Are you ready for the mountains of Georgia, ready for the long tough hills, ready for the challenge of Tri camp? Then this is the e-mail you have been waiting to read!

Tri camp will begin with dinner on Thursday July 22nd. Arrive early for a chance to visit the “crik” or go for an easy run…or arrive after dinner, the training truly begins Friday July 23rd.

Schedule:

Thursday 7-22 Course talk, easy run or “crik” for early arrivals.

Friday 7-23
6 a.m. Breakfast…. Wheels down at 6:30 for the infamous 89 mile 6-Gap ride right from the house…Immediately followed by either a 4 mile from the house run or a 5.7 loop of the Yahoola Hills!
Lunch –nap-Crik pictures—
Dinner: 6:00 or so…

Saturday 7-24
6:00 a.m. Optional breakfast
6:30 a.m.Long run, depending on your race, it will be a 3 or 4 times the Yahoola Loop…bring your nutrition with you (will drive to start of run…down that 21% graded driveway..just did not want you to have to run up it at the end of a 22 mile run ☺
12:00 …30 mile Fort ride
2:00 Naps…lunch….Winery Visit…oh yeah!!!

Sunday 7-25 7:30a.m. 3-Gap…easy 45 miles..

Cost: $150.00 per person includes lodging and food… Meals will be chicken, steak, pastas, pizza, salads, lunch meats, PBJ, and toast for breakfast. Wine/beer/water

Aside note: This is not a Kevin/Laura B and B, no mints on the pillow, no perky wake up calls, it is a camp and just like camp, chores will be announced in coming e-mails.

Things to Bring:
*Your favorite nutrition for the long rides and run
*Towels, we do not have enough
*12 x 27 or 11 x 28 gearing
*Sports drinks, or can visit the local WalMart 20 min. away.
*Aleve for the pains at the end of the day ☺

Limit 15 people…RSVP via email ASAP!

Looking forward to training hard, having fun, and enjoying the North Georgia Mts.

***running could begin earlier depending on the heat.

To view the PDF version click here!

An excerpt from the article:

“Laura Sophiea, 46, from Pleasant Ridge, MI, upsets 12-time age group champion Missy LeStrange, 49, by winning the women’s 45-49 age group. ”

For some more inspiration view the entire article here!

“Laura Sophiea (W50-54) is a gifted age-group veteran. Barring catastrophe, when she toes the line, everyone else is looking for second place. She holds course records and has been the age group champion in Kona. Her time of 10:27:25 put her home 55 minutes ahead of Gail Norman (11:22:32).”

Read the full article here.

2009 Ford Hawaii Ironman World Championships is a day for the record books. It felt like the hottest day I have ever had the opportunity to race here in Kona, coupled with an amazing head wind all the way home made for a brutal day! I am thankful and happy to come away with a strong finish! 11:03:02

When I walked out of the house a 5:15 a.m. it was already 77 degrees and I was sweating. I just thought, hmmm, going to be a day to remember ☺ I headed down to set up the bike and begin my day. I was able to get organized quickly and then go wait on the beach and chill for about 30:00 minutes. My typical MO is to have some sort of issue that freaks me out, but today it was painless.

I began the swim next to the pier and after the typical being used as some guy’s springboard forward, (let’s see how far we can push her down as I swim over her!) I settled into a group of what I thought were fast swimmers. It was one of my slowest swim finishes, so my swim group was not all that fast! It was fun, the ocean was rolling and chaotic. I talked to my mom as I swam past her ashes, and asked her to keep me safe on the day. That was pretty cool. Oh, I did get punched in the stomach, really not sure how that happens during a chaotic swim, I mean come on; my stomach is not in anyone’s way. That was a new experience for me.

The bike for me turned into a bit of a challenge. I felt pretty good, and was riding steady, but about 40 miles into the ride I began to vomit and that continued for the rest of the ride. Let’s see, covered with urine and vomit… imagine being anywhere near me ☺ The heat was the story of the day. Well that and the incredible head winds coming home which made the last 35 miles an adventure in mental toughness. I love the blowing trade winds, but today, they were absent. I would take a trade wind gust any day over a 20 + mph head wind for 35 miles! Also, I train with power and my power meter was not working so I used my heart rate and tried not to work as hard on the hills. Have to love technology…but only if it works! I did hear after the race the temperature on the course was 100 degrees. I think in 19 years, it has never been that hot and in fact I never had cloud cover until 22 miles into the marathon! I know enough about racing now to realize one needs to race their own race and as people flew by me on the bike, I knew that I may see them again during the marathon.

Once the run began I certainly was not sure how that would play out. After being sick most of the bike, I was worried that nothing was left in the tank, but all of a sudden I did feel good. Once I was on Alii Drive, I felt like I was home and actually love running that part of the course even though it was hot and even more humid. There are lots of people cheering for you and just so much energy it keeps you going. I had a bad spot about 9 miles in the run, took a Hammer gel, and slowed my pace down and was so excited because I was able to run up Palani Road. Nice steep uphill that is normally a place I love to walk. Gary my awesome massage therapist was there cheering me on and telling me it is a long day and stay in the moment! The highway was HOT, HOT, HOT! I enjoyed the run at least until after the Energy Lab, which seemed to suck all the energy out of me. It was survival mode back to the finish line. I was incredibly happy to finish strong, placing second in my age group to Donna Smyers, a great competitor of mine. I look forward to next year and a new age group. Who ever said getting old is not fun…I am very excited to age up!

I also wanted to thank everyone for their calls, text message, and facebook notes. It was inspiring and kept me going knowing you all were behind me. Thanks again to Hammer Nutrition and Steve Born. During the day I used Perpeteum, Enduralytes, and my most favorite, Energy Surge tablets. They carried me through the day. Thanks again for your continue support of me as I continue on in this sport I love so much. Without your help and knowledge in endurance sports, I would be lost.

Mahalo,
Laura

Have you ever shown up to a party and felt so out of place that the only thing you wanted to do what high tail it to the nearest exit.  That is how I felt the when I showed up on Thursday to IM Louisville.  First of let me put this out there, I never, ever, ever dreamed of being a triathlete .  I was always one of those people who “worked out” at the gym, but not really; ya’ll know what I am talking about. As I walk around and stared at everyone, all I could think of is I am going to get my bandonks kicked.  My mantra that day was I can’t swim, or bike well, maybe I can run 26.2; maybe…
So I did the only self-respecting thing I could do at the time.  I called my coach Laura Sophiea and had a meltdown.  All she said was, “You can do this Nikki.  You are mentally tough.  You made it through all of your training.  You will prove them all wrong”; meaning the thoughts in my head.  I went to bed that night feeling a little better, and woke up the next morning feeling empowered to do my practice swim.  As I jumped into the water, I felt calm as I repeated my mantra over and over in the water; this is something I worked on a lot to not freak out in the water.  As, I exited the swim, I felt great and was smiling.  This momentum me carried through the remainder of my pre-race activities Friday and Saturday .  Tip-always throw the junk out of your head and replace it with a positive(s).  Junk bogs you down; empowering thoughts can propel you to achieve your goals.
Flash forward to race day morning-Laura was now with me…I got up at 3:45, feeling anxious.  I reluctantly ate my breakfast because I felt like my stomach was about to jump out of my body; but since Laura kept telling me to eat, I ate and drank my water.  Laura and I then walked down to transition and she kept filling my head with positive thoughts.  I checked my bike one last time, looked around in amazement and left the scene.  I met up with Laura and friends again, and we did the long walk to the swim line up/start area.  The line was long and we had a over an hour to wait.  I took this time to mentally go over my race plan and have some quite time to myself.  Before I knew it the line was moving and time to jump in the water.  I said my goodbyes, and within 5 minutes, it was my turn to jump in the water.  I jumped in with three other people at the same time; they seemed to use the cannon ball technique, while I did more of a modified toothpick.
The water experience was a little weird, since you could see above water, but not below.  This being the case, there was some bumping and slapping in the water, but not much.  I felt good in the water, stuck with my mantra and did my best to keep moving forward in a straight line.  When I exited the water, I excited to get ready for the bike.  The thought in my head at this point was, the hardest of the race for me is over, now it is time to have some fun.  Tip for swim-do whatever you need to do to stay calm in the water.

T2 was a little weird at first, since I am not used to people helping me get ready.  I was thankful though because they keep you moving.  Once dressed I ran to my bike named, “THE HELLO KITTY”, and thought wow I am really doing this.  I got to the mount line and once again Laura was cheering, I could not hear exactly what she said, but I knew it was good stuff.  I hopped on my bike and was off.  Earlier in the summer I came down to practice on the course with my friend Neal two different times, so I knew what to expect.  This made it hard for me not to go balls out from the get go.  I also think this is hard for any person doing an Iron distance for the first time to really gage how fast they should start and when to really push it.  For me I wanted to do a negative split, so I was conservative the first half pushed a little harder to mile 100 and then really raced the last part.  I did do a negative split, but looking back I think I could have gone a bit harder on the bike…but don’t we all think that. Overall I did like the bike course and all the rolling hills that went with it.  I thought some parts were very narrow, people racing up and down a hill at the same time, but doable.  Tip for the bike: stick to your nutrition plan, no matter what, and always put chamois butter on before you get on the bike; wet bike shorts and 112 miles without it = ow!!!
T2 was  fantastic, I had people drying my feet, putting on my socks and shoes, and cheering me on at the same time.  I was really fired up for the run, since this is what I love to do the most.  I made sure I hit the bathroom; since I did not want to stop later, and away I went.  During the first mile I felt pretty good, but somewhere between 2 and 3 my stomach was not being nice to me.  As this was occurring Laura came up next to me on her bike.  I told her what was up, and she said, “Nikki, this is your rough patch, you will get through this, and once you do you will be ok.”  I ran on, and emptied my stomach twice, while running; I thought that was pretty talented…  Then right before mile 6, I knew I was in for it, and grew very upset that I would now have to stop at the bathroom.  I flew inside, and gave myself 5 minutes to get everything out; I hate losing time like this, but I had no other option.  When I got out I began to take in cola.  This seemed to help, but I had to get it every mile; because once you start cola you have to keep using it.  The rest of the run was good.  I did slow down a little bit after the stop, but I stayed positive.  Tip for run: keep running, stick to nutrition plan, and do not give into those pesky little thoughts that try to creep into your head.

As I approached the final mile, I was over the moon with pride, excitement, and gratitude.  I was high fiving, dancing around, whoo-hooing until I hit the finish line!  12:21:57  Wow, what a day!I