Being a shy little girl, Amber was held back to repeat Kindergarten for an extra year. That summer, she remembers her mom encouraging her to sign up for the summer track & field program. She shook her head & stomped her feet all summer until she was finally convinced to just go & watch. Well, she ended up participating in the 100-yard dash. Her nervous little 5-year-old body toed the line nearly in tears. But something funny happened when the gun went off. All the nerves vanished. She crossed the finish line & they gave her a 'Thanks For Participating' ribbon. That day instilled in her a confidence and spark which led to her running track for Northeastern U. She's now a pro-triathlete with more than 60 Ironman events under her name with multiple wins and podium finishes. Given her pure love for racing, she also does a whole range of other races, especially during the winters - snowshoe racing, ultras, speed skating, skiing, Winter triathlons, etc! She also faces the challenges of juggling her full-time job as a physical therapist and coach. Whenever she's having a tough day/week/month of training, she remembers that little 5-year-old girl beaming after her "thanks for participating" ribbon & realizes that sport is way more than winning & losing. - SPONSOR: check out the Triathlon training series with the Pros at https://www.humansoftriathlon.com/protri - use code 'humansoftriathlon' for 20% off! - SUBSCRIBE, RATE & REVIEW: if you've enjoyed the show, it would mean a lot to us if you could leave the show a positive review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes. It would help the show out a ton! - FEEDBACK: to help us improve the show going forward, please take 5 minutes to share your anonymous and honest feedback here - http://bit.ly/hotpodcastsurvey - SHOW NOTES / WEBSITE: https://www.humansoftriathlon.com/hotpodcast-amber - HOSTS: Swapneel Chouhan, Sheila Treleaven, & Carlos (Charles) Galan - INTRO/OUTRO MUSIC: produced by Vasil Zguri at SoundPulse