Continuing our series profiling each one of our age group team members racing in this year's Ironman World Championships, we are thrilled to chat with Sarah Peltier. Team SFQ'er Sarah earned her Hawaii Ironman qualification by placing 3rd in the 40-44 age group at Ironman Chattanooga last fall.
Tell us about your journey to qualifying for this year's World Championships.
After Kona in 2016, I took a long break from training over the winter to mentally and physically reset. In May while I was stuck in an all day meeting, I realized my life wasn't in balance without a big goal race to focus on. So I signed up for IM Chattanooga! I also started working with a new coach, Julie Dunkle, and got my new Dimond. By the time the race rolled around I was not quite in the shape I wanted to be in, but the Dimond was fast and I dug super deep on the run to hang on to 3rd place.
This is your second opportunity to race the big one. What was your first experience like and what were the biggest lessons you will take with you into this year's race?
My first Kona was fairly disastrous, my slowest Ironman ever. I got a penalty on the bike for crossing the center line on the Queen K (I would suggest someone else should have also received a penalty for blocking...) and then ended up doing a 26-mile tour of porta potties. I was proud to have finished, but didn't feel satisfied with the experience. Heading into this year I have worked hard on my swim by doing masters 2x/week, and am hoping that it will pay off in terms of fewer people ahead of me on the bike. Since the age group women start last, racing in Kona feels different vs a race where you are towards the front. It's a little lonely coming back from Hawi, and you see hordes of people coming back from the Energy Lab as you are heading out. I am mentally prepared for that this time around and won't let that be discouraging.
We'd love our readers to know a bit more about Sarah outside of triathlon. A couple of the things we love most about you are your passion for pup rescue and your dedication to your young nieces, whom we understand you moved your life to be near! Can you share with us about your family, fur and human? :)
My husband and I left DC a little over 2 years ago and were planning to move to San Francisco. He had gone ahead a few months earlier, and on my drive across the country with my bike and our dog, we decided that Colorado was a much better place for us. So after racing St. George 70.3 I turned the car around and showed up on my brother's doorstep in Boulder! We now live 2 blocks from my brother, his wife and their 4 kids. It's awesome to be so close to family. We love going to all their activities - ninja warrior, lacrosse, cross country, musicals. And I hope that my racing helps inspire them to continue sports into adulthood.
My husband is registered for the Leadville 100 trail run next August! His first 100 miler. Also he looks great in the men's blue smash t shirt and is a top notch race sherpa. We are celebrating our 10 year anniversary in September, we honeymooned on the Big Island before I got in to triathlon! We are now a two-dog family. Both of our dogs are rescues, Ginger is a 9 year old "brown dog" and Millie is a 2 year old "black dog." Millie was brought to Colorado from Missouri where she was a stray. Millie's ideal day would start with a 20 mile run followed by an hour at the dog park. We literally can't tire her out! She's a pain but she's family. I just started a new job in September as the VP of Enterprise Product for Derive Systems. It's an exciting new challenge, and a great team. Plus I get to ride my bike to work.
A little birdie also told us that you are a Strava nut! Can you enlighten us about how Strava enhances your training / motivation/ etc?
Strava is my jam! I view Strava as a community where I can share my day-to-day reality of training, and be supported by like-minded friends. My Garmin imports straight into Strava, so I'm not curating what people see. I share when I'm tired, when a session went great, and plenty of pictures. It's fun giving kudos to SFQ teammates as well! And since I live in Boulder all the Strava trophies are owned by Olympians, but I keep trying anyways : )
Finally, what are your goals for this year's race?
My goal this year is to manage my day successfully so that I can actually RUN the marathon this time around.
