Rockstar Triathlete: Ollie Garcia

Coach’s notes: I met Ollie in November, on a phone call telling me she wants to do a 70.3 in 4 months. After 15 minutes, we agreed to the challenge together. Normally, I do not recommend this at all. I encourage athletes to start with sprints and get faster first before going long. SO, for me I was taking a risk at Ollie (Claudia) getting injured by ramping up too fast. Learning that she was young and in shape, I decided to put her into my new Triathlon Transformation 16 week program and the results speak for themselves; 6:08 is the official race time, still waiting on her age group results, but I am so Proud of how far she’s come in such a short time. Ollie, your ultimate commitment to the training, while juggling school and work, implementing all my suggestions; like sleeping more than 1 hour before a race!!! You are a true Rockstar and this is simply just the beginning!!!! I can’t wait to see you at the end of 2021!!!

Age: 32

Profession: During this training I was a restaurant server. Now I am officially an ER nurse and Registered Nurse student.

Why you chose FCC to help you on your triathlon/health and wellness journey: I chose to sign up for a 70.3 with no experience and had less than 4 months to do it. I was randomly buying running shoes a month before at the Shops at Sunset Place and this guy randomly gave me a flyer for Full Circle. He told me about Erinne and the team, if I ever got into triathlons. I told him I was thinking about it but not sure yet. When I decided to sign up for the race, I knew I needed to do it right… and not forgetting about that flyer it was a sign to call Erinne! I had kept that flyer somewhere in the car. I knew I needed help or another set of eyes to get my technique/form right and just a better plan than the free ones you can find online.

The moment I had my phone call with her… I felt good vibes and I liked the honesty behind everything that was discussed and how the Triathlon Transformation Program was not only the physical aspects of training and racing but, to maintain a balance in life and so much more. It was more about making it a lifestyle and not just an overplayed record or one time thing .

What is your “A” race for this season? My “A” race was this past Sunday (my first 70.3) 😉 the HITS 70.3 in Sarasota, and my next “A” is Ironman Florida in Panama City in November. Maybe another 70.3, in between then to make it a triple “A.” Is that even possible?! Lol

Please share your BIG goals: Oh gosh…so many. To break it down sport wise… I for sure want to bring down my mile time into the six-minute digits, make my longer distance race pace faster and get more experience on the bike so I can dial it in and just see where that leads. Swimming; I’d like to get faster too, even if it’s just a few seconds. Ultimately, just go even longer with all three of them. Also, keep a healthy balance between this and finish nursing school. As long as I have good guidance, keep working hard with anything I choose to do in life and and keep having fun, I know it’ll be a great journey.

Tell me about your successes so far: I just finished doing a 70.3 (pretty successful), Lol! I managed to do my first Sprint, Olympic, and 70.3 distance races in 3 months? Or, was it 4? Either way, that was successful in a way that I had no injuries and managed to get even fitter than I’ve ever been. I managed to work crazy hours at the restaurant, studying like crazy for my exams and putting in the hours to get to where I am now with the Tri-life without losing my marbles. Yup, I call that a win-win situation here!

What were some of your biggest Improvements in performance for the each of the following? Swim: Bike: Run: Nutrition/Health: Please include any Personal Records and Goals achieved:

Swim: Being more comfortable in the open water swim. My technique or form has gotten better (I’d like to think).

Bike: Ohhhhh the bike, hmmm… I for sure got better overall on the bike. I’ve only been riding for 4-5 months. I know my pedaling has become more efficient, I am able to ride longer with the right amount of fuel and I made it past 70 miles once. That was exciting and I just want to do more!

Run: Before Full Circle my longer run pace was past 10:30 minutes, now I can hold a pace in a longer distance in about the 9:20-9:45 range, which is great! I got my 1-mile to be 7:25. My running form is better than when I walked into this.

Nutrition/health: Just adding more quality of foods into my daily life. I’m becoming more intrigued in the holistic side of things and it’s crazy how much food can play in any aspect of life. My body feels way better than ever. One major, important thing about this sport is recovery and allowing the body to heal between sessions. My health needs to be top notch and the right foods need to be there for that to happen. Now, my body recovers much quicker than ever!

Name 2 or 3 things that have made the biggest difference in your journey:

1. All the knowledge and support Full Circle provides, from the coaches and other team members. It’s very inspirational to hear everyone’s story and an honor to be around a group of people that have a desire to better themselves no matter what the goal is. Everyone is in the same storm but driving a different boat.

2. Being patient and smarter about how and when to defy limits. If I needed a day off, I would take it. Just learning to read my own body and listening to it.

3. Learning so much from my failures in some of my longer training sessions. It’s needed to help analyze the “what if’s” and what can be done differently next time to avoid what happened or rather adapt to it to get even better.

4. All your breathing techniques and just ways to be less stressed.

What excites you the most about being involved in triathlon? Being able to wake up in the morning and be around nature while doing what I enjoy, nothing beats that.

Triathlon involves three sports instead of one. There will always be something to improve on whether it’s physical or mental. To be honest, we can all show up at a race physically fit but the mind needs to be set too. I see it as we all truly have inner beasts within us. My inner beast is stubborn and likes to defy limits to an extreme. My coach is there to help tame it to continue to thrive and to guide me with the knowledge that is given. I need to feed it with the right amount/quality of nutrition, gotta give it experience while also trying to make it master patience. With all that, it’ll be ready to dominate and demolish those inner demons that will attempt to come out and play and try to spiral me down into the darkest of places when it gets tough out there. To pass that finish line or even finish a training session, there’s no better feeling knowing I didn’t spiral down to that dark hole. I took control no matter the obstacle and just kept going. Yup, that feeling is what excites me and makes me want more and it influences me to rock it out harder than before.

What would you say to another person who was on the fence about joining our training program? At first, I didn’t think I needed a program. I thought I could do it myself. I like being in my own hermit shell but, I was grateful I joined FCC and I know so many people can benefit from being part of this. I keep thanking the coaches everyday because they really do care and know what they are doing. No matter what your goal is, this program adapts to your wants and needs! It becomes a lifestyle that is healthy. Plus, the support you get from everyone is amazing and genuine. There is so much room for growth and so many options.

I say go for it! You’ll never know unless you experience it. “Small steps are always better than no steps.” It becomes a journey you do not want to miss out on!

My new 16 week Triathlon Transformation program could be just the help you are looking for. Find out by calling/texting me at 786-586-6057 today or better yet, click this link: http://www.scheduleyou.in/5ZIsVaU to schedule your FREE Triathlon Breakthrough Session to see if this program is for you!

Erinne Guthrie is a USA Triathlon Level II Certified Coach since 1999 and Chief Motivating Officer at Full Circle Coaching, LLC since 2010. She has been training, racing and coaching triathletes since 1997. She is also a CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 3, USMS Master’s Swim Coach, Motivational Speaker, Metabolic Efficiency Specialist, Mom and much much more.