Tri Talker of the Week – Samantha Summerscales

How did you get into triathlon? An ex boy friend of mine did Triathlon, and in no time I was hooked onto this amazing sport

How long have you been in triathlon? I started training in July this year and did the 5150 Bela Bela as my first Triathlon. Only been in Triathlon for 5 months

What is your favourite discipline and why? It’s a tough choice between cycling and running. I enjoy the cycling as it’s the only discipline where I can catch my breath, on the other hand I have a good running background so I find it easy.

Who is your biggest triathlon inspiration and why? There are so many. As an entire package it would have to be Chrissie Wellington and Lucie Reed. Both are phenomenal athletes and I dream to be on that level someday.

What is your biggest or best triathlon achievement? What are you most proud of? Would have to be claiming the 11Global squared title together with the fastest run and bike split J

What is your favourite triathlon quote? “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is!”

Where is your favourite place to train and tell us why? In everyday life- got to be the cradle of humankind. I feel safe there and it’s perfect to get some good brick sessions done. But the ultimate would have to be in the Golden Gate on one of the DBT training camps. The training is tough, the people are awesome, the scenery is unbelievable and the food well it’s just the best.

Why do you do triathlon? My passion and love for the sport is endless. I have set goals for myself in this sport and I will not stop until I have achieved them.

What has been/is your biggest triathlon challenge and how did you/ do you overcome it? Definitely the swimming. I am not the strongest swimmer and swimming is always a hard one for me to train. Group sessions with my coach seems to be the golden ticket J Triathlon is also expensive so grouping funds together for equipment and racing is always a headache.

What is the biggest life lesson triathlon has taught you? It has taught me to never give up and that your limits you set yourself are nowhere close to reality. The body is capable of amazing things.

What race/s is/are on your bucket list? Olympics 2020 and Ironman Kona

Who is your dream training partner and why? Can’t tell. Haha. The reason would be as it would make training so much easier. Any girl would try catch the perfect physique

What do you love about triathlon? That it consists of 3 sports. You never ever get bored. When you don’t feel like running a specific day you don’t have to, you can train another discipline

How do you deal with disappointment or injury from a mental perspective? To this day I haven’t experienced this, but I think it comes down to understanding what has gone wrong and working around it so that it doesn’t happen again, as well as resting and giving your body the time to heal. If all else fails eat chocolate and lots of it.

What is the number 1 tip you would give to a brand new triathlete? Get the right equipment- makes triathlon so much easier and to have fun and love the sport.

Do you use any apps or gadgets to assist in your training/racing? If so what is your favourite and tell us a bit about it? Other than the millions of photos and comments I post on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram about my races and training there isn’t a specific training app I use. Still a newbie so most of the apps I don’t even understand haha

Where can we find you on socials networks? (Twitter/facebook/blogs) Just on and .

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