Cashin Father-Daughter Set For First Triathlon
MADISON- Tom Cashin and his daughter, Stephanie, have long been very competitive in just about everything they have ever done together. The competitive drive will come to a head this Saturday as both have persevered through a rigorous 14-week training program for the 2017 Huntsville Sprint Triathlon to be held at the Huntsville Natatorium.
“What I’m most nervous about is will my dad beat be in the competition,” said Stephanie. Tom added, “The only person I’m trying to beat is myself, but being competitive with Stephanie is fun as this training has been a special time for us.”
Last week, the father-daughter team completed their efforts in the Tri101 program presented by FleetFeet of Huntsville. They will enter their triathlon race this Saturday with anticipation levels running high of what is yet to come once the starting gun gets them going in the three-sport event. They will swim 400 meters in the Huntsville Natatorium, transition to a 7-mile bike ride followed by a 3.1-mile run ending back at the Huntsville Natatorium. This will be the 37th running of the race with close to 2,000 participants expected.
Stephanie, 27, is currently attending graduate school at the University of Alabama working on her master’s degree in social work. She’s a 2008 graduate of Bob Jones High and 2012 of Auburn University. She also works numerous small jobs as she travels through college and her recreation of running she began in college. Her father brought up the idea of training for a triathlon and Stephanie took it upon herself and her father’s interest to sign up the both of them.
“He suggested we go train for the triathlon as he said he wanted to be a triathlete at age 60,” said Stephanie of her dad who will turn 60 five days after the race. “This is more of a life-changing for him.”
Tom suffered an unknown heart attack in April, 2016 some 11 years after suffering a similar attack where he underwent surgery to have a stint inserted into his heart. While recovering in the hospital after another stint procedure, he was told he was a strong candidate for heart rehab. He was told to begin exercising. The thought of exercise never entered his thought process until he was faced with dire straits.
“Never on my radar was being a triathlete,” said Tom, who works at the Toyota plant in north Huntsville as manager of administration for affairs and safety. “Being a novice at this sport is what interested me the most. I have participated in a few local races for fun, but nothing like this training regimen for a race like this.”
“I have plenty of friends who couldn’t have this type of experience with their parents,” said Stephanie. “We text everyday about our workouts. I can remember he could barely get going at the beginning as the swim portion of the race I’ve seen the largest improvement in his performance.”
Stephanie is least comfortable in the bike portion of the race, feels the running is most difficult and the swim portion is her favorite. “It’s unfortunate that you can’t win a race in the pool, but you can certainly lose a race there,” added Stephanie.
Neither Stephanie nor Tom have been what you would call athletes for most of their lives. Tom played trumpet in school bands and expended all of his energy just to pass gym class. Stephanie took her shots at recreational sports as a young girl, but admitted, “It was nothing consistent and I wasn’t very good.”
Tom knows his change in life continues to make him healthier and he has the complete support from Linda, his wife of almost 40 years. He’s also aware his daughter has helped him tremendously in the Tri101 training and come race day they’ll be alongside one another with the knowledge of what they agreed upon is now coming to the forefront.
“He is my favorite person in the world and I consider it a gift to be able to do this with him,” said Stephanie.
“The 10 coaches who have taken the entire group in this training program have been phenomenal,” according to Tom, who added, “I give my biggest appreciation to those who have given all of us the enormous encouragement and support. I also thank Stephanie.”
