From Swim/Water Polo Mom to IRONMAN Chaser: The Real Races That Built This Story (And the Ones We Lost)

I never planned to become a triathlete.

For most of my 30s, I was Tracy Pengilly, Swim/Water Polo Mom. I lived on pool decks, carpooled to practices, ran the swim meet computer, and measured my worth in my daughters' best times and team wins. When my youngest decided she didn't want to play water polo after her freshman year, the ground disappeared beneath me. I had already quietly accepted that her older sister wasn't playing anymore. Who was I if I wasn’t cheering from the sidelines?

The answer didn’t arrive in a lightning bolt. It arrived slowly, in drips and drabs. It was the coworker that suddenly started doing triathlons, it was 5Ks and half marathons that were fun but not scratching my itch. It arrived in a random post on Facebook about a triathlon class. It started small. It started with me scared out of my mind, crying in the bathroom the morning of my graduation race. The Golden State triathlon.

First graduating class of Lodi Masters Triathletes

I finished first in my age group. I was thrilled. Now before you go getting impressed or anything like that, I was first out of three competitors. So, I was podium bound regardless of how well I did. That being said, I had to show up, and I had to finish.

I may not look like it, but I'm podium bound

I would return to Golden State the following year, signing up for the longer sprint version of the race. I wish I would have kept signing up. Maybe if more of us stuck with the local races they would stop slowly disappearing from the calendar.

The last Golden State triathlon was on September 29, 2019. A race was planned for 2020, but there are no results available. I'm sure it was canceled due to Covid-19. Starting in 2021, IRONMAN California debuted with a swim and a run in the same location.

• Golden State Triathlon (Total Body Fitness) Sacramento, CA - This race lit the spark and many other races fanned the flame.
• The Salmon Duathlon (On Your Mark Events) Knights Ferry, CA. My go-to race after the end of the triathlon season. Fast and fun. I raced it four times. Now gone.
• The Angels Camp Triathlon (On Your Mark Events) Angels Camp, CA. I did the 21st annual race in 2013. The race never came back. Maybe I'm a jinx.
• Dirt, Sweat, and Beers, Tracy, CA — I did this one twice. It’s the race where Tara panics in the water and learns what “DNF” really feels like.
• World's Toughest Half / Auburn Triathlon (Endurance Capital Committee) Auburn, CA. I only did this race once and that was enough. The name is no joke. Unfortunately, the last race was held in 2018.
• Barb's Race Guerneville / Windsor, CA - Amazing race. The race where I learned to love pushing myself. I would race it again in a minute if it ever came back. Ended in 2015 along with Vineman.
• Vineman / IRONMAN Vineman, Guerneville / Windsor, CA - The very last and the very first. Such an amazing racing experience that I made it the central race of my novel. Sadly missed. I have raced IRONMAN California three times hoping to capture the magic of Vineman.
• IRONMAN Santa Rosa 70.3, Santa Rosa, CA. A blip on the triathlon radar.

Sadly, these races no longer exist. They weren’t just events, they were the stepping stones that carried a heartbroken, empty-nest swim mom toward something bigger.

Writing the linked race reports and this novel became my way of keeping those races — and what they taught me — alive. Every panic attack in the water, every triumphant “You are an IRONMAN” moment, every quiet mile, every person I have met along the way are stitched together from real mornings when I wondered if I could keep going, and real finish lines where I discovered I could.

If you’ve ever lost a version of yourself you thought defined you — whether through kids growing up, a career shift, or any quiet unraveling — I hope Tara’s story feels like company on that road.