Thank YOU!

Thank You for all your love and support Randy!!!

You're the BEST husband ever! 

Kona 2011

As athletes we dream big, we set our sights high, and we pursue our goals with heart and passion.  I have been on an amazing journey for the past 3 months as I prepared for my first trip to the Ironman World Championships in Kona.  They always say, “It’s about the journey, not the destination.” Oh, how true these words are.  With the outcome of Kona being my ‘destination’, yes, I am disappointed.  I had a tough day out there swimming, biking, and running on an empty tank.  But I wouldn’t change the result if I could.  The journey that brought me to the start line and the journey I went through on race day have made me a stronger and better athlete…an athlete that will show up to the next race with full confidence that I can conquer the day and do what I am capable of, an athlete that is mentally tougher since I have battled and defeated the demons during a tough nine hour race, an athlete that will know how to fight hard even when things are going smoothly and according to plan, an athlete that is so lucky to be able to do what I do, and most importantly an athlete that is proud of who I am.  There were times during the race that it would have been very easy to throw the towel in and walk away saying, “it just wasn’t my day.”  But those thoughts were fleeting and kept in check by my deep desire to be my best and give it my all.  While my best on that day is by far no means my ‘best’ as an athlete, I dug deep and made it happen.  What more can we ask of ourselves?!

Most of you are probably interested in how my day played out…so here is a short recap:

Being a goof-ball race morning!

Race-Morning: I woke up calm and excited.  Calm knowing I’d done everything I thought I needed to leading up to the race and excited to go out and celebrate the end of this year’s Kona journey.  Things were going smoothly until about 1hr to race start, when I suddenly felt the urge to throw-up.  No time to even try to coax it back down…before I knew it all of my breakfast was on the ground…hmmm not so good to start the day on an empty stomach!!  But what can ya do?  I modified my pre-race nutrition, had Randy run grab me an extra gel and bottle of Ironman perform…at least I could get a few calories in.  Then I headed into the tent to get body marked and off to transition.  I left transition and as I walked up to Randy, he looked at my arm and said, ‘That’s not your number!’  I looked down and sure enough they had stamped ‘124’ on my arm instead of ‘125’.  Opps!  Went and got that fixed then it was time to head down to the water.  I got in the water and was happy to do my warm-up with the fish swimming below me, very calming!  Then off to the start-line. 

The swim: pretty uneventful.  I started off strong and found a good rhythm early and was in the mix of the first pack of guys.  I was on Matt Reed’s feet, with Dirk Bockel on one side and Timmy O’donnell on the other, quite the nice pocket to swim in.  The water was a bit choppy so having good feet to swim on made my effort feel quite easy.  As we approached the exit, I ran up the steps and into the change tent.  The volunteers in the change tent went crazy cheering, a few seconds later Julie Dibens came in, and that is when I realized I was the first woman out of the water, how cool is that?!  I made it to my bike and for the life of me could not get my helmet buckled.  I stayed calm, but it still took me like 45 seconds to get the darn thing on…my longest transition, ever! 

The bike: I was ready to put my head down and work hard.  The streets were lined as we rode through town, which was awesome, I tried to pull some energy from the crowd as I realized my legs were not feeling so great.  I reminded myself that there was a long day ahead and to settle in, do what I could, and I would be able to back-half the race.  About 30min in and my stomach was feeling very unsettled, I thought I was going to have to pull over for a pit-stop!  I kept telling myself, just make it to the next aid station and there you can make a quick trip into the Port-a-Pottie.   Of course, right as I was approaching my much needed Port-a-Pottie, Miranda and Mary Beth came by.  I knew I couldn’t let them go without a fight, so no pit-stop for me.  My legs came around a bit and I was able to stay in contact with them, but  as we turned up towards Hawi, my stomach started to bubble again…this time wanting to come out the top end…and there was nothing I could do to stop it.  At this point, I decided to manage the stomach by stopping the calories for a bit and just going with water.  I climbed at a what felt like a steady effort up to Hawi, but glancing at my lower than normal watts, and watching girl after girl pass me, made it that much tougher.  I hung strong and kept my head in the game, I was falling backwards, but things could turn around and anything was still possible so I kept pushing along.  Something was rubbing on my back wheel, so annoying to hear the ‘swish, swish’ with every revolution, knowing I was working harder than normal to be going so slow.  I hoped off my bike to try to fix it, not once, but twice…and never figured out what it was.  My calories kept coming up in random pukes…would have made for some great pics as it was flying out of me into the crosswinds!!!  I managed my stomach and the heat the best I could, and rode my way back into T2. 

The run: The run along Kuikini and Ali’I was amazing, so many people cheering and calling my name, that definitely helped push me along…so thanks to everyone out there supporting!!  The 10miles out and back on Ali’I were okay, I was ticking miles off, trying to get back on top of some nutrition, but just didn’t feel fluid and smooth like I had leading up to the race.  The run up Palani was tough and then out on the Queen K.  It’s funny looking back at the race, because usually, I can tell you exactly what was happening, how I was feeling, throughout the entire race.  But, as I look back at this race, once I was on the Queen K, the race became a blur.  My head was fuzzy and my body felt foreign.  I was on a mission to get to the next aid station and get fluids, ice, and lots of sponges.  Between aid stations, it was full focus on moving forward.  During the race, my mind was still in race mode and my competitiveness never let down, expectations were modified, and I just kept pushing forward.  The energy lab=a blur.  Back on the Queen K=a blur.  Turning onto Ali’i=a blur.  The finishing chute=a blur.  I don’t have a memory of any of it!  Just random bits of pieces of myself telling myself, I was strong and I could do it.  Randy said he has never seen me dig so deep or fight so hard to just finish.  He actually didn’t think I was going to make it to the finish line when he saw me at mile 23.  But even in my blur, deep down, my desires and passions kept pushing me to the finish.  I guess it’s a part of who I am, its in my heart, its in my soul, its in my blood: NEVER GIVE UP!

Kona Results: 18th Pro Woman

Swim: 51:54  ****Fastest Swim Split***

Bike: 5:20.15

Run: 3:32.47

Total: 9:50.11

Hy-Vee Triathlon Coming Up!

September 4th, 2011 I will be racing in the Hy-Vee 5150 U.S. Championship in Des Moines, Iowa. This is a HUGE race leading up to the World Championship in Kona later this year.

To keep up with the race you can follow @HyVeeTri and @DrAmandaStevens

or go to the Hy-Vee website: http://www.hy-veetriathlon.com

Looking forward to the race! See you there. :)

AMANDA STEVENS WINS LADIES DIVISION AT SUBARU SOOKE TRIATHLON

The scene was set - the professional women would be given a 15 minute head start over the men at the Subaru Sooke Triathlon in the beautiful ocean-side community on Vancouver Island's west coast. As the women dove from the pontoon in to the water and quickly disappeared in the morning fog, the men anxiously awaited their start time. The race drew the largest Pro field ever assembled on Vancouver Island with 40 Pro triathletes including representing Canada, US, Mexico, and Australia. The athletes included a wide variety of different distance specialists competing in "The Chase", a non-drafting Olympic distance event where the women are given a head-start time on the Men - first athletes across the line win $15 000 in cash & prizes.

Taking the early lead out of the water was Ironman 70.3 US Champion, Amanda Stevens of Colorado Springs in 18:46 followed closely by local rising star Christine Ridenour. Next out were a tight group of 3 swimmers including Tenille Hoogland (Courtenay BC), who is coming off an Ironman 70.3 win in Calgary last weekend, local young triathlete Alison Hooper, and Vancouver's Martina Wan. As the men exited the water, they were led by Andrew McCartney, one of the premier swimmers in triathlon, in 17:18, erasing 1 minute 28 seconds from the deficit to the women. Closely following were Olympian Brent McMahon, and local young National Training Center athlete's Aaron Thomas and Cole Stewart.

As Steven's established herself as the class of the field on the new closed bike course up the scenic Pacific Marine Circle Route with its unique coastal communities and ocean views, she became the sole race leader never to be caught by the women again. But would the men catch her? Brent McMahon also established a sizeable lead on the bike with the other men and began catching and riding through the trailing women. Other athletes that had come out of the water a ways behind began catching athletes with strong rides included Jeff Symonds (Penticton), Stephen Kilshaw (Victoria), Rachel McBride (Vancouver), and Victoria's Lucy Smith. When the bike was finished just 3 women had avoided being caught by the men; Stevens, McBride, and Hoogland. Stevens, who was first off the bike, had a 2 minute lead

on McBride in the women's race, and now only a 3:31 lead to a hard charging McMahon in the "Chase". Stevens put up a good fight but could not prevent the inevitable with the run speed of McMahon as he caught her on "Whiffin Spit", approximately half way through the run course on the famous 1km narrow peninsula that extends to protect the Sooke Basin from the ocean. McMahon finished off the run at the same torrid pace, while Stevens held on for second with a fast approaching Symonds who finished 23 seconds back for 3rd overall.

The race will be produced into a one hour feature and aired nationally on TSN and TSN 2 networks this September.
"I held him (Brent) off as long as I could " said Chase Runner Up, Amanda Stevens , " I tried to go with Brent when he passed me but he was flying"
The last stop on the Subaru Western Triathlon Series will take place in Banff on September 10th.

Pro Chase Overall Results - Subaru Sooke Triathlon, August 7th, 2011
1 Brent McMahon, (M), Victoria, BC 1:54:40
2 Amanda Stevens, (F), Colorado Springs,- 4:08 (1st Female)
3 Jeff Symonds, (M), Penticton, BC, -4:31 (2nd Male)
4 Stephen Kilshaw, (M), Victoria, BC, -5:06 (3rd Male)
5 Rachel McBride, (F), Vancouver, BC, -6:18 (2nd Female)
6 Andrew McCartney, (M), Victoria, BC, -6:47 (4th Male)
7 Jeff Phillips, (M), Victoria, BC, - 8:43 (5th Male)
8 Damian Hill, (M), Portland, OR, -9:39 (6th Male)
9 Lucy Smith, (F), Sidney, BC, -10:29 (3rd Female)
10 Alison Hooper, (F), Victoria, BC, -10:46 (4th Female)

Full results and information on the Subaru Western Triathlon Series available at www.triseries.ca;

For athlete interviews and other information please contact: Shantel Cordeiro, Communications Manager, Subaru Western Triathlon Series. Photos available upon requests;

Tel: 250-858-0174, or email: shantel@triseries.ca