10 Q’s With A Pro: Chelsea Sodaro

With zero racing action for the foreseeable future and our “Last Weekend Now” column on hiatus indefinitely, we’ll be checking in with a pro every week to see how they’re coping—and hopefully learn a couple of fun facts. This week, the United States’ Chelsea Sodaro checks in from her home in Mill Valley, California. Here’s what the 70.3 champion had to say about life through the pandemic.

I’m social distancing with..
My husband, Steve. He’s my favorite person in the world, so it’s hard to complain too much. We’ve had some pretty great socially-distanced dinner parties outside a taco shop near our house with family and close friends.

My favorite indoor workout is…
Core Club! I lead a weekly core club with Sarah Piampiano for Purple Patch Fitness athletes. We wanted to find a way to give back to our coach, Matt Dixon, and our community during this time. So we started a 30-minute core workout on Zoom every Monday morning.

If I wasn’t a pro triathlete I would be…
A country singer! Probably not, but that’s what I’d want to be. Ha! If I hadn’t pursued professional sport after college I think I would have gone to law school or gotten into journalism.



My favorite post-workout meal is…
My post-workout cherry pie smoothie! It’s healthy and delicious. I always look forward to it after I finish a big session. It has lots of quality protein and tides me over until I can get a real meal in. The recipe is on my Instagram.



One change I’ve made that will probably stick is…
Investing more in the relationships that matter to me. I am usually traveling for months every year and I haven’t done a great job of keeping in touch. Nurturing friendships outside of sport makes me feel more whole as a human, which also makes me a happier athlete. And as my sports psych, Kristin Keim likes to say: “Happy athletes are faster athletes!”

The last thing I watched on TV…
“When They See Us.” I’m working to better educate myself on racism in America so that I can more effectively ally in anti-racism. This miniseries is heartbreaking, but also eye-opening.

I knew I could be good at triathlon when…
I first became obsessed with the idea back at the end of 2016. I hadn’t even done a triathlon yet! I was totally naive, but I had this burning desire to see what I could do in the sport. I was pretty convinced that I could take the talent and work ethic that I’d fostered as a pro runner and find a way to translate that to swim-bike-run. I have been really lucky in my life to have a lot of support, and a lot of opportunities. I knew that if I could find the right mentor and training environment that I could give it a good crack!

It would surprise everyone to know that…
I’m not the best athlete in my family. My mother-in-law, Vicki, is a four-time national champion and collegiate champion in sailing. She’s almost 65 and still crushing.

The last thing that made me laugh…
My boxer dog, Tyson! There is a cat daycare near our apartment. It’s called the “Kitty Charm School.” The moment that we leave the house for a walk, Tyson is on a mission to go look at the cats through the glass window. He checks every storefront until we find the cats. And then, as soon as we’re at the right spot, he sits down and howls as he looks at the cats in the window. It’s ridiculous. But it’s become one of our silly quarantine routines now and he has such unbridled joy. I crack up every time!

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