Golden smile – Laura Bennett
Laura Bennett was the first American to capture a spot on the Olympic triathlon team with her 3rd place at the 2007 ITU World Cup in Beijing. We got to see her golden smile a few times more often as she had indeed a great racing year. Meet Laura Bennett.
ST: Laura, you qualified in Beijing for the Olympics and that must have taken a lot of pressure off your 2008 season. Can you take us back to that day?
Laura: Having the option to qualify in 2007 Beijing Test event gave me the opportunity to gear my 2008 training to my specific needs. We focused on taking advantage of the 2007 qualification opportunity and geared 2007 racing for a strong performance on that day. It was great feeling to have finally sealed a position on the 2008 Olympic Team and making it in 2007 was icing on the cake!
ST: Has it changed how you approached your 2008 season other than not having to compete in any qualifying events?
Laura: As mentioned above, qualifying so early is fantastic. I am very much a racer more than a trainer, so forcing me to race often takes away the race results I believe I am capable of achieving. Qualifying early has allowed me to keep on my training regime and race when it benefits my training until the peak races arise.
ST: Other than the Olympics, what is on schedule for you for 2008?
Laura: I raced Mooloolaba World Cup in Australia in March. I will do World Championships in Vancouver in June along with the USA World Cup in Des Moines at the end of June. Then Lifetime Fitness Triathlon mid July and the Olympics August 18th.
ST: Will Beijing be the first time that you both are racing the same event but aren’t staying at the same place?
Laura: Beijing will not be the first time, all World Championships we are separated. We still catch up when we can during those time periods. We are both very experienced and it is more that we enjoy each other’s company that we try to catch up before the race, all mental prep and training we share is done by the week of the race. Greg will still join me for our camp before the Games and probably be in a hotel close by the two nights before the Games, and I will be close to him the night before his race. So we will still get to experience most of the time leading in to the race together.
ST: Can you describe a typical mid season training week for you (and we don’t need to know all the details, but roughly what you do in a week)?
Laura: It is hard to say typical training week. During season it is fluctuating because you are tapering for races/recovering from races, and training specifically for the upcoming particular events. Swim ranges from 15-30K, bike 150-250K, run 65-100K. I apologize if it sounds vague but I believe setting up your training is very specific to that athlete and the races they are doing. The training fluctuates because I don’t think peaking is a fluke you really have to massage the training program to make it happen. Plus with short course racing it’s not about the volume in mid season, it is about the specifics within the sessions.
ST: You come from an extremely athletic family. Can you tell us more about them?
Laura: My father (Paul 67) has been running forever, everything from 5k’s to marathons. So that led my two brothers (David 39, John 37) and I to get into running at an early age. My brothers found triathlon somewhere in the early 80’s and got my dad hooked (who took his first swim stroke at 40 yrs old). They all still compete in triathlons and road races. My dad is going to his 17th World Championships, in Vancouver in June. And from what I have heard and seen this age group is the most intense rivalry of all age groups. I often get comments/questions at events on father’s form coming into the race from his fellow competitors! Awesome!
ST: What sports did you take part in when you grew up?
Laura: I started running and swimming at 8. Swimming on a swim team at 12. I did every sport I could in grade school: basketball, soccer, softball, tennis, and golf. Outside of organized sports backyard football and hydro-sliding. When I started club swimming at 12 that seemed to take up all my spare time. I swam and ran all through high school. I decided to swim in college even though I was more proficient in running leaving high school. At the time the people barely made it through 4 years of college swimming, so I decided to put my head down to see what I could do in 4 years and I figured I could run the rest of my life.
ST: What or who inspired you to race triathlons?
Laura: It was definitely father and brothers.
ST: What is your favorite race and why?
Laura: In an experience perspective, it would have to be Alcatraz, all the adversities makes the race exciting all the way through. In a performance perspective, where you are trying to out perform the best in the world, it would be ITU World Championships. If I had to pick one particular World Championships, New Zealand holds great memories.
ST: What is going on for you in terms of sponsorships?
Laura: I am continuing my strong relationships with New Balance, Japan, Orbea bikes, HED wheels and handlebars, Kiwami race suits, Aquaman wetsuits, Oakley, ISM saddles and have picked up Kellogg’s for the Olympic year.
ST: Do you follow any other sports?
Laura: I love NFL football …(probably more to play than watch) but I do enjoy the excitement and any sport done well at the top of the game I would fancy a watch.
ST: What is your favorite and least favorite food?
Laura: At the present it is hard for me to pass up Kettle Corn, but I think my all time favorite food is definitely cookies … something about the mixture of butter, sugar, and flour … irresistible! Anchovies… I don’t think they are natural … hairy, fishy, salty … yikes.
ST: What about music, what do you like?
Laura: I am definitely not a die-hard for any one type of music or band. I often find my latest mixes a blend of new releases on the radio. I enjoy everything from the Killers to Dave Matthews Band to U2 to Enya to Metallica, even some of the old school rap I have experienced. I battle with country, not much of a fan.
ST: Can you tell us what the last book was you read?
Laura: I feel like during training we only have about 10% brain capacity, which means the attention span is just long enough to fall asleep by the end of a page, and completely forget what I read in that time, frustrating at best! Then when on breaks, I find myself too full of energy to relax and read a book. So my reading volumes are down, but the last two books I really enjoyed were Da Vinci Code and Freakonomics.
ST: Where do you think you’ll be in 5 years?
Laura: My goal is to still be really fit and healthy, and most likely still be racing. Every year we find more knowledge about the sport so we really enjoy the challenge of bettering ourselves. It seems that the years are going by so fast, 5 years isn’t far away.
