Learn a little bit about me and the best sport in the universe: Triathlon
About the Author
Courtney Kistler
I was born in Jacksonville, FL on January 13, 1981. I’m definitely a ‘90s kid. I grew up in Toledo, Ohio, with a younger sister (3 years) and two parents in a sports-enthusiast household.
I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, have a triathlete husband, no kids yet but hopefully in the near future. And I also rescue animals — a passion of mine since 2005.
I have always liked writing but haven’t always had the patience to pursue it. I like to think that the older I get, the more I should write.
Sports History
I was a competitive swimmer from age 8 then got burned out by age 14 and wanted to do team sports, so I played field hockey in high school and was fortunate enough to play in college (Brown University, ‘04).
My dad got me into cross country in elementary school, and I have always loved running. I’ve done a few marathons, but I prefer multi-sport races. My parents always encouraged me to pursue athletics, and I do have natural talent (thanks, parents!), so sports success became an expectation early in life and not much has changed with that!
Triathlon
Because I was a competitive swimmer from a young age, I naturally gravitated to triathlon, doing the local kids version of the Sylvania Triathlon most years then sporadically in college and early adulthood.
I took a 10 year break from triathlon, until I moved back to the Midwest in Fall 2013, after 9 years living in New York City, and in Spring 2014 moved to Ann Arbor, MI, and joined the Ann Arbor Triathlon Club.
My preferred distance is the half Ironman or 70.3. I’ve never done a full Ironman but hope to in the next few years.
Training & Coaching
Even though we have not worked together since 2019, I still consider Mark Allen to be my coach. I intend to work with him in 2023 and highly recommend him.
I generally believe that if I work hard, I can have race success, but I think that training for long distance triathlons is very complicated when set in the context of life. I will likely expand on my philosophies on training successes and failures in a later article, hopefully mixed in with the thoughts from other athletes and coaches.
Race Resume / PRs
COMING SOON
