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With Mother's Day coming up this weekend, we wanted to share a beautiful mother-daughter story about a mom who inspired her daughter to follow not only in her footsteps, but her tire tracks, and wake, too--she's a triathlete after all.

Kirsten has competed in many triathlons over the years, but this year was especially meaningful.

Over the past few months, Kirsten and her daughter Sydney have spent countless hours together, training up for the 70.3 Ironman in Oceanside, California. Though Kirsten made the last-minute decision not to compete due to an injury, the experience of training together and watching her daughter race was a beautiful, full-circle moment for both of them. Enjoy today's Quench'd story, and we'll see you all again next Thursday.

Ironman 70.3 Oceanside California is the place of beginning and keeper of our core memories in our triathlon experience as a mother and daughter. And now, a decade later, it was my daughter’s turn to race and bring it full circle while fulfilling her dreams.  

The Oceanside race is one of the most iconic Ironman 70.3 races on the Ironman schedule. It’s the official season opener for Ironman with a stacked pro field, quintessential California vibes as a Southern California surf town and an appropriately very hard race course.  For our family it’s even more meaningful as a deeper shared experience between us. This is the race that I did 11 years ago with my daughter, Sydney, cheering me enthusiastically around every corner of the race. Now she was here at 23, herself as a Mom, racing and I was cheering her on. It was a tremendously moving and fulfilling experience for both of us. As an added dimension to our experience, we had four generations of our family with us from my parents all the way down to Sydney’s son, my grandson.

The first time I did Oceanside my daughter, Sydney, was 12 years old. She soaked in the whole experience creating the beginning of a core memory of Ironman 70.3 racing and specifically the special feeling that this famous Oceanside race gives. When you race an Ironman branded race, especially Oceanside, it’s not just about the race, it’s about the whole experience. It’s the days leading into the race when the athletes start showing up from all around the world. It’s watching the course set up appear on the Oceanside strand. It’s the Pacific Ocean air and dolphins playing next to the shore. It’s the stacked schedule of cool pre-race events that begin two days before the race. And it’s the race prep sessions of swimming in the ocean, biking around the race site and running warm ups. Over a decade ago as a child, she was there for all of it right by my side watching. We both carry those core memories with us as part of our bond together through the sport of triathlon.  

This year she was racing and I was her support. This year it was all about honoring our deeper shared connections as a Mother-Daughter bond within the sport of triathlon. It was her time to  experience racing Oceanside coming full circle from being 12 years old cheering on her Mommy to now as a Mother herself tackling one of the hardest 70.3 races on the circuit. Oceanside was the keeper of our Ironman 70.3 core memories together. 

We did all of our race lead in sessions together from the ocean swim, where magically we actually did have a dolphin join, to bike warm up and bike check in and run. Our pre-race sessions together were special as we laughed as usual and talked about race prep. The energy was heightened as athletes arrived at the race site and race time was getting closer.   

Race morning began with nerves as we walked in the dark to transition (race start area) at 5:00AM with headlamps along the same route as many other athletes. Outside air temp was 48F and water temp approximately 56F which makes race start particularly challenging. This kind of race takes more than a bit of courage to show up for as the experience begins in cold air readying yourself to jump into cold choppy waters and swim.

Kirsten is a triathlete who views endurance sports as a platform and journey of personal growth and self discovery. She is passionate about athlete rewilding - connecting athletes back to nature and our primal self. She is also an advocate for women entering endurance sports for wellness of body and mind.

All photos from Joshua Strong.