Discovering “The Athlete Inside” – a chat with triathlete Sue Reynolds

In my last post I said I was reading a book I wanted to share. I do a lot of geeky professional reading, so I often look for inspirational fitness or sports training-related books for entertainment (OK, along with a healthy dose of natural history books and bird guides). When I came across The Athlete Inside: The Transforming Power of Hope, Tenacity, and Faith, and discovered it was published by Augsburg Fortress Press, the source of a chunk of my geeky professional reading, I had to investigate!

The Athlete Inside is the story of how Sue Reynolds transformed herself from a woman who had been morbidly obese and relatively sedentary much of her life, into a world class triathlete, in the astonishing space of four years – beginning at age 60! I tracked Sue down on Instagram and asked if she would entertain some questions about the book. She graciously agreed, and then agreed to let me record our Zoom conversation and post it here! I think you’ll really enjoy her story and her insights. We talk about how she found the motivation to get started, and keep going in the early discouraging days. We talk about a surprising spiritual awakening she experienced in the course of this amazing transformation (you can read about that in a free excerpt from the book). We talk about her training and racing plans and ongoing challenges. And we talk about how to get started in triathlon… or anything, really!

I came away from the conversation with my 2021 goal taking shape in my head: I’m finally going to do a triathlon! – at least I will if any “in person” triathlons take place this year. Sue mentions several good “getting started” resources toward the end of our conversation, and I’m adding the links to this post – along with a link to her website. Scroll to the end of this post to find those links. And do get yourself a copy of The Athlete Inside to read the amazing story for yourself.

(A caveat: I’m no video editor – or much of a video planner, for that matter! – so the start of the recording is a little choppy and hyper. 🙂 )

My Time to Tri (which is sponsored by USA Triathlon and Ironman): https://www.mytimetotri.com/

Fund Her Tri: https://fundhertri.org/

USA Triathlon: https://www.teamusa.org/usa-triathlon (to find coaches and local triathlons)

USA Triathlon Foundation: usatriathlonfoundation.org 

Sue Reynolds website: http://suereynolds.net