Name: Katherine Nichols
Age: 44
Sport: Triathlon
Running music: Pop, rock, flamenco and what her kids are listening to.

Perhaps she wasn’t born to be a triathlete, but Katherine Nichols got an early start in the sport. An age-group swimmer from age 7, she did her first triathlon (a mini sprint) in San Diego when she was 9.

Of the three legs that comprise the multisport event, Nichols says she enjoys the run the most. Not surprisingly, the local writer has a blog called runlikeamother.com, where she — and training partner Rachel Ross — share their balancing acts of being athletes and single mothers with five children between them.

"I enjoy the run the most, probably because there’s more interaction with people," Nichols said.

A typical long run during race preparation is 20 minutes warming up at an easy pace, 40 minutes of race pace — trying to run 10k — and 20 minutes of easy running.

Nichols did not compete in last Sunday’s Tinman — she is a two-time winner and finished in the top three 11 times — because she was in California with her son touring colleges.

She will, however, compete in her third Ironman this October.

The "Out There" section features short profiles of everyday athletes, new products or cool items that others "like try" and catch-of-the-day photos submitted by readers.

E-mail: outthere@staradvertiser.com.