{"id":18320,"date":"2022-10-08T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-08T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.220triathlon.com\/?p=115852"},"modified":"2022-10-08T09:17:16","modified_gmt":"2022-10-08T07:17:16","slug":"chelsea-sodaro-i-wont-stop-talking-about-my-postpartum-journey","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/rss_feed\/chelsea-sodaro-i-wont-stop-talking-about-my-postpartum-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea Sodaro: I won\u2019t stop talking about my postpartum journey"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"rssexcerpt\"><\/p><p class=\"rssauthor\">By Tim Heming\n                \t\t<\/p><p class=\"rssbyline\">Published: Saturday, 08 October 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p><hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/><?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"yes\"?>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p><strong>\u201cTraining since having my daughter has been very challenging. It\u2019s taken a massive team effort and investment from my family so I can train like a professional athlete.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\"><a href=\"&quot;\/news\/athletes\/who-is-chelsea-sodaro\/&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Chelsea Sodaro<\/strong><\/a>, who <a href=\"&quot;\/news\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-championship-with-lucy-charles-barclay-in-second\/&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\"><strong>won yesterday\u2019s Ironman World Championship on debut in Kona<\/strong><\/a>, is talking about her return to top level triathlon within weeks of giving birth to daughter, Skye, 18 months ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">The victory in Hawaii also made her only the second mother, after Switzerland\u2019s Natascha Badmann, to win the coveted title on the Big Island.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cI\u2019m human and ideal with the same issues any woman would deal with when trying to return to exercise postpartum. It\u2019s quite a journey.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">Sodaro explained that while pregnant she decided she wanted to try and qualify for the 2021 Collins Cup, a team competition that pits USA versus Europe and the Rest of the World that takes place in Slovakia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cIt was going to take place when I was five months postpartum and I had to validate my qualification with a race when I was four months postpartum,\u201d she explained.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cI didn\u2019t really know what it meant when I set that goal and it turns out it\u2019s really hard to get back to racing after you\u2019ve a baby \u2013 go figure!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cI\u00a0 started back on a training plan when I was six weeks postpartum. My fellow athletes are probably tired of me talking about my postpartum journey and being a mum and all this stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cBut I\u2019m not going to stop talking about it until things are more equitable and women feel more comfortable that they can choose both family and sport at the highest level.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<section class=\"&quot;highlight\"><div class=\"&quot;highlight__content\" editor-content=\"\"> <ul><li><strong><a href=\"\/\/www.220triathlon.com\/training\/women\/should-i-keep-training-when-pregnant\/&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\">Training when pregnant: An expert guide\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a class=\"&quot;standard-card-new__article-title&quot;\" href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.220triathlon.com\/training\/women\/does-a-woman-s-athletic-performance-improve-after-having-a-baby\/&quot;\">Does a woman\u2019s athletic performance improve after having a baby?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a class=\"&quot;standard-card-new__article-title&quot;\" href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.220triathlon.com\/training\/women\/how-to-breastfeed-around-training-and-exercising\/&quot;\">How to breastfeed around training and exercising<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a class=\"&quot;standard-card-new__article-title&quot;\" href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.220triathlon.com\/training\/women\/tummy-gap-what-is-it-and-how-can-you-fix-it\/&quot;\">Tummy gap: what is it and how can you fix it?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul><p> <\/p><\/div> <\/section><h2><strong>PTO maternity policy<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">As well as her family, Sodaro also benefited from the Professional Triathletes Organisation\u2019s maternity policy that ensured she wouldn\u2019t lose out financially through becoming pregnant and not being able to race.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">Plus, there was also the understanding of a new coach, New Zealand-based Brit Dan Plews.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cI started working with Dan when I was six weeks pregnant and when I told him, I said: \u2018I appreciate this might not be what you signed up for and I understand if you wanted to put things on hold or not accept the job.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cHe said: \u2018That is the most incredible news, congratulations, I am so happy for you, how can I support you?\u2019 I think it\u2019s unique for a male coach to respond that way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cIt meant everything and he\u2019s continued to be a brilliant coach in terms of prescribing training and has been incredibly patient with me in my return to racing post pregnancy and childbirth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cHe\u2019s just a wonderful human which is the kind of person I like to associate with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">Plews is also the amateur course record holder in Kona with a time of 8:24 in 2018, which is just 2mins faster than the women\u2019s pro course record set by <a href=\"&quot;\/news\/athletes\/who-is-daniela-ryf\/&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Daniela Ryf<\/strong><\/a> in the same year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cHe told me it meant he knew exactly what I\u2019d need to do!\u201d Sodaro joked.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Not a surprise to win<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div class=\"&quot;image-handler__container\" image-handler__container--aspect=\"\" style=\"&quot;padding-bottom:\" calc=\"\"> <picture><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=300%2C199,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=300%2C199,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=355%2C236,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=355%2C236,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=405%2C269,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=405%2C269,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=554%2C369,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=554%2C369,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=620%2C413,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=620%2C413,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=408%2C271,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=408%2C271,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=556%2C370,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=556%2C370,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><img class=\"&quot;wp-image-115879\" align=\"\" size-landscape_thumbnail=\"\" image-handler__image=\"\" image-handler__image--aspect=\"\" no-wrap=\"\" js-lazyload=\"\" data-src=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-wins-2022-ironman-world-title-35d9dcc.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=620%2C413&quot;\" width=\"&quot;620&quot;\" height=\"&quot;413&quot;\" alt=\"&quot;&quot;\" title=\"&quot;&quot;\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div><div class=\"&quot;caption-hold&quot;\"><figcaption class=\"&quot;wp-caption-text&quot;\"><span class=\"&quot;caption-copy&quot;\"><i class=\"&quot;icon-arrow\" icon-camera-circle=\"\"\/> Chelsea Sodaro celebrates after winning the 2022 Ironman World Championships, in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. (Credit: Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images for Ironman)<\/span><\/figcaption><span class=\"&quot;im-image-caption&quot;\"\/><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">As for the success in Hawaii, while the 33-year-old may not have been among the pre-race favourites, she didn\u2019t surprise herself with the win.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cI had one of those magical days, which is really fortunate with it being my first time out here,\u201d she explained.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cBut although I\u2019m a rookie at this race, I know the course and how the conditions feel and I just focused on myself and executing my plan and it came together for me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cI came out here for the first two weeks of September to train the course and did some hard running so knew what it would feel like.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cI kept trying to slow down in the first 10km of the marathon. My coach told me to go out at 3:55 per km pace and I did not follow that direction very well!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cBut I really trusted my training and when I could settle in and relax into a more sustainable rhythm I thought it would be fine because I\u2019d put in a lot of work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">Sodaro hails from a running background having run collegiately at UC Berkeley where she met her husband, Steve, a 3:59 miler. She didn\u2019t turn to tri until after a disappointing Olympic trials in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cI was following triathlon as a fan and the American women were so strong,\u201d she explained. \u201cI was injured sitting on the couch and my husband said:\u2019I think you\u2019d be really good at triathlon.\u2019<\/span><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">\u201cI laughed but he got me a bike and we started riding together and I got obsessed like most of us can relate to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Top image credit:<\/strong> Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images for Ironman<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Tim Heming Published: Saturday, 08 October 2022 at 12:00 am \u201cTraining since having my daughter has been very challenging. It\u2019s taken a massive team effort and investment from my family so I can train like a professional athlete.\u201d Chelsea Sodaro, who won yesterday\u2019s Ironman World Championship on debut in Kona, is talking about her [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":18321,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-i-wont-stop-talking-about-my-postpartum-journey-scaled.jpg",2560,1706,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-i-wont-stop-talking-about-my-postpartum-journey-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-i-wont-stop-talking-about-my-postpartum-journey-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-i-wont-stop-talking-about-my-postpartum-journey-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-i-wont-stop-talking-about-my-postpartum-journey-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-i-wont-stop-talking-about-my-postpartum-journey-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/10\/chelsea-sodaro-i-wont-stop-talking-about-my-postpartum-journey-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Tim Heming Published: Saturday, 08 October 2022 at 12:00 am \u201cTraining since having my daughter has been very challenging. It\u2019s taken a massive team effort and investment from my family so I can train like a professional athlete.\u201d Chelsea Sodaro, who won yesterday\u2019s Ironman World Championship on debut in Kona, is talking about her&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/18320"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}