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

Pre-Race weekend-

Overall, The days building up to the race were good, but mentally taxing. I was prepared to be more excited during the weekend, but even my time resting was a bit more tiresome than I thought it would be. I had a lot of friends and family come in for the race and being around lots of people who were all as excited as me and even more curious was difficult to handle at times. This being my first IM, I knew that there were going to be things to change and adapt for the future, but the most important one is going to be reserving my own private room for at least the night before the race and probably the whole time I am in the city.

The expo in Madison is awesome, but expect lines. I don’t know if this compares with other venues: the expo itself was nice, but limited. The Chicago tri expo is still #1 to me with the sheer amount of great stuff available. I would recommend arriving Thursday to Madison and maybe even checking in then to have a day totally off in between being at the expo and around all that energy. The bike/ gear check went smoothly, although I was on my feet for a while. Thursday also seems like a lighter day in terms of the amount of people who are there at the race site so it seems like people would be up and in line less than I was.

In preparing my nutrition, I wanted to be on the safe side of too much rather than too little. This mentality might have cost me during the race, but I am still glad that I prepared that way. I planned for 2 bottles of perpetuum for the bike, with a third in my special needs bag in case I lost one of my bottles during the ride.

The swim.

There is not a whole lot to say about the swim. There was a small wait getting down to the start, but overall the swim was very smooth. The first and second turn on the swim were very physical, but the race seemed to settle after that. The swim was especially brutal for me because my goggle strap broke twice from people kicking it. I was forced to tread water and tie the straps together, but they still worked and the swim was fine after that.

T1

The run to T1 was long and required a run up the helix into Monona terrace. The run is awesome though because there are so many people cheering. The transition is inside the terrace and was very smooth.

Bike.

This was by far the most difficult part of the race for me. Weighing in at 200+, I knew it was going to be hard and the heat of the day did not help. I kept my HR at 155 during the 40 miles of the loop and it went quickly. I think that I began my nutrition too soon though, because at about mile 30 my stomach was feeling full and over done. As a result, it was difficult for me to keep drinking fluids. The second loop I began cramping very badly. I took about 25 endurolytes during the whole bike and I probably could have used more. The second time around the big hills were tough, but there are a ton of people on the hills cheering and it can help a lot. I drank lots of water on the second lap, trying to recover the fluids that I didn’t take on the first lap, but they didn’t help my cramps much until the run.

T2

Finishing the bike is a great feeling- especially because the last 5-10 miles are very flat. The very end however is tough- biking up the helix to Monona terrace on tired legs. T2 is the same as T1, and things went smoothly during it for me.

Run

The run was both good and bad. I started out feeling great and having to hold myself back to a 9 minute pace. However, all the food and water that I had just consumed at the end of the bike would greatly affect how I felt and ran. I stopped at a bathroom at mile 2 and thought that would be it. But the next 8-9 miles I was constantly stopping in the bathrooms. It killed my times, but I actually felt good- I just had way too much water in me. I was able to run consistently, but slow. The people along state street are great support and help the mental downer that sometimes comes during the turnaround to loop 2 because you are 100 yards from the finish, and then have to turn around again.

Overall, while I was disappointed with my time, I was happy to keep a good mental attitude and as a result, loved the whole race (maybe not all the terrible cramps). The truly invaluable thing that my training did was prepare me for all the things that go wrong during the race. On my training rides, if something would go wrong, I would think that this might happen during the race and I need to be ready for that. So, during the race from my goggles, to my cramps, to my frequent bathroom stops, I kept thinking that I was going to keep going and finish well if I was able to keep going. I met a lot of really great people on the marathon and finishing was an experience that I will never forget.