they’re going strong

The three-time triathlete

Leading disabled athletes through grueling triathlons wasn’t always in the cards for 30-year-old Tiffany Chou.

“Growing up, to pass high school, you had to run for 20 minutes straight, and I couldn’t do that. So when I tell my friends that I do triathlons, they don’t believe me,” says the native Hawaiian, who now lives on the Upper West Side.

Inspired by her brother, who has autism, Chou joined Achilles International, an organization that pairs disabled athletes with guides to help them through races, in 2012. She hit it off immediately with Sarah, a member who had suffered a traumatic brain injury.

Chou ran races for the group but hoped to someday lead someone through a triathlon. By January, she was ready to begin training.

“My New Year’s resolution was to do a half Ironman [triathlon], and guide someone in a triathlon,” she says. “I started working out on Jan. 1.”

Being a guide meant Chou had to be in peak shape. “I was working out six days a week — running, swimming, biking — and lifting weights twice a week,” she says. “I would double up and take naps in between.”

The hard work paid off: Chou guided Sarah through three triathlons this year, and finished a half Ironman on her own this summer.

She hopes to keep up the momentum in the new year.

“I want to get the Achilles Tri team out to Maui for a triathlon clinic [in 2017],” she says, “and get abs and keep them!”