She swims, she bikes, she runs..She Tris (oh, and she crushes it)
It’s 2016. I think we can all agree that women can be as driven, competitive, focused, and fit as men. But where the “fairer” sex may slow her personal pace fortifying these traits -perhaps because of the multitude of roles she takes on with each passing year – she has a secret weapon: the bolstering influence of other women.
To see this effect in its most inspiring action, be a part of – or bear witness to – Charleston’s first She Tris sprint triathlon.
To be clear, She Tris is a women’s-only event, but it is one for women of all ages, sizes, ability levels, and backgrounds. The She Tris inaugural race takes place at the I’On Club and surrounding Mount Pleasant neighborhoods on June 4, creating a beginner-friendly (read: flat terrain, hazard-free pool) course that offers views of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge, Charleston Harbor, and surrounding marshlands. The sprint distance triathlon is made up of a 200 yard swim, a nine-mile bike and a two-mile run. She Tris is designed to be “approachable for the novice triathlete and just plain fun for the seasoned athlete!”
For all levels of ability, three clinics have been offered to She Tris participants: a swim stroke clinic, a transition clinic, and a gear-up clinic. A course preview is the final clinic, and takes place this Saturday, May 14. Registration is still open; individuals pay $75 through May 30, with the price then increasing to $85 through close of registration on June 3. Athletes can also team up with a friend or two to complete the event as a relay, and the cost to register these teams is $150 through May 30, increasing to $170 from May 31 to June 3. Anyone aged ten or older as of June 4 may participate, and athletes must provide their own bicycles. Entry fees include t-shirt, post-race party, and finisher’s keepsake.
The race starts at 7:30 a.m. Family and friends wishing to cheer on racers are best positioned outside of the transition area, where they can watch as their triathletes transition from swim to bike and from bike to run. Spectators can also view the bike course from the sidewalks on Civitas and North Civitas Streets, and holler to runners on the east side of Ponsbury Road and the south side of Sowell Street. As of print date, 287 triathletes (including two relay teams) have registered, and the event caps at 300.
The primary beneficiary of the She Tris event is Tri It For Life (TIFL), a women’s only triathlon group. TIFL’s mission is to “inspire women of all ages, sizes, backgrounds, and abilities to develop healthy lifestyles through multi-sport training, mentorship, and commitment.” An all-volunteer, non-profit organization, TIFL mentors first-time female triathletes as they prepare for, and complete, a women’s-only super-sprint triathlon. TIFL was founded on the belief that, all too often, women find themselves putting others first – so it encourages these would-be athletes to put the focus back on themselves, beginning in the context of this training, relationship, and challenge.
TIFL began in Charlotte, NC, after Dr. Alyse Kelly-Jones convinced a group of friends to mentor 100 women as they prepared for a sprint triathlon in a neighboring city. They soon organized as a 501(c)3. A few years later, a Raleigh, NC, chapter was formed and, just last year, TIFL-Charleston celebrated its kick-off season as the first South Carolina chapter. Since the organization’s inception in 2008, more than 1,400 female athletes supported by over 500 mentors have crossed a triathlon line. Of those registered for next month’s She Tris race, 75 are TIFL athletes and/or mentors.
TIFL has even designed its own 12-week training program, which starts in March and culminates in the local women’s-only triathlon. In preparation for this event, the mentors coach and encourage new triathletes at weekly group conditioning opportunities.
Daniel Island resident Sheri Zieminick signed up with Tri It For Life last winter after checking out the organization’s website and discovered a friend of hers was a member. “I was finishing up training for a half marathon at the time,” she recounts, “and wanted to get my next challenge on the books.” She is involved as a participant this year, and hopes to serve as a mentor next year, once she has her first triathlon in the rear view.
Zieminick’s participation in the triathlon is not entirely out of left field. “It has always been on my bucket list for ‘some day,’” she states. “I’ve been swimming and running solo for awhile, so I was excited to get to swim with a group. I also wanted to keep running. At first, I wasn’t so sure about biking, but I’ve fallen in love with it! And I love mixing it up - every day of training is different.”
In readying herself for the She Tris event, Zieminick has been training since early March. Her general strategy has been to run twice a week, swim twice a week, and bike twice a week, sometimes doing two elements in one day or session. She completes three to four of those workouts with the Tri It For Life group, and the others are done either alone or with a small group. She’s also attending the TIFL and She Tris-sponsored clinics, which have helped her tighten up her nutrition and prep for event-day transitions. Zieminick shares there have been some transitions at home as well: “I’ve also had to be a master scheduler to get in this many workouts per week with a full time job as a pediatrician, two busy kids, and a husband with a new career.”
Still, she has some solid advice for any woman considering tackling a triathlon or similar challenge: “Don’t wait until you are good enough or fast enough or you have the right equipment or enough time, just do it!” Zieminick adds that signing up with a friend and/or locating a supportive group can make all the difference; it certainly has for her. “TIFL makes it so easy by taking you step by step and by introducing you to so many other inspiring women, both mentors and participants,” she relates. “There are definitely lasting friendships being made. I can’t say enough about Angi Klick and the entire TIFL organization!”
Register as a She Tris participant or volunteer at shetris.com. And visit triitforlife.com to learn more about the non-profit beneficiary of She Tris.