona and Nice over the last couple of years and they all had amazing water to swim in.
Favourite Race- I loved IMWC in Nice this year. It was very different to Kona but the bike course was epic- challenging and just stunning. It was a great place to have a race and I loved being able to see friends and family so many times on the run course.
How do you balance training with your work?
This has been super hard this year. I work full time as Head of Water Polo and Swimming at Kristin, and I have 2 kids aged 10 and 13 who are heavily into sport. I lost my husband to cancer 3 years ago, so trying to balance training with work and kids is challenging on my own, but I’ve done 2 Ironman races this year. It means being super organised and flexible and unfortunately this year I just haven’t had as much time as I would like to be able to dedicate to training. It’s meant going for a run while my daughter swims or jumping out of swim squad at 630am and racing home to pick up and drop to rowing training—lots of early mornings and long days. My kids have learnt they need to be organised and independent too. Sometimes you just can’t fit what you want in, and that’s life, but pushing too much isn’t worth it either.
What have you done this season to stay injury-free for your next race? What’s your biggest piece of advice for a new person to triathlon?
Staying injury-free requires having a coach who listens, can interpret your data well, and knows when to pull you back or push you. I’ve got a great coach who has kept me injury-free since I started with him after struggling with repeated injuries over the years.
Best advice-
Get a coach and a decent bike fit - best investments! Having a coach and being consistent with training will give the most benefit.
