April 23, 2025 • 44 mins
Professional triathletes Haley Chura and Chelsea Sodaro join Sarah to talk about the gnarly world of triathlons and Ironmans, how they both found their way to the world of swim-bike-run, and why they’re constantly apologizing to drug testers. Plus, they discuss the reality that everyone poops (including triathletes, often mid-race).
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Watch Haley and Chelsea compete at Ironman Texas on April 26th! Tune-in details can be found here
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Check out the Live Goat Cam at Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant here
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Follow Haley on Instagram here
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Follow Chelsea on Instagram here
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Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com Instagram: @Spain2323
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we've never
pooped our pants mid competition and frankly, we're feeling real
left out right now. It's Wednesday, April twenty third, and
on today's show, we'll be skipping the need to know
and jumping straight into my interview with professional triathletes and
bonafide badasses Hayley Tura and Chelsea Sadaro. We chat about
their upcoming Ironman race in Texas on April twenty six, babies, injuries, bubbleguts,
(00:26):
and how they gravitated towards triathlon competition in the first place.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
These two are a delight. You're going to love this.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
That conversation's coming up right after this, joining us now.
She's a professional triathlete and multi sport coach, A two
time Ironman champion and seven time Ironman seventy point three champ.
She swam collegiately at the University of Georgia, helping the
(00:55):
team to a national championship, and raced in the four
anda US Olympic Swimming Trials and the twin US Olympic
marathon trials. She grew up watching her parents compete in
triathlons in the late eighties and her house was quote
full of Neon Oakley's.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
It's Haley chir Hi, Hayley Hi.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
And she just like accomplished a major life goal by
hearing her resume read by Sarah Spain.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Thought was so good. And she's wearing it and I'm
a Slice shirt.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
I am a Slice, which we love so much. Each
fan of the show, thank you joining her.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
She's a professional triathlete who won the twenty twenty two
Ironman World Championship as a rookie, first rookie World champ
since O seven and first American woman to win since
ninety six. She ran collegiately at cal, earning All American
honors in cross country and track and finishing ninth in
the five thousand meters at the twenty twelve NCAA Championships.
As a pro runner, she won two national championships, and
she transitioned to triathlons in twenty seventeen. Fun fact about
(01:46):
that Ironman World Championship she won, she gave birth to
her daughter, Skyler, just eighteen months prior to the win.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It's Chelsea Sodaro.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Hi, Chelsea, thanks so much for having us on.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I'm so excited to chat with both of you. Couple
house things off the top.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
First of all, I was reading your bio Haley, and
it said, quote, She's afraid of a number of things,
notably mice, insects, getting hit by a car, nuclear war,
and a global economic collapse.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Pruscient. I'm just checking in and how we're doing on
that last one right now?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Oh man, I know every day I'm a little bit
more afraid. Yeah, I mean, I think when I wrote
that it was probably in jest, and unfortunately now my
gay spears are coming true each and every day. But
I'm focused on women's sports. I live in a bubble
of women's sports and so but that's where I try
to focus my time and my energy these days, especially
leading into races. You know, sometimes you just have to
(02:37):
drown out the noise.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Very smart and that economy right now is going up,
so we like that one if everything else might be
on fire. A couple of things I want to clarify
before we get into this conversation because I want you
to catch me up and the rest of the listeners
on just the triathlon world. So, Chelsea, why are we
calling these races iron man's?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Can they be iron woman's?
Speaker 5 (02:57):
I am with you, Sarah, I'm with you. I think
neither rebranding. But of course, like many sports, the start
of iron Man was just a bunch of dudes in
Hawaii wanting to see if they could swim, bike, and
run really far all together in the same day. The
very cool thing about iron Man is that it is
(03:18):
like a fairly female forward sport in the sense that
for a long time we've had like similar prize money
to the men. We're racing on the same stage as
the men. There's a big spotlight on the women's side
of the sport, but perhaps we need even more.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Just a little rebranding on the name. The rest of
that sounds great, but just a little rebranding and.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
To make sure everyone's clear on the events and distances
that we talk about, like in some of your bios.
So there's an iron Man winner, there's an iron Man
seventy point three winner. So Haley, can you explain the
difference between those two events?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yes, iron Man, which that is the considered the full distance,
and that is a two point four mile swim, one
and twelve mile bike, and then a twenty six point
two mile run a marathon to finish the seventy point
three is half the distance, So one point two miles
when fifty six mile bike and then a thirteen point
one mile run done consecutively, all in one day, all
(04:13):
at one time, actually in like a very few amount
of hours, especially if you're Chelsea right.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I thought that tathlon and pentathlon were a lot of work.
I wasn't even touching what y'all are doing. Is the
seventy point three something that was sort of created to
offer something to work on as you work up to
the full distance? Is it more so that you can
compete in more of them per year?
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Like? Was there tension behind creating that half iron Man?
Speaker 4 (04:37):
I think you got it right there.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I think initially the sport started with Ironman, as Chelsea
alluded to, and then I think the expands to the
sport wanted a different distances, and so we saw a
bunch of different distances pop up, and then seventy point
three is a little bit more accessible, and now there
are professionals who specialize in the seventy point th distance,
(05:00):
and there's actually even a competing brand, a competing company
called T one hundred that is closer to the seventy
point three distance it's more of one hundred k and
they are really expanding and creating some competition for iron Man,
and it's an interesting time in the sport.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yeah, for sure, Chelsea.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
On the Pro Triathlon Stat's website, it lists rivals, and
I'm wondering how they decide those. Is it just based
on closest finishers? Is it people who like slash your
tires pre race or like cut you off in the water, Like,
how are we deciding rivals in this sport?
Speaker 5 (05:33):
I think probably what you're Lakina is just some like
statistical algorithm that comes up with who I've raced frequently
and have you know, had some battles than a racecourse? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Who did say? I'll have to look it back up.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
But I was like, I was just loving creating stories
in my mind of this website, like digging into like
the drums and finding out like who cut somebody off
in a bike race and then just alleging that that
would be that person's rivals. Like, for instance, Haley, your
rivals are Genie Metzler, Maja staj Nielsen, Fanella Langridge, and
(06:09):
Danielle Lewis.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
I'm so honored. Those are some fast women. I mean
I think it is a mathematical thing. I don't have
any beef, but I'm actually getting a new business idea
that maybe I should start a site that actually has
like or you know, a social media channel that I like,
know that insights and I'm like, ooh, this person is
an actual rival.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Right, there's no rivals for you, Chelsea, So either you're
just yeah, either you're untouchable and can't be competed with,
or potentially it's that maybe you're newer to the sport
so they haven't figured out your rivals yet.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
You know. I actually really love to talk about how
I have this beautiful beginner's mindset in my sport because
in the grand scheme of things, I started racing when
I was twenty seven, so a little bit later in life,
and I like to talk about how I'm still a beginner,
especially at the full distance. I've done approximately five point
seventy five iron Man's okay, and I feel like I'm
(07:03):
just getting started.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
What happened in that point seventy five.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
I got e COLI.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
I did it in the middle of the race.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
Our sport is really gnarly. Actually, I did this race
and I didn't really understand the water quality situation.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Wait, were you in Paris? This sounds familiar.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
I was not in Paris. I was in Europe, though
I won't say where. And I didn't feel that great
the night before. But I thought it was just nerves,
you know, Like I was just my tummy was a
little nervous for the race day, and I couldn't really
drink or eat much during the iron Man, and I
was not exactly where I wanted to be when I
(07:39):
got off the bike, and so I ran as fast
as I could, and then I kind of passed out,
like with about ten kids ago in the marathon. So
I feel like I've done It's a little more probably
actually like five point nine iron Man.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Okay, we're going to get to some of the gnarliness.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
But since we now have a general idea of how
these these races work, I want to go back to
the beginning. Because Haley, your parents ran races. So you're
a kid watching the triathlon world. Tell me how you
Is it a dream that you want to start competing
at right away or that you put on the side
for later.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Oh, I put it on the side. I think I'm
very lucky to have grown up with parents who did sports.
I'm thirty nine now, so I'm not super young, and
and to be a kind of a second generation tra
athlete at my age as unusual.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Now we're seeing a lot more.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
But I grew up knowing that when I got older,
I would just go for a run because that's what
adults did. And I think that growing up with them
as role models was really powerful. And I commend people
like Chelsea now who her daughter gets to like not
just that she goes for a run, but she goes
and she wins the world championship. I think that's so
(08:49):
cool that Sky gets to grow up watching Chelsea do
these things, and I think maybe I'm a testament to
it can pay off. But I swimming was my main sport,
and I ran a little bit in high school, but
I swam for the University of Georgia, which was just
a dream in the early two thousands. It was such
a powerhouse team and I learned so much and I'm
(09:10):
so thankful for that time. And I graduated in two
thousand and seven. I got a job in public accounting
and I was kind of done, like I felt like,
I mean, college swimming is pretty intense, and I was
like Oh, I'm really done. I've done enough swimming, I've
done enough getting dressed in locker rooms. I'm ready to
be done. But my roommate Carolin Joyce, who was three
(09:31):
time Olympian incredible swimmer, her brother was living in Atlanta,
and he's like, just come try this master's team.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Just come try it.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
And so I tried it and it was so much fun.
And I just started meeting people and they were starting
a trathlon team, and I think I was just kind
of a young adult who was like, yeah, I can
do an Ironman, sure whatever, Like I didn't even know
how to ride a bike, but I was like, this
sounds cool. And so I really came into the sport
not from a major like performance and wanting to go pro,
(09:59):
but just wanting to exercise all day because swimmer's exercise
nearly all day, even though our events are pretty short.
And I just felt like, yeah, I can do that.
And there was a bit of a learning curve, but
I made it eventually.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah, Okay, there's so many things in there. First of all,
I do think it's wild how the sports that seem
the most grueling and awful, which are the long distance things,
tend to be the people who keep doing it for
most of their lives and can keep doing it for
most of their lives, right, Like, it feels like you
should be broken down. But my track teammates from college,
the distance ones are the ones who are still competing
(10:31):
in things, and the ones like me who did like
heptathlon and all the things that are really hard on
your joints are completely busted and like incapable of, like
going up the stairs without the rice crispies sound. So
I feel like I chose wrong first of all in
not doing the distance things, but also I feel like,
isn't it common for swimmers to be the ones that
most go on to do triathlon, because that's the one
(10:52):
that has the biggest differential if you're not great at it.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I think swimming is a big hurdle for tra athletes
because it's scary.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yeah, you could just like drown.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Yes, And there's no like real walking equivalent to swimming,
you know, And there's no like just getting off your bike,
And so I understand why that keeps a lot of
people from the sport. I find that a lot of collegiates,
I mean a lot of collegian swimmers end up being
great cha athletes, because I think there's a mindset thing.
But I think a lot of college swimmers are actually
pretty done with swimming when they are done.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
But maybe that's changing.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
And maybe I do think sometimes as you get older,
you're like, I can just go longer, and then I
still feel that sense of accomplishment and it feels really good.
Speaker 4 (11:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I also think some swimmers suck at running.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Uh so you do have to cross that first step
of literally of being able to like step one foot further.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Even me, I'm so proud of myself every day because
when I was in college, I could probably like we
would run.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Like one mile and I was destroyed. And now I'm like,
look at me.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I bet you love them.
Speaker 5 (11:54):
You're like totally a freak to have done the Olympic
Trials in swimming and then in the marathon. Are you
the one I've ever done that?
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Joanna Zeiger? I think, did it okay? So and wild? Yes,
and so I'm not in the second, but I think
it is an unusual combination. One of the coolest things
about that marathon trials was it was in Atlanta, and
I had some of my college teammates who were still
in Atlanta my swimming teammates came out and watched and cheered,
and it.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Was just like, Wow, this is so level.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
So, I mean sports, they're great.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
You're glutton for punishment. We can tell that already, that's
for sure, Chelsea. Your origins are in running. So tell
us about the switch from professional running to triathlons.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
Yeah, you know, like Hayley, my parents were super athletic.
They actually were kind of early adopters of triathlon in
the eighties before I was born. They competed in the
bud Light Series, which is like a very famous circuit
happening back in the day where like all of the
stars of our sport used to battle. And so I
(12:58):
knew about triathlon. And I actually have this amazing frame
photo of my mom racing a triathlon and her quads
are just like shredded and she looks so strong and badass,
and I just remember loving like how powerful she looked.
But I, yeah, I'm a lifelong runner. I really fell
in love with the sport in high school, especially around
(13:20):
the sort of team aspect of cross country, and then
realized I had some talent. I went on to compete
at UC Berkeley and I was injured for like my
first four years there, and I finally got my self
together my fifth year and had some success and decided
to American.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Nothing major, yeah, you know, but like I wasn't.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
I met my husband there and I was like, not
the star of our relationship. He was a much better
runner than me, but he was pretty injured by the end,
and for whatever reason, when I graduated, he was like,
I think you should just try to do this for
a year and we'll see what happens, and you should
just focus on it full time. And he was working
like a bunch of sun jobs. And I won a
(14:02):
national title really quickly after I graduated, which was just
I made twelve and a half thousand dollars, and I.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Was like, I have a run.
Speaker 5 (14:12):
I could like, hey, am I rent for a while.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
This was the twenty twelve road ten k that you.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Won exactly yeah yeah, and then you won the three
thousand meters at the indoor Championship.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
So your pro career starts off real hot.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
It starts off real hot, and then it gets not
so hot where I you know, I was just like
really up and down. I can't find the right training situation,
can't stay healthy. Running is such a gnarly sport in
the sense that you can only really have one sponsor.
This is like in the twenty twelve to twenty sixteen era,
(14:47):
where like social media wasn't such a big deal, So
basically all you can have is one shoe sponsor, and
those deals are pretty shockingly low. So I was kind
of scraping by and had a really bad day. In
twenty sixteen the Olympic try. My small shoe deal was up,
and I didn't know what I was going to do.
But I'd become a fan of triathlon because the American
(15:08):
women were so competitive at the Rio Olympics. And I
was sitting on the couch with Steve, my husband, and
he said, you should try that, you know how some
one bike you're always in, You're always cross turning. I
think you'd be really good. And I thought it was
a stupid idea, but he got me a bike, and
like being a really good athlete himself, I would just
sit on his wheel for as long as I could,
(15:29):
and I was like, we were living at seven thousand
feet and black stuff Arizona, and I would like taste
blood by the end of the riots, and I loved it.
I was like I can get the same high from
this as I came from running, which was so unexpected.
I think so many runners are like, I run and
that's it, and the only reason I do anything else
is because I can't run anymore. So I guess in
(15:50):
my late twenties I realized, oh, I might like have
some talent at something else and I might enjoy these
other sports.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Yeah, you people are crazy.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
My friend Catherine Berteine was like a great athlete and
a bunch of things, and she just randomly in her thirties,
was like, maybe I should be a pro cyclist. I
like pain, and then just like started doing it and
became like, it's just wild to me. It's so much
of it is just like grit and heart and obviously
skill and endurance and talent, but you just have to
have this mindset of pain, which is wild to me.
(16:23):
For those who don't know, when you say sitting on
his wheel basically means you're just trying to keep up
with your husband for these distance rides.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 5 (16:31):
Yeah, when you sit behind another cyclist, you have a
pretty big draft, so you say like thirty percent energy
sitting right behind somebody else. Although like he was quite strong,
so I don't know, it was really hard the whole
time for two hours.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
So actually, Catherine, I've talked to her about the gnarliness
of competing. She suffered a pretty serious brain injury in
one of her races. Haley, you were racing really well
in twenty four fourteen, and then you suffered a really
serious incident in a training accident right in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Can you tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yes, So, I've been a very healthy athlete for most
of my life, but I've had two major incidents. And
one was when I was hit by a car three
weeks before the Ironman World Championship. And I was thirty
at the time, and it wasn't a life threatening crash,
but it was career threatening and it did change my
perspective on a lot of you know, is this worth it?
(17:29):
Like I had been an auditor in a public in
public counting before that, and I'm like, this didn't happen
when I was an auditor.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Your first love really and you wouldn't want to lose it.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
But but I think growing from that, I'm you know,
I'm really proud of myself for how I came back
from that. I think my coach Matthew Rose, who has
actually coached me my you know sense I was a
you know, very very new master swimmer when I was
twenty two. And his sister is an incredible athlete, Gabrielle Rose,
who now is setting master records in swimming, and so
(18:01):
he has an idea. But he was so patient with me,
and I'm so thankful for that, because I didn't know
if I would run again, and I was really afraid
to get back on the bike, and I was also
very afraid to even drive. Like it just changed my
whole life, and I did you know, I moved to
Montana and I started over on everything, and I'm I
learned a lot, and I all my best races have
(18:23):
come since then, and especially all my fastest running because
I had a leg injury.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
And I'm just really, well.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
You're running away from the cars now, right, so you
have to be faster? Well, I do.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
I run a lot more on trails off road, just
just getting away from cars. I think that there is
something to that, but I, you know, I am I'm
thankful for that. How I'm not thankful with the experience.
I'm proud of myself for how I've handled it. And
come back from it. And as a coach, because I
do also coach a lot of a few pros and
a lot of amateur athletes, I understand injury a lot
(18:55):
better and I understand the patients that you need when
you're coming back from that. And more recently, Chelsea was
actually commentating at a race in Las Vegas when I
crashed in the race and I broke my hand. And
that was just last October. And it's a little different
when you're close to forty and something like that happens.
And this one has been a little bit more challenging
(19:16):
in the mental aspect of like do I even want
to keep racing? And it was honestly, my surgeon, my
occupational therapist, my physical therapist, just these incredible people who
worked so hard to put me back together and got
me in a surgery, and I'm like, I need to
honor their work, and so that is why I'm coming back.
I'm going to raise Ironman Texas.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
You know, I'm not done yet, and I don't know
how much longer I have totally in the sport, but
I'm really proud of how I've come back from this
one as well.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Side note, you finished that race that you broke your
hand in, right, crazy person.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
I did not know my hand was broken in the moment,
and I thought my knee was. And to understand how
these races are, Chelsea can chime in from the commentary
perspective because she was there and it there's only twenty
competitors in this T one hundred race. It's very small,
and so you kind of notice if someone is like
very far back. And there was a lot of like
(20:10):
mental in that, like do I continue do I not?
And I think when you come from the amateur side
of the sport, there's a lot of like, oh, I'm
doing this for me and I'm going to finish. But
when you're from the professional side, you're like, if I'm
not going to have a good performance, what's the point?
And ultimately, I think as a coach, I wanted to.
I was like, I felt like what I was feeling
was a little bit of embarrassment and shame, and that
(20:32):
didn't seem like a good enough reason to stop, and
so I didn't. I found out later about the fractured hand,
and you know, maybe my advice to someone else would
be slightly different, But I also thought it might be
my last race ever, and there was a piece of
me that was like, I want to finish.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
My last race ever. Yeah, but hopefully it's not my
last race.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
No, We've got Texas coming up.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
We're gonna talk about that, But first I want to
talk Chelsea about your triathlon career being relatively new when
you had baby Skylers. So how did you plan for
the break from compete and the return from baby. How
intentional was your thought process in advance.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
Yeah, well, my daughter is totally a COVID baby. I
thought that I would wait until the end of my
career to have or start a family. There isn't great precedent.
It's definitely better now even compared to when sky was born,
But there wasn't great precedent for about a return to sport.
There was a lot of information on like the physical side,
(21:27):
definitely not on the mental side, and on the like
support aspect of how my sponsors would support me or
what it would really look like to have a career
post baby. But there there were a couple of women
who had done it, and so I guess that made
me think it could be possible for me too. Around
(21:48):
April of twenty twenty, you know, I realized there wasn't
going to be much racing during that season, and I
thought I could I could miss this year, Like I'm
only going to miss I'm only get miss one race
in December maybe, but if we can get pregnant in
the next two or three months, then I won't miss
twenty twenty one. So so yeah, it all kind of
(22:11):
worked out. There's this ridiculous video of me where I'm
nine months pregnant walking my dog down the street and
he goes, so, here's this going to happen. This guy's
going to be born on her due date, and then
I'm going to take four or five weeks to recover,
and then we get back to training and I'm in a
race in four months and it's all going to be
great and work out just fine. And it was definitely
more of an adventure than I imagined.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Yeah, I so explain to me, you've been competing for
a few years and then twenty twenty two is technically
your rookie season for the Iron Man.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
How is that decided that that's your rookie year.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
Yeah. So it was the first year that I had
taken on the full distance. I did my first ever
long distance seventy point three race and at the end
of twenty eighteen, and then twenty nineteen was my first
year pursuing that half iron Man distance, and I was
fourth at the World Chane I mean trip, and I
won a bunch of races, and I thought, like I've
made it, you know, or like I'm making it. I
(23:05):
can like pay my bills and I'm competitive this morning.
It's all gonna be great. And then of course COVID
happened and had my daughter at being of twenty twenty one,
and then really had this adventure to I guess, find
my fitness again. And then did my first full distance
race in the summer of twenty twenty two when Sky
(23:26):
was thirteen or fourteen months old.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
So it's your rookie season and you just go ahead
and win the whole damn thing in Hawaii, No big deal.
Do you think you had beginner's mindset? The expectations were
not like, oh, I should be competing to win. It's
just let me go out there and see what I
can do and then you win it.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
Absolutely, that whole year. At twenty twenty two, I still
was very much postpart on, Like I look at photos
of when I did my first iron Man in Hamburg,
and you know, like my body was still really coming
back from pregnancy, and then I was dealing with a
ton of like postpart of mental health issues. I had
(24:03):
some really good races, I had some really tough races.
And I remember looking at my husband a couple of
days before KNA the Ironman World Championships and saying, like,
what happens if I don't have a good day and
he goes nothing changes? Like, yeah, you know, we have
our beautiful daughter and we had this amazing life and
it's all good. I think I had just really started
(24:28):
to feel like myself in the four or five weeks
leading into that race day, and I had so few expectations,
Like I had no external expectations right, Like I was
on a really small sponsorship. I didn't get invited to
the press conference. There was no pre race media for me.
And in retrospect, that like really freed me up to
just find out what was possible. And I like had
(24:49):
never done a math of what my fitness across swind
bike ground would add up to, and I think if
I'd done that, I would have been way more nervous.
But it turns out that on that day it was
a second as time ever on the course and good
enough for the win, which is is totally thrillazing. There
will never be another moment like that. I really like
plan and hope to do it again, but to have
(25:10):
that first one be so unexpected was really special.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
That's really cool.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
I watched it happen from the race and it was
so cool. I was a little bit further back, but
watching Chelsea. She wasn't even in first place yet on
the run, but she was charging because we run on
this iconic road, a leeee drive to start and I'm
running out and she's running back, and you could just,
oh my gosh, I knew. I was like, we're going
to have an American champion. It was it was cool
(25:39):
and I think about those moments then I'm like, Okay,
now I got to get the most out of myself.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
It's it's just so cool. I'll never forget that.
Speaker 5 (25:45):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
I think early in the race you could tell that
she had something going.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Yeah, like early in the run, I mean I had
raised Chelsea. I know what kind of runner she is,
and then you just Ironman is so long and we
do race a lot of the same people, and.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
There isn't Cona's horror.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
I mean, it's so hard because the course is hard,
the distance is hard, but the expectations and the hubub
around it. And this race in twenty twenty two was
also very interesting because we had women mostly Women's Day,
and so Chelsea was getting to the very front of
(26:20):
the race, and that was the first time that had happened.
Where previously men and women had raced on the same day,
the men would pro men would get about a ten
minute head start, and so if a woman's having a
good day, she's surrounded by men, and in this case,
Chelsea was charging too with the very front. So like
as someone who was a little bit further back, like
I could see the helicopter and I'm like, that helicopter
(26:41):
is over Chelsea, And it was just so cool as
someone who had done the race like a lot of
times seeing it in that perspective. And then again i'm
you know, there's a little bit of a nationalistic of course,
it's not like super but I come from something I
come from, like Olympic cycles and that kind of thing,
and I knew how long it had been since an
American woman had won, and I think just seeing her
(27:04):
up there.
Speaker 4 (27:04):
It was it was really neat.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
It was really cool for the whole sport and for
all of us, you know, also who got to compete
on that day.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
I think what's so special about ConA too is is
in some ways trap on right, is such a niche sport,
Like our fans are so invested, but there's not a
b a billion of them, and ConA is our big
sports moment. Like you know, there's a helicopter at the
front of the race, the race is on NBC or
at least like they do kind of a documentary that's
(27:32):
aired an NBC, and we get like real media coverage.
So you know, when I won, it was like in
People magazine and there was a bit on the New
York Times, and I think, you know, it wasn't until
it all happened that I realized like, oh, this is
our this is our golden egg, Like this.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Is our most Yeah, it's your super Bowl right there,
It's our super Bowl for sure.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
That's so cool.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
We got to take a quick break when we come
back more with Haley and Chelsea.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Hang tight.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
It's not always glamorous. It doesn't always land you in
People magazine. It's very grueling and taxing. You also don't
really get to choose how you feel race day, like
you said Chelsea with the Eagle Eye. But Hayley, tell
us about the time that you accidentally told a whole
room of reporters that you had bubble guts.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Where are you getting this information?
Speaker 3 (28:27):
I'm the worst with like quotes, but I think this
was down in South America. I've raced a lot in
South America. I've loved how this sport has encouraged me
to travel. I don't think when I growing up, I
ever really aspired to that. And I'm so thankful that
I've been able to race in some different countries and
see other parts of the world and connect with athletes
(28:48):
from other countries.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
And I was in Chile and I.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Had had a really good race for me, but I
had been a little things happened. I mean, when you
run a lot and there this race in Pocone like
it's it was so it's so cool because you're there's
so many fans, Like the streets are just lined with
thousands of people cheering, but there are like no border bodies,
and so there's just nothing.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
You can do about it.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
And you, you know, I just keep going, you just
like keep going. And so I finished and I finished third,
I think in that race, which was really good for me.
This is when I was coming back from from injury
early on for my first injury, and so I was
super psyched be on the podium and I don't speak Spanish,
and they lined us up for these interviews, and I
was talking to Alicia Kay, another competitor, and I was
(29:39):
just like, and I think I also was going to
get drug tested, and I'm just like, I have an
issue right now, and I'm like explaining it to her.
I think I said GI distress, which I feel like
is a pretty nice way.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
To put it. I shit my pants.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
The microphones were on, and you know, even though a
lot of it was in Spanish, there are definitely people
who could understand English and knew what I said, but
you know, helped me out.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
You know what.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Honestly, everybody poops, so sometimes it's better to just talk
about it.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Oh, tell us, what's your worst story?
Speaker 4 (30:11):
No, the other one's okay, this is the worst.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
One was actually the first Iron Man I ever won,
which was also in Brazil. Also, lack of porta potties,
which is not just a South American thing sometimes can happen,
but that one, I was just scared because I just
I wanted to win and it was such an incredible moment.
But I did get drug tested, you know, it's like
a urine test, and I needed to like clean myself off.
(30:35):
And so what happens is like the chaperone came with
me and like watch me shower basically, and then she
friended me on Facebook and we're still Facebook friends to
this day.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
But that's like a volunteer job about it. I mean,
she felt close to you. After that.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
I felt so bad for her, but I didn't know
what else to do.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
And I'm also like on cloud nine because I went
an iron Man, which is not something you do that often.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
We got to find out whatever the Brazilian version of
Montezuma is.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Because it's hits you twice. Whatever Brazil's Montezuma's revenge.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
Think it's just an iron Man.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
There's been this is like twenty you know, twenty fourteen
to twenty seventeen range. There's been a lot of advances
in iron man nutrition. I don't want to I don't
want to scare people away from the sport.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Right right. I mean they do say that a venture.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Your body's like, well, that's not a priority anymore because
we're in distress. So it's like, I guess, just do
whatever down there. We got to keep running away from
the imaginary bear or whatever is inspiring this lady to
run for so long, Chelsea, you got any crazy you know, jellyfish, sharks, poop?
Speaker 5 (31:40):
Oh man. I mean I have to say, like the
amount of drug testers that I've had to apologize too
is best.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
That makes me feel better?
Speaker 5 (31:50):
Oh, girlfriend, Yeah, it's unfortunate the things we do. I
had a really bad one after Niece last year. I
was I was really underprepared for the World champion Ships.
I was like quite injured, and so I didn't start
running until three weeks before and I like, gut it
out a pretty good finish. But I think what your body,
(32:10):
what happens to your body when you're not prepared, is
like unhinged. So I was a shell of a person
and had lost several faculties by the end of that one.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Oh my god. Yeah, you know what it is.
Speaker 5 (32:23):
It's crazy, Like you can't think too hard. I've learned
you just can't think too hard about it, right, like
the idea of racing. It's not exercising, it's like racing
for eight to nine hours. It's ridiculous. Yeah, it's a
very long way to go, and you just can't think
too hard about you.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Just let it happen.
Speaker 5 (32:40):
Very present at this.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Tiny little short shorts on and one ball knock out
and he didn't have time to put it back in.
That ball was going to race with him to the
finish and then eventually he would talk it back in
those little shorts.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
It happens, and we know to point out Chelsea ran,
did you run like a two fifty marathon off of
three weeks training and like an insanely hard course in Nice?
I mean, for her to finish third in that race
was so incredible. I wasn't there watching. I was watching
on TV. But I think it's it's easy to kind
of look at some Iron Man times and think that
(33:17):
they're not very fast and then realize that, no, Chelsea
is an incredibly elite runner putting up elite times in
incredibly hard conditions.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
And yeah, maybe.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
There it's like the doping control officers, they are the
real heroes sometimes, but but no, I think it's it's
just like incredible to put that into context of like
exercise already for like five hours and now you're going
to go run a two fifty marathon insane.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
I think I need you to my hyph women, Yeah,
you should carry each other around for that. My friend
Klaint Connichen does those bad water one thirty fives where
you're just like competing for like a day plus. Just
you should be a shell of yourself by then, Like
you should not be doing okay.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
I think that would be a bad sign if your
body was. Like we're good.
Speaker 5 (34:01):
People that will just like strut around right after the races,
and I think we're just built different or we're doing
this different.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Maybe you're doing it wrong.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
You guys are facing off at the Ironman Texas on
April twenty sixth, Chelsea, what are you looking forward to
with that race?
Speaker 5 (34:17):
You know, I've made so many changes in my team
over the last six months. Last year, I moved states,
I changed coaches, I changed by sponsors. I blew up
my life so to speak professional flye. So I've like
had really great stability and consistency the last for this
(34:38):
training block, and I'm just curious to see where I'm at.
I really feel like my best performances are ahead of me,
and it'll be fun to race in North America, which
I don't get to do that often.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
Hayley, what about you.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
Yes, this is I don't want to call it redemption.
It's just a bonus opportunity for me. I set Texas
on the date when I was, you know, coming out
of surgery last October, and it felt like a carrot
that kind of helped me get fit again and let
me go through some soul searching on like do I
really want to be there again? And I do, and
(35:10):
so I am trying this challenge where I'm like super
kind to myself and there.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
You know, it's it's very.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
Cool that I get to be back there, that I
get to race women like Chelsea, and this field is
going to be incredible, and I think it's important to
tell people that, you know, twenty twenty five for women
in Long Coorse Trathon is a very big year because
we do have the Ironman World Championships for Women will
be in Hawaii and ConA this year in October. And
right now it's this kind of a time of flex.
I mentioned twenty twenty two was the first year they
(35:39):
split it and also the first year that we had
equal slots for men and women professionals. There were fifty
slots for men and women and that was the first time.
Speaker 4 (35:46):
So it just happened. And then twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Three we unfortunately the island of Hawaii couldn't handle two
days and so they split the race. They put the
women in Hawaii and the men in France and decided
to alternate. So twenty twenty four the men were in
Hawaii and so twenty twenty five we.
Speaker 4 (36:04):
Go back to Hawaii.
Speaker 3 (36:05):
There is a lot of chatter on going back to
a single day championship, which I think would be a
disservice to a lot of the women in the sport
because you know, the moment I talked about with Chelsea,
getting to see her in the very front of the race,
and there aren't I can't think of another sport where
the at the world championship level you can have a.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
You know, a woman's finish.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
People that aren't in, people that aren't in your race,
in your way right exactly what it is.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Yeah, yes, And even last weekend we had the T
one hundred and Singapore and then a race in Ocean
Side in California, and I think if you watch the
coverage of both of those, it was so drastically different
because the women in Singapore get their own day, their
own course, and so you're watching the race and then
you're watching the coverage and ocean side and Paula Finley,
an incredible Canadian athlete, is leading, and they're like, you
(36:57):
watch this man past her, and they're like, just ignore him,
he's aroma.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
That's a fun.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Yeah, And so I think I understand why logistically we
need that, and we see it in marathoning. I mean
sometimes sometimes it can be you know, it's nice to
have the men around you, baby, not in the swim,
but sometimes. But I think I think at the world
championship level, you want to showcase the best women, and
so I'm very passionate about that and about you know,
(37:23):
hopefully keeping the professional races separate so that we can
see that, so we'll see, you know, Ironman has a
new CEO. There's a lot of change happening, but hopefully
we get some you know, fans of the sport who
are really invested in that, in that you know, Road
d'acona this year and trying to really celebrate that women's race,
and hopefully it will continue in some capacity. They're going
(37:46):
to figure out how to keep that, keep that going.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Okay, we're out of time, but I have one last
quick three question speed round for you both. Uh, Chelsea,
your go to song before a race, last thing you
listen to?
Speaker 5 (38:01):
Oh my gosh, that's so tough. I really love that song.
You know that song? I Am Woman?
Speaker 2 (38:08):
Who is that by? Like the old one? I Am woman?
Speaker 5 (38:11):
Hear me, roar no, it's newer. Man, I'm totally blanking
an artist. I love like a little girl power, right
I like Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus. That's sort of like, I.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Think I know the song you're talking about. I can't
think of who it is right now, but I think
I know the more like the more like like news
what about you, Hayley.
Speaker 3 (38:31):
Oh, Taylor Swift, I'd probably do like Cruel Summer, you know,
maybe maybe something from Reputation once she records Reputation, Taylor's version.
I'm like one of those people that's like, I'm like,
is this bad? To listen to her?
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Like the before vision before Taylor's version comes out. I
like that, Chelsea.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
What's the moment during a race that usually hurts the most.
I know it probably is different every race, but is
there go to like time in where it's like.
Speaker 5 (38:54):
The oh, the first ten minutes of the bike after
you get out of water, it's really tough. It's like
going from the horizontal to the vertical. Yeah, and having
to like go all out at the beginning of the
bike after an hour of swimming.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
That's pretty cool. What about you, Hayley.
Speaker 3 (39:11):
I love that part because that's what I'm usually like
toward the front still and I'm like, yeah, this is
so fun for me. I mean, the hardest part is
for me is probably the end of the run. I mean,
you're just so depleted. You've been actually zing for so long,
and that's one of my big goals. I've been doing
this for so long, and I'm like, I just want
to still be racing that that last hour of the run.
(39:33):
So maybe Texas, I just you know.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Right, put it down in the universe, Okay, and then
favorite either favorite post race meal or favorite like self
care treat yourself after a race.
Speaker 5 (39:44):
Chelsea, Oh, I love this one. So I make this
deal with myself where if I win the race, I
get a present.
Speaker 2 (39:52):
What have we gotten so far, so this is ridiculous.
Speaker 5 (39:56):
In twenty twenty two, before ConA, Lol, I I could
get an e hummer. I'm not a hummer gal, but
I like really having a young child, I was like,
this will be the safest option, will be eco friendly,
and I was like it was a joke in our household,
like if I have won ConA, I could get anyway
I won, and then we realized that would just be
(40:16):
so irresponsible. But last year I got myself as like
really I call it my like hot mom swimsuit. It's
from this Australian brand Machu. And then after I am
Mandew Zealand I got myself fat Gold. This actually my
fat Gold chain.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
Oh nice? I love that. Thank you, Haley, what about you?
Speaker 4 (40:36):
I don't win as often as Chelsea, so I need
to I don't.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Have to win to treat yourself. I treat myself that.
I love food.
Speaker 4 (40:45):
So I'm like burger beer, you know.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
I feel like if I'm well enough to be eating
a burger and a beer, then I've also won in
that respect. I love I love like just like downloading
with people afterwards. I also have a few athletes I
race who are going to be in Texas, and so
I love being able to go back and and watch
them finish. And that's like a huge, huge accomplishment. I
(41:07):
mean I sometimes had to take a nap on the
sidewalk in between. Luckily we get a head start so
they don't get to see me at my worst and
then they don't fire me.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
So, oh my gosh, these are the people that you coach.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
How cute are you the way you treat yourself as
watching other people that you coached race? I mean, geez, Louise,
this has been so much fun. I genuinely do want
to watch you guys race now. I'm not a huge
treathel on personal in the swimming me. Okay, I'm gonna.
I'm gonna.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
Don't worry.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
We'll tell all the listeners how they can watch you
guys compete and follow along as you get ready for
you know, the Iron Man ConA and everything else.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
But it was so great to chat with you guys
have the best energy. So thanks so much for coming on.
Speaker 5 (41:45):
Thanks for having us. It's been awesome.
Speaker 4 (41:47):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
Thanks so much to Haley and Chelsea for joining us,
and shout out to Royce for the suggestion we got
to take another break when we return.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
Welcome back slices.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good game play of the day. Follow Hayley and Chelsea
on social media ahead of their big race day and
tune in Saturday at seven am Eastern to watch them
race on Outside TV for free. We'll throw links to
their social media accounts and to the live stream in
our show notes. We always love to hear from you,
so hit us up on email. Good game at wondermedianetwork
(42:34):
dot com and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
It's easy.
Speaker 1 (42:38):
Watch the live goat cams at Al Johnson's Swedish restaurant,
rating five out of five. Up on a Hill was
a lonely go tood you lay lay review. When we
announced the Diana Trasi bench set to be installed in
Door County, several of you reached out to alert us
to the presence of a Door County restaurant called Al
(42:59):
Johnson's Swedish restaurant that has actual, real live goats on
the roof. Tremendous, wonderful, a very strong contender for the
ribbon cutting post party that day. Even better than the
existence of the goats though, freaking live goat cams to
watch said goats online anytime anywhere.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
Now.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
I haven't yet seen a goat on the live cams,
but it's been pretty cold, so I anticipate far more
goat sightings to come. We'll put the link in our
show notes. Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks
for listening.
Speaker 2 (43:31):
See you tomorrow for my chat with two time NWSL
champion Meghan Klingenberg.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
Good game, Hayley, Good game, Chelsea Few long distance swimming,
then biking, then running. I am so sorry but you
could not pay me enough. Should I change the few
to few? Mesh for having no idea?
Speaker 2 (43:49):
What I was doing down on the hill was a
lonely coted you lay you lay yo. Loo was literally like,
what is she doing?
Speaker 3 (44:00):
What is that?
Speaker 2 (44:07):
It is the sound of music? Oh shit, I know
the sound of music.
Speaker 4 (44:11):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez and Grace Lynch.
(44:37):
Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host
Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we've never
pooped our pants mid competition and frankly, we're feeling real
left out right now. It's Wednesday, April twenty third, and
on today's show, we'll be skipping the need to know
and jumping straight into my interview with professional triathletes and
bonafide badasses Hayley Tura and Chelsea Sadaro. We chat about
their upcoming Ironman race in Texas on April twenty six, babies, injuries, bubbleguts,
(00:26):
and how they gravitated towards triathlon competition in the first place.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
These two are a delight. You're going to love this.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
That conversation's coming up right after this, joining us now.
She's a professional triathlete and multi sport coach, A two
time Ironman champion and seven time Ironman seventy point three champ.
She swam collegiately at the University of Georgia, helping the
(00:55):
team to a national championship, and raced in the four
anda US Olympic Swimming Trials and the twin US Olympic
marathon trials. She grew up watching her parents compete in
triathlons in the late eighties and her house was quote
full of Neon Oakley's.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
It's Haley chir Hi, Hayley Hi.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
And she just like accomplished a major life goal by
hearing her resume read by Sarah Spain.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Thought was so good. And she's wearing it and I'm
a Slice shirt.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
I am a Slice, which we love so much. Each
fan of the show, thank you joining her.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
She's a professional triathlete who won the twenty twenty two
Ironman World Championship as a rookie, first rookie World champ
since O seven and first American woman to win since
ninety six. She ran collegiately at cal, earning All American
honors in cross country and track and finishing ninth in
the five thousand meters at the twenty twelve NCAA Championships.
As a pro runner, she won two national championships, and
she transitioned to triathlons in twenty seventeen. Fun fact about
(01:46):
that Ironman World Championship she won, she gave birth to
her daughter, Skyler, just eighteen months prior to the win.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It's Chelsea Sodaro.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Hi, Chelsea, thanks so much for having us on.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I'm so excited to chat with both of you. Couple
house things off the top.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
First of all, I was reading your bio Haley, and
it said, quote, She's afraid of a number of things,
notably mice, insects, getting hit by a car, nuclear war,
and a global economic collapse.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Pruscient. I'm just checking in and how we're doing on
that last one right now?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Oh man, I know every day I'm a little bit
more afraid. Yeah, I mean, I think when I wrote
that it was probably in jest, and unfortunately now my
gay spears are coming true each and every day. But
I'm focused on women's sports. I live in a bubble
of women's sports and so but that's where I try
to focus my time and my energy these days, especially
leading into races. You know, sometimes you just have to
(02:37):
drown out the noise.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Very smart and that economy right now is going up,
so we like that one if everything else might be
on fire. A couple of things I want to clarify
before we get into this conversation because I want you
to catch me up and the rest of the listeners
on just the triathlon world. So, Chelsea, why are we
calling these races iron man's?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Can they be iron woman's?
Speaker 5 (02:57):
I am with you, Sarah, I'm with you. I think
neither rebranding. But of course, like many sports, the start
of iron Man was just a bunch of dudes in
Hawaii wanting to see if they could swim, bike, and
run really far all together in the same day. The
very cool thing about iron Man is that it is
(03:18):
like a fairly female forward sport in the sense that
for a long time we've had like similar prize money
to the men. We're racing on the same stage as
the men. There's a big spotlight on the women's side
of the sport, but perhaps we need even more.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Just a little rebranding on the name. The rest of
that sounds great, but just a little rebranding and.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
To make sure everyone's clear on the events and distances
that we talk about, like in some of your bios.
So there's an iron Man winner, there's an iron Man
seventy point three winner. So Haley, can you explain the
difference between those two events?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yes, iron Man, which that is the considered the full distance,
and that is a two point four mile swim, one
and twelve mile bike, and then a twenty six point
two mile run a marathon to finish the seventy point
three is half the distance, So one point two miles
when fifty six mile bike and then a thirteen point
one mile run done consecutively, all in one day, all
(04:13):
at one time, actually in like a very few amount
of hours, especially if you're Chelsea right.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I thought that tathlon and pentathlon were a lot of work.
I wasn't even touching what y'all are doing. Is the
seventy point three something that was sort of created to
offer something to work on as you work up to
the full distance? Is it more so that you can
compete in more of them per year?
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Like? Was there tension behind creating that half iron Man?
Speaker 4 (04:37):
I think you got it right there.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I think initially the sport started with Ironman, as Chelsea
alluded to, and then I think the expands to the
sport wanted a different distances, and so we saw a
bunch of different distances pop up, and then seventy point
three is a little bit more accessible, and now there
are professionals who specialize in the seventy point th distance,
(05:00):
and there's actually even a competing brand, a competing company
called T one hundred that is closer to the seventy
point three distance it's more of one hundred k and
they are really expanding and creating some competition for iron Man,
and it's an interesting time in the sport.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yeah, for sure, Chelsea.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
On the Pro Triathlon Stat's website, it lists rivals, and
I'm wondering how they decide those. Is it just based
on closest finishers? Is it people who like slash your
tires pre race or like cut you off in the water, Like,
how are we deciding rivals in this sport?
Speaker 5 (05:33):
I think probably what you're Lakina is just some like
statistical algorithm that comes up with who I've raced frequently
and have you know, had some battles than a racecourse? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Who did say? I'll have to look it back up.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
But I was like, I was just loving creating stories
in my mind of this website, like digging into like
the drums and finding out like who cut somebody off
in a bike race and then just alleging that that
would be that person's rivals. Like, for instance, Haley, your
rivals are Genie Metzler, Maja staj Nielsen, Fanella Langridge, and
(06:09):
Danielle Lewis.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
I'm so honored. Those are some fast women. I mean
I think it is a mathematical thing. I don't have
any beef, but I'm actually getting a new business idea
that maybe I should start a site that actually has
like or you know, a social media channel that I like,
know that insights and I'm like, ooh, this person is
an actual rival.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Right, there's no rivals for you, Chelsea, So either you're
just yeah, either you're untouchable and can't be competed with,
or potentially it's that maybe you're newer to the sport
so they haven't figured out your rivals yet.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
You know. I actually really love to talk about how
I have this beautiful beginner's mindset in my sport because
in the grand scheme of things, I started racing when
I was twenty seven, so a little bit later in life,
and I like to talk about how I'm still a beginner,
especially at the full distance. I've done approximately five point
seventy five iron Man's okay, and I feel like I'm
(07:03):
just getting started.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
What happened in that point seventy five.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
I got e COLI.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
I did it in the middle of the race.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
Our sport is really gnarly. Actually, I did this race
and I didn't really understand the water quality situation.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Wait, were you in Paris? This sounds familiar.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
I was not in Paris. I was in Europe, though
I won't say where. And I didn't feel that great
the night before. But I thought it was just nerves,
you know, Like I was just my tummy was a
little nervous for the race day, and I couldn't really
drink or eat much during the iron Man, and I
was not exactly where I wanted to be when I
(07:39):
got off the bike, and so I ran as fast
as I could, and then I kind of passed out,
like with about ten kids ago in the marathon. So
I feel like I've done It's a little more probably
actually like five point nine iron Man.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Okay, we're going to get to some of the gnarliness.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
But since we now have a general idea of how
these these races work, I want to go back to
the beginning. Because Haley, your parents ran races. So you're
a kid watching the triathlon world. Tell me how you
Is it a dream that you want to start competing
at right away or that you put on the side
for later.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Oh, I put it on the side. I think I'm
very lucky to have grown up with parents who did sports.
I'm thirty nine now, so I'm not super young, and
and to be a kind of a second generation tra
athlete at my age as unusual.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Now we're seeing a lot more.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
But I grew up knowing that when I got older,
I would just go for a run because that's what
adults did. And I think that growing up with them
as role models was really powerful. And I commend people
like Chelsea now who her daughter gets to like not
just that she goes for a run, but she goes
and she wins the world championship. I think that's so
(08:49):
cool that Sky gets to grow up watching Chelsea do
these things, and I think maybe I'm a testament to
it can pay off. But I swimming was my main sport,
and I ran a little bit in high school, but
I swam for the University of Georgia, which was just
a dream in the early two thousands. It was such
a powerhouse team and I learned so much and I'm
(09:10):
so thankful for that time. And I graduated in two
thousand and seven. I got a job in public accounting
and I was kind of done, like I felt like,
I mean, college swimming is pretty intense, and I was
like Oh, I'm really done. I've done enough swimming, I've
done enough getting dressed in locker rooms. I'm ready to
be done. But my roommate Carolin Joyce, who was three
(09:31):
time Olympian incredible swimmer, her brother was living in Atlanta,
and he's like, just come try this master's team.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Just come try it.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
And so I tried it and it was so much fun.
And I just started meeting people and they were starting
a trathlon team, and I think I was just kind
of a young adult who was like, yeah, I can
do an Ironman, sure whatever, Like I didn't even know
how to ride a bike, but I was like, this
sounds cool. And so I really came into the sport
not from a major like performance and wanting to go pro,
(09:59):
but just wanting to exercise all day because swimmer's exercise
nearly all day, even though our events are pretty short.
And I just felt like, yeah, I can do that.
And there was a bit of a learning curve, but
I made it eventually.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah, Okay, there's so many things in there. First of all,
I do think it's wild how the sports that seem
the most grueling and awful, which are the long distance things,
tend to be the people who keep doing it for
most of their lives and can keep doing it for
most of their lives, right, Like, it feels like you
should be broken down. But my track teammates from college,
the distance ones are the ones who are still competing
(10:31):
in things, and the ones like me who did like
heptathlon and all the things that are really hard on
your joints are completely busted and like incapable of, like
going up the stairs without the rice crispies sound. So
I feel like I chose wrong first of all in
not doing the distance things, but also I feel like,
isn't it common for swimmers to be the ones that
most go on to do triathlon, because that's the one
(10:52):
that has the biggest differential if you're not great at it.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I think swimming is a big hurdle for tra athletes
because it's scary.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yeah, you could just like drown.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Yes, And there's no like real walking equivalent to swimming,
you know, And there's no like just getting off your bike,
And so I understand why that keeps a lot of
people from the sport. I find that a lot of collegiates,
I mean a lot of collegian swimmers end up being
great cha athletes, because I think there's a mindset thing.
But I think a lot of college swimmers are actually
pretty done with swimming when they are done.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
But maybe that's changing.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
And maybe I do think sometimes as you get older,
you're like, I can just go longer, and then I
still feel that sense of accomplishment and it feels really good.
Speaker 4 (11:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I also think some swimmers suck at running.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Uh so you do have to cross that first step
of literally of being able to like step one foot further.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Even me, I'm so proud of myself every day because
when I was in college, I could probably like we
would run.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Like one mile and I was destroyed. And now I'm like,
look at me.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I bet you love them.
Speaker 5 (11:54):
You're like totally a freak to have done the Olympic
Trials in swimming and then in the marathon. Are you
the one I've ever done that?
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Joanna Zeiger? I think, did it okay? So and wild? Yes,
and so I'm not in the second, but I think
it is an unusual combination. One of the coolest things
about that marathon trials was it was in Atlanta, and
I had some of my college teammates who were still
in Atlanta my swimming teammates came out and watched and cheered,
and it.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Was just like, Wow, this is so level.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
So, I mean sports, they're great.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
You're glutton for punishment. We can tell that already, that's
for sure, Chelsea. Your origins are in running. So tell
us about the switch from professional running to triathlons.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
Yeah, you know, like Hayley, my parents were super athletic.
They actually were kind of early adopters of triathlon in
the eighties before I was born. They competed in the
bud Light Series, which is like a very famous circuit
happening back in the day where like all of the
stars of our sport used to battle. And so I
(12:58):
knew about triathlon. And I actually have this amazing frame
photo of my mom racing a triathlon and her quads
are just like shredded and she looks so strong and badass,
and I just remember loving like how powerful she looked.
But I, yeah, I'm a lifelong runner. I really fell
in love with the sport in high school, especially around
(13:20):
the sort of team aspect of cross country, and then
realized I had some talent. I went on to compete
at UC Berkeley and I was injured for like my
first four years there, and I finally got my self
together my fifth year and had some success and decided
to American.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Nothing major, yeah, you know, but like I wasn't.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
I met my husband there and I was like, not
the star of our relationship. He was a much better
runner than me, but he was pretty injured by the end,
and for whatever reason, when I graduated, he was like,
I think you should just try to do this for
a year and we'll see what happens, and you should
just focus on it full time. And he was working
like a bunch of sun jobs. And I won a
(14:02):
national title really quickly after I graduated, which was just
I made twelve and a half thousand dollars, and I.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Was like, I have a run.
Speaker 5 (14:12):
I could like, hey, am I rent for a while.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
This was the twenty twelve road ten k that you.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Won exactly yeah yeah, and then you won the three
thousand meters at the indoor Championship.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
So your pro career starts off real hot.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
It starts off real hot, and then it gets not
so hot where I you know, I was just like
really up and down. I can't find the right training situation,
can't stay healthy. Running is such a gnarly sport in
the sense that you can only really have one sponsor.
This is like in the twenty twelve to twenty sixteen era,
(14:47):
where like social media wasn't such a big deal, So
basically all you can have is one shoe sponsor, and
those deals are pretty shockingly low. So I was kind
of scraping by and had a really bad day. In
twenty sixteen the Olympic try. My small shoe deal was up,
and I didn't know what I was going to do.
But I'd become a fan of triathlon because the American
(15:08):
women were so competitive at the Rio Olympics. And I
was sitting on the couch with Steve, my husband, and
he said, you should try that, you know how some
one bike you're always in, You're always cross turning. I
think you'd be really good. And I thought it was
a stupid idea, but he got me a bike, and
like being a really good athlete himself, I would just
sit on his wheel for as long as I could,
(15:29):
and I was like, we were living at seven thousand
feet and black stuff Arizona, and I would like taste
blood by the end of the riots, and I loved it.
I was like I can get the same high from
this as I came from running, which was so unexpected.
I think so many runners are like, I run and
that's it, and the only reason I do anything else
is because I can't run anymore. So I guess in
(15:50):
my late twenties I realized, oh, I might like have
some talent at something else and I might enjoy these
other sports.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Yeah, you people are crazy.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
My friend Catherine Berteine was like a great athlete and
a bunch of things, and she just randomly in her thirties,
was like, maybe I should be a pro cyclist. I
like pain, and then just like started doing it and
became like, it's just wild to me. It's so much
of it is just like grit and heart and obviously
skill and endurance and talent, but you just have to
have this mindset of pain, which is wild to me.
(16:23):
For those who don't know, when you say sitting on
his wheel basically means you're just trying to keep up
with your husband for these distance rides.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 5 (16:31):
Yeah, when you sit behind another cyclist, you have a
pretty big draft, so you say like thirty percent energy
sitting right behind somebody else. Although like he was quite strong,
so I don't know, it was really hard the whole
time for two hours.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
So actually, Catherine, I've talked to her about the gnarliness
of competing. She suffered a pretty serious brain injury in
one of her races. Haley, you were racing really well
in twenty four fourteen, and then you suffered a really
serious incident in a training accident right in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Can you tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yes, So, I've been a very healthy athlete for most
of my life, but I've had two major incidents. And
one was when I was hit by a car three
weeks before the Ironman World Championship. And I was thirty
at the time, and it wasn't a life threatening crash,
but it was career threatening and it did change my
perspective on a lot of you know, is this worth it?
(17:29):
Like I had been an auditor in a public in
public counting before that, and I'm like, this didn't happen
when I was an auditor.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Your first love really and you wouldn't want to lose it.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
But but I think growing from that, I'm you know,
I'm really proud of myself for how I came back
from that. I think my coach Matthew Rose, who has
actually coached me my you know sense I was a
you know, very very new master swimmer when I was
twenty two. And his sister is an incredible athlete, Gabrielle Rose,
who now is setting master records in swimming, and so
(18:01):
he has an idea. But he was so patient with me,
and I'm so thankful for that, because I didn't know
if I would run again, and I was really afraid
to get back on the bike, and I was also
very afraid to even drive. Like it just changed my
whole life, and I did you know, I moved to
Montana and I started over on everything, and I'm I
learned a lot, and I all my best races have
(18:23):
come since then, and especially all my fastest running because
I had a leg injury.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
And I'm just really, well.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
You're running away from the cars now, right, so you
have to be faster? Well, I do.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
I run a lot more on trails off road, just
just getting away from cars. I think that there is
something to that, but I, you know, I am I'm
thankful for that. How I'm not thankful with the experience.
I'm proud of myself for how I've handled it. And
come back from it. And as a coach, because I
do also coach a lot of a few pros and
a lot of amateur athletes, I understand injury a lot
(18:55):
better and I understand the patients that you need when
you're coming back from that. And more recently, Chelsea was
actually commentating at a race in Las Vegas when I
crashed in the race and I broke my hand. And
that was just last October. And it's a little different
when you're close to forty and something like that happens.
And this one has been a little bit more challenging
(19:16):
in the mental aspect of like do I even want
to keep racing? And it was honestly, my surgeon, my
occupational therapist, my physical therapist, just these incredible people who
worked so hard to put me back together and got
me in a surgery, and I'm like, I need to
honor their work, and so that is why I'm coming back.
I'm going to raise Ironman Texas.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
You know, I'm not done yet, and I don't know
how much longer I have totally in the sport, but
I'm really proud of how I've come back from this
one as well.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Side note, you finished that race that you broke your
hand in, right, crazy person.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
I did not know my hand was broken in the moment,
and I thought my knee was. And to understand how
these races are, Chelsea can chime in from the commentary
perspective because she was there and it there's only twenty
competitors in this T one hundred race. It's very small,
and so you kind of notice if someone is like
very far back. And there was a lot of like
(20:10):
mental in that, like do I continue do I not?
And I think when you come from the amateur side
of the sport, there's a lot of like, oh, I'm
doing this for me and I'm going to finish. But
when you're from the professional side, you're like, if I'm
not going to have a good performance, what's the point?
And ultimately, I think as a coach, I wanted to.
I was like, I felt like what I was feeling
was a little bit of embarrassment and shame, and that
(20:32):
didn't seem like a good enough reason to stop, and
so I didn't. I found out later about the fractured hand,
and you know, maybe my advice to someone else would
be slightly different, But I also thought it might be
my last race ever, and there was a piece of
me that was like, I want to finish.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
My last race ever. Yeah, but hopefully it's not my
last race.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
No, We've got Texas coming up.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
We're gonna talk about that, But first I want to
talk Chelsea about your triathlon career being relatively new when
you had baby Skylers. So how did you plan for
the break from compete and the return from baby. How
intentional was your thought process in advance.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
Yeah, well, my daughter is totally a COVID baby. I
thought that I would wait until the end of my
career to have or start a family. There isn't great precedent.
It's definitely better now even compared to when sky was born,
But there wasn't great precedent for about a return to sport.
There was a lot of information on like the physical side,
(21:27):
definitely not on the mental side, and on the like
support aspect of how my sponsors would support me or
what it would really look like to have a career
post baby. But there there were a couple of women
who had done it, and so I guess that made
me think it could be possible for me too. Around
(21:48):
April of twenty twenty, you know, I realized there wasn't
going to be much racing during that season, and I
thought I could I could miss this year, Like I'm
only going to miss I'm only get miss one race
in December maybe, but if we can get pregnant in
the next two or three months, then I won't miss
twenty twenty one. So so yeah, it all kind of
(22:11):
worked out. There's this ridiculous video of me where I'm
nine months pregnant walking my dog down the street and
he goes, so, here's this going to happen. This guy's
going to be born on her due date, and then
I'm going to take four or five weeks to recover,
and then we get back to training and I'm in a
race in four months and it's all going to be
great and work out just fine. And it was definitely
more of an adventure than I imagined.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Yeah, I so explain to me, you've been competing for
a few years and then twenty twenty two is technically
your rookie season for the Iron Man.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
How is that decided that that's your rookie year.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
Yeah. So it was the first year that I had
taken on the full distance. I did my first ever
long distance seventy point three race and at the end
of twenty eighteen, and then twenty nineteen was my first
year pursuing that half iron Man distance, and I was
fourth at the World Chane I mean trip, and I
won a bunch of races, and I thought, like I've
made it, you know, or like I'm making it. I
(23:05):
can like pay my bills and I'm competitive this morning.
It's all gonna be great. And then of course COVID
happened and had my daughter at being of twenty twenty one,
and then really had this adventure to I guess, find
my fitness again. And then did my first full distance
race in the summer of twenty twenty two when Sky
(23:26):
was thirteen or fourteen months old.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
So it's your rookie season and you just go ahead
and win the whole damn thing in Hawaii, No big deal.
Do you think you had beginner's mindset? The expectations were
not like, oh, I should be competing to win. It's
just let me go out there and see what I
can do and then you win it.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
Absolutely, that whole year. At twenty twenty two, I still
was very much postpart on, Like I look at photos
of when I did my first iron Man in Hamburg,
and you know, like my body was still really coming
back from pregnancy, and then I was dealing with a
ton of like postpart of mental health issues. I had
(24:03):
some really good races, I had some really tough races.
And I remember looking at my husband a couple of
days before KNA the Ironman World Championships and saying, like,
what happens if I don't have a good day and
he goes nothing changes? Like, yeah, you know, we have
our beautiful daughter and we had this amazing life and
it's all good. I think I had just really started
(24:28):
to feel like myself in the four or five weeks
leading into that race day, and I had so few expectations,
Like I had no external expectations right, Like I was
on a really small sponsorship. I didn't get invited to
the press conference. There was no pre race media for me.
And in retrospect, that like really freed me up to
just find out what was possible. And I like had
(24:49):
never done a math of what my fitness across swind
bike ground would add up to, and I think if
I'd done that, I would have been way more nervous.
But it turns out that on that day it was
a second as time ever on the course and good
enough for the win, which is is totally thrillazing. There
will never be another moment like that. I really like
plan and hope to do it again, but to have
(25:10):
that first one be so unexpected was really special.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
That's really cool.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
I watched it happen from the race and it was
so cool. I was a little bit further back, but
watching Chelsea. She wasn't even in first place yet on
the run, but she was charging because we run on
this iconic road, a leeee drive to start and I'm
running out and she's running back, and you could just,
oh my gosh, I knew. I was like, we're going
to have an American champion. It was it was cool
(25:39):
and I think about those moments then I'm like, Okay,
now I got to get the most out of myself.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
It's it's just so cool. I'll never forget that.
Speaker 5 (25:45):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
I think early in the race you could tell that
she had something going.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Yeah, like early in the run, I mean I had
raised Chelsea. I know what kind of runner she is,
and then you just Ironman is so long and we
do race a lot of the same people, and.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
There isn't Cona's horror.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
I mean, it's so hard because the course is hard,
the distance is hard, but the expectations and the hubub
around it. And this race in twenty twenty two was
also very interesting because we had women mostly Women's Day,
and so Chelsea was getting to the very front of
(26:20):
the race, and that was the first time that had happened.
Where previously men and women had raced on the same day,
the men would pro men would get about a ten
minute head start, and so if a woman's having a
good day, she's surrounded by men, and in this case,
Chelsea was charging too with the very front. So like
as someone who was a little bit further back, like
I could see the helicopter and I'm like, that helicopter
(26:41):
is over Chelsea, And it was just so cool as
someone who had done the race like a lot of
times seeing it in that perspective. And then again i'm
you know, there's a little bit of a nationalistic of course,
it's not like super but I come from something I
come from, like Olympic cycles and that kind of thing,
and I knew how long it had been since an
American woman had won, and I think just seeing her
(27:04):
up there.
Speaker 4 (27:04):
It was it was really neat.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
It was really cool for the whole sport and for
all of us, you know, also who got to compete
on that day.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
I think what's so special about ConA too is is
in some ways trap on right, is such a niche sport,
Like our fans are so invested, but there's not a
b a billion of them, and ConA is our big
sports moment. Like you know, there's a helicopter at the
front of the race, the race is on NBC or
at least like they do kind of a documentary that's
(27:32):
aired an NBC, and we get like real media coverage.
So you know, when I won, it was like in
People magazine and there was a bit on the New
York Times, and I think, you know, it wasn't until
it all happened that I realized like, oh, this is
our this is our golden egg, Like this.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Is our most Yeah, it's your super Bowl right there,
It's our super Bowl for sure.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
That's so cool.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
We got to take a quick break when we come
back more with Haley and Chelsea.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Hang tight.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
It's not always glamorous. It doesn't always land you in
People magazine. It's very grueling and taxing. You also don't
really get to choose how you feel race day, like
you said Chelsea with the Eagle Eye. But Hayley, tell
us about the time that you accidentally told a whole
room of reporters that you had bubble guts.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Where are you getting this information?
Speaker 3 (28:27):
I'm the worst with like quotes, but I think this
was down in South America. I've raced a lot in
South America. I've loved how this sport has encouraged me
to travel. I don't think when I growing up, I
ever really aspired to that. And I'm so thankful that
I've been able to race in some different countries and
see other parts of the world and connect with athletes
(28:48):
from other countries.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
And I was in Chile and I.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Had had a really good race for me, but I
had been a little things happened. I mean, when you
run a lot and there this race in Pocone like
it's it was so it's so cool because you're there's
so many fans, Like the streets are just lined with
thousands of people cheering, but there are like no border bodies,
and so there's just nothing.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
You can do about it.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
And you, you know, I just keep going, you just
like keep going. And so I finished and I finished third,
I think in that race, which was really good for me.
This is when I was coming back from from injury
early on for my first injury, and so I was
super psyched be on the podium and I don't speak Spanish,
and they lined us up for these interviews, and I
was talking to Alicia Kay, another competitor, and I was
(29:39):
just like, and I think I also was going to
get drug tested, and I'm just like, I have an
issue right now, and I'm like explaining it to her.
I think I said GI distress, which I feel like
is a pretty nice way.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
To put it. I shit my pants.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
The microphones were on, and you know, even though a
lot of it was in Spanish, there are definitely people
who could understand English and knew what I said, but
you know, helped me out.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
You know what.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Honestly, everybody poops, so sometimes it's better to just talk
about it.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Oh, tell us, what's your worst story?
Speaker 4 (30:11):
No, the other one's okay, this is the worst.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
One was actually the first Iron Man I ever won,
which was also in Brazil. Also, lack of porta potties,
which is not just a South American thing sometimes can happen,
but that one, I was just scared because I just
I wanted to win and it was such an incredible moment.
But I did get drug tested, you know, it's like
a urine test, and I needed to like clean myself off.
(30:35):
And so what happens is like the chaperone came with
me and like watch me shower basically, and then she
friended me on Facebook and we're still Facebook friends to
this day.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
But that's like a volunteer job about it. I mean,
she felt close to you. After that.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
I felt so bad for her, but I didn't know
what else to do.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
And I'm also like on cloud nine because I went
an iron Man, which is not something you do that often.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
We got to find out whatever the Brazilian version of
Montezuma is.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Because it's hits you twice. Whatever Brazil's Montezuma's revenge.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
Think it's just an iron Man.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
There's been this is like twenty you know, twenty fourteen
to twenty seventeen range. There's been a lot of advances
in iron man nutrition. I don't want to I don't
want to scare people away from the sport.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Right right. I mean they do say that a venture.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Your body's like, well, that's not a priority anymore because
we're in distress. So it's like, I guess, just do
whatever down there. We got to keep running away from
the imaginary bear or whatever is inspiring this lady to
run for so long, Chelsea, you got any crazy you know, jellyfish, sharks, poop?
Speaker 5 (31:40):
Oh man. I mean I have to say, like the
amount of drug testers that I've had to apologize too
is best.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
That makes me feel better?
Speaker 5 (31:50):
Oh, girlfriend, Yeah, it's unfortunate the things we do. I
had a really bad one after Niece last year. I
was I was really underprepared for the World champion Ships.
I was like quite injured, and so I didn't start
running until three weeks before and I like, gut it
out a pretty good finish. But I think what your body,
(32:10):
what happens to your body when you're not prepared, is
like unhinged. So I was a shell of a person
and had lost several faculties by the end of that one.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Oh my god. Yeah, you know what it is.
Speaker 5 (32:23):
It's crazy, Like you can't think too hard. I've learned
you just can't think too hard about it, right, like
the idea of racing. It's not exercising, it's like racing
for eight to nine hours. It's ridiculous. Yeah, it's a
very long way to go, and you just can't think
too hard about you.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Just let it happen.
Speaker 5 (32:40):
Very present at this.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Tiny little short shorts on and one ball knock out
and he didn't have time to put it back in.
That ball was going to race with him to the
finish and then eventually he would talk it back in
those little shorts.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
It happens, and we know to point out Chelsea ran,
did you run like a two fifty marathon off of
three weeks training and like an insanely hard course in Nice?
I mean, for her to finish third in that race
was so incredible. I wasn't there watching. I was watching
on TV. But I think it's it's easy to kind
of look at some Iron Man times and think that
(33:17):
they're not very fast and then realize that, no, Chelsea
is an incredibly elite runner putting up elite times in
incredibly hard conditions.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
And yeah, maybe.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
There it's like the doping control officers, they are the
real heroes sometimes, but but no, I think it's it's
just like incredible to put that into context of like
exercise already for like five hours and now you're going
to go run a two fifty marathon insane.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
I think I need you to my hyph women, Yeah,
you should carry each other around for that. My friend
Klaint Connichen does those bad water one thirty fives where
you're just like competing for like a day plus. Just
you should be a shell of yourself by then, Like
you should not be doing okay.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
I think that would be a bad sign if your
body was. Like we're good.
Speaker 5 (34:01):
People that will just like strut around right after the races,
and I think we're just built different or we're doing
this different.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Maybe you're doing it wrong.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
You guys are facing off at the Ironman Texas on
April twenty sixth, Chelsea, what are you looking forward to
with that race?
Speaker 5 (34:17):
You know, I've made so many changes in my team
over the last six months. Last year, I moved states,
I changed coaches, I changed by sponsors. I blew up
my life so to speak professional flye. So I've like
had really great stability and consistency the last for this
(34:38):
training block, and I'm just curious to see where I'm at.
I really feel like my best performances are ahead of me,
and it'll be fun to race in North America, which
I don't get to do that often.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
Hayley, what about you.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
Yes, this is I don't want to call it redemption.
It's just a bonus opportunity for me. I set Texas
on the date when I was, you know, coming out
of surgery last October, and it felt like a carrot
that kind of helped me get fit again and let
me go through some soul searching on like do I
really want to be there again? And I do, and
(35:10):
so I am trying this challenge where I'm like super
kind to myself and there.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
You know, it's it's very.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
Cool that I get to be back there, that I
get to race women like Chelsea, and this field is
going to be incredible, and I think it's important to
tell people that, you know, twenty twenty five for women
in Long Coorse Trathon is a very big year because
we do have the Ironman World Championships for Women will
be in Hawaii and ConA this year in October. And
right now it's this kind of a time of flex.
I mentioned twenty twenty two was the first year they
(35:39):
split it and also the first year that we had
equal slots for men and women professionals. There were fifty
slots for men and women and that was the first time.
Speaker 4 (35:46):
So it just happened. And then twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Three we unfortunately the island of Hawaii couldn't handle two
days and so they split the race. They put the
women in Hawaii and the men in France and decided
to alternate. So twenty twenty four the men were in
Hawaii and so twenty twenty five we.
Speaker 4 (36:04):
Go back to Hawaii.
Speaker 3 (36:05):
There is a lot of chatter on going back to
a single day championship, which I think would be a
disservice to a lot of the women in the sport
because you know, the moment I talked about with Chelsea,
getting to see her in the very front of the race,
and there aren't I can't think of another sport where
the at the world championship level you can have a.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
You know, a woman's finish.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
People that aren't in, people that aren't in your race,
in your way right exactly what it is.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Yeah, yes, And even last weekend we had the T
one hundred and Singapore and then a race in Ocean
Side in California, and I think if you watch the
coverage of both of those, it was so drastically different
because the women in Singapore get their own day, their
own course, and so you're watching the race and then
you're watching the coverage and ocean side and Paula Finley,
an incredible Canadian athlete, is leading, and they're like, you
(36:57):
watch this man past her, and they're like, just ignore him,
he's aroma.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
That's a fun.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Yeah, And so I think I understand why logistically we
need that, and we see it in marathoning. I mean
sometimes sometimes it can be you know, it's nice to
have the men around you, baby, not in the swim,
but sometimes. But I think I think at the world
championship level, you want to showcase the best women, and
so I'm very passionate about that and about you know,
(37:23):
hopefully keeping the professional races separate so that we can
see that, so we'll see, you know, Ironman has a
new CEO. There's a lot of change happening, but hopefully
we get some you know, fans of the sport who
are really invested in that, in that you know, Road
d'acona this year and trying to really celebrate that women's race,
and hopefully it will continue in some capacity. They're going
(37:46):
to figure out how to keep that, keep that going.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Okay, we're out of time, but I have one last
quick three question speed round for you both. Uh, Chelsea,
your go to song before a race, last thing you
listen to?
Speaker 5 (38:01):
Oh my gosh, that's so tough. I really love that song.
You know that song? I Am Woman?
Speaker 2 (38:08):
Who is that by? Like the old one? I Am woman?
Speaker 5 (38:11):
Hear me, roar no, it's newer. Man, I'm totally blanking
an artist. I love like a little girl power, right
I like Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus. That's sort of like, I.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Think I know the song you're talking about. I can't
think of who it is right now, but I think
I know the more like the more like like news
what about you, Hayley.
Speaker 3 (38:31):
Oh, Taylor Swift, I'd probably do like Cruel Summer, you know,
maybe maybe something from Reputation once she records Reputation, Taylor's version.
I'm like one of those people that's like, I'm like,
is this bad? To listen to her?
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Like the before vision before Taylor's version comes out. I
like that, Chelsea.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
What's the moment during a race that usually hurts the most.
I know it probably is different every race, but is
there go to like time in where it's like.
Speaker 5 (38:54):
The oh, the first ten minutes of the bike after
you get out of water, it's really tough. It's like
going from the horizontal to the vertical. Yeah, and having
to like go all out at the beginning of the
bike after an hour of swimming.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
That's pretty cool. What about you, Hayley.
Speaker 3 (39:11):
I love that part because that's what I'm usually like
toward the front still and I'm like, yeah, this is
so fun for me. I mean, the hardest part is
for me is probably the end of the run. I mean,
you're just so depleted. You've been actually zing for so long,
and that's one of my big goals. I've been doing
this for so long, and I'm like, I just want
to still be racing that that last hour of the run.
(39:33):
So maybe Texas, I just you know.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Right, put it down in the universe, Okay, and then
favorite either favorite post race meal or favorite like self
care treat yourself after a race.
Speaker 5 (39:44):
Chelsea, Oh, I love this one. So I make this
deal with myself where if I win the race, I
get a present.
Speaker 2 (39:52):
What have we gotten so far, so this is ridiculous.
Speaker 5 (39:56):
In twenty twenty two, before ConA, Lol, I I could
get an e hummer. I'm not a hummer gal, but
I like really having a young child, I was like,
this will be the safest option, will be eco friendly,
and I was like it was a joke in our household,
like if I have won ConA, I could get anyway
I won, and then we realized that would just be
(40:16):
so irresponsible. But last year I got myself as like
really I call it my like hot mom swimsuit. It's
from this Australian brand Machu. And then after I am
Mandew Zealand I got myself fat Gold. This actually my
fat Gold chain.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
Oh nice? I love that. Thank you, Haley, what about you?
Speaker 4 (40:36):
I don't win as often as Chelsea, so I need
to I don't.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Have to win to treat yourself. I treat myself that.
I love food.
Speaker 4 (40:45):
So I'm like burger beer, you know.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
I feel like if I'm well enough to be eating
a burger and a beer, then I've also won in
that respect. I love I love like just like downloading
with people afterwards. I also have a few athletes I
race who are going to be in Texas, and so
I love being able to go back and and watch
them finish. And that's like a huge, huge accomplishment. I
(41:07):
mean I sometimes had to take a nap on the
sidewalk in between. Luckily we get a head start so
they don't get to see me at my worst and
then they don't fire me.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
So, oh my gosh, these are the people that you coach.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
How cute are you the way you treat yourself as
watching other people that you coached race? I mean, geez, Louise,
this has been so much fun. I genuinely do want
to watch you guys race now. I'm not a huge
treathel on personal in the swimming me. Okay, I'm gonna.
I'm gonna.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
Don't worry.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
We'll tell all the listeners how they can watch you
guys compete and follow along as you get ready for
you know, the Iron Man ConA and everything else.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
But it was so great to chat with you guys
have the best energy. So thanks so much for coming on.
Speaker 5 (41:45):
Thanks for having us. It's been awesome.
Speaker 4 (41:47):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
Thanks so much to Haley and Chelsea for joining us,
and shout out to Royce for the suggestion we got
to take another break when we return.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
Welcome back slices.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good game play of the day. Follow Hayley and Chelsea
on social media ahead of their big race day and
tune in Saturday at seven am Eastern to watch them
race on Outside TV for free. We'll throw links to
their social media accounts and to the live stream in
our show notes. We always love to hear from you,
so hit us up on email. Good game at wondermedianetwork
(42:34):
dot com and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
It's easy.
Speaker 1 (42:38):
Watch the live goat cams at Al Johnson's Swedish restaurant,
rating five out of five. Up on a Hill was
a lonely go tood you lay lay review. When we
announced the Diana Trasi bench set to be installed in
Door County, several of you reached out to alert us
to the presence of a Door County restaurant called Al
(42:59):
Johnson's Swedish restaurant that has actual, real live goats on
the roof. Tremendous, wonderful, a very strong contender for the
ribbon cutting post party that day. Even better than the
existence of the goats though, freaking live goat cams to
watch said goats online anytime anywhere.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
Now.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
I haven't yet seen a goat on the live cams,
but it's been pretty cold, so I anticipate far more
goat sightings to come. We'll put the link in our
show notes. Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks
for listening.
Speaker 2 (43:31):
See you tomorrow for my chat with two time NWSL
champion Meghan Klingenberg.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
Good game, Hayley, Good game, Chelsea Few long distance swimming,
then biking, then running. I am so sorry but you
could not pay me enough. Should I change the few
to few? Mesh for having no idea?
Speaker 2 (43:49):
What I was doing down on the hill was a
lonely coted you lay you lay yo. Loo was literally like,
what is she doing?
Speaker 3 (44:00):
What is that?
Speaker 2 (44:07):
It is the sound of music? Oh shit, I know
the sound of music.
Speaker 4 (44:11):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez and Grace Lynch.
(44:37):
Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host
Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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