FAST FIVE - October 2021 - ANGIE GATES

Angie Gates 
Wollongong, New South Wales 
 
‘Pretty much the only thing that separates you from anyone else is your mental strength and grit. You can get inside your head and be your best friend, or your worst enemy.’ ​

​This month, our Fast Five feature athlete is Angie Gates, who has been training with Coach Ash and T:Zero for the past six months. Angie is relatively new to the world of triathlon, multisport and endurance, having competed in her first triathlon at Huskisson in 2020. Since her debut at Husky, she’s gone on to complete the Super Sprint at Port Stephens Triathlon in 2020 and crushed the bike leg in the teams events at Huskisson, Wollongong and Port Stephens triathlons earlier this year. 
Angie’s favourite distance is the long course (aquabike), where she enjoys the challenge of pushing her body to go fast for a long time and making sure she’s got the mental stamina to get it done! She has a soft spot for climbing hills on the bike during training, no doubt inspired by Coach Ash’s words of advice and encouragement, namely “a happy athlete is a fast athlete!”.  
Angie balances her swim/bike training with weekly Pilates and PT strength sessions and in her downtime, enjoys playing on the beach with her kids. 
Angie’s currently training for the Aquabike at Little Husky (November) and Big Husky (February 2022), and has her sights set on qualifying for the 2022 Multisport Age Group World Championships (Aquabike). Go get ‘em Angie! 
 
Why and how did you get into triathlon/endurance/multisport? 
I had friends who had just started to race and were loving it – it was peer pressure! I struggled with running because of previous injuries and eventually accepted that the swim/bike combination was going to give me the most longevity in sport and life in general.
 
Favourite leg and why? 
The bike leg because swimming doesn’t come naturally to me and I really love the freedom of being on the bike. We are lucky enough to have amazing places to ride in the Gong so it makes it even more enjoyable.
 
Proudest triathlon moment? 
When my daughter overcame her fear of the swim leg in Husky this year, to finish her first Kids Tri with an amazing sense of achievement.

What motivates or inspires you to train/race/participate? 
I’m so lucky to be healthy, so it’s a privilege to be able to challenge my body to see how far I can go. I also want to be a good role model for my children, those little eyes are always watching!

Since becoming a T:Zero athlete, what is the one new belief, behaviour, habit formed or skill honed that has most improved your athletic (or everyday) performance? 
The understanding that a good performance is built from many layers of seemingly “small” sessions (whether it’s strength, technique, cadence etc.) and by getting the most out of each session you become an athlete that is strong and prepared and ready. It’s the process that will get you to where you want to be – trust in the process. 
 
And one more for good measure (and a big head) …
​
Why do you love being part of the T:Zero Multisport team?
Working with Coach Ash has given my training a new focus – I can work hard and get on with my training, knowing that she is crunching the numbers and working out what I need to work harder at. She also makes sure that I recover properly, which I was not a big fan of before!