Slowtwitch: We hear there is some big news afoot in the Haskins/Kortuem household.
Sarah Haskins: Nate and I are expecting! We are currently at 15 weeks – so officially in the second trimester. The due date is July 10th – which I just realized is right before Lifetime Fitness… so I won’t be there this year!
After Dallas last year, we contemplated racing another season, or starting a family. We just decided, “Oh, we’ll see what happens.” So we figured we’d try until January. If it happened – great – and if not, then I’d race the 2013 season.
Well, we didn’t have to wait very long, because by October 30th, Nate saw me running…
Nathan Kortuem: {laughs} I came down stairs and saw her running on the treadmill in two sports bras. I’m like, “What are you doing?!” She says, “Well, my boobs are really really sore.” So I’m like…
Sarah: I told him to go to Walmart and get a test.
Nate: Yeah – go to Walmart or Walgreens and get a test. So I did, and sure enough – she did both the tests and both were positive!
Sarah: That was it – October 30th. It was kind of shocking - we were just surprised. Only two weeks earlier, we were racing.
We were really happy that it happened quickly, and we didn’t have any problems. Sometimes it can be tough, especially for athletes.
ST: How long had you been thinking about kids?
Nate: We’ve been planning for a long time. We were kind of on and off with it this year. One week, we’d say, “Oh yeah, we’ll race next year and do 70.3’s, and then after that we’ll have a baby.” Then we’d say, “No, let’s do it now…”
Sarah: {laughs} Earlier in the year, we were sure we were going to try next year. But as it got earlier to the actual time – like August – we weren’t sure again. We thought we’d race another year. Even at Dallas, we were still planning on racing another season.
Then a week after Dallas, we decided to try. We were just worried that it wouldn’t happen, or what if it takes a really long time… and we didn’t want to miss an opportunity. It was meant to be! The little girl or little boy will be here before we know it.
ST: So we don’t know the gender as of now?
Sarah: You find out typically at your 20-week ultrasound, which is about a month from now. We are planning on finding out. I was always a proponent of knowing the gender, and Nate wasn’t… but about a month ago, he decided, “Why not…?”
ST: Any name ideas so far?
Sarah: {laughs} We have a couple. I feel like now that we are going to find out the gender, we’ll start thinking about it more.
ST: I hate to get too far ahead of ourselves, but are you thinking ahead to more kids later? Or just one-and-done?
Sarah: Definitely more later. We’re thinking that after this baby we’ll race three of four more years. Really focus back in to full-on racing. We figure that one baby will definitely be challenging, but doable. By the time baby number two happens – hopefully happens – I’d consider retiring… at least from the level I’m racing right now.
After this, I figure I have at least three solid years of racing, and I want to get the most out of those years that I can, and get the most out of myself that I can. [Once we have two kids], I’m guessing I’ll be ready to slow it down. I can’t speak for how I’ll feel at that point in time, but that’s what I’m foreseeing now. I could’ve waited another 3-4 years, but you never know. I didn’t want to wait until it was later in my thirties and then not be able to have kids. For female athletes, it’s definitely a balancing act.
Nate: If you look at women CEOs of major companies, having children doesn’t take away from their careers. It definitely requires balance, but we want to take it on – we want it to be a part of our life. Triathlon is our career.
ST: You’re going to be the ultimate Sherpa, Nate – you’re already carrying bikes and wheel bags through airports… now you’ll have to add carseats and strollers! That’s going to be tough.
Nate: {laughs} I’m trying to talk Sarah into a coach bus that we can drive around the country.
Sarah: I don’t know about that…
ST: You mentioned the possibility of doing 70.3’s in 2013. Now that there’s the baby on the way, do you plan to try longer races in 2014?
Sarah: I think I do want to try a 70.3 here and there. I definitely like the Olympic distance, but I think 2014 is a good year to branch out and try something different. After that, I’d have to make a decision in 2015 – whether I want to continue doing more long course races, or if I want to focus on Rio…
Nate: …in 2016. We’d have to race a lot of races to get our points up – to get into Olympic trials.
ST: Do all of your sponsors know the news?
Nate: Yeah, I think everyone is excited – they’ve all been great, and that’s all you can ask for. Toyota is super supportive… TYR is… Fuji – they’ve all been really great about it.
ST: Thanks for taking the time, and keep us posted on progress.
Sarah: Of course!
All images © Nathan Kortuem
