Christine Kachinsky-Bye, who recently moved to Golden from NJ, joined RMTC in December, 2020 and will be racing in IronMan 70.3 Florida on April 18. It has been awhile since she has pushed her mind and body, especially her reconstructed knee following a skiing accident a few years ago, as her last triathlon was the 2019 IronMan 70.3 World Championships in Nice, France.
Christine Kachinsky-Bye started racing triathlon in 2000; but, got serious about racing in 2010. When asked what changed, she said, “After giving birth to my son in 2008, I found that pain on the race course was much more bearable, so becoming a mom must’ve improved my ability to endure pain and suffering, and I also got faster as I was anxious to get to the finish line ASAP to give him a big hug!” Since that time, her pursuit of podium spots and entries into World Championship events became relentless, leading to five trips to Kona, seven 70.3 World Championships, and two ITU World Championships.
When asked about her most memorably triathlon racing experience, she shared, “In 2013, I was racing in Kona and having a great day. At mile 23 of the run on the Queen K, heading back to town, which is a lonely stretch of road, out of nowhere, I saw my husband running towards me yelling something and pointing down the road. As I was delirious, I wasn’t even sure if he was real, and couldn’t make anything out other than, “Her! You HAVE to catch HER!” Despite my mind and body shouting at me that it had given me all it had, I burst into a full sprint up the final climb on the Queen K, screamed down Palani at something like a 6:30/minute mile, and crossed the finish line on Ali’i Drive in 5th place in my Age Group. Fighting for that podium spot in Kona was an almost “out of body” experience and such a great reward for the hard work I put into training over so many years.”
Regarding her upcoming race in Florida, she shared that, “I raced Florida several times and would love to see the podium and to qualify for 70.3 Worlds in St. George, which sounds like an amazing race venue! As a result of my knee recovery and the pandemic, providing me a much needed break from intense training and racing, I have been very conscious about how my body will adapt to training again and how it will handle the stress and volume of the day. I have been fighting the urge to ramp up very quickly as I have found that to be a recipe for early season injury, so I have been working with my coach to slowly and methodically ramp up volume and intensity. I am also super grateful that I found RMTC as I have always found the camaraderie to be so motivating and enjoyed building friendships with like-minded souls. This group has been so welcoming and nice and I have felt both welcomed and challenged during some solid, structured swims and group rides. I did find out that they flattened the run course in Florida a bit, so sadly I won’t be able to leverage all this time I have been running up the sides of mountains to get ready!”
As per RMTC sponsors, she shared that she has been using BASE SALT for years and will be doing so to combat the heat and humidity in Florida, will pack her XTERRA Swim Skin for some help on the crazy M-shaped swim course, and is looking forward to, once summer rolls around, to taking advantage of GREEN SKY MASSAGE.
In closing she shared that more than anything, she is grateful to be a Mom, Athlete, and Professional, finding that this work/life integration model gives her positive energy to bring her best self everyday. Triathlon has taught her resilience as well as the importance of never going it alone – success in sport and in life occurs only by surrounding herself with great people and teams and when that happens, the impossible becomes possible!
