Näak Ambassadors Lauren & Cody

PROFESSIONALS TRIATHLETES

Victoria, BC

“Better Together”

Lauren is bubbly and optimistic. Cody is driven and headstrong. Our combined energy and enthusiasm is vibrantly apparent to anyone around us. We bring a positive influence that translates from our athletic pursuits into our everyday life. I think it’s our natural confidence that allows us to be more authentic; we keep it real and aren’t afraid to be ourselves. We’ve found a way to approach this individual sport as a team.

Lauren gained her love for the West Coast mountains and ocean while growing up in Belcarra, BC, an oceanside village part of Greater Vancouver. She was a naturally gifted athlete from an early age, getting an ‘A’ in gym class was a breeze (even in her last year of school the gym teacher recognized her leadership and made a new gym class program just for her where she led the younger students). Her first sport was soccer and she took that all the way to the metro and varsity level. However it was the early morning ‘triathlon club’ swimmers that caught her eye while she lifeguarded them on deck. “I was curious what these crazy athletes were training for so early day after after day…!” so she signed up for her first triathlon in 2010 and hasn’t looked back since. She grew to podium regularly at races she attended all the way from the local to the global level. She has experience from age group racing, to elite, to National team, to guiding for an Olympic Paratriathlete, to carving her own professional pathway on the Ironman scene currently.

Cody Sahlstrom first sport of choice was boxing. After winning Provincial titles and Golden Gloves, he found himself in a fight hiatus and therefore sought triathlon as a different challenge. His first race he signed up for was Ironman Canada (which certainly is a lofty start for anything athlete!) but he got hooked and and has never looked back since. Cody quickly found himself on podiums at local races and qualifying for World Championships. After obtaining his pro card throughout arguably the most challenging time in triathlon… he’s tackling his training and competing with huge leaps and bounds.

The pandemic has certainly placed many challenges on safe travel… but there’s always a bright side! It looks like our first race will be on home turf at Ironman Canada in Penticton, then we are looking at Ironman 70.3 Cozumel and then Ironman 70.3 Indian Wells to finish off the year.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

2019 Ironman 70.3 Indian (Lauren & Cody 60sec difference)

2017Canadian World Championships (Lauren)

2017Penticton ITU Duathlon World Championships

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU EVERY DAY TO TRAIN?

Truthfully it's a bit of a grind... it’s consists of 5am alarms daily for workout #1, then we both get some actual work done (Lauren is a Account Executive in sales/marketing and Cody is a personal trainer) before we hit workout #2 around 3pm, and usually workout #3 right after that. The routine doesn't change much bi weekly but the cool thing we’ve found is the balance of having each other to be accountable to. As triathletes, we’re trying to fit a lot into an already busy schedule but we’ve struck a balance that enhances our relationship (not take away from it) and being able to take on these big goals and achieve big things together.

DO YOU HAVE A PERSON WHO INSPIRES YOU?

Lionel Saunders. His realness, drive, dedication and constantly willingness to learn and be a patron of the sport is incredibly admirable.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUTRITION TIP TO SHARE ?

Really take a look at the salt you intake in during training, racing and everyday life. Many athletes underestimate their body's need for it. Cody has always been pretty good at his salt intake but Lauren has really seen the benefits… she puts electrolytes in her water bottles daily and probably sneaks 1 - 3 pickles a day haha. Moral of the story? Don’t be afraid, MORE salt !

WHAT IS YOUR BEST RACING MEMORY?

2019 Ironman 70.3 Indian Wells was the first race we ever did together so there was an excited but nervous energy towards that. It just so happened that we both had the best half ironman races of our years to date! And we crossed the finish line within 60 secs of each other! It was an amazing experience to be able to have that hug at the finish line that day.

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU LIKE TO DO AFTER A COMPETITION?

You’d think we’d say eating a huge burger or something but honestly, our stomachs take a bit of time to recover from the race before getting excited for food...later. So the favourite thing for us? We just love having a nice long shower, resting our legs and recapping the race together.