A Peek at a Training Week

Emily Cocks and TriSaraTops

It's time again for another peek at a training week, this time with our newest recruit, TriSaraTops and her Vision Quest coach, Emily Cocks.

Well it's without a doubt our little sister is in great hands with Emily, who grew up in Albion, MI and was a four-year varsity swimmer and honorable mention All American, as well as an Olympic trials qualifier in the 100 meter breaststroke at U of M. Currently Emily lives in Chicago, IL with her husband Andy and their two cats, Storm and Jaromir. In addition to coaching for Vision Quest, she is now the assistant men's and women's swimming coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Emily's main triathlon focus is the half-Ironman distance, two of her favorite races being St. Croix 70.3 and Escape from Alcatraz.

"I use triathlon as an excuse to travel to great destinations - so far it has taken me all the way to Australia and New Zealand. I also love to challenge myself physically and mentally, and training and racing allow me to do that on a regular basis!"

Emily goes on to describe Sara's general season plan as follows:

"Sara is making her comeback this season after having a baby. She has started off the season exceptionally well with a five-minute PR in her half marathon just this past weekend. Her focus this summer will be the Steelhead 70.3 in St. Joseph, MI. To prepare for this race, Sara will be focusing on increasing her training volume along with adding in some intensity in all three disciplines.

She is also going to do a smaller triathlon (Olympic or Sprint distance) in July to help get ready for Steelhead. This will give her a measuring stick to see how her training is going and allow her to get into racing mode after taking some time off from triathlon to become a mom. She is excited and confident heading into the summer, which can only serve her well in preparing for her upcoming season."

Follow Sara's finely tuned training and progress by visiting her web site, and be sure to check in next time for the verdict on Tri-Cajun's efforts to convince his coach that beignettes are the perfect recovery fuel...