Published July 17, 2014 12:41PM
Rachel Joyce On Turning Pro: "It Raised Some Eyebrows"
Joyce, who will look to regain the Challenge Roth title that was hers in 2012, chatted about making the leap and racing in Roth.
Kona is the ultimate goal for many age-group triathletes. Photo: John David Becker
Like most pros, Great Britain’s Rachel Joyce had to at one point decide to leave her day job and pursue her dream of being a professional triathlete. Joyce, who will look to regain the Challenge Roth title that was hers in 2012, chatted about making the leap, racing in Roth and last year’s Kona race in the interview above.
On deciding to quit her job as a lawyer:
“It certainly raised a few eyebrows. It was a very secure career and I had a paycheck every month and then I didn’t have a paycheck for 12 months, so it was a risk and I think at first maybe my family and friends were like ‘OK, she’ll get through this phase.’ But eventually I started to get some results and I think they saw that I was pretty serious about it.”
On when she realized she could make it as a pro:
“In 2008 I was very close to calling it a day with triathlon because I’d been working three days a week since I’d won my age group at the 2006 Ironman 70.3 World Championships and that’s what made me think, ‘OK let’s take my hours down at work.’ But then I did nothing. I was injured. I was ill…. So then I wasn’t going anywhere with my career and I wasn’t going anywhere with my racing so I just thought maybe it was time to go back to the full-time job. In actual fact, I just quit my job entirely and decided I was going to do an Ironman that year. I did Ironman Florida and I think coming in fifth there made me realize it was worth sticking with it for a bit longer.”