Transitions: Book Release

Just like triathlons, publishing a book came with a learning curve. I was very optimistic after I handed off my finished drafts to my beta readers. I was so optimistic that I hired a cover designer ahead of choosing my copy editor. Then I had to wait. Wait for the final edit so I could tell the cover designer the EXACT number of pages. Who knew that a couple pages would matter.

So my timeline slid from the end of June to the end of September. I uploaded the finished product into Amazon and ordered three proof copies. Even with the "Not for Resale" band across the center, holding an actual book in my hand felt amazing. Almost as amazing as an IRONMAN finish line!

But none of that logistics stuff is really the story. The story started years before any of this — with a question I didn't know how to answer yet.

So Why Write This Book?

If you have followed this blog at all, you know that way back in the beginning I wrote about why I call myself a closet athlete (Read full post here). The excerpt below is what Transitions is built around...

I was an active kid. I took gymnastics and tennis lessons. I played softball for a season, I played on the first all-girl soccer team in Stockton, and I swam on the summer rec team for a few seasons. Were any of these activities on a highly competitive level? Not really. Did I play any of these sports in high school? Nope. Did I aspire to do more? Unfortunately, no. That is, until I had my own kids.

This is probably one of the hardest things to write. Probably because I have to admit that I pushed my daughters to compete, not always when they wanted to, but when I wanted them to. I think I did this because I felt I had missed my opportunity when I was young and I wanted to make sure that they didn't. Would I change anything? Of course. Would I have pushed as hard as I did? Maybe not... but then again, maybe I would have.

Ashley (age 10) at Tiger Memorial Day Swim Meet

My girls' accomplishments became my own and I lived through them. Every first place finish, every high point trophy, every PR, every goal, every save... they all became my own. It didn't matter that I wasn't the one spending several hours a week practicing. It didn't matter that I wasn't the one in the pool getting kicked and scratched during a water polo game. It didn't matter that physically I had let myself go while pushing them to improve.

The end of my daughters' high school careers was bittersweet. So much of my time had been spent getting them to practice and games, now I wasn't going to be needed. 

That tug-of-war — between wanting it for them and wanting it for me — is basically the whole book.

Is It a Memoir?

No, although it is based on many real life stories and anecdotes. The people aren't real and the circumstances are very much fiction. The only thing I tried to remain true to were the races. Although for those of you who may have done Dirt, Sweat, and Beers, you probably remember that the race was at the end of July and not June as I wrote in my book... but I needed the timeline to work a certain way, so I fudged the date a bit.

Is There More?

Books two and three are already taking shape — Recovery is drafted, and book three is starting to come together in my head. More on those soon, once Transitions has had its moment.

Release Date

The official release date for book one, Transitions, is October 1, 2026. I have so many plans to get the word out there... you might even see me out at IRONMAN California handing out flyers and maybe even a few copies of my book.

In the meantime — if any of this sounds familiar, follow along here or on Facebook so you don't miss release day. I'll be sharing more as October 1 gets closer.