Jacqui Giuliano has had a dream for eight years: “I feel like, with my running background on the right course, I could do sub-3 hours,” she says, of her IRONMAN marathon time.
For Jacqui, a former collegiate runner at the University of Illinois, this is not a wild goal. In 2018, she won the AG title at IM Wisconsin after running a blistering 3:00:17. “17 seconds!” she says. “I feel like I totally haven’t tapped out my potential. That’s why I keep wanting to do these IRONMANs even though now I have three kids!”
Jacqui Giuliano’s triathlon achievements are, clearly, staggering. The 39-year old seventh-grade math teacher has qualified for Kona nine times. And she’s a 2x IRONMAN AG Champion with an IM PB of 9:21:17.
The internet’s filled with stories about this incredible athlete. About how she first qualified for Kona in 2013 and has raced there nearly every year since. How she jumped into triathlon her senior year of college, at the suggestion of her now-husband, Ryan, after suffering a string of injuries on the track and cross-country teams. How she raced Kona three months after giving birth to twins in 2022—the same year Chelsea Sodaro won the event in her first attempt, becoming the first mom to win Kona in over a decade.
It’d be easy to write off her sub-3 goal as a (very cool) obsession. But there’s so much more to it. Having that huge north star--a symbol of her relentless pursuit of excellence--has been core to her well-being, keeping her focused and connected to the triathlon community through life’s twists and turns, including several rounds of IVF.
Below, the ROKA STNDRD Racing team member shares how the sport helped her through fertility struggles, her highs, lows, and how baby #3 (now 9 months old) has her writing a whole new triathlon playbook.
ON HER IVF JOURNEY
“I feel like triathlon helped save me from going into depression,” Jacqui says.
She and her husband Ryan, who won IM Wisconsin in 2018, wanted to start a family that year. They had already completed a five-year plan in which they raced all over the world—and in Kona—to get the travel bug out of their system before becoming parents. But starting a family was tougher than they’d imagined.
“It was frustrating,” Jacqui says. But they made a plan: They’d keep going to Kona until they got pregnant. And she'd keep shooting for that sub-3.
“We had some really good years competing,” she says. “Honestly, had I only been focused on starting a family, I think I’d have 100% gone into depression. It felt like triathlon was my therapy in those years.”
Jacqui raced Kona in 2022, three months after giving birth to twins.
ON WHAT DRIVES HER
“My biggest goal is to execute a really awesome race that hopefully puts me in the top position,” she says. Even in the races she’s won, there was something—a bike mechanical, say—that kept them from being flawless. “Always knowing that I can do better.”
ON MOTHERHOOD + TRIATHLON
“Having three kids has been a total game-changer. In terms of training, it’s made it so much harder.” Her daughter is now 9 months old, and the twins are 3.5 years old. The family focus, for now, is on local races, including IM 70.3 Rockford-Illinois, where they can sleep in their own beds.
“It totally changes how we think about going to races.” Before, they were focused on how to qualify for Kona and stoked on international travel. That’s more challenging and pricey with the kiddos. “Now, it’s about what races can we bring the family to, or what’s close enough that I don’t worry about having to bring the family.” (They still managed to bring their daughter to Spain for 70.3 Worlds last fall!)
“I love Kona. I don’t want to go there again unless I can have the best performance that I can have. It’s hard because I want to be like, ‘Yeah, Mom Power! Look at what I did after having three kids!’ and inspire other women. But at the same time, I don’t know if I can.”
IRONMAN 🤝 SEVENTH GRADE MATH
“I’m always crunching the numbers, doing mental math, dividing the course into six to keep my mind engaged on something else besides my legs hurting,” says the 7th grade math teacher. “I tell my students that. I use this math in real life and it really helps me!”
JACQUI’S WINNING RACE MANTRA
In Wisconsin: Be present. Be strong. Be grateful. Be confident.
HER FAVORITE WORKOUTS
RUNNING
5x: 1/2 mile with 1 minute recovery, 1/4 mile with 2 minutes recovery
SWIMMING
3x:
300 (#1: with buoy, #2: paddles & buoy, #3: no toys)
2x100 harder
THE ULTIMATE BIKE TEST
“On the way to Kona, we always ride on the Wisconsin course. How I performed on that always helped me gauge how good of shape I was in.”
ON SHARING A BIKE WITH HER HUSBAND (NO, REALLY)
Jacqui and her husband share a Trek Speed Concept. “It is really nice, because when we went to Spain [for 70.3 Worlds] we only had to bring one bike.”
They swapped out the saddle—and the entire front end. “He’s more aggro in the aero position,” she says. But so far it’s working out…so far.
ON THE EVOLUTION OF HER START LINE FEELS
"The early version of me would think, 'Oh, I didn't do enough. I wish I'd done x, y, and z more.' But since becoming a mom, I feel that I've put in the best work that I was physically able to do given all of my other commitments. I'm confident in how I'm going to perform based off of that. I usually feel confident."
We are so proud to support Jacqui as she goes after her dreams in this new stage of life, and to support all of the teams and athletes brave enough to set big goals and get after them.
