Name: Donna Botterbusch
Age: 65
Occupation: Semi-retired, part-time call center, home ed test admin, and health partner. Mentor to many, grandma to three.
Years doing triathlon? Completed three years, very late bloomer, started in 2016 after cancer surgery at 63. Never an athlete prior since I used to be size 22!
First Triathlon? You Go Girl Women’s Only, Sprint 2016. Placed 2nd in age group and I was hooked. I ended this 2018 season with a total of 13 races completed at eleven different venues.
Your favorite triathlon? NC State at Lake Townsend, as it was my first open water and I have done it all three years. More interesting to ask my least favorite… Enka (2017) at Biltmore Estates was all mountains either 4 mph biking up or 30 mph down, scariest thing ever. I was last, but the entire crowd waited and cheered for me.
Meal the night before race? Anything I can digest and nothing new to me for sure!
Pre-Race Meal? Protein shake with powdered greens two hours before race time.
Race Nutrition? TruBoost and a fruit squeezy.
Favorite motivational training song? None at all, I try and clear my head to silent when training and only self talk when competing.
Favorite mantra? You Go Girl, you got this.
Key Workout? Daily. Daily something, year round swims three times a week, yoga often, weekly stretch classes, biking weekends, and run when I have to!
Best Triathlon training or racing tip? Clean socks for the run and review transition in your mind several times before race. Visualize it all.
Triathlon literature or other sources of information? USA Tri Magazine and online.
Who inspires you? My daughter, who asked me only three months after my surgery to do a short women’s only tri with her! When I told her she was crazy and reasons why not, she replied via email, three words, “Those are excuses.” She was right and we did it.
Future goal? Keep going. I achieved this year’s goal of four Trivium Racing sprint triathlons and first in my age bracket.