How To Get Your Coworker to Tri With Home Economics Co-Stars Karla Souza and Jimmy Tatro – Triathlete

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Sometimes the best way to convince people to do something for the first time is to get them to do it – or at least it worked housekeeping Co-stars Karla Souza and Jimmy Tatro.

Souza who will drive the race Malibu Triathlon for the fifth time on Saturday, says she was first lured into multisport by a former colleague (Jack Falahee, her co-star on ABC’s). How to get away with murder). “He did it for a year and I watched from afar and heard all his stories,” says Souza. “And then he got me trying to do it in relay form next year. My competitive nature kicked in and I thought, ‘If I’m waking up at 4 a.m. for anything, I might as well do the whole thing.’”

Although she had never swum in the ocean or ridden a road bike, the following year she completed the entire 1/2 mile swim, 17 mile bike ride, and 4 mile run and loved it. She has now done it at various stages of her life including being three months pregnant and three months postpartum. “Hands down, postpartum was the hardest part of all, especially running,” she says. “I felt like my pelvis would come loose. As I ran, I thought, ‘That’s not a good idea.’ Talk to your doctor before you do it – like I didn’t. Postpartum was also difficult because I was breastfeeding and pumping between my legs.”

Souza’s children are now two and four years old and this will be her first participation as a mother of two. She and her husband have found creative ways to make the training a success together. “I put my youngest child in the stroller and he likes to go jogging with me,” she says. “We take the kids to the beach and my husband goes swimming while I have the kids and then we switch. We bought one those buoys attached to you [for safety].” She also developed a system for working out with other people on Saturdays. “Get some friends, maybe a few, and take turns babysitting the kids. It can be a fun tag team where parents raise and find out.”

The camaraderie and motivation to stay fit are a big reason Souza returned to the event, but “to make matters worse, they’ve raised millions of dollars for childhood cancer research — it’s such a legendary race.” (Also: ” The brunch afterwards is worth it.”)

TIED TOGETHER: Tri 101: Getting started in triathlon

How to get your colleague to do a triathlon

Souza’s positive experience at the Malibu Triathlon prompted her to “inspire” her co-star Tatro to join her this year — but she had to be a little sneaky to get him involved. “Take it easy,” she advises. “They don’t know what’s going to happen, so there’s no way out until then. It’s very casual – you just start putting it in his head.” She shared her tips for convincing your work friend to join you in your next race:

• Give a compliment. “One day casually mention how fit you are or how fit you look.”
• Plant a seed. “Mention that you had a great weekend training with friends and how you were able to train in the sea and how nice it was.”
• Incorporate the question in a casual way. “Hey Jimmy, I heard you want to do the triathlon with me this year?”
• Put the bait. “I’ve emailed the tri team coordinator and Jimmy to say he’s thinking about it, but could you give him more details on all the loot he’s going to get? That super-expensive new bike, top-of-the-line wetsuit, nice helmet? I really hit the mark with that.”
• Buy a small gift. “I bought him a pair of ski goggles, which obligated him a bit more.”
• Pull in all the last stops. “Hey Jimmy, it sounds like a triathlon magazine wants to do a feature on you and me…”

Souza’s six-step approach worked and Tatro will race with her this weekend. “I don’t know if I officially committed to it, it was more that I expressed some kind of interest – by asking Karla how long the swim and bike and run was – and next thing I know , I got in touch via email and the coordinator asks me to send my sizes,” he says. “So I said, ‘I think I’ll do a triathlon. I should probably try a jog or something.” There was obviously a part of me that wanted to do that, and when it came up it seemed like a fun thing and for a good cause — so why not?”

With a little preparation time, Tatro first tried to make sure he could run three miles (it didn’t go well) but then slowed his pace and made it to five miles a few days later. Although he has some swimming experience, the first leg is his biggest concern. “Swimming is what I worry about the most because I’ve never done it in the sea, but I’m hoping to get a day of sea swimming before it really gets going.”

As for the bike, “I’ve been told not to race a beach cruiser, so I’m looking for a more professional bike,” says Tatro in classically comedic tone. “Karla told me I can’t have a basket on the front of my bike – which I think would be necessary to carry all my snacks and sunscreen and everything – but I’ve found that’s not the norm.”

Training while shooting a TV show

Acting in a sitcom often requires days of more than 12 hours on set, which doesn’t leave much time for training. “It’s definitely difficult to work out at work,” says Tatro. “I’m not one of those weirdos like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who can shoot 14 hours and go straight to the gym. If I shoot all day, I usually don’t train that day. If there’s a day I don’t have to be on set by 11 a.m., I try to train in the morning.”

Souza says she knows many triathletes are training for this race every day, but she’s in it to survive it – she also has asthma and “despises” running – and to train fit wherever she can. “There’s a gym 10 minutes from work, and once I literally went in the pool for 20 minutes, biked for 20 minutes and ran for 20 minutes just to get used to it,” she says. “I didn’t realize I was leaving a trail of water at the gym, that was pretty funny.”

The cast recently filmed at night at Disneyland Resort and stayed at a hotel with a pool. “It wasn’t a lap pool — repeat, it was NOT a lap pool,” says Souza. “My castmates were all sipping drinks and they came down and saw me swimming with my goggles fully on and they were like, ‘What’s up?'”

Besides shooting housekeepingTatro also worked on a promo video for him YouTube show, who took up a large part of his free time. “When I told my assistant that I was doing this triathlon, she thought I was absolutely crazy. But it’s a great way to force yourself to get out there, get active and be competitive.”

When asked who would finish first, Tatro says: “As much as I can say myself, I can’t say that with confidence. I think Karla will probably win. She’s on time here, I just hope I can finish. But when I’m out there running and I see Karla in front of me, you better think I’ll turn on the jets.”

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