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

This article originally appeared on Triathlete

Sometimes the best way to convince people to do something for the first time is to trick them into it--or at least that's what worked with Home Economics co-stars Karla Souza and Jimmy Tatro.

Souza, who will race the Malibu Triathlon for the fifth time on Saturday, says she was first lured into multisport by a previous coworker (Jack Falahee, her costar on ABC's How to Get Away with Murder). "He did it one year and I watched from a distance and heard all his stories," Souza says. "And then he tricked me into trying it the next year in relay form. My competitive nature kicked in, and I thought, 'If I'm going to wake up at 4 a.m. for anything, I might as well do the whole thing.'"

Even though she had never done an ocean swim or been on a road bike, the following year she raced the entire 1/2-mile swim, 17-mile bike and 4-mile run and was hooked. She's now done it in various stages of her life, including while three months pregnant and three months postpartum. "Hands down postpartum was the hardest of them all, especially the run," she says. "I felt like my pelvis was coming undone. As I was running, I was thinking, 'This is not a great idea.' Talk to your doctor before you do it--like I didn't. The postpartum was also difficult because I was breastfeeding and pumping in between legs."

Souza's kids are now two and four years old, and this will be her first time back racing as a mother of two. She and her husband have found creative ways to make training work together. "I put my youngest kid in the stroller, and he loves coming on jogs with me," she says. "We go to the beach with the kids, and my husband goes in for a swim while I have the kids, and then we switch. We bought one of those buoys that's attached to you [for safety]." She's also figured out a system to train with other people on Saturdays. "Get some friends, maybe a couple, and you take turns watching the kids. It can be a fun tag-team of parenting and figuring it out."

The camaraderie and the motivation to stay fit is a big reason Souza has returned to the event, but "on top of it all, they've raised millions of dollars for pediatric cancer research--it's such an iconic race." (Also: "The brunch they have afterwards is so worth it.")

RELATED: Tri 101: How to Get Started in Triathlon

How to Trick Your Coworker into Doing a Triathlon

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