Who is Chelsea Sodaro?
By Matt Johnson
Founder of The Feed.
We are ecstatic to announce the addition of Ironman World Champion and devoted mom, Chelsea Sodaro, to The Feed's High-Performance Team!
This past October, I attended the World Championships in Kona and witnessed the most spectacular master class I have ever seen in human performance and sheer determination.
After more than a dozen Tour de France's, it is fair to say I was a bit jaded that a sporting event would take my breath away.
To set the scene, the heat and humidity were oppressive. I watched from the sweet relief of the hotel lobby as the athletes returned from 112 miles of cycling to head out for the run. The crowded lobby also had built-in entertainment with an 18 month-year-old little girl running around like she had the energy to finish the race herself, constantly being chased by her diligent father.
Lucy Charles-Barclay was hands down the crowd favorite and charging on the run. Then the commentators turned to the lone American in the top tier, Chelsea Sodaro, with rampant speculation that her blistering pace of the Kona rookie would end in disaster.
I didn't know much about triathlons, but I did know that running sub-6-minute splits after 112-mile bike ride was kind of insane. Mile after mile, she was chewing up the melting pavement and clawing back her competitors. One at a time until she passed Lucy to take the lead. With over 18 miles still to go, my main thought is that I hope she has been eating and drinking! I wanted to run out there with a handful of gels.
Her lead grew until the heart-stopping moment when she entered one of the final feed zones and started walking, grabbing every sponge, gel, or drink she could get her hands on. My heart was racing. Get going. Stop walking!
She picked it back up again, and it was clear she wasn't the rookie. She was putting on a master class on how to be a champion.
Feeling motivated, the following day I walked out of the hotel at 6 am to go for a measly run, and this unassuming woman was walking to get a cup of coffee. I did a double-take. I took a chance and said, "Are you Chelsea?".
Today I'm ecstatic to announce the addition of Ironman World Champion and devoted mom, Chelsea Sodaro, to The Feed's High-Performance Team!
The Feed will enable Chelsea to choose any nutrition product that works best for her from over 200 different brands.
The Feed is such an authentic partnership for me. Like most endurance athletes, I like to mix and match the sports nutrition products I use. I get to pick the drinks, gels, and bars that I love and will sit well in my stomach
We will announce the complete High-Performance Tri Team roster over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for some exciting names.
All the athletes are on a "pick your own adventure" regarding the nutrition they choose. There are no requirements to use a specific brand just because they are your sponsor. We let them have the ultimate choice with one single goal: to be their own world champion. Whether that is literally the world championship or running your first 4-hour marathon, we are here for you.
We will share the nutrition choices, likes, and dislikes of all our athletes. No more secrecy of the past. This way you can follow their decision to inform your nutrition choices.
I'm still working on signing that 18-month-year-old from the hotel lobby, but her Mom says we need to wait until she retires.
I hope this motivates your training this week!