NMH Magazine : Spring 2003

Carrie Edwards '88

Carrie Edwards had just finished a grueling three-day mountain-bike race in Costa Rica when a friend got her thinking. He told her about the Crocodile Trophy Race in Australia, a mountain-bike event modeled after the Tour de France. When he said women contestants did a shorter version of the Trophy, Carrie asked why. "I don't know–maybe no one's tried doing the full course," he answered. And so Carrie found her next challenge. In September 2000, she became the first woman to complete the full distance of the Crocodile Trophy Race. She biked from Adelaide to Cairnes in 17 days, bouncing over about 1,300 miles of outback. 

Carrie has been mountain biking competitively for seven years, traveling internationally to race. She began with the typical cross-country race of 18 to 25 miles but now does more endurance-oriented events such as 24-hour races. Before mountain biking, she rowed competitively, qualifying in 1992 for the world championships on the US lightweight rowing team and training for the Olympic trials in 1996. Small surprise, then, that she works as a personal trainer and a massage therapist, putting in a 60-hour work week. She occasionally dreams of having a more conventional job–but, all in all, loves the life she's created.

Where did you grow up?

In Montague, Massachusetts. I spent my first eight years at the top of a dead-end hill, and the rest on another hilltop where we actually had neighbors. I remember counting the new houses going in to see if there'd be enough people for cable TV lines. My arrival at NMH was my first chance getting to know "sophisticated city people." 

Did you row at NMH?

I didn't make the team until my senior year because of injuries from gymnastics. Vicky Curtis [Jenkins] let me on the varsity team as an alternate in spring 1988. Midseason the rowers were having a bad time, so she moved two of us up to varsity, and our boat started winning.

You were a biochemistry major. Why didn't you go into science?

I did work in a research lab after college. I took a job at the Harvard School of Public Health studying a parasitic disease, schistosomiasis. My job was cut after a year. Being laid off helped me realize that my lifelong work wasn't going to be research, although I did think I'd eventually go to medical school. I still use my biochemistry all the time explaining the difference between aerobic and anaerobic metabolism and how fuel is used (a.k.a. how to burn the fat off your thighs).

What brought you to California?

I'd been laid off from my job and was cut from the national rowing team. I wanted a fresh start and to get away from the politics of the Boston rowing community. One of my Harvard roommates was from Palo Alto, and her sister was training for the national team out there, so I figured I'd try west coast rowing.

What was training for the 1996 Olympic trials like?

I trained in California with my rowing partner for about 30 hours a week. We rowed in the ferry channel past San Quentin every morning. It was the first year they had an Olympic rowing event for lightweight women, and there was only one two-person boat. This was a sculling boat, where each rower has two oars. It's a different technique, and we had to learn fast. People who'd been sculling for years came out of retirement to try out, as well as scullers who'd been on the national team. I did it for one last hurrah with my rowing buddies from back east.

How did you become a massage therapist?

I was motivated to go to massage school after spending a lot of time and money applying to medical school and not getting in. I learned about a massage school near Melbourne, Australia, that focused on sports massage; I earned my certification there in 1999.

What's been a low point in your life?

Being in a relationship with an alcoholic. It taught me that giving isn't always a good thing, and trust is a quality to be earned, not freely given.

How did you feel about turning 30?

I was a little anxious, possibly because both my sisters were married with children by then. It seemed like a landmark time where I was supposed to have achieved something that I didn't feel I had.

How do you feel about your body as you grow older?

I can see that my body has limits, which I didn't acknowledge in my early 20s. I've learned to take care of my body and to train more efficiently. Taking part in competition keeps me young.

What do you like and dislike about this stage of life?

I like feeling more comfortable with who I am. I don't like feeling more aware of my biological clock. I never felt pressure before to have a relationship–I was happy on my own or with a partner. Now I realize that if I want to raise a family, I might need to be a little more proactive. But I'm also comfortable with the alternative.