ABOUT
Meet Cassandra Padula Burke
I’m Coach Cassandra, a performance dietitian, endurance coach, triathlete, and cancer survivor who’s turned personal challenges into a mission to empower others.
I have stood at enough start lines (80+ and counting!) to know that how you fuel is just as important as how you train. I built Catalyst because I couldn’t find a coach who understood nutrition, and a dietitian who understood training. So I became both.
Every athlete I coach gets a training plan that connects nutrition and training as one complete strategy built specifically for their life, their goals, and their finish lines.
RDN | USAT Certified Triathlon Coach | RRCA Running Coach | NASM-CPT | 16-Year Breast Cancer Survivor
My Story
I didn’t arrive at this work from the outside looking in. I arrived through it.
Before I was a coach or a dietitian, I was someone who looked at a finish line and thought it wasn’t meant for me. At my heaviest I was 125 pounds overweight, and endurance sports felt like someone else’s world. Then came a breast cancer diagnosis and something shifted.
After treatment, I crossed two triathlon finish lines. Not because I was ready. Because I needed to celebrate my victory over cancer and prove something to myself. Those finishes didn’t just change my body. They changed what I believed was possible. And they became the reason Catalyst exists.
I pursued certifications as a personal trainer, then triathlong and running coach, then Registered Dietitian. Not to collect credentials, but because I kept seeing athletes who had half the equation and were frustrated with the results. You deserve someone who holds the whole picture.
I don’t just talk the talk. I swim, bike, and run it!
80+ endurance events & counting. Multiple 70.3 Half Ironman finishes including Eagleman 70.3 (twice) and Ohio 70.3. 30+ Olympic and sprint distance triathlons across the country. 5Ks to half marathons, domestically and internationally, including every Disney race (yes, I’m a Disney girl!)
Community
Whether you’re a working parent training for your first triathlon, a seasoned athlete chasing a PR, someone lining up at their very first start line, or a cancer survivor rebuilding your strength, you belong here as part of Team Catalyst.
Your finish line might look different from mine. It might be a 70.3, your first sprint tri, a Boston qualifier, or simply showing up to race day feeling like yourself again. Whatever it looks like, we’ll build the plan to get you there.
At Catalyst Nutrition & Performance, we aren’t just individual athletes. We’re a community united by a simple yet powerful philosophy:
Challenge Yourself to Cross Your Own Personal Finish Lines! (#CrossYourFinishLines)
How Catalyst Works
What makes Catalyst different isn’t just the credentials. It’s that your training plan and your nutrition plan are built together from day one, by the same person who understands both.
No handoffs between a coach and a dietitian who’ve never met. No generic fueling advice stapled onto a training block. One integrated strategy, built around your life, your schedule, your goals, and your finish lines.
And because real athletes have real lives, jobs, families, early mornings, and late nights, every plan is built around your actual week, not a theoretical training block that only works if nothing else is going on.
My nutrition philosophy is simple: food first. Real meals built around whole foods for daily fueling, whole food carbs and targeted sports nutrition products for training and supplements only where the evidence actually supports them.
Rooted in the Community
Long before Catalyst existed, I was showing up for this sport as a race director, board member, swim coordinator, and volunteer. This community didn’t just shape my career. It’s the reason I do this work.
🏅 Former 2x Board Member, Mid Maryland Triathlon Club
🏅 Former Board Member, Westminster Road Runner’s Club
🏅 Former Race Director, Bachman Valley Half Marathon
🏅 Former Swim Meet Director & Swim Team Coordinator
🏅 Volunteer at countless races
🏅 Dietitian Nutrition Support & Chef for the Trans-Sylvania Gravel Epic stage race
The Personal Side
My husband, Joe, is a lifelong runner who regularly hits age-group podiums from 5K through marathon. Our daughter is a D2 collegiate competitive swimmer, former youth triathlete, and travel soccer player. She basically grew up in transition zones.
For most of her childhood, we traveled as a family on what we call racecations. Picking destinations where we could vacation and race. We’ve celebrated Father’s Days doing family relay triathlons. This life is fully integrated, and that’s exactly how I coach it.
When I’m not coaching or racing, I’m directing a Forensic Science Laboratory, a role I’ve held for nearly 29 years. You may have even seen me on Forensic Files. It’s a different kind of precision, but the evidence-based thinking transfers directly to how I work with athletes.
Let’s Cross Your Finish Line Together
You’ve read my story. Now let’s talk about yours.
What finish line are you working toward? Let’s build the plan to get you there.
Limited availability for new clients. Virtual consultations available.
