SKYE GETS HER BUTT HANDED TO HER

At her first

pro race, 2016’s Oceanside, Moench couldn’t believe how fast the other pro women were. The famous people, the big names, were crushing her on the course. She felt a familiar emotion: that of being the new kid. “I wasn’t part of that group and was nowhere near them. I immediately got my butt handed to me when I went pro.”

Her results in 2016 and 2017 left her unsatisfied; her best finish at a major race was fourth. She couldn’t crack the podium. At her first full-distance race in 2016, she finished a disappointing 11th at Ironman Arizona.

“I had my moments where I didn’t have good results and felt I wasn’t making progress. I was spending thousands, had no sponsors, and wasn’t winning much money. I knew there would be a point where it would not be financially justifiable.” Her husband, Matt, was still working full time, allowing her to keep training and racing. “I thought I’d give it another few years, and if I don’t get better, it probably isn’t worth it.”

So again, Skye Moench did what Skye Moench does: she made another plan. She made a big coaching change and tweaked her nutrition. She started training harder, and smarter, and added more strength work. And the accountant let go of data, stopped obsessing about technology and numbers.

Moench thrice cracked the top three at major events in 2018, and in 2019, won the Ironman European Championship, as well as Ironman 70.3 Boulder. Then that fateful canyon ride put her acceleration on hold until now: The comeback of comebacks, the win at Ironman 70.3 Texas: “I felt like I needed to do that.”

What does the rest of 2021 have in store for Skye Moench? For now, she’s just excited to be back to racing, to being part of the triathlon community again. She’s looking ahead to that long-delayed Kona starting line. Her mom and stepdad will be there supporting her. The in-laws are coming. Her husband, dissatisfied with his own job, just resigned, and she’s now the family breadwinner: “It’s all on me now.” But Moench isn’t worried. After all, she has a plan.

Christine Frietchen is an American freelance journalist. She profiled Rach McBride in our May & June issue.