Sarah Piampiano

The Exceptional Introvert

By InnerVoice

September 30^th, 2016

my job consumes ALL of me at ALL times.

When I worked in the corporate world I was in front of a computer and by my phone all day long. Exchanging emails, texts or IMs, or having a quick phone conversation was easy. When I started training and racing full-time as a pro triathlete, it was a surprising transition for me in terms of the impact on some of my relationships. The frequency in which I spoke with friends and family decreased and I wasn’t as easily accessible. When I’m out training I’m away from my computer and phone, so there are only small windows when I can communicate. Some of my closest friends had a hard time with that and didn’t understand. It made me feel terrible and actually one of the things I started doing (and still do to this day) was creating a calendar to remind me to reach out to people – it helped me be proactive in staying in contact with the people that mean the most to me.

Having a romantic relationship is also tough – my job consumes ALL of me at ALL times – what I’m eating, when and how I am sleeping, what type of recovery I am getting. It is not just when I am out training, but when I am home too. I’ve had a few failed relationships because those boyfriends felt frustrated by the lack of spontaneity and the strict structure I have in my life. For me it is a non-negotiable and I think it really takes a special kind of person to be able to accept that, embrace it, and support me in the pursuit of my dreams and goals.

On the flip side, I’ve had the opportunity to meet people and develop some relationships with friends that I would have never met otherwise. Triathlon has led me to some of the closest and most fulfilling relationships I have ever had and I am grateful for that.

I was literally running scared.

This sport forces you to really look deep inside yourself and extract more from your body than you ever thought possible. I’ve pushed myself mentally, physically and emotionally in ways I didn’t know I was capable of – it is daunting, exhilarating, satisfying and a bit scary all at once.

I love how grueling it is – how it brings me to my absolute mental, physical and emotional limits. I love (and hate…sometimes) the fact that my dreams and goals scare me. I remember when I won my first 70.3, I was racing against some of the top-ranked women in the world. I came off the bike in 1st and the entire run I kept repeating “don’t blow up, don’t blow up, don’t blow up” – I was literally running scared.

But I also love that no matter how I do, I feel accomplished to be out there working harder than I ever have in anything in my life. And the sense of community – it is indescribable.

It was a life-changing moment for me.

As a kid I was an elite athlete – competing at the national level in both cross-country running and ski racing. My dream was to compete in both the winter and summer Olympics, but once I graduated from college my days of athletic prowess were a distant memory. I worked in mergers & acquisitions on Wall Street and went down the all-too-familiar path of long work hours, smoking cigarettes and not taking good care of my health. One night in 2009, a college friend, Todd Elmer, and I were at a bar in NYC and we bet on who could beat the other in an Olympic-distance triathlon race. I fell in love with the experience – I stopped smoking on the spot, went and bought a bike and began training with regularity. It was a life-changing moment for me.

make your dreams a reality.

Getting out of bed is hard sometimes – you are sore, tired and unmotivated. But I have a quote taped to my fridge at home that says “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out.” I think that to myself and THAT is what motivates me to get up. I tell myself I have to just get the work done — it is about consistency and getting every session in. I personally believe the days when we are great, when we pop out of bed and have great sessions; those aren’t the days that define us. It is the days when we don’t want to get out of bed and every step, pedal or swim stroke is exhausting, but we just put your head down and get the work done — that is what comes back full-circle in the end to make your dreams a reality.

happier and healthier than I have ever been.

When I was 27, I ended an engagement 3 weeks before I was to be married. I had been in the relationship for 5 years and it took me getting THAT close to the alter to really look inside myself and realize I was in the relationship for all the wrong reasons. In the grand scheme of things (relative to so many other tragedies) this was NOT that big of a deal, but emotionally it was the hardest thing I have ever had to go through. I felt so guilty and terrible for leading someone down a path for so long when it wasn’t the right thing, and I couldn’t understand or comprehend how I had the capacity to do that. I felt a tremendous amount of shame and confusion. It definitely left me feeling a bit lost.

The experience, though, was one of the single biggest growth periods in my life. I think it was the first time I really went through a process of self-reflection. I asked myself a lot of questions and dug for answers. It made me much more self-aware and also more in tune with who I was as a person and what I truly wanted. It was definitely a defining moment in my life and ultimately was the first step to bringing me to triathlon, and to a place where I am now, which is happier and healthier than I have ever been.

it is hard.

Talking of setbacks, injury is so hard. Earlier this year I had to pull out of the North American Ironman Championships because of a small lower leg injury. There is this definitive moment where you are in denial and then suddenly you are accepting of the fact you are injured. Mentally it is hard – frustrating and disappointing. But I’ve always taken the view that injuries provide an opportunity to focus on something you wouldn’t have otherwise been able to. This spring, I ended up re-vamping my stroke in the water – something we might not have done had I remained healthy. And in the long-run I think that will help me.

focused and determined.

When things get tough, in general, I tend to go inward. I like to go into my own headspace, and I put my head down and I do whatever I need to do to work through tough times and come out the other side better. I rarely get emotional, but rather become exceptionally focused and determined.

Having your body fail you in a race is devastating, but often this is really what ends up defining a race for someone. When I am in a bad place I end up breaking my race down – aid station to aid station. I make deals with myself – “Just get to mile 13 and then you can stop”….and of course then I get to mile 13 and I say “just get to mile 20 and then you can stop” and then, of course, at mile 20 it is “now you only have 6 miles to go – you can do this!” I also focus on getting in fluids, electrolytes and food – dehydration and under-fueling has a big impact on how your race goes.

Shockingly, through triathlon, I think I’ve become much more aware and in tune (and accepting) of just how much of an introvert I am. I’ve come to really value and embrace time alone to be in my own headspace.