The Triathlon of Life

Katherine McLeod Gurd

Division Director – Stormwater Services & Mother of Two: Hailey (6) and Henry (4)
Company: Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources
Industry: Public Works 
Location: Lawrenceville, Ga.
Katherine’s Tips: Schedule personal time in your work calendar (e.g., Outlook) so co-workers are aware and it can’t be stolen from you. The more productive and efficient you can be at work, the more you will be able to truly leave work at work and be present with your family.

Her Story

My husband Peter and I met in college, but we were never in a hurry to get married or start a family.  We dated for nine years while I focused my career, bought my first house, found a mentor, got involved in professional organizations, and made valuable connections. After being married for five years, we decided to try to build a family, which unfortunately proved to be quite the challenge and several trips to the doctor. 

Ultimately every treatment failed us. I told Peter I needed to focus on something to remind me that my body was capable of positive things. So I started training for a marathon. Soon after, I learned I was pregnant with Hailey!  We were content with what we thought was our one perfect child and decided not to “try” again. But we were shocked to learn I was unexpectedly pregnant with our son Henry, who was born in 2017.

Being a mother has augmented my career because it has given me more of an ability to focus and compartmentalize. I want to give the best effort to my work so I can confidently walk away and see my kids.  To do that I strive to be the most focused productive employee.  But I also want to carry that focus home. I want to give my family 100 percent while I’m with them as well.

I’ve achieved balance through two things: time management and mentors/role models. On the mentorship side, when my kids were babies, I worked in consulting and was lucky to have bosses and mentors who not only allowed me to work flexible hours from home but they also encouraged it. When my daughter was born, I came back from maternity leave working remote for three days and in the office two.  On the days I was in the office, I set a firm schedule to leave at 4 p.m. to get home to be with my baby. Some days that meant getting back on the computer and working after she went down for the night, but I was OK with that.

For time management, I keep a detailed Outlook schedule with work-related, family, and personal commitments.  If I want to take a spin class over lunch, it’s booked as an appointment so no one can steal that time from me.  If training and family commitments are at the same time, I’ve been known to take a vacation day to get in the training.

Although I started triathlon before becoming a mom, my triathlon goals got bigger once I had my daughter.  I want Hailey to see me setting big, hard goals and reaching them – while raising a family and having a civil engineering job. I want to lead by example because I want her to see that she can do it all and to keep dreaming.  Also, I get a lot out of my training.  After a stressful day or week it’s helpful to run the worry and stress out of my head, or to start a hard day with a workout to get my thoughts straight.  I’ve also met many friends in triathlons, and often a training session is as much a social release as it is a physical one.

I obviously could not juggle my career and life without a supportive family. When I was pregnant with Hailey, Peter and I discussed childcare strategies and decided what fit best in our life was to have one of us on a part-time, more flexible schedule.  Since I had a fast growing professional career (now going into my 24th year), it made more sense for him to take the flexible role. Any time an issue comes up with the kids it’s not always on me as the mom. Peter gladly takes the kids while I do a long bike ride on Saturdays, and he’s always there encouraging me on my races (with the kids in tow!). Peter is by far my biggest fan.