Women of strength: power comes from within. It is anchored by the strength of our mind, body and spirit. M & F HERS celebrates the strength of women by introducing you to four women who wield power in very different ways

NATALIE GULBIS

The Up-and-Comer

Natalie Gulbis wants to make something perfectly clear: She is a golfer and she is an athlete. "Women golfers have always been knocked a bit," says the 20-year-old phenom from Sacramento. "People didn't consider us athletes." But the next wave of female players, she says, will shatter those stereotypes.

A quick look at the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) bears this out. A group of hard-hitting, fitness-minded women has joined the tour, and Gulbis is helping to lead it. People magazine compared her to the consensus best player in the world of either gender, Tiger Woods, calling her a "Tigerette," and GolfWorld dubbed her the "Golden Girl." That's enough hype and attention to distract anyone, but Gulbis has thrived under the pressure. She finished second to Beth Bauer in the 2002 LPGA Rookie of the Year voting and had four top-10 finishes. "I love the mental side of golf, dealing with pressure and different situations," she says. "I love the fact that, unlike team sports, everything comes back to me."

Gulbis has been in the spotlight since her father introduced her to the links at age 4. Ten years later she became the then-youngest person to play in an LPGA tournament. It became clear to her and her father, who at the time also served as her coach, that her talent for the game was genuine and special. She gave up gymnastics, her other sport, and devoted herself to golf. "I wasn't half as good a gymnast as I was a golfer. I was getting too tall," says the 5'9" Gulbis. "But I got a lot of good things out of gymnastics, like concentration and strength."

These qualities form the backbone of her game, and she doesn't take them for granted. Golf consumes her daily routine--dating and other social activities will come into play later, she says--and training is an integral component. "I have a real good work ethic," she says. "I like to work and I love to train, and I love to work out hard. It's great for discipline and confidence. It's also part of my personality. I have high energy, and I think it's probably because I always work out."

Gulbis trains for 60 to 90 minutes a day five days a week, usually first thing in the morning. Her two-days-on, one-day-off training split emphasizes explosiveness, flexibility and strength training. She does minimal cardio--maybe 15 to 30 minutes a couple days a week--because her current fitness goals involve building muscle. It's been a concern for Gulbis since last year, when some golf-course chicken she ate left her with a case of salmonella. She lost about 20 pounds in a two-week span, leaving her a weak and frail 113 pounds. Besides that unfortunate event, Gulbis says she's been lucky. "I've been mostly injury free for quite a few years, even through being a gymnast," she says. "I attribute a lot of that to nutrition and fitness."

This season, Gulbis has gained back much of the weight she lost during the salmonella ordeal, and she has emerged with a renewed sense of purpose. She is working on adding that muscle to her frame, and swing guru Butch Harmon has helped refine her unorthodox "homemade" swing. Her performance goals for the year? Win an LPGA event and earn a spot on the prestigious Solheim Cup team. Lofty goals, to be sure, but Gulbis wouldn't have it any other way. "I have very, very high goals and standards," she says. "My whole day pretty much revolves around success."

CONGRESSWOMAN LORETTA SANCHEZ

Revolutionary Representative

When the word power comes to mind, you might think of inner strength, resilience, influence, money or respect. While most of us wield power over our own lives, Rep. Loretta Sanchez truly has the power to change millions of lives in an instant--for the better. A champion of women's rights, she added one billion dollars to the U.S. budget for women's cancer research. She expanded Head Start, the preschool educational program, and has been an incredible force during her seven-and-a-half years in Congress. Sanchez sits on both the Homeland Security and House Armed Services Committees.

To do the Orange County, California, Democrat justice, you have to see her in person. She exudes energy and passion; her personal presence is inspiring. She credits much of her strength and endurance during her 20-plus hour days on Capitol Hill to her demanding fitness routine.

Members of Sanchez's staff know they're forbidden to schedule anything before 8:30 a.m., to avoid interfering with her precious workout time. She walks while on the East Coast, runs while on the West Coast, and tops that with three weekly weight-training sessions with a personal trainer. While in Washington, D.C., Sanchez is up at 5:30 a.m., waking up her political colleagues for their morning power walk. "At 5:45 we're out no matter if it's snowing or raining," she says. "We do a fast walk from the Capitol to the Washington monument and back."