Andrea MacIntosh is a Canadian athlete who did Ironman New Zealand this year, but will mostly focus on XTERRA events in 2012. She is our randomly selected age grouper this week.

Slowtwitch: Thank you for the chat Andrea, or should we call you Andy?

Andy: Andy please. Yes I'm a chick, but I've been "Andy" since I was oh 5 years old. Andrea still sounds strange, even though that what I'm addressed as at work (unfortunately).

ST: Well, what kind of work do you do?

Andy: Right now I am the Director of Quality for a power systems company - think AC and/or DC power for remote installations, including telecom, cable, traffic, infrastructure, public safety. Before that I was in charge of manufacturing for a sub-sea technology company. We made those hard diving suits you sometimes see on TV and we also made submarines, and before that, director of quality for a defense electronics company. I've had my own technical services business, and worked in commercial software, think Microsoft, Adobe, IBM, etc. I'm working on a new venture with a few select individuals... more to come in the near future.

ST: I guess we'll get back with you about that later. Meanwhile though please explain your ST user name if you would.

Andy: My (former) sister-in-law, an Aussie from Perth, used to call me "AndyPants" and it kinda just stuck. This was probably mid to late 90s.... I can't tell you how many times I've been at races and had people come up and ask "are you AndyPants?" - it's quite bizarre actually... ;-)

ST: Any particular reason why she called you AndyPants?

Andy: I honestly have no idea. But like most Aussies, they love nicknames and crazy shorthand descriptions. I think the "Andy" as a girl seemed funny to her, or maybe she just liked three-syllable names. She was an Aussie after all.

ST: How long have you actually been doing triathlon?

Andy: My first tri was in March 1999, so coming up on 13 years. Wow, just writing that surprises me, I'm usually the "hey what's new this year" kind of person – changing sports and activities on a regular basis (Aikido – check; karate – check; soccer - check; track – check; basketball – check; volleyball – check; track cycling – check; snowboarding – check; xc skiing – check; xc running – check; etc.)

ST: Sounds like you have been busy. Along those line it looks like this year the big event on your calendar was Ironman New Zealand. Did you feel you had an advantage there coming from Vancouver?

Andy: Definitely. The weather on race day – for those readers who don't know – was pouring rain. We got 70mm at the airport that day. We'd just trained through a typical Vancouver winter – which is mostly rain, rain, rain and low single digit temps (C). So come race morning, it was very much like being at home – but a wee bit warmer. I was baffled to see how many people DNS'd that day. Clear lenses, knee warmers, full gloves, cycling jacket. No problem. The funniest part was on the run: the medical folks started asking people to wear ponchos – they were worried about hypothermia. I think I was at mile 20 or so, on the leg back to the finish, when the next aid station folks told me they were now "mandatory." I said I was from Vancouver and that the 15degC was balmy, and they just laughed and let me carry on. It wasn't that cold!

ST: But you are happy how your race went?

Andy: Overall, yes. I knew I had trained a lot less for this Ironman than prior Ironman events (IMC 2009 and IMWA 2005), so I wasn't expecting a KQ or anything like that (plus I don't have the genetics and discipline for it). Add to that racing with a broken nose (broken the week before – seriously), and I just wanted to go out and enjoy the day, enjoy the challenge of racing myself. My nose did bug me a fair bit – the pressure of having my face in the water made the last half of the swim a bit uncomfortable, and I had to swim wide of the whole pack, no drafting for me (didn't want to get kicked in the face), plus the super awesome kiwi chip seal made the nose pieces of my Rudy's vibrate on the bridge of my nose for most of the ride. But I rode my usual conservative ride, kept the calories coming in, and stayed comfy. I'd really focused a lot of my training on my run, so I wanted to have a good run. And I did – I passed a lot of people out there. My run moved me up quite a lot of spots. I ended up finishing in 12:42 - a PB for me.

ST: Excellent. What was your previous best?

Andy: IMC 2009 with a 13:05. Sadly I trained far more for that race but race day threw me some curve balls, and I ended up a bit slower than I had hoped. Funny enough, that was still better than IMWA (2005; 13:45). Apparently I have an inverse relationship between my amount of training and my finish time. As long as the finish time is going in the right direction, I can't complain.

ST: Rumor has it that you trained on a mountain bike for IM NZ. Can you explain?

Andy: I'd always wanted to ride MTB, but I am a chicken sh*t. A bunch of the fellows at work are hardcore North Shore riders, and were always trying to convince me to try it. So one afternoon after work, this would have been last September, my buddy Vince (amazing rider holy crap the obstacles this guy can ride!!!) borrowed a bike for me, and we went and rode some trails near my house. He gave me some good tips – showed me how to take drops, balance my weight when climbing, etc. - and by the end of a few hours of riding, I was hooked. Bought a 2nd hand Felt hardtail off ST (yo Trianthes, s'up homeboy?) and started riding regularly. It's hard! I like being challenged, and this was definitely a challenge for me. "Body English?" My body obviously speaks something other than English (no Paulo, it's not Portuguese, I checked)– lots of falls and crashes, mud and bruises.

Knowing I had IM NZ in a little over 4 months, I just couldn't get on my road bike or the trainer. I had a choice now, and I consistently chose the MTB over the road bike. I still did ride the trainer a bit, maybe 2hr here and there (at least it was football season). But overall I'd say 80% of my riding for IMNZ was on the trails. It certainly makes you a much better climber. If I do IMC or a similarly "hilly" IM again, I'll definitely take the same approach.

ST: But you didn't race the Ironman on your MTB?

Andy: Um no. Although we did consider going mountain biking in NZ post-race... ;-)

ST: XTERRA or bust in 2012?

Andy: Yep, that's the plan. Aiming to finish 4 XTERRA races this next year, then I'll have to see what's next. I figure if I keep at this multisport nonsense long enough, maybe I'll eventually get to Hawaii LOL

ST: You did an XTERRA race this summer, is that what did the trick?

Andy: Yeah I think so. The vibe at these races is so relaxed and inclusive, the competition is tough and real, and the prices are amazing. I've kind of hit my price point for racing – perhaps it's a sign that I’m getting old and cranky and cheap. I have a hard time justifying spending $300 for a 1/2IM, or $100 for a sprint in my backyard, especially if I’ve done the race before. But I can spend $40-$60 for a SC XTERRA race and probably enjoy it a lot more. Plus we love traveling, so if we can travel somewhere interesting for a race, it makes it easier to swallow higher race fees. It’s part of why I did Silverman in 2010 (we actually drove there), part of why I did IMNZ, part of why XTERRA is on the calendar for 2012. It gets us out in the big bad world. Maybe I just need a break from (road) tris….

ST: Before you take a break from triathlon, can you tell us about good local events near you?

Andy: So many good ones... I'm doing a 10K XC race next weekend called the “Gunner Shaw” - it's held at a local beach area, and after the race, there's pizza and beer. All for $13. It's a tough race though, and some serious XC studs and studettes come out, so it's pretty humbling. And as much as the locals may diss it, the Vancouver Sun Run, a 10k road race, brings out 50-55 THOUSAND people every April. Companies and schools enter teams and compete against each other. It's crazy but it's a ritual around these parts. I'd like to be good enough at mountain biking to try the Squamish Test Of Metal (68k MTB race) – maybe in 2013 – it sells out in under an hour every year. For tris, the North Shore Sprint in May bring out some incredibly fast people, very deep fields, and sometimes you see some Olympians drop in (Carol Montgomery, Simon Whitfield); the old Panorama Classic tri in Saanichton (Vancouver Island) was a great race – hope to see that one back someday. But my all-time favorite race was the Haney to Harrison 100k relay in November (the race was moved to Whistler and is a 50 miler now). I don't do a lot of the local tris anymore. I honestly find it hard to swallow $100 for a sprint. The races are good ones, well organized and such, but I just don't get the same value for my money that I did. I would love to see RDs move to a better pricing model – I don't want the shirt, cut $20 off my entry, or similar. That and some of the field sizes are (IMHO) too big.

ST: Maybe some race directors will read this interview.

Andy: You know, I'd hate to be an RD these days. The cost of permits and legalese, the often unrealistic expectations of participants, the constant bitching and moaning on ST afterwards. Remember when if you had one aid station on the bike leg, you were happy? You didn't care if it was yellow Gatorade. T -shirts were cotton, if you got one at all, and most of those ended up cleaning bikes eventually. Medals were for long course races, and even then not all LC races had them. To be fair to the RDs, the racing community has changed too. No one would dare screw with your spot in transition because we all knew each other and you'd get called out on it. Stand at a race package pick-up table for a day and see just how selfish many of our fellow racers can be.

ST: Do you have a favorite bike shop in Vancouver?

Andy: Oooh tough call. My LBS is Cap's Sapperton and I get outstanding service there. However, being a Campy nerd, if I need a Campy part, I'll go to La Bicicletta. But I do most of my own wrenching now. Bike shops are dangerous to my bank account ;-).

ST: How much training do you do?

Andy: Right now, not that much as most of my racing is done for the year (says she who has a 10k XC race next week – ohh that reminds me, gotta get spikes!). I run 4-6X week; swim once a week; ride 2-5X/week with (usually) one of those being a longer MTB ride. 3Hrs of MTB takes a lot out of you! December is my big run month – aiming for 200mi. But I don't train in the evening at all – I haven't since after IMWA (05). I prefer to have that time for my family.

ST: How about food likes and dislikes?

Andy: Food and me have a funny relationship these days. I used to be the FoodSlut of slowtwitch (areyouafoodslut.blogspot.com) – "where training is a warm-up to eating" was the mantra – and for a long time, it was OK. I was doing enough training to let me eat almost whatever I wanted. Massive ribeye and mash with gravy? Bring it on. Double, double animal style? Hell yes. Entire box of Girl Guide cookies? Sure, I’ll just run an extra few miles. In 2006, after IMWA, I was training for Comrades, but began having severe fatigue symptoms, which in turn caused a pretty substantial weight gain. In early 2007, I was diagnosed as having hypothyroidism, put on meds and started working the weight off. It took a long time, and along the way, I had to re-evaluate my diet and eating habits. Now the content of the diet wasn’t that bad, but the habits, the psychology of eating, was not good. I had been grazing for years, and I found that I would eat because I was bored or simply because the food was available. I used to keep a ridiculous amount of snacks and such at my desk, and while they were healthy in general, the overall accessibility of this food meant that I ate it without even thinking. I could pack away hundreds and hundreds of calories without blinking an eye. I had interrupted the hunger signals from my brain. I still catch myself doing it today. But now I’m aware of it, and I am able to stop and ask myself "Am I hungry? Why am I eating this?" before I do eat it.

But I’m a serious carnivore. When I eat a vegetarian meal, I cry a little inside. OK, sushi is an exception. And beer is the fifth food group. Period. :-)

ST: Anything else we should know?

Andy: I am constantly surprised at: how many people I have met from ST; how few people use the “Search” function on ST forums; how seriously some people take this sh*t. Lighten up, Francis. That, and I will conquer the world one day and make you all my minions. Just kidding :-)