THE T:ZERO BLOG
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My name is Khloe Healy and I am a long course triathlete who enjoys long runs on the beach and carb-fuelled dinners.
I found triathlon in 2018 after I went in search of health and a hobby. Since then, it has become so much more. For the first year I fumbled my way through on average bikes, tri suits from the op shop and a “give it a crack” attitude before signing up for my first Ironman. In 2019 I did Ironman Australia as a dare - I got help from a club coach, borrowed a friend’s bike... and absolutely loved the experience. I probably trained as much for that race as I did under Rich's guidance for Sunshine Coast 70.3, but more on that later. After Ironman Australia I stopped with the coach and bombed out at Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast later in the year on the path to Ironman Western Australia where I qualified for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. World Championship qualification was not even on my radar but in the hype of the moment and FOMO, I emptied my savings account and booked my spot. A few weeks later I ran into a family friend at the pool who told me about a tri guy he used to train insane with and I was given Coach Rich’s number. On Boxing Day 2019, Rich and I met up at a coffee shop in Ashgrove and to this day, whenever I ride past that coffee shop to go on to climb Mount Nebo I point out to my friends the coffee shop where my life changed. Since starting up with T:Zero nine months ago I have grown so much as both an athlete and a person. So much so, it’s even hard to put into words. I think back to 2019 Khloe and I am almost sad about how little I believed in myself and my potential. If I’m honest, I knew I had ability in there somewhere but I was too scared to address it. As Coach Carter says ‘our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, it’s that we are powerful beyond measure’. When I joined T:Zero I slowly started to understand the other part of that quote - ‘our playing small does not serve the world and there is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around us’. I was now in an environment that showed me it was okay to believe in myself and do all the crazy shit we do as triathletes to try and get the best out of myself. Not everyone gets it; in fact, a lot of people think the work we do is bonkers, but I’ve realised that as long as we’re loving the process and chasing our potential that’s what matters. To round out my Coach Carter theme - ‘we unconsciously give other people the permission to shine’ and that is what T:Zero did for me. T:Zero’s drive, passion and commitment gave me permission to shine. I’ve been able to leave my self doubt and fear of failure in 2019 to become a better athlete and person. I actually used to be a very anxious, chaos chasing and unsatisfied person. It’s like I was never quite happy with where I was or where I was going. I didn’t have a reason or a purpose. As most of you would know, triathlon has an amazing way of changing that! It has given me such purpose in my life that everything else has started to fall into place. I’ve stopped worrying what other people are thinking or what might happen because I am mindful and present in a process. I don’t have energy for drama because I am grateful for the opportunity and moments I do have and I’m satisfied because I am living my potential. My lifestyle has changed so much as a result to become what I lovingly call ‘the vanilla life’. It’s all about eating right, getting sleep and removing stress so that we can get stuck into the process and achieve our goals. I learned pretty early on into training with Rich that I could not keep up with the demands of the dream if I wanted to get drunk on a Saturday night and hang around people who weren’t good for my psyche. It was an adjustment but one I would never take back as it has lead to so many great feats in both my personal life and my triathlon life. When the simple stuff remains constant in my life I am able to nail the exciting stuff. So, with all that said about the mindset and lifestyle changes, the real proof of T:Zero’s impact has been in the pudding… the results! Throughout COVID we had to get creative in keeping training inspired and consistent. We swam in murky waterholes while the pools were closed (ps. great way to help overcome a fear of OWS!), used the lock down time to learn how to “vanilla life” and set our own personal goals or events. To stay super motivated I set out solo to achieve my 2019 running goals of cracking 20min for the 5km and 90min for the half. I never quite achieved them in 2019 but 3 months into coaching I ran a 19.14 5km and three months later, brought my half marathon from a 1.34 to a 1.28. Quite literally my old 5km pace became my new half marathon pace and these achievements were very important for me. They instilled a new sense of confidence in myself, the process and the coaching experience. I was able to carry this confidence with me as we then decided to build for Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast this year. I did more volume, hours and intensity in the lead up to that race than I ever did in any self-guided ironman builds and it completely paid off, as hard work usually does. It was my first time with a race plan and we managed a 20 minute PB from Sunshine Coast the year before and went from 8th in my age category to being the first female age grouper over the line. Holy smokes. I didn’t imagine that in my wildest dreams. But my team did and they basically orchestrated the whole thing right under my nose. I came to T:Zero with a hint of ability I wanted to tap into and now I’m here I’ve found a potential I want to tap into! Thank you T:Zero for giving me support to shine.
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