The Triathlete Journey - Kyriakos Athens-Hunsberger

Racing at the Toronto Triathlon Festival in 2016 was one of my greatest races and played an important part in making my decision to continue to try improving in triathlon and eventually pursuing an International Competition Card.

The Toronto Triathlon Festival was the first race of the 2016 season. I started triathlon in 2015 and only began training seriously after the races in 2015. By the time the Summer of 2016 rolled around I had taken the time to learn to swim reasonably well and pace properly on the bike. I’d gone from a 1:15:25 sprint distance triathlon to a 2:14:22 olympic distance triathlon in a year and had a real sense of autonomy over my success in triathlon.

From this point forward, my journey towards becoming a successful triathlete was as simple as deciding that I wanted to put in the work to become faster. I had always idolized professional triathletes which also helped fuel my desire to become faster.

My interest in Kinesiology has also been a large asset in my triathlon training. I’ve never really found a triathlon group to train with that fit with my schedule. As a result, most of my practices are without any coaches present meaning I have to try and assess my form on my own and make corrections. Having a decent understanding of how the body works is a very useful if for anyone who intends on doing a significant amount of training, and I think all triathletes would be doing themselves a favour by learning a bit of anatomy and physiology.