Meet this months athlete highlight, Ken Reichmann!
My name is Ken Reichmann and I am a 61-year-old electrical engineer. I’ve always loved swimming and biking and a colleague of mine introduced me to triathlons about seven years ago. I have been hooked ever since, averaging a race a month until last year when a hip replacement sidelined me after a couple of events. I do many of these events with my now 29-year-old son and my wife is always in attendance cheering us on. It invariably makes for a great day even after we are home as we pour over our respective splits.
1. What are your race goals for the 2019 season?
For 2019 I’d like to improve my run times. With my surgery, I had to significantly restrict the running part of my routine for quite some time. I am only now returning to a more consistent schedule.
2. Best racing advice?
The beginning of any competitive swim with a mass or wave start can be a little intimidating to the uninitiated. Novices should know that they are going to make contact with others and vice versa. Understand that this is normal, that those you are bumping into accept the circumstances and that with time the field will spread out and the conditions will improve.
3. Favorite pre-race meal?
My pre-race meal consists of either a banana or peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
4. What is your race mantra?
Stick to your pace! Set a realistic or slightly ambitious goal depending on how you feel that day and stick to it. For example, for a triathlon, you don’t want to leave it all out on the bike course and have nothing left for the run. I do have another mantra that I direct at DelMo himself while running on the sand at ETC, but that is unfit to print, haha.
5. What activities do you enjoy in the off-season?
I swim year-round and find I can better tolerate cold weather by mountain biking on trails in the woods.
6. Tell us three things we should know about you.
Things to know about me:
- I look for moral victories when competing against my son. For instance, I’m a slightly better swimmer, so if we start together, I like to see how long I can hold him off on the bike.
- Even after countless triathlons, I still get nervous before a race.
- An example of how committed my family knows I am about triathlons, my daughter announced the impending birth of my first grandchild by presenting me with a “onesie” that read, “Swim Grandpa Swim, Bike Grandpa Bike, Run Grandpa Run,” on Father’s Day.
