Elizabeth Thiel - Triathlete and Personal Trainer at Garden Health & Fitness

Elizabeth Thiel joined the Garden Health and Fitness training staff in July 2009 after the Army brought her family to the Naval Postgraduate School. Sharing her life with a Green Beret, her husband Josh, has shown her the world and gotten her plenty of practice with interviews! When Josh is home they spend their time running and hiking with the best dog in the world- Indy (Indiana) and traveling to anywhere Rand McNally recommends.

Fitness, and more recently triathlon, is something that remains constant during all the Thiel’s Army directed moves. Competitive sports have been part of Elizabeth’s life since a young age. She was a competitor in high school state finals in swimming and track. During her four undergraduate years at Indiana University, she competed in cycling, most notably winning the infamous Little 500 bike race in 1998 and 1999. Coming from a high school swimming and running background and attending a university that revolves around cycling, triathlon seemed like a natural stepping stone in her athletic progression.

Her triathlon career quickly progressed from one hour sprint distance races to 140 mile Ironman races, which has become her forte. While completing her master’s degree at Purdue University, she competed in her first three ironman events: Ironman Wisconsin 05, Ironman Coeur D’Alene 06, Ironman Canada ’06. After respectable finishes of 5th place in all three races, Elizabeth had come close enough to catch the desire to compete world championships, but not quite close enough to qualify. On her fourth attempt, Ironman Canada 07, she inched up to third; finally cracking the code and qualifying for a trip to the World Championships in Kona Hawaii! The following summer, in 2008, she competed in Ironman Louisville, finished second, and qualified for the World Championships for a second time. She has dabbled and found success in other triathlon distances, competing in the Olympic Distance Age Group World Championships in Vancouver in 2008, but remains committed to the ultimate endurance race, the 140.2 mile Ironman.