Name: Beth Bailey
Years in Triathlon: 13
Employment: Founder of The Kiddo Company (www.kiddofood.com). Working to launch at Whole Foods sometime soon. Out of undergrad I was an engineer and worked in a paper plant, then a management consultant traveling all over the place.
Outside Interests: I love to cook, eat good food and shop at the farmers market. I like reading the headlines and Personal Section of the WSJ. I try to limit my impact on the Earth – turn out lights, no to-go coffee cups, pick up junk from the beach, no water in bottles, no paper/plastic bags. The basics I suppose. It’s gotten to the point where I have become my grandmother and have to save bread bags to have a plastic bag just in case. I used to travel quite a bit and look forward to new adventures with the kids as they get a little older and can manage long car and plane trips. I really enjoy a nice glass of wine. I also enjoy sleep but never quite get enough.
Family Life: Husband Jeff (you know, the big tall guy!) and 2 girls, Mary Jane (6) and Vivian (4 1/2). They are fun!
Athletic Background: My main sport was springboard diving. I competed from age 7-17 and coached for 6 seasons. I then tore my ACL my senior year of high school and I didn’t recover quickly. In college I switched to 8-oz curls and intramural soccer (both very big sports at Ohio State!) After undergrad I got into running, I got back in shape and started doing triathlons….fun to end up a decent swimmer even though swimming ability has absolutely no correlation with diving – they just both happen to include water.
Favorite Race and Why: Mrs. T’s Chicago Triathlon 1997. My first “big” race. Very exciting with all the people around and the first time I actually felt like I was competing in a real triathlon.
Worst Race and Why: I really am not sure if I could call out any specific race that was a total disaster. Mostly, they are all mediocre from a “race” standpoint because I’ve never trained enough by the time the race day gets to me. But I have a blast doing them, they keep me honest, and I like being able to eat all of the food I prepare.
This Year’s Goals:
- To keep the plantar fasciitis away that plagued me all last year.
- To do track workouts for the first time. So far they are pretty fun! Only thing I need to do is get some other running in, because at this point the track workout is also currently my long run – pretty sure that’s not how it’s supposed to be.
- To continue to encourage my kids to love swimming, biking and running – via Nite Moves, SB Swim Club, bringing them to tri club events and hopefully having Mary Jane do the kids tri this summer.
In 5 Years I hope to: Still be doing races! I love the sport and the people who love the sport. Although I always dream of training just a BIT more each season…
Something Most People do Not Know about ME: I cut my own hair. I just don’t have the time to go sit in a salon! I have all the stuff for my wedding album and baby books in a box and not sure why it never makes the A list.