This is our fifth installment of a series of deeper-dive interviews with our 2024 Development Team!

This past weekend, Ansley competed in Ironman Chattanooga 70.3 as her first professional race. She absolutely crushed it, racing with consistent speed throughout the entire race finishing in 12th place!

"Only up from here"

You can follow Ansley on Instagrm here!

Rapid Fire with Ansley

Favorite pump up song? Why? Spotify playlist to share? 

Had to come back in and change my answer because I already got sick of the songs I put. So it definitely changes all the time, cadence doesn’t matter at all as long as the vibe is right. Also, I have to give a plug to my dads band, Pinocchio Knows (pkrb) - “St. John’s County,” & “1938.”

Favorite local training route? (Run, bike, etc) Why?

Whenever I’m back home in Palo Alto, my go to run route is around the Baylands. Dirt/gravel path that goes for miles along the water.

I started seriously riding bikes when I was living in the mountains, so one of my favorite routes will always be the Maroon Bells + Ashcroft duo. 

Favorite place/town to train? 

My favorite place to train has got to be Aspen, Colorado. My fiancé’s dad lives there full-time, so we’ve gotten to spend some time up there. The local endurance scene is truly on the next level. Every single person is fit out of their minds. World class road cycling/mountain biking, and uphilling in the winter. I will be honest though, probably my least favorite place to swim at 8k feet. BUT the biking, skiing and trail running makes up for it. 

Rank Swim-Bike-Run from most to least favorite & why!  

1. Run - With my background in soccer, running comes the most natural to me. Can definitely get the most zen on a run, also love that I can just go for a run anywhere, at any time. Low barrier to entry :)  
2. Bike - The ability to just see a ton of crazy/beautiful things while going fast is hard to beat. I also definitely am a “hard work pays off,” kind of athlete, and I’ve always felt like the harder you grind on the bike, the better you get which is motivating. 
3. Swim lands solidly in 3rd, love hate relationship like most of us. Super satisfying to be getting better everyday. I’m on my technique journey in 2024. 

What is your big goal or A-race for the year?

My race schedule is still a little up in the air. As of right now, my first race of the season [was] 70.3 Chattanooga, [and will be] followed by 70.3 Boulder. As a first year pro, money is a huge consideration. Picking races that suit me and make sense is super important. Main goal is to learn and develop in the pro field this year.

How is skiing going? Do you treat backcountry skiing as a workout or as a fun, extra thing you do when you have time between the triathlon training sessions?

Skiing is good! I definitely identify as more of an “uphiller” than a true downhill skier. I have never purchased a ski pass in my life, I learned to ski by skinning up and surviving the descent. 

I treat Uphilling as an addition to my daily training. It makes me happy and energizes me, so even if I have a full day of swim, bike, run on tap, I’ll still sometimes try and get out early. It might not be the MOST beneficial thing for my training, but it fills my cup up and ultimately keeps me motivated. However, as it gets closer to race season I spend less and less time out in the mountains.

 

What would make you most happy to accomplish this year? Doesn’t have to be a race outcome, it could be a mileage goal, life goal, process goal, anything.

This year for me is all about improving and learning. I feel like I’ve put myself in a great position to absorb a ton of knowledge about the sport both from Eric & Paula, but also from my coach Sean Jefferson and Holly Lawrence. Goal is to see big improvements in all three disciplines (especially the swim), and to hopefully translate that onto the race course.

We know you’re doing a little bit of training with Holly Lawrence, under coach Sean Jefferson. How is that? We’ve been friends with both of them for a long time now!

Yes, it’s been awesome! They couldn’t be kinder, it’s been an amazing experience working with Passion Project Triathlon. It’s huge to train alongside and learn from someone like Holly who has had so much success in the sport, and continues to excel. And Sean has a huge wealth of knowledge and shows up big for our little squad everyday. He’s literally in the pool, on the bike, running next to us pacing or giving technique tips everyday.

Congrats on your engagement! How is wedding planning going? 

Thank you!! No wedding plans yet, the proposal felt like a mini wedding with a lot of our friends and family flying in. So mostly we’re letting everyone else recover until the next celebration!!

We are so stoked to join Ansley on her professional journey and can't wait to see how her season develops!