I ran a race on Saturday in my parent's neighborhood, and I lost.

It was awesome.

I have never been happier to earn second place.

My sister Sarah, (who is also one of my athlete’s), did exactly what I wanted her to do, increased her pace every mile of the four mile race, leaving nothing in the tank by the end of it. I limped along after her running as well as I could with my nauseating hamstring strain still lingering around the punch bowl, (it should’ve left the party months ago), but I didn’t care, I was RACING, and had the time of my life for those painful, yet precious thirty-one minutes. Sarah finished in thirty minutes.:)

The race was the Smashfest Queen 4th of July virtual event which benefited the charity No Kid Hungry. I lasso’d Sarah, my Dad, and Step-Mom, Sally, plus my Mom, and brother, Tim, to take part as well. They either walked or ran 4 or 8 miles, and every one of them excelled beyond their expectations. Probably because there weren't any, it was simply an event to share together since we were forced to be apart this year due to COVID-19.

However, even without the formalities of a “real” race, I was nervous that morning, and pushed harder than I should’ve because my competitive juices were flowing, but what I cared about even more, was how well Sarah ran.

Last week, my coach Hillary Biscay made an announcement that included news of her coaching business assuming an official name, and matching website, www.biscaycoaching.com, as well as her plans to add another coach to her rock-solid slate of coaches, me.:)

Hillary approached me about joining under her umbrella last December, a request I found flattering and nerve-racking. I had been enjoying a nice rhythm with my own method of coaching runners and triathletes for years, and I wasn’t sure how I would handle Hillary being my coach and boss? Especially since all of 2019 was one miff after another, I didn’t come close to hitting any of my goals, but soon enough the shock and fear wore off, and the excitement for the opportunity grew.

From Left: Website home page staring the amazing Coach and Professional Athlete, Alyssa Godesky, and accomplished age-group athlete, Jan Lohman.

I have been fortunate to have worked for a handful of powerful women the last twenty years or so, that have both inspired and scared the daylights out of me. In the Summer of 2000, before my senior year of college, I worked as a temp at a Pilates company under Julie Lobdell, an innovator in the field. Then after graduating in 2001, at my first job in the film industry, (and various projects until 2006), I worked for Shannon Gans, the former CEO at New Deal Studios. Next, officially as of July 1st, 2020, I started working as a coach for Biscay Coaching under my longtime coach and mentor in Triathlon, Hillary Biscay.

I didn’t keep ties with Julie, and honestly, I never paid much attention to the equipment she sold. In fact, what stands out about that job experience was reading Siddhartha for the first time during my lunch break, and pedaling to and from the office on a $10 Ten-Speed, (cut me some slack, I was 20). So even though I do know what a Pilates Reformer looks like, I have no idea how to use it. However, what I learned from Julie was her attention to detail and focus on the vision for her company. She wanted to share what she loved most in the world with others, Pilates, and literally built a way to do it.

On the other hand, I have kept in touch with Shannon. I owe much of my work ethic to her, as she modeled a tremendous one of her own by creating and running a successful Academy award-winning Visual Effects Studio from the seed of an entrepreneurial project during graduate school at USC. Shannon is a genius at operations and management, and has deft awareness of her strengths and weaknesses, a priceless attribute that made an impression on me.

Shannon also believed in my endurance pursuits from nearly day one. She was well-aware that I ran for an hour or more in the nearby neighborhoods of our stage in Santa Clarita after every 12+ hour day on set working on the film, The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen while training for the LA Marathon in 2003. Thankfully, she didn’t tease me about those runs like the rest of the crew, rather she asked how I felt every couple of days, and made sure I never skipped lunch.

I revealed earlier this year that I have always felt pulled in opposite directions by my two passions, film production and endurance, a truth I believe Shannon appreciated, and since I have been trying to marry the two over the last couple of years, (my book, this blog, training videos, Taryn’s Triathlon Time on Instagram TV, etc.), knowing Shannon has been watching and supporting my unconventional efforts to create and share those passions has meant the world to me.

I also credit Shannon for inadvertently introducing me to Marion, (she recommended me for the job where we met), and FUN FACT: her nickname for me was Taryn Kelly-Green. Ha.

Then, there is Hillary. If you have been following my blog, read my book, or have ever talked to me longer than fifteen minutes, you are well-aware that Hillary Biscay has made a large impact on my life.

Hillary in her element, leading us through a pre-BIG ride chat at Smashfest Camp in Tucson, 2019.

Initially, I was drawn to her ridiculous work ethic as a professional triathlete. The 100x100 birthday swim sets, treadmill marathons, multiple double Ironman race weekends, etc., it all blew me away, but what I appreciated most was as a coach she made it seem possible to achieve greatness in triathlon if an athlete was willing to work harder than everyone else. All that was required was an unflinching pain threshold, mountains of grit, and a bottomless pit of desire for swim/bike/run.

Yes, please.

Screen left: Biscay Coaching's head coach, Hillary Biscay, lending her photography and coaching skillz to one of her taller athletes.

Over a dozen years later, I have learned an enormous amount about triathlon under Hillary’s guidance, but what I appreciate most about this opportunity to work as one of her coaches, is that she trusts me to uphold her methodology, while lending me room to be the coach I've grown into. Which is why watching Sarah run so brilliantly on Saturday made me happier than any race day I have experienced in years. It was so fun to witness her do so well at something I love, and enjoy sharing most in the world.

Moreover, what made the race even sweeter, was that I was able to share the news of Sarah’s achievement with Hillary, and the entire team. I knew they would get as much of a kick out of it as I did, confirming that we are indeed an impressive mix of hardcore and supportive coaches and athletes that I am thrilled and humbled to add my flavor to.

The song and video choice this week is an older, but totally Summer tune, Brokenhearted from Karmin.