On a frigid December day last week, Kathy Rakel headed outside into 7-degree Boulder, Colo., weather for a running workout.
Although the weather that day was challenging, Rakel is a
professional triathlete who knows that the
base period workouts she does
in the dead of winter will determine how well she performs next summer
during the 2014 triathlon race season.Remember her name — you’ll hear a lot more about this up-and-coming pro athlete in the months and years to come.
This 29-year-old, 5-foot-6, 126-pound dynamo, originally from San Antonio, has only been a professional since 2010 but already has an impressive multisport resume.
She won the 2013 USAT Elite Duathlon National Championship, was a three-time U.S. Armed Forces National Triathlon Champion and the top American at the 2011 World Military Triathlon Championships, and she was named the 2010 Air Force Female Athlete of the Year.
Her triathlon record also includes age group wins in the highly competitive Buffalo Springs Half Ironman and being a previous record holder for the fastest Ironman by a female Air Force Academy cadet (Ironman Arizona, 2007).
She’s currently sponsored by BH Bicycles, First Endurance Nutrition, HED Cycling, TriPain Relief, Kiwami, XTERRA Wetsuits and Rudy Project.
Rakel is also an Air Force Academy graduate, a veteran and a former San Angelo resident who was assigned to Goodfellow AFB for the Intelligence Officer training course in 2009.
During her time in San Angelo, she made a lasting impression on area athletes by winning tough races such as the 2009 Trail Running Series, hanging with the fast guys during local Loop Group bike rides and doing hard workouts in tough weather conditions.
On one midwinter occasion, she emailed me asking for a route for a long, hilly ride.
I suggested a loop from San Angelo that included Bronte, Robert Lee, Water Valley, Burma Road and Arden Road back to town.
She not only rode that loop, but she did it on a day when the air temperature was around 30 degrees with a stiff northerly wind blowing.
It turned out that on the day of that ride, the wind was howling from the south at 25 miles per hour and gusting up to 40.
We hooked up near the south end of Burma Road and headed back along Arden with Rakel being blown all over the road but laughing all the way into town about the fun (terrible) wind conditions.
Although her initial professional focus was Olympic distance triathlons with the goal being to represent the United States in the 2016 Olympics, Rakel recently changed coaches and switched her competitive focus to long course Ironman distance events.
She’s now being coached by former World Champion and Olympian Joanna Zeiger.
“I’ve known all along my body is built for endurance instead of speed, so I finally decided to listen to my body and switched to training for longer distance races,” says Rakel.
“In 2014, I plan to work towards a late season Ironman or two, if all goes well. In the long-term, I’d like to represent the USA at the Ironman World Championships. Although I’m no longer training for the Olympics, my passion to represent my country is still alive and well.”
Rakel’s commitment to hard training and determination to represent the USA reflects her background as an Air Force F-16 intelligence analyst and the core values she learned while in the military — “Integrity First, Service Before Self and Excellence In All We Do”
“A typical winter offseason training week right now includes about 16 hours of total training time,” says Rakel. “During the season, I’ll be doing closer to 30 hours per week.”
“In general, for this time of year, I do two strength sessions a week, five runs, three rides and four or five swim workouts.”
When asked what advice she would give other athletes (young or old) about training, nutrition and related issues, Rakel’s response was: “If your nutrition is dialed in, training and racing will be more enjoyable."
“Many athletes tend to ignore how their bodies are feeling. If you want to perform at a higher level, you will discover that ignoring things is a short-term fix and will not help in the long term. This applies to nutrition as well as to training or racing through injuries.”
“Listen to your body. All the high-end equipment in the world does not matter if your body is not working properly.”
If you happen to be cycling or running near Boulder and get passed by a petite young lady with a big smile on her face, just say “Hi,” but don’t try to keep up with her.
It just might be Kathy Rakel hammering through a workout as she works toward that next level as a pro triathlete.
In fact, the best way to ensure that you can keep up with her is by following her online at kathyrakel.com.
Remember — Kathy Rakel is a triathlete you’ll be seeing on the podium.
