How I Qualified For 70.3 Worlds: Josephine And Paul Perry
Meet 70.3 world championship qualifiers Josephine and Paul Perry.
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Over the next few days we’ll introduce you to a mix of age-group triathletes who all punched their tickets to Vegas—some in more harrowing circumstances than others. The athletes also give training advice that helped them get to the level they are at today. The 2012 Ironman World Championship 70.3 race will take place on Sept. 9, 2012 in Henderson, Nev. Check back to Triathlete.com for complete coverage from the race.
Josephine and Paul Perry
Ages: Both 35
Qualified: 3rd at Ironman 70.3 Pays D’Aix France and 5th at Ironman California 70.3, respectively
You could say it was a match made in triathlon heaven: Eight years ago Josephine, a runner who had just completed the London Marathon, and Paul, an Aussie transplant also looking to learn about the London tri scene, met at a workshop for newbies hosted by the local triathlon club. Six years of marriage later, the couple says triathlon continues to play a central role in their lives: “We plan all our vacations around races or training, and our bikes come everywhere with us,” says Josephine, head of communications for the United Kingdom’s largest health charity, Nuffield Health.
Although separate coaches and busy jobs—Paul is a banking attorney—keep them from doing much training together, the couple often rides together on the weekend and periodically jumps into the same races.
Josephine’s qualifying race in France, an inaugural event, didn’t get off to the most auspicious start: “We were all standing on the beach when we realized people had started swimming—no gun ever went off—and the rest of us just piled into the water.” Still, her 5:26 finish earned her a podium spot and a ticket punch to Vegas.
The takeaway: “Have a rotation for the [bike trainer] so you don’t both plan to use it on the same morning,” says Josephine. “Run or ride for your commute to work to get your training out of the way so you still get some time in the evening to do normal stuff. And get a really good washing machine—two people training for long-distance triathlon creates an awful lot of laundry!”
Read other Ironman World Championship 70.3 qualifying stories.