Emilly Mahler competed in her first triathlon in last year’s Back Mountain Triathlon.
Teresa Kalinay | Special to the Times Leader
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When Emily Mahler heard that the Back Mountain Triathlon was returning to Harveys Lake, it was no surprise that she would want to try it.
Mahler grew up swimming at the Wilkes-Barre Family YMCA with her family, and later at Holy Redeemer High School. As she got older, she even joined the Masters swim group at the CYC when her schedule allowed. There she got to swim with the “big kids” (adult swimmers), many of whom were part of the triathlon scene and former high school or college athletes.
Sometimes she would join her father Eric and some triathletes for breakfast at the former S&W Restaurant and listen to their stories. With this background, it was no surprise that for Mahler’s first Back Mountain Triathlon she would sign up for the entire Olympic race, not just the swim.
Now that she was serious about this, Mahler needed to find a bike.
She borrowed a bike from a friend and decided to join the Monday night beginners bike ride. In the parking lot before the ride, Mahler suddenly realized the difference in this new bike with clipless pedals and aero bars from her standard beach cruiser.
Once the group left Lakeside Drive and turned onto Outlet Road, Mahler suddenly had to deal with some treacherous potholes. Potholes are the norm for cyclists and drivers of NEPA, but for beginners in both areas they can be difficult to prepare for. It wasn’t long before she got her front wheel hung up in one of those long narrow seam potholes and she hit the ground hard.
Mahler ended up at urgent care with some road rash and a nasty bump on the head. She hit so hard she actually cracked her helmet.
Fortunately, this didn’t discourage Mahler. She went back to the drawing board and thought about what she wanted to accomplish and how she was going to get there. Her plan was to practice the skills she was struggling with and really master the bike.
She met up with a friend at Dallas High School parking lot and rode laps around the lot, over and over again in a circle, practicing clipping in and out, shifting the gears, coming to a safe stop, starting up again, practicing turning, practicing with her water bottle so she could drink while riding, and signaling. She practiced these skills on her own too.
Eventually she felt more comfortable to get out on the road. In the end she accomplished the goal she set for herself, finishing and even medaling.
Since the Back Mountain Triathlon was her first, she made sure to arrive very early, just like she used to do for big swim competitions. Control the controllables. She spent time setting up her transition areas and using positive self-messaging to keep herself calm.
Mahler had a great day on the Back Mountain course, even though she was critical of the fact that she didn’t eat/drink enough on the bike, which led to cramping in the early miles of the run. At that point her internal messaging changed to, “I can’t start walking now, everyone can see me!” She eventually was able to get some salt tablets, water and cliff blocks in her, but it was the support of the other runners that got her to the finish line.
The high fives, the cheers of encouragement, the familiar faces, Mahler said she loved knowing that even though they were racing each other, the athletes were all in it together. When she crossed the finish line, she found her family and told her father, “Dad, I want to keep doing this!”
At the awards ceremony she received the cherry on top of the sundae, a first-place win in her age group. Like she told herself that morning, “Stay calm and you will finish.”
Fear of the water, or lack of confidence in their swimming, is often the No. 1 roadblock for athletes who want to try the sport of triathlon. For some who have experience swimming in a pool, fear of open water can be an obstacle. For Mahler, who grew up in the water and spent many years surfing, bodysurfing and scuba diving, she had a level of comfort that very few new athletes bring to the sport.
When not in college at Tulane University, Mahler lives on a lake and participates in kayaking, canoeing, paddleboarding and open water swimming. She loves to hike, play golf and do pilates and hot yoga too. Since graduating from Holy Redeemer in 2021, Mahler has been studying at Tulane University and plans to graduate later this year with a B.S. in management.
Mahler grew up in an athletic family. Her father, Eric, swam for North Carolina State, her brother, Adam, swam for Pitt, and mom, Rose, was a softball player. Mahler grew up around water, in the pool at 3 months old, swim lessons at the WB YMCA at 2 years old, and eventually swimming competitively at 5 years old.
Growing up, she played soccer, ran cross country and softball, but it was always swimming that was her primary athletic pursuit. Mahler qualified for PIAA State Championships 4-by-100-meter relay. She holds pool records at the CYC for the 100 back and 500 free. Mahler still swims today as part of her club team at Tulane, and even with a heavy course load, she managed to qualify for Club Nationals in her favorite stroke — the backstroke.
Mahler has some words of advice for newcomers to the sport: “Just go for it! It takes a lot of training and there is never going to be a perfect time to get into something new. There is no harm in training for it and you won’t know until you do it!
“Fear is a part of the learning process, there are always going to be things that are unknown.
“Talk to people who are in the sport. Talk to them and LISTEN to them. Learn from the people who have been doing it for a while.”
Today Mahler says she absolutely loves the sport of triathlon and is so happy that she took a leap of faith to give it a try. As Confucius said, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” She plans to be on the Olympic course again this summer at the Back Mountain triathlon in August, because a fall will never deter Mahler from her greater goals.