Dave's Ironman Mont Tremblant Race Report
Prologue:
In my ongoing quest to do races that look fun and challenging I somehow thought going to Canada for Ironman Mont Tremblant would fit that bill. As a big guy I am not exactly meant for hilly bike and run courses, but this was to be an adventure, an opportunity to expand my horizons and challenge myself. I was looking at this as more of a fun race and tune up for IMAZ in November than a true A race; that gave me the “excuse” if things did not go well. I also still had some trepidation with the asthma. It has been doing well this summer after I ran Grandma’s Marathon in June, but if Canada got cold I was not sure what to expect. I was also curious to see how running the marathon just 7 weeks earlier and pushing the RR until 2 weeks before would affect my legs and recovery. I am pleased to say that on race day all went well!
Barbara and I arrived in Canada Wednesday and drove to Mont Tremblant. It takes almost a full day of travel with connections, customs, driving and so forth but we made it to Le Westin in time to unpack a bit and then have a great dinner at La Forge. Sitting on the balcony with the sun shining in 50^ weather was perfect. Steaks and wine, YUM! We had a great view of the village and the mountains and it was perfect. Little did we know that the weather was going to do nothing but go up as the days passed. (Saturday we went to the companion restaurant on the first floor and could not sit outside because the sun was so hot.)
This was the first time I had transported my bike with Tri Bike Transport instead of flying it and it was really nice not to have to worry about the transport, and having the convenience of picking the bike up at the race site ready to go. Highly recommend this. I took the bike for a test ride on the hardest part of the course (Lac Supereur) on Friday and that was when things started to concern me. We don’t have these kind of hills in St. Louis and I dropped my chain twice on a 16 mile ride. Never even thought about a chain guard before but now I am going to have to look into that, but not in time for the race. I also realized that my bike goal of 6 hours was going to be in jeopardy as the average speed was under 15 mph. Oooops. I reset my expectations. I also figured that with the hills on the run course that I had better be conservative. New goal: 12 hours. If things do not go so well, closer to 12:30. If things go well, closer to 11:30. I did not see any way to get close to IMAZ and 11:18.
My other concern was how cold it would be when we started the bike: Accuweather was saying upper 40’s at the start, but going into the upper 60’s, lower 70’s for the high. I am a weather weenie and do not like the cold. I was thinking gloves, arm warmers, parka if necessary ( ;<) ) In the end I decided to go with the arm warmer (cut off tube socks) and that was just what I needed. </p>
Saturday we had a nice meet up lunch with a number of the EN crew and it was really nice to put names and faces together. We talk in the forums but in person is really great. After lunch went back to the room and packed the gear bags, got the bike ready and went to check in. I must say that the logistics for everything at IMMT were superior. Then Barbara and I hung out in the village, glass of wine and some salmon for a snack, rode the chair lift to the top of the mountain and saw spectacular views and then back down where we had a nice spaghetti dinner. Then we were back to the room for relaxing and bed at about 9:30.
Race morning I woke at 2:30 and drank about a half bottle of Bolthaus Vanilla Chai then back to bed. 4:45 got up, finished the drink, took my shower and got ready to go. Left the hotel room about 5:10 for the walk to transition. The place was already teaming with people: racers, family, support crew, worker bees, etc. Got to transition, put the fluids in my bottles and left, quickest pre race checkup I have ever had. Walked over to the swim start and found a place to sit and relax. It was a bit cold, as expected, at 45^, but with the nervousness around and all the bodies it was not too bad. Waited until about 15 minutes before the pro men started and then began to get ready for the day ahead. I took a couple puffs from my inhaler and downed a gel and went to line up. This is the view from our hotel room. My wave is starting, the choppy water in the middle. See me?
SWIM:
This year the race start was broken into waves of about 500. I was in the last men’s wave with all of the 50 and over. The sun was shining from over my right shoulder so sighting the yellow buoys was very good on the way out. The Swim course travels over a mile out, a couple hundred yards over to the right and then back (like three sides of a rectangle.) I started towards the front of my wave and had a good position. I set my Tempo Trainer to beep every second, and will speed that up for the next race as it was just a bit too slow on the turnover. I got into a good groove, but unfortunately, with wave starts I always catch up to the slower swimmers ahead and I think that in less than two or three minutes we were upon the next wave. Overall, even though I was in the 6th wave, I caught people from every wave ahead of me but the pros. I actually swam one of the straightest lines I have done in any triathlon and was pleased. As we headed back to the swim finish it was harder to see the buoys. The sun was coming from behind them and I had a difficult time seeing them. Fortunately the crowds in front maintained a pretty straight line. I really do not gauge well what my swim time will be. I went into this thinking 1:09 – 1:10ish, but who know how straight you will swim, what the currents, waves, etc. will do. I was pleased when I glanced down and saw 1:08 on the watch.
Data: Official results:
|
Split Name |
Distance |
Split Time |
Race Time |
Pace |
Div. Rank |
Overall Rank |
Gender Rank |
|
Total |
3.8 km |
1:08:30 |
1:08:30 |
1:48/100m |
12 |
472 |
381 |
Garmin showed 2.54 miles in 1:08:29. The time was actually a little slow due to the shallow water for the last 50 meters or so, couldn’t really swim and walking thru the water was slow. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/362812994
Transition 1:
When you exit the swim there is a fairly log run to Transition. Garmin said I went .51 miles from exit until I started the bike. While the volunteers were very helpful, they were nowhere to be found at T1. I ran into the tent, grabbed my own bag, found a chair to sit in and make the changes: put on helmet, sunglasses, arm warmers and go. I ran to the bike and put on my shoes (then realizing that I had forgot to put on the chamois cream (jar in my shoe.) Quickly applied and then had to dispose of the jar (no bags or storage at the bikes.) Grabbed the bike and ran to “Bike Out.” 9:04 spent in T1. Temperature now 50^.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/362813002
BIKE:
The bike course is 2 big loops of 56 miles (90 kilometers) with each loop having a long loop of rolling hills and a small loop of big climbs and descents. Based upon my indoor tests (had not done an outdoor test) and my Race Rehearsal I was looking for the first hour or so to be gradually increasing in Average Power (what I could view on my computer) from 170 – 190. Then I was going to try and stay in the range of 190 – 195, keeping in mind that with a rolling course this is much harder for me to do than a flat course like IMAZ. My computer gives me 5 mile splits and I went 170, 183, 187 for the first 15 miles. In the 4th 5 miles the power went up and I was at an overall average of 195 and stayed there for the rest of the race, except for a slight increase going up the hills at the end of each short loop and then decreasing as we came back down. As I went thru the turnaround at the end of the first 90k I was very pleased to see 2:56. That gave me confidence that I was not going to do a 6:30 bike as I had worried. Unfortunately I did slow down on the second loop with the wind picking up (pretty strong cross winds and gusts) and ended with a barely sub-6 (5:59:48.) I was very glad to get off the bike and be able to start the run. The AP numbers stayed pretty consistent with only a few spikes. I ended up with an AP of 194 and a NP of 207 for an VI of 1.07, a little higher than I would have like, but again, I do not think it hurt me on the run but is still worth working on. Heart rate also did well with an average of 122. I did have to stop twice when the chain came off and a third time was able to get it back on without stopping. I only lost 1:45 for the stops. At the end of the bike I had dropped to 16th place in my AG and 665 OA.
During the bike I continued to have the neck and shoulder issues that have plagued me as long as I have been riding. It prevents me from staying in the aero position as I would like. I was doing better in preparation for the race when I raised the stem by 2 spacers. However, after doing the swim and then dealing with the crowds, the hills, etc it was just more than I could take. I ended up alternating riding aero, riding with my hands at the end of the aerobars but sitting up and simply sitting up. If I can get this dialed in I know I can take some time off the bike. I have already set up an appointment to look at fit and readjusting position.
Nutrition: My plan was to eat and drink from the course with Ironman Perform and I put 3 gels in my pocket to take every 90 minutes. I also ate half of a Honey Stinger Waffle at about 1 hour in. Those things are too sweet for me. My watch beeps every 10 minutes and that is my signal to take a drink. Not sure how many calories I took in as filling the PD bottle was difficult riding thru transition. I would open and try to squirt in the fluid and I would be at the end of transition and still not have it emptied. Eventually I started taking the lid off and pouring, hoping to get “most” of it in. Still splashed everywhere and I am sure when I get the bike back I will have a big mess to clean up. My goal was to try for about 2 bottles per hour and I think I was in that range. Felt good the whole way and no nutrition issues that I am aware of on the bike. The temperature was going up and there were a few times that I felt a little thirst so I would take a drink but nothing significant. Also, as it warmed up I ditched the arm warmers at about 75 miles. Did only pee 1x on the bike, had to a second time towards the end but never quite relaxed enough to let it go. ;<)</p>
Garmin: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/362813010
Data: Official results:
|
Split Name |
Distance |
Split Time |
Race Time |
Pace |
Div. Rank |
Overall Rank |
Gender Rank |
|
7 km |
7 km |
12:45 |
1:30:19 |
32.94 km/h |
|||
|
33 km |
26 km |
49:12 |
2:19:31 |
31.71 km/h |
|||
|
73.5 km |
40.5 km |
1:16:45 |
3:36:16 |
31.66 km/h |
|||
|
81 km |
7.5 km |
20:27 |
3:56:43 |
22.00 km/h |
|||
|
89.5 km |
8.5 km |
14:22 |
4:11:05 |
35.50 km/h |
|||
|
123 km |
33.5 km |
1:07:27 |
5:18:32 |
29.80 km/h |
|||
|
163.5 km |
40.5 km |
1:20:18 |
6:38:50 |
30.26 km/h |
|||
|
171 km |
7.5 km |
21:57 |
7:00:47 |
20.50 km/h |
|||
|
180 km |
9 km |
16:35 |
7:17:22 |
32.56 km/h |
|||
|
Total |
180 km |
5:59:48 |
7:17:22 |
30.02 km/h |
16 |
665 |
583 |
Transition 2:
I have always been pretty good in T2. At 3:05 I think I had a pretty good time. Dropped off the bike with the volunteers, run to the tent, grab my bag, put on shoes, grab my hat and race belt and go. I did stop to get slathered with sunscreen as it was getting pretty hot and sunny and I did not want to roast. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/362813038
RUN:
Like the bike, the run is two loops. Each loop starts and ends with about 3 miles of pretty hilly running and then has 6 miles of crushed gravel reclaimed train tracks. At the very end of each loop you run thru the village to screaming crowds and then to a split where the finishers head off 100 yards to the finish and the other poor souls run sort of parallel to the finish, see and hear the finish and then head back out to do it again. When I came out of T2 I was ready to run. I could tell it had warmed up more, but did not realize until afterwards that the temperature was now 79^. It had never occurred to me that the temperature would be warm enough that I should take that into consideration but it sure did get hot out there. It is also an interesting phenomena that after a long day of riding the body is telling you that you can run, and run FAST! The body lies. In EN we practice running slow and easy at the start knowing that it is not until mile 18 that the race begins. My goal was to try to be close to 4:00. That is about 9:10 per mile. As I started off on mile 1, seeing 8:40, I knew I had to slow down. I made myself walk to slow down. In the marathon you walk anyway. I would just as soon walk early and run more at the end, than run early and walk more at the end. I had planned on walking at every aid station anyway so this fit in well with the plan. The first 10 miles were pretty comfortable. Then as I hit the hills I started to get some pain/spasm in my low back. I had to walk a little more than I would have like as every time I went up a hill or leaned a little forward the back would “talk to me, sometimes in a load voice.” I ran like that for the rest of the first loop and hit the half-way point in 2:04:41. I was really happy with that and thought if I could hang on I could do a sub 4:10 marathon which would be excellent. As I crossed the half way mark, hearing Mike Reilly yelling to the finishers, I knew that I was not far from having this day done.
My mile splits in the second loop were a little slower than the first loop but not too bad. I was walking a little more thru the aid stations, but still feeling good. At about 15-16 miles I started to get a side stitch that just would not go away. I tried everything I know (changing strides, changing breathing patterns, pressing on the area, etc) and it just would not go away, lasted until I was going down the finish chute. I would try to pick up the pace and it would get worse so I resolved to just bear with it and get to the finish. In fact, I was preoccupied with that and with counting kilometers, I was past mile 19 when I thought of “mile 18.” While I could not go faster, I did not feel like I was going any slower because of it. I will have to try and figure out what the cause was. Typically I get these when I am running fast, like a 5-10k, but never in a marathon, or when just doing an easy run. I had a lot of people run past me in the first loop and I saw a lot of them in the second loop. In fact, in addition to those that passed me and I re passed, I also caught back another 90 runners, moving up to 9th in my age group and 575 OA. All things considered I am happy with the run. On a hilly course I was 2+ minutes faster than Arizona and could have been even faster. I still think that 4:00 marathon is in the future. Second loop was 2:15:06 for a marathon time of 4:19:20. 9:54 per mile and Heart rate average 123. Finish time 11:39:47.
Race finish video: Scroll down to part1, click on picture and then scroll over to 11:58 for my name and then video finish… http://new.livestream.com/ironman/events/2310616
Nutrition:
As with the bike I planned on doing the run with course aid. The plan was to drink Perform and in the second lap, if and when I felt the need, to add Coke. As the I was getting hotter on the course, my routine at the aid stations was to stop at the first volunteer with water, take off my cap and dump it on my head. Sometimes the water was pretty cold and I am sure several volunteers got a chuckle out of me reacting to the cold. Then I would wait until the end and get a cup of perform. After I started getting the side stitch, at about mile 18 I started getting a coke as well. I had a gel with me but did not take that or any other solids during the run. I did not feel any need and they really did not sound very appealing. In fact, at about 23 miles we ran past someone grilling steaks and it almost made me nauseous. I love steak but the smell just really turned me off. I am not sure how many calories or how much fluid I took in but as I did not really fall off at any point I think I was OK. (Always open to thoughts and suggestions.) I did have to stop 1 time to pee at about 4 miles in (finally, after trying on the bike for 30 miles.) Did not have to go again, and never felt thirsty or dehydrated at all.
Garmin: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/362813044
Official Results:
|
Split Name |
Distance |
Split Time |
Race Time |
Pace |
Div. Rank |
Overall Rank |
Gender Rank |
|
4 km |
4 km |
22:54 |
7:43:21 |
5:43/km |
|||
|
9.6 km |
5.6 km |
31:50 |
8:15:11 |
5:41/km |
|||
|
16.5 km |
6.9 km |
39:24 |
8:54:35 |
5:42/km |
|||
|
21.1 km |
4.6 km |
30:06 |
9:24:41 |
6:32/km |
|||
|
25.5 km |
4.4 km |
26:00 |
9:50:41 |
5:54/km |
|||
|
31.7 km |
6.2 km |
35:06 |
10:25:47 |
5:39/km |
|||
|
37.6 km |
5.9 km |
43:13 |
11:09:00 |
7:19/km |
|||
|
42.2 km |
4.6 km |
30:47 |
11:39:47 |
6:41/km |
|||
|
Total |
42.195 km |
4:19:20 |
11:39:47 |
6:08/km |
9 |
575 |
494 |
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I actually enjoyed this race a lot more than I thought I would. Barbara and I had talked in advance about signing up for next year and at first I was excited to. However, after looking at the weather, pre riding the course, taking into consideration the timing, cost, etc I decided that this was not for me. Now… I am kind of thinking I should have signed up. This is a beautiful venue, the course is challenging but not difficult and I really did enjoy myself. I have come a long way from someone who only liked to do sprints to actually enjoying an Ironman distance race. I find myself able to get into a groove and pretty well stay there. I call it “comfortably hard.” I think my biggest hang-up is self-confidence overall, always thinking that this is a long race and a long way to go and I really do not want to implode, rather than pushing myself more to see what I can do. I do not know how to overcome that.
I know that I still have a lot of work to do on the bike. I cannot give up 30 minutes or more and expect to do well. I also have to figure out mentally how to push myself on the run. IF I can run an open marathon in 3:35 with 6 weeks of training, I really think I have it in me to run 4:00 or even better in the IM. I do not know how I am going to get that mental fortitude, but again will accept any suggestions. I have done 3 IM’s now and have an 8th, 9th and 10th place finish. I do not know if IMAZ in 12 weeks is time to get my act totally together but I certainly feel stronger, fitter and more ready to go than last year. After a short recovery I will be gearing up for IMAZ and look forward to seeing many of you along the way.
Comments
Dave it was nice meeting you and Barbara at IMMT. Congrats on what looks like a well executed race. You may have overdone it a tad on the bike but since the power file shows no fade at all and in fact your last few splits were very strong I kinda doubt it. Your FTP is probably higher than you have it set for since your TSS was off the charts and IF was .8. The high VI looks like a result of coasting more than spiking so dont think you burned too many matches.... Marathon shows some fade yes ,but a lot of that is normal (there are not too many negative splits out there in reality) but its a work in progress and shooting for a bit more even pace through out is always the goal. Having said that an IM marathon executed at 40 min slower than your open is pretty good . Plenty of time to recover and go crush IMAZ.
I'm still contemplating if I'll even write a formal report...so many ups and downs for me at MT, I just don't know.