Women Who Tri Explores Why So Many Women Are Taking Up Endurance Sports

April 11, 2017 — Boulder, CO, USA — Women are becoming endurance athletes in record numbers. From running to triathlon, women are the reason endurance sports are booming. Alicia DiFabio explores the surge of women in sports in her own personal story, Women Who Tri: A Reluctant Athlete’s Journey Into the Heart of America’s Newest Obsession. DiFabio’s journalistic memoir is an inspiring and informative look at the history, psychology, subculture, and transformative power of triathlons among “ordinary” women. Women Who Tri is now available in bookstores, tri shops, and online. Read samples and learn more at velopress.com/wwt.

What would you do if nearly all the women in your town took up triathlon? If you’re like DiFabio—an out-of-shape, harried mother of four small children whose daily look featured stained yoga pants, a messy ponytail, and under-eye circles bigger than her diaper bag—you would shrug your shoulders and try to hold on for that after-bedtime glass of wine. So it was to her utter surprise when she found herself on the starting line of a triathlon.

In Women Who Tri, DiFabio explores the triathlon phenomenon that gripped her town and swept the nation. This personal story compares DiFabio’s own experience in the small, New Jersey town of Mullica Hill alongside the national surge of women’s participation in endurance sports since Title IX. Women Who Tri weaves together the insights of a psychologist, the research of a journalist, and the deep insecurities of a daunted newbie. DiFabio shares her journey from nervous newcomer to triathlon finisher as she investigates one of the world’s most challenging, inspiring, and fastest-growing sports. Women Who Tri will entertain, enlighten, and inspire any triathlon enthusiast, from tri-addicts to the tri-curious.

Advance praise for Women Who Tri:

“Alicia's courage, strength, and perseverance, along with all the women who tri, will bring tears of joy to your eyes and make you realize that, in overcoming your fears, anyone can achieve the impossible.” —Barbara Mockford, author of An Unshakable Belief

“Alicia DiFabio's personal accounts of discovering and falling in love with the community of triathlon are endearing, humorous, and unique.” —Debra Hodgett, author of Tri-Mom

“Greatly informative, exceptionally written with professional forethought and personal vulnerability,Women Who Tri is a beautiful tribute to 'those girls in pink' and women everywhere who are happily, imperfectly, honestly tri'ing.” —Jennifer "J.J." Cannon, author of @Sophie Takes a #Selfie

“…The story of her reluctance turned tri-celebration is interwoven with others’ inspiring journeys [is] spiced with choice tidbits of practical advice and delicious morsels of tri-history, all delivered with light humor and some delightful, invented triathaspeak.” — Mina Samuels, author of Run Like a Girl: How Strong Women Make Happy Lives

“DiFabio shares her journey into this athletic sorority, introducing readers to the sport’s history and topics ranging from equipment costs to successful fund-raising for charities.” —Booklist, American Library Association

“Alicia DiFabio, mother of four, admittedly out of shape (before her first triathlon), explores the history, subculture, and psychological appeal of triathlons in this engaging memoir.” —Foreword Reviews

Women Who Tri: A Reluctant Athlete’s Journey Into the Heart of America’s Newest Obsession
Alicia DiFabio
Paperback. 6" x 9", 216 pp., $18.95, 9781937715588

Alicia DiFabio, Psy.D. finished her first triathlon at age 45. She is a member of the 900-woman strong Mullica Hill Women’s Tri Club. DiFabio has a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University Maryland. On hiatus from the practice of psychology to raise her four young children, she writes on health and wellness, women’s issues, parenting, and education for newspapers, magazines, and literary journals. An active blogger, Dr. DiFabio chronicles her adventures as a special needs mother to four children, one who has been diagnosed with autism and epilepsy.