An athlete without a race.
A veteran triathlete says, "I just have to take training for training’s sake right now and get the little pleasures out of it."
Name: Julie Billingsley
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Current Residence: Chevy Chase, MD
Living Situation: Most of our grown children have returned home to stay with us during the pandemic, so we are now a house with six adults, including my husband, three of our four kids, and two of their partners.
Age: 61
Occupation: Triathlete and Coach
Photo caption: My daughter, Kat, and I biked the 184-mile C&O Canal towpath over two days. It was hot and wonderful.
What has it been like to have most of your family return home?
It has been great! We’re a family of seven right now, which we just love.
I feel like it’s the best of times and the worst of times. Without the pandemic we wouldn’t have this time together. Three of my kids are rock climbers, one used to be a competitive junior triathlete, and another was a very competitive soccer player, so we motivate each other to work out and exercise together a lot. We also do yoga or jigsaw puzzles as a group.
Every couple is cooking twice a week. We’re cooking amazing meals every single night. We sit together and eat at the table, and nobody has anywhere to go. We’re having a wonderful time.
You competed in your first World Triathlon Championships in 1989 at the age of 30 and you took third in your age group. A year later, you had your first of four children and didn’t return to world-class competition until nearly 25 years later. Yet, every year since then you’ve placed in the top 10 in your age group. This is all to say that you’re in incredible shape, and have been all your life! How has your physical training changed as a result of the pandemic?
In March we stopped swimming. My master’s swim team started practicing again in June at an outdoor pool in the suburbs of northern Virginia. The time ratio of driving vs. swimming is not favorable, but I’m willing to spend that time behind the wheel in order to get in the water. A group of my swim pals also swims once a week in open water, and we have a few rivers we explore each Saturday morning.
Getting back into the water makes a huge difference in my running and biking performance. That’s because you really build your engine with swimming. The older I get, the more swimming becomes a pillar of my program because I can’t run as much; I’m getting old and creaky. Swimming is so important for building cardio fitness, and it makes me feel human in a very different way than running and biking.
I’ve done a lot of biking in my basement on the trainer recently. I’m a very social athlete — I like to run, bike and swim with my pals — but that just hasn’t been an option recently, especially with biking. We’re still social though; my swim pals and I have a group WhatsApp where we pushed each other to do a plank challenge; we each worked up to a five-minute plank, so we were still keeping in touch and motivating each other to stay active before we could get back in the pool.
From a coaching standpoint, I’m encouraging my athletes not to look at the clock right now. I want to make workouts fun, interesting, diverting, inspiring, but not just held up by the data.
How has it felt to not be able to race?
I am highly motivated by racing. I love to race, it’s why I do what I do. I just have to take training for training’s sake right now and get the little pleasures out of it.
During a racing season your training intensity kind of goes up and down in waves according to your race schedule. Right now the training intensity is flatter and less varied, which makes it a little harder to stay motivated. It’s also a little harder on the body because there is less variety and less emphasis on consistent recovery.
I also get my inspiration from following my coach and other professional triathletes on social media. They post about how they are keeping up their training, and some of them are doing virtual races. I really feel for them because being a triathlete is so much of my identity, and for the pros it’s their entire identity and livelihood. Getting that pulled out from under you must be just so hard.
What advice do you have for young athletes that are looking ahead to their next few seasons with such uncertainty?
This too shall pass, we will eventually return to having an athletic season.
The issue is staying motivated and training at a base level to get through this period so that you’re ready when the next season is able to start. Just try to keep some fun in your workouts, find the joy wherever that is. It doesn’t have to be the same thing as always; go kayaking or paddleboarding, do different drills, and involve your friends and teammates on a fun adventure.
As a mother of four, what advice do you have for people that are having a really hard time fitting in exercise, especially parents without childcare. How could they reframe their mindset when everything feels like a battle?
Create very small goals for yourself, and every time you achieve a small goal consider it a victory.
If you can’t carve out 45 minutes for a workout, do a plank challenge like the one I did with my friends where you’re doing 30 second planks four times per day. Involve friends, family, your partner, just so that you have some sense that you’re not the only one doing it. Also, ignore the clock and the data; it’s just not helpful.
Photo caption: A shot of me from the trail ride.
What do you want to take to the other side of this?
I see how important it is for me to be inspired by others so I want to be inspiring to the people I coach. I’m staying focused on creating thoughtful workouts for the people that I coach, understanding where they’re coming from, and supporting them in their goals. We just have to be flexible with each other, even people we meet on the street, as well as ourselves.
PS: For any sports fans out there, I highly recommend watching Michael Phelps’ documentary, “The Weight of Gold”, which premieres tonight on HBO. The film presents a stark picture of the mental wear and tear Olympians endure after the Games conclude.