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.”