I understand, yet you last year you placed 35th in an Olympic triathlon. So you are a fairly serious athlete. How do you train?
The Olympic triathlon is definitely my favorite level. I feel the strongest throughout those distances. I train mostly by myself actually. I have been doing this long enough to know what to expect, what my body needs to work on. When I was younger, I worked with a trainer from my college, and we would train each component separately before trying to combine them all together. That was the most challenging part for me—the transitions. When you work out one muscle group to near exhaustion, and then you’re expected to utilize another collection of muscles in a new way, at first your body just gives way. Moving from cycling to running was the worst. But you learn to use that to your advantage, to tap into unused and non-tired out resources in your body to propel you through the three-part races.
Do you have any tricks to offer the many people out there who find balancing physical fitness with their kids and jobs nearly impossible?
I am lucky because my full-time job allows me to put in two to three hours of exercise a day. My kids are ages 9 and 11, so after I drop them off at school, I usually go for a run, a bike ride, or a swim. Then I can go to work. At this point, I find that if I do not get in a good workout, I’m a worse mother and worker. Running, biking, and swimming make me calm and more focused. I think I might just have more energy to burn them the average woman, but at least I know how to spend it. On the weekends, we all try to do something outside. So we go hiking or camping at locations where I can go biking or swimming. I find a way to fit it in. Plus, I hope that I can be my own daughters’ trainer one day.
Tags: competitor, Marzo, Pat, Pat Marzo, Patrick, Patrick Marzo, triathlon, triathlons
