About Me

ABOUT ME

I’m often asked how I chose my career path.

I've been a lifelong athlete and love being active, and am passionate about helping people stay active for as long as they choose.

I played soccer and track and field in high school, then to college it was field hockey, lacrosse, and track and field. However, I kept getting injured. Back when I was playing high school and collegiate sports, women didn’t get proper coaching, nor were we told to lift weights. In my third year at college I changed my career path from computer science to sports medicine, because there was a need for more women in the field, and more support for women. It was at this time that I began to see the importance of women getting proper coaching and strength training in order to stay healthy and minimize, and even avoid injury.

Fast forward a few years, a move across the country and grad school done, I found myself with a severe back injury of two herniated lumbar discs. A client of mine told me to get on a bicycle. Up to that point I had only used a bicycle for fun as a kid, or commuting as an adult. I soon realized how much I loved cycling, just the sheer joy of it, and I wanted to get competitive. Once again I was getting injured, but this time I decided to take it upon myself to coach myself through my own strength training program. I went from a back of the pack cyclist, to winning the 2010 NCNCA championship title for my category and mostly injury free. It was also at this time that I met Dr Stacy Sims, who was going around talking to all the women's teams and teaching them about how to train with the menstrual cycle. I listened to her talk, which I really resonated with, and took as many notes as I could. I tried to use the information, but kept getting stopped due to no one wanting to believe we were different from men, and the need for different stimuli to perform better.

The next year I lost my father and stopped cycling.

One of my clients who was a triathlete asked me to do a triathlon with her. I think she saw I needed a distraction. I agreed and she said she could sign us up.

A few days later she tells me she signed us up for the Vineman Full. I laughed saying you're joking right? Nope. She wanted to attempt the longest distance triathlon and wanted me to join. Good thing it was 9 months away as I had never swam further than 25 yards back in junior high gym class.

My plan for completing a full distance triathlon was to get swimming asap, and do every length triathlon before attempting the full. In the course of those months leading up to the big event, I had my ups and downs, mostly ups surprisingly. I even won my age group in the half distance a month before the full. Finally the big day is upon us. My client ended up pulling out in the bike, I didn’t find out until I finished that day. All in all, I was happy to have finished my first event in just a little over 12 hours. The joy I was feeling, and seeing on all the faces around me. That was the moment I realized I am where I want to be. I want to help all these people continue doing this until the day they decide they don't want to.

Fast forward a few years I am introduced to Functional Range Conditioning, and Dr Sims comes out with her first book, Roar. At this point in my career, I'm not certified by USAT to coach, but am working with a few athletes. I found a team to join, Silicon Valley Triathlon CLub, and within that club a smaller group that likes to push hard and win. I enjoyed a few years with them, this time only focusing on Duathlons as I was just not a fan of the open water ocean swims here in California. During that time I started to implement more focussed Mobility training, and some of the teachings by Dr Sims. I see huge improvements in my performance and made the podium at nearly every event. I even took the OVERALL win, yep beat not just all the women, but the men too at the Half Moon Bay Duathlon in 2019. This is when I knew I had found what I’d been looking for, the key to women's success.

My Bio

Jump forward a few more years and currently, I am experiencing perimenopause.

Ugh, my worst issues are sleep disturbances, major hot flashes, anxiety that keeps me up most of the night. Other issues but to a lesser degree, muscle aches for no reason, irritability. Also at this time, Dr Sims comes out with her second book Next Level, talking about all things peri and post menopause. I take a deep dive into that book, and learn about all the new issues I’m having and how not all women have the same issues. I also learned that you can do things to help and that you still can keep training and even performing at a high level. The proof is in my own performance at 46 years old winning the Santa Cruz Duathlon for the women's side, and coming in second overall by only 30 seconds.

Not only do I want to show other women my age they can keep enjoying and performing, I want to help them achieve their best possible performance.

Education

Masters courses completed, no thesis defended, Human Performance/Biomechanics/Athletic Training, San Jose State University, San Jose, California
BS, Sports Medicine, SUNY Brockport, New York

Credentials

Athletic Trainer Certified 2001-2013
ACSM Exercise Physiologist Certified 2006 - 2013
ACSM CPT 2013 - 2018
Functional Range Conditioning Mobility Specialist (FRCms) Certified 2018 - Present
Functional Range Assessment (FRA) Certified 2021 - Present
USAT Level 1 Certified Triathlon Coach Certified 2020 - Present
Training Peaks Level 1 Coach Certified 2020 - Present
Women Are Not Small Men course, Dr Stacy Sims, 2019
Menopause 2.0, Dr Stacy Sims, 2020
Fueled: A Comprehensive Nutrition Course for Women, Feisty Women’s Performance, 2023
American Red Cross Certified CPR/AED/First Aid (adult/child/infant)

Run-Bike-Tri Races

1st Female, 2nd Overall Women & Men,Tri Santa Cruz Duathlon, Santa Cruz, California 2023
1st Female, 2nd Overall of Women & Men, Wildflower 10k, Morgan Hill, California 2023
2nd TBF Racing Double Duathlon, Granite Bay, California 2022
3rd Marin County Duathlon, San Rafael, California 2021
Solo 50k Trail race, completed in 5 hours, San Jose, California 2021
1st Overall of Men & Women! Half Moon Bay Duathlon, Half Moon Bay, California 2019
4th Duathlon National Championships, Short Course, Greenville, South Carolina 2019
7th Duathlon National Championships, Olympic Course, Greenville, South Carolina 2019
1st Kayak/SUP Triathlon, Morro Bay, California 2019
1st Du 3 Bears Duathlon, Berkeley, California 2018
2nd South Bay Duathlon, Morgan Hill, California 2018
2nd Duathlon National Championships, Bend, Oregon 2018
2nd Half Moon Bay Duathlon, Half Moon Bay, CA 2018
2nd American, 7th Age Group, ITU Multisport World Championships World Festival, Odense, Denmark 2018
3rd Overall, 1st Woman, Half Moon Bay Duathlon, Half Moon Bay, CA 2017
7th Duathlon National Championships, Bend, Oregon 2017
3rd Mermaid Duathlon, Capitola, California 2017
2nd South Bay Duathlon, Morgan Hill, California 2016

1st Age Group, Silicon Valley Triathlon Long Course Tri, San Jose, CA 2012
1st Team Challenge Triathlon (2 women, 1 man), Granite Bay, California 2012
1st NCNCA Road Championship Series, Cat 4, 2010
1st Merco Road Race, Merced, California 2010
1st San Ardo Road Race, San Ardo, California 2010
2nd Two Wheel Cycling Criterium, Rohnert Park, California 2010
4th Panoche Valley District Championship Road Race, Hollister, California 2010
1st CCCX Circuit Road Race Champion, Fort Ord, California, October 2010
1st CCCX Road Race, Fort Ord, California, September 2010
1st CCCX Road Race, Fort Ord, California, August 2010
4th Kern County Women's Road Stage Race, 2007

Black Belt, Isshyn Ryu Karate, 1993
Sectional Champion, Section V Softball, 1994, Hilton, New York
State Champion, 4 x 800 meter Relay, 1995, Hilton, New York
All State Team Selection, Division III Lacrosse, 1999
All State Team Selection, Division III Lacrosse, 2000