The Determined Gina Horath

Gina Horath earned her professional triathon license at the 2014 Collegiate Nationals. Since then, the fast Santa Cruz native has graduated from UCSD but has recently dealt with a serious foot injury that has sidelined her for most of her first professional year. We caught up with her to talk about her first year as a pro and recovery from injury.

Hi Gina. Thanks for the interview. How did you get your pro license and how was your first year as a professional triathlete.

GH: I had raced on the UCSD Triathlon Team while in college and the last two years on the team my performances really improved within the collegiate racing circuit, and I began to sort of realize my potential more and more. Certain triathletes and coaches would mention things like "Oh yeah, you could get your elite license..." So the idea started to become more familiar to me, and I eventually transformed my dreaming into a hopeful goal. Even so, the day I actually qualified for my pro card came as such a shock... I finished in the top 5 of the draft-legal race at Collegiate Nationals in Spring 2014. This finish in itself was the best end to my career on the UCSD team. That night my boyfriend told me that night that this finish was good enough for me to apply to USAT to turn pro.

My first year as a pro was tough. After graduating from UCSD I spent this past year working, and taking classes for grad school down the road. I was so busy, and working so hard, I barely had time to keep up any type of training- but believe me, I tried! Unfortunately, starting about 4 months ago, I've dealt with a foot injury that has kept me from running ever since.

Would you say that that draft legal race was your proudest result?

GH: Yeah, I would say the whole 2014 Nationals weekend was my proudest result. I am proud of a lot of past races (also not so proud of many too!). Part of the sport is having ups and downs. A huge barrier for me when I was a younger and newer triathlete was confidence. I never thought I

was good enough to race draft-legal, hence why I chose not to do so at Nationals in 2013. So Nationals 2014 was special for me in that I proved to myself that I could compete with the top girls in the country, and also affirmed that draft legal is the style of racing is what I love. In addition, I feared that race would largely affect my race the following day, but I was still able to pull off a top 10 finish there, which had been my goal all year. All in all a great weekend with many good surprises!

You also mentioned that you are planning on going to Graduate school. Do you plan on continue being a professional triathlete while at school?

GH: If all goes as planned, I will begin graduate school in about a year. It is very difficult to make a living as a professional triathlete so you always need a backup plan. There is absolutely no way I could do this at my current stage, and many people I know that race as pros are working part-time, or else getting by in some other manner. Unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to juggle grad school and be able to compete at a high level at the same time, even if I'm injury free. I would LOVE to be able to train and race more as a professional triathlete, and give it one last go the summer before grad school though.

Sorry to hear about that injury. Could you explain your foot injury more and how this is gonna affect your future triathlon career?

GH: About 4 months ago, I began to feel extreme pain in my right foot where I had developed a bunion from years of running. I was forced to take 6 weeks off of running to try to alleviate the pain, but nothing else I did afterward helped. It seemed that surgery was the only option, especially if I ever hoped to run again. I am writing this interview 2 weeks post-op. I haven't ran in 3 months, and likely won't for 5-6 more. It is a huge mental barrier for me to overcome, but I am taking it day by day. It was hard at first knowing I will not be training and racing this summer. But now that I have come to terms with that, I am looking into the longerterm future, and I do see running and racing as a possibility, and I am determined to have a better 'ending' to my pro career.

With this injury setback, where do you see yourself taking your professional triathlon career?

GH: Like I said before, I am determined to have a better ending to my pro career. I feel like I never had a true chance at this and I would be missing out if I ended things at this point. It would be incredible to travel to Central America and race in a Continental Cup race for Team USA, so this is something in the back of my mind. But at this point I'm just working on getting around on crutches, so I'll take one step at a time for now and just remain positive that there is more left for me. I have just as much passion for triathlon as I ever have, and plan to use this energy in the road to recovery. I'll be back!

For an interview of Gina before she turned pro, check out UCSD Triathlon's Meet the Team series!

#triathlon #nationals #injury #draftlegal #recovery