They’re Tough Cookies! by Denise Dillon

  
In 1997, Tzatzil Willebeek-LeMair was standing on the beach in Long Island. It was early spring. The air was cool. The water was cooler. It was Tzatzil’s first triathlon. As she looked around she realized she was the only one without a wetsuit. She didn’t know about wetsuits, and certainly not about the USA Triathlon 78 degree rule. Years later she admits she “did everything wrong!” for that first tri. From the lack of a wetsuit to doing all her training in a gym. It was definitely a learning experience and these days she is passing that knowledge on to other women.

Tzatzil and her partner, Lorena Devlyn started a company in Austin, Texas called Tough Cookies Don’t Crumble (a saying they used while on long training rides when the going got tough.) It’s a triathlon training program for women only. The women learn the basics of how to properly prepare for a tri. “A lot of the women that come to us want to do a triathlon but they don’t know much about the sport. They’re afraid to join some of the larger training groups because they’re intimidated. They think they’ll be the oldest or the slowest ones there.” Tough Cookies specializes in small groups of 15 or less. This way Tzatzil and Lorena can give one on one attention to the women.

That’s the major reason 33-year old Ivonne Mercado signed up. She says “they’re very good motivators and can get you to stick with the program.” She recalls one day when it was raining very hard outside and most of those in the program stayed home in bed rather than getting out and training, “they called us on the phone asking where we were and called us soggy cookies!”

Mercado also says the group fosters a good group atmosphere. “We’re all women. We’re all different sizes, yet we all are comfortable that we’re going through this together. No one feels threatened” says Mercado. In the past she has been terrified of the swim, but says thanks to the group she is more confident and knows she can complete the tri. Mercado is now getting ready for the  Danskin race in Austin.

Tzatzil and Lorena also try to recruit other women to the sport through a free lecture series. They contact large companies in Austin and offer to speak to the women employees about triathlons, specifically the Danskin race series, and the USAT Women’s Commission. So far they’re scheduled to talk to 3M, Motorola, Applied Materials and Dell. They’ve also talked to some civic organizations such as the Hispanic Professional Women’s Group of Austin.

Lorena is a former Lawyer, now a stay at home mother of 3. Tzatzil left her job as an advertising executive to stay at home with her 2 sons and is expecting a third in a few months. They both know all too well the challenges of keeping up a household, their new company and finding time to train. Since this is one of the most common questions they get asked, it’s also easy to answer, since they’re proof it can be done.

Tzatzil estimates they’ve trained about 100 women in the past year. Most of the women are moms and new to the sport. A key part to the training program is talking to the women and educating them. This includes a range of topics from the general, such as nutrition and injury prevention, to the sport specific topics like transitions and fixing flats. Tzatzil says she wants the women in her group to learn from her mistakes. “most of the women are beginners so they may not place in their first race, but they’re definitely the most prepared out there.” Prepared... like making sure they’re not the only one out there without a wetsuit.

To find out more about the program, check out their website at
www.ToughCookiesDontCrumble.com