At 17 years old, Shangrila Rendon and her family moved from Manila, Philippines to Chino Hills, California. She entered the states as a teenager and took on the heavy responsibility of supporting her family as they worked to establish their new life in a new country.

About 3 months ago (April 2020), my best friend mentioned he would be taking on the Tushars Mountain Run — A 100k race with nearly 21,000 feet of vertical ascent, that covers some of the most majestic terrain in Utah on August 1st. At the time, I still had hopes of racing IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder that day, so I laughingly said “good luck with that.”

Team INFINIT Pro Triathlete, Rudy von Berg, talks to us about the breakout season he's had in 2018—Racing with his dad and sister at 70.3 Worlds in South Africa, going on to win 70.3 Nice 2 weeks later, and his experiences competing at the pro level at just 24 years old.

A couple weekends ago I raced in the Steelhead 70.3 (Half Ironman) in Benton Harbor, Michigan. This was my 2nd time racing at Steelhead but the last time I raced here was back in 2010 where I set my 70.3 PR with a time of 4:16:06. This is my 3rd year racing a professional triathlete and I have dabbled in a few 70.3's over the last couple of years including Chattanooga (2016 and 2018) and Austin (2016 - canceled swim) and just hadn't put together a good half Ironman race in a long time.

As a 36 year old native of Manila, Shangrila started her athletic career at age 24 when a friend invited her to run a 10k. Over the next twelve years she built up an impressive resume including a Guinness World Record and countless firsts in Ultraman competitions for a Filipino athlete. 

Ironman Coeur 'd Alene was my 14th full Ironman. I crossed the line in 9 hours and 58 minutes after partaking in one of the toughest Ironman battles of my career. The course topography, the Fahrenheit and fierce competition all stepped up to deliver a worthy engagement. 9 hours and 58 minutes is 35,880 seconds. The peculiar thing about this race is the second that stands out most in my mind is the one right before the starter fired the gun. That fraction of time between the command 'Get Set' and the start. Index finger flexed on the trigger.  I remember feeling immensely happy and excited. I was ready for the pain of racing and more than ever I was hoping for a battle. Well, Amber got what she wanted.

Trying to use food + drinks + gels is a complicated proposition ESPECIALLY when I am racing. If I have to think about more than one thing, I am going to probably going to mess it up. Multiple tasks are a sure recipe for failure and possible DNF. I may have food in my pocket…but I certainly ROCKS in my head.