Our youngster, Maxine, is fairly new to triathlon, but anyone who has ever seen her out on race day knows she is loving every minute of it!

Congrats on your smiley performance at San Diego International this last weekend! Tell us how this tri bug started:

It started when I was working at the YMCA back in the spring/summer of 2014. One day I overheard that a couple of my coworkers were looking for a swimmer for their relay team and I had recently started swimming in the pool at work. I offered to be their 3rd team member. At the time I had only met (coach) KT and known her as a coworker, I had no idea that doing that relay would lead to this. Our first race was the San Diego International and since then I’ve been hooked.

What’s the hardest event you’ve done so far:

The hardest event I’ve done so far would have to be IM70.3 Honu. Thankfully at the time I was living in Hawaii so I was somewhat used to the humidity. There’s nothing like running on grass in 90 degree heat and basically 100% humidity. I would love to go back and give it another try but I’m not sure I’m ready for those conditions again…

I know your mum loves to come and support, that must be fun for you both:

I love sharing this with my family! My mom is probably my number 1 fan and it’s wonderful to have her support. This year I made the mistake of underestimating my abilities and because of that they missed me at the finish line. But they were out at Oceanside which was fantastic!

A little birdy told me about your infatuation with long distance running, what are your plans for that goal?

My plans as of right now include starting with the Carlsbad marathon (not an ultra, I know) and after that I’ll have a better idea of what to plan for. There’s one in September that I plan to do next year, it’s out at Mt. Laguna and I’ve already run a third of that race. After I did Oceanside my boyfriend, Stephen, and I went out and did a loop that meets up with the pacific crest trail, a little over 10 miles. It’s certainly challenging even being around 5000ft but it’s so beautiful up there! And how can you not love trail running?!

I was lucky enough to have you supporting at IMWC Kona, so having now seen it, is that a distance that is interesting to you in the future?

I’m interested in doing an iron distance race but right now I’m a little lazy and selfish with my time. My friends say I’m the laziest active person they know. I think my mindset might need an overhaul before attempting to train for that. Surprisingly it’s the time commitment that scares me, not the distance.