Different paths, same course
Mike Sciacca
Mike Sandoval has traveled this road before, the one that winds
through the British Columbia city of Penticton and the surrounding
Okanagan Valley.
For Kip Grossman and Dave Kiff, it will be a first-time journey.
The Laguna Beach trio will be bound for Penticton next week to
compete at the Aug. 24 Ironman Canada.
The three will join more than 1,800 other athletes from around the
globe expected to compete in the event which, annually, is one of the
most popular triathlons in the world.
The Ironman Canada, which is celebrating its 21st anniversary, is
a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run.
Athletes will be competing for 100 qualifying spots in the
upcoming Ironman World Championships, to be held in October in Kona,
Hawaii, as well as a portion of the $75,000 professional-prize purse.
“It’s a great event that generally is booked solid by the end of
the opening day of registration,” said Sandoval, 39, whose first
attempt at an Ironman competition was the Penticton event in 1996.
Sandoval, Grossman and Kiff have been training for the Ironman
Canada for the past eight months.
Sandoval does some training with Kiff, who will be making his
first appearance in an Ironman competition.
“I’m anxious to have it underway and then over with,” said Kiff,
38, assistant city manager in Newport Beach. “The training has been
very time consuming and somewhat isolating -- a lot of time on the
bike, in the ocean or on a run, most of the time, all by myself.
“Having done five half-Ironman distance events, I know that
there’s a feeling about two-thirds of the way through where you tell
yourself, ‘I’m never doing this again,’” he said.
“Fortunately, it passes.”
Although this is his first full Ironman, Kiff has been training
for nearly four years.
For this particular Ironman race, though, he has been in training
since January.
“I tend to like the swimming and biking far more than the running,
so I will bike about five times a week -- including biking to work in
Newport Beach three to four days a week, all year round,” he said. “I
run about three times per week and swim five times a week. Plus, I do
yoga three times a week.
“July and early August were heavy training times -- sometimes
five-to-six hours on the bike and 1 1/2 to 2 hours on the run after
riding.”
In addition to all his early morning training, Kiff has been in
the cast of the Pageant of the Masters for the past two years.
“It’s been a sleep-deprived summer,” he said.
Kiff will enter the Ironman at just over 200 pounds.
“I compete with the guys called the ‘Clydesdales,’ where our motto
is ‘You don’t have to be thin to be fit,’” he said. “We’re an odd
bunch, but we have fun.”
Sandoval, who is competing in his fourth Ironman, recalls
finishing in the “middle of the pack” in his first Ironman Canada
triathlon in ’96.
His best finish in a triathlon, he said, was an 11:40 at the
Ironman Australia in 2000.
The Ironman Canada might be his last triathlon, said Sandoval, who
will compete in the 35-40 Division.
“I get a great sense of accomplishment out of these events,” said
Sandoval, who does MRI at an outpatient radiology clinic in Fashion
Island in Newport Beach. “I just want to improve upon my times and
set goals every time out. Training on a daily basis is challenging
and rewarding in itself.
“I’ll be turning 40 soon and these Ironman competitions take a lot
of time, effort and commitment.”
Sandoval and Grossman initially met through different competition
races and mutual friends.
For the 43-year-old Grossman, who will compete in the 40-44
Division, he will compete in his first Ironman Canada and his sixth
Ironman, overall.
His best memory of triathlon competition came during his second
Ironman, where he was able to raise $15,000 for challenged athletes.
“That one’s special to me,” he said. “I was really happy to raise
the money but eight weeks before the event, I broke my right ankle. I
was committed to doing the race and I worked with trainers to get
ready for it.
“Two weeks before the race, my cast came off. I was able to go on
and do the race.”
Grossman, who calls an Ironman competition, “one long, ugly
catered training day,” says that he’s eager to compete in Canada.
“I’m going there with the intention of staying in the present
moment, that’s for sure,” said Grossman, who works in the real estate
technology business. “I will only be thinking about things like,
‘How’s my hydration?’ ‘How’s my nutrition?’ ‘How’s my heart rate?’
“All I will worry about is what’s happening with my next step. The
minute you start to think of the finish line, it’s all over. It’s one
step at a time.”
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