Paula Newby-Fraser Gets Fiscal --and a Bit Metaphysical, Too : Triathlon: Pro who will compete in Orange County on Sunday is “into that whole New Age thing.” Her estimated income is more than $250,000 a year.

Whether she’s swimming, cycling or running, triathlete Paula Newby-Fraser tries to stay metaphysically fit. She keeps a statue of Buddha by her bedside. She wears a ring of yin and yang on her finger. Natural crystals--the mood rings of the ‘90s--adorn her jewelry.

“I’m pretty much into that whole New Age thing,” said Newby-Fraser, 29, a four-time winner of the Hawaii Ironman triathlon who will compete in the Mazda Orange County Performing Arts Center Triathlon Sunday in Mission Viejo.

“It’s like anything else,” said Newby-Fraser, who lives in Encinitas. “If you believe in it, you buy into it.”

But only up to a point, she says. Mark Allen, one of the sport’s top professionals, may spend several days a year meditating in the desert with an American Indian guru--this is the popular story among triathlon circles, anyway--but that doesn’t mean Newby-Fraser, who sometimes trains with Allen, follows suit.

Said her agent, Murphy Reinschreiber: “Unlike all the obsessive people in the world, Paula takes it seriously, but not that seriously.”

Such is the Paula Newby-Fraser Image--balanced, moderate, fun-loving. They are traits that surface in the monthly column Newby-Fraser writes for a local sports magazine.

Consider her training. Unlike many of her peers, Newby-Fraser says she adheres to the less-is-more approach, generally sticking with shorter, more intense workouts.

Her diet? Closer to Babe Ruth’s than Bugs Bunny’s. She eats meat. She eats junk food. She doesn’t feel the need to rinse cottage cheese of its excess fat, as a former star triathlete used to do.

“I hate to think I have to spend my entire life depriving myself by not eating what I like,” she says. “It seems like such an extreme way to live.”

Nor does she shelter herself from social life. While she may be intense and focused during competition, she can also be the life of the post-race party. At least as long as she hangs around.

Sometimes, she says, the best thing is to get away from the tri-sport scene all together. Especially with her full calendar of racing, media interviews, speaking engagements, clinics, promotional work for sponsors. . . .

“I’m so maxed out with my time,” she said. “For me to find 10 minutes to sit down is amazing.”

Not that she’s complaining. Her race earnings and sponsorships--she plugs everything from potato-filled pasta pockets to sunglasses, bike parts to protein powder--have helped Newby-Fraser get rich. Reinschreiber says Newby-Fraser’s annual income is in the $250,000 to $300,000 range.

In a sport that’s losing some of its momentum, at least in the United States, Newby-Fraser’s financial success is somewhat rare among the top women. Because of this, there is also a certain amount of Paula Envy. New Zealand’s Erin Baker, often regarded as one of triathlon’s toughest female challengers, doesn’t receive nearly the exposure.

In the June issue of Triathlete magazine, a commemorative 100th edition, the trim, blonde Newby-Fraser is featured on the cover with the caption: “Paula Newby-Fraser: Triathlon’s Leading Lady.” Inside, an eight-page feature details her success. She is also featured in five full-page or half-page advertisements. Baker has none.

Newby-Fraser, born in Zimbabwe and raised in South Africa, arrived in the United States in 1986, after finishing third in her first Hawaii Ironman. As a teen-ager growing up in Durban, South Africa, she swam and played the compulsory school sports, such as netball. After she won the first triathlon she entered, a sprint-distance race in 1985, she decided to pursue the sport. A year later, she decided to make a career of it.

She is best known for her success in the Hawaii Ironman, the oldest Ironman event, which consists of of a 2.4-mile ocean swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. She holds the Ironman overall course record for women (9 hours 56 seconds), as well as the record for the cycling portion (4:57:13) and the run (3:05:37).

Although generally not as strong in the shorter “sprint” triathlons, Newby-Fraser has proved to be a force for the past six years. While this was common in the men’s ranks--Mark Allen, Dave Scott, Scott Tinley and Scott Molina dominated for nearly a decade--few top women aside from Newby-Fraser have survived for more than a few years.

But don’t call her dominant, she says.

“Consistent is more like it,” she said.

Especially, she hopes, in the next few weeks. After Sunday’s race, she’s scheduled to compete in the $80,000 Nice International Triathlon June 14, and the $50,000 Japan Ironman a week later. Combined with an ultradistance biathlon in Switzerland two weeks ago, Newby-Fraser will have raced in three ultradistance events in six weeks.

This is moderation?

“I don’t think many people have tried such a thing before,” Reinschreiber said. “But she’s also a businesswoman.”

That fact, it seems, is crystal clear.