Bradley Teacher, Coach, Trades Textbooks for Triathlon
Some teachers like to take it easy during their breaks. Others, like Kyle Heinlen, a math teacher and cross country and track coach at Bradley High School, take advantage of the extra time to pursue their interests, like training for and participating in a triathlon.
This was his second year participating in the Ironman 70.3, which took place in Sandusky, Ohio, and involved a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride, and 13.1-mile run. His training regimen began in months before the race and sandwiched both ends of his day teaching and coaching, usually beginning at 4:30 a.m. On Mondays, he focused on swimming and weight lifting; Tuesdays on biking; Wednesdays and Thursdays on running and leg strengthening; Fridays on biking; and on the weekends, longer biking and running combination routines.
He said he learned a lot about his nutrition intake the first time around and it paid off this year. He cut 25 minutes off his previous race time, earning him a personal record. He’s thankful to be able to share and apply the lessons he’s learned through his extracurricular endeavors with his students.
“I try to teach them to persevere when it’s hard. You will come to a point in the race, whether a literal race or in your academics or life in general, where you will hit a wall,” he said. “My goal is to give them the training they need to get to the finish line. Learning to love the process is important too, so I try to get my students to fall in love with the process.”
What’s next on the docket for Mr. Heinlen? He just ran in the Columbus Marathon and he has his sights set on a full Ironman, which is double a triathlon. Your Hilliard community will be behind you all the way!
