Derrek's IMMT Race Report
Ironman Mont
Tremblant Race Report
17 August 2014
I’ve
been one of those members who haven’t spent much time posting in the Forums; however, I
spent a lot of time reading the tons of information and guidance on the forums
and Wiki and listening to the podcasts.
Thanks RnP and the EN team for preparing me to complete my first 140.6 race
under 13 hours.
My goals for Ironman Mont Tremblant were to
finish, give my best effort and to finish with a smile. Since this was my first 140.6 mile race, I
didn’t have any time goals but I did have expected time ranges for each leg,
which as it turned out I slightly underestimated.
First, I must give a BIG thank
you to my wife, Annette, daughter, Rachel and son, Aaron for their awesome
support and being my personal cheering quad.
Pre-Race:
After flying into Montreal and driving 1.5 hours to Mont
Tremblant, we arrived Thursday around 6:30, checked in to our cozy condo
conveniently located a few walking minutes from Athlete Village. Then we went out to check out Pedestrian
Village and decided to eat dinner at Casey’s Grill.
Friday. 7am – After
breakfast in the condo, I decided to do a practice swim because I was concerned
about a cold swim and still deciding between a sleeveless or full wetsuit. Sleeveless meant being a little colder and a full
seems to restrict and tire out my shoulders.
I tested both and decided to go with the sleeveless. I also found out how chilly it was…65 degrees! After being in the water about 45 minutes, my
feet were frozen. At that point my
biggest concern about the race just became how do I get warm after the swim and
while on the first half of the bike. My
solutions are below. That swim also
seemed to zap my energy for rest of the day, which meant I would need to front
load my nutrition on the bike.
After the swim I attended the Four Keys Talk, which was
excellent and I met Coach P for the first time.
Then I went to athlete check in and we had lunch at Fat Mardi’s in the
Village. Later that afternoon, the kids
were ready to do something fun. Since I
told them this was a “vacation”, we checked out the Activities Center in Mont
Tremblant and they decided on Go Karts. While
they went Go Karting, I went for a 50 min ride to check out what is considered
the hard part of the bike course, the out and back to Lake Superior. With the several challenging hills, it was nice
knowing this part of the course during the race and wish I drove other sections
of the bike course. Friday night we rested
and relaxed while having dinner in our Condo.
Saturday. Since I did a
practice swim and bike ride Friday, I went for a 15 minute run in the morning. Next, it was time for a big breakfast. Based on recommendations Annette received
from the Condo staff, we ventured in to Saint Jovite to find the “Singing
Chicken”. I know it doesn’t sound like a
diner, but their breakfast was delicious and they had a nice variety of
breakfast items on their menu. Later
that afternoon, after triple checking my transition bags I checked in my bike
and dropped off my T1 and T2 bags. Other
than some shopping, we didn’t do much most of Saturday due to the rain and that
evening we enjoyed dinner with my local Tri team.
Race
Morning:
I had no issues falling asleep
and woke up at 4:15. Had my standard
breakfast, prepared my bike bottles with Infinit and removed three bottles with
Infinit from the freezer. The frozen
bottles were for my bike special needs bag.
I dressed warmly and triple checked all my gear. Everything went smoothly and I never felt
rushed. I even had several minutes to
sit down and relax before donning my wetsuit.
After arriving at the swim start,
I had plenty of time for a 10 minute warm up swim, then lined up in my swim
wave.
Swim: 1:28:06
This was one of my best swim
starts as far as staying calm, relaxed, and not going out to fast. However, it was a very physical swim,
especially the first 1000 yards or so.
It was not a brutal swim…no hard hits or kicks but just a lot of contact
to my feet, legs and arms. I finally understood how people lose their watches
and timing chips. My mantra for this
swim became, “head down and keep swimming”.
Whenever I felt someone was hitting my legs one too many times (usually
after 3-4 times), head down and keep swimming; then, I would turn on a strong
kick for a few seconds and they would go away.
I also discovered what being in a “washing machine” felt like as I
approached the first and second turn buoys…head down and keep swimming. On the second half when the water started
getting choppy…head down and keep swimming.
My estimated time was 1:30, so I was very happy with my swim.
T1:
16:30
This was probably one of the longest T1 times. Just as I experienced during Friday’s
practice swim, my feet were very, very cold.
So cold that it hurt to run on the pavement to the transition tent. What happened to the red carpet?? After using the wetsuit strippers, I walked
the entire way to T1 and it felt like 200 people ran by me. But I didn’t care as I was more concerned
about protecting my feet…I still had a bike ride and run to complete. The transition tent was crowed but I quickly
found a seat. Now, to see if my get warm
plan would work. First was the hot water
(coffee would have been better) I placed in my T1 bag race morning; it was nice
and warm and helped reduce my chill.
Next, I opened my ziplock bag containing my bike shorts, tri top, wool socks
and wool gloves that were being kept warm with a couple of hand warmers. It felt great putting on a dry and warm tri
jersey and was glad I decided not to wear it under my wetsuit. I also placed toe warmers in my bike shoes
before the swim, which really helped to warm up my toes. Lastly, I wore a long sleeve bike jersey over
my tri top and a beanie to keep my head warm.
Being cold on the bike was never an issue.
Overall, the bike went well. I used my heart rate to control my effort and
kept my heart rate in the range I had planned for each loop and tried not to
worry about my speed. As I completed the
first loop, I felt I pushed a little too hard (based on my heart rate) and
decided to ease up on the second loop, again trying to keep my heart rate in my
zone 3 range. The second loop was a bit
harder mainly due to increased winds and normal fatigue experienced during a
112 mile ride. I’m not sure how much
time I spent at special needs but it felt too long. I removed my helmet to take my beanie off,
took my long sleeve jersey off, put on arm warmers, changed out two empty bottles
and filled up my aero bottle. According
to my Garmin, I lost 11 minutes from 2 bathroom and special needs stops. 112 miles is a very long ride and at the end
I was more than ready to get on with the run.
After dismounting, it was really nice having a volunteer take my
bike. My estimated time was between 6:30
and 7:00 hours. I could have pushed
harder, but was too concerned I’d pay for it on the run. I decided to stay on the conservative side
and more importantly, I followed my race plan!
T2:
6:17
Again, I walked from the dismount line into the transition tent
mainly because I didn’t feel like running seconds after getting off the
bike. I used the walk to stretch out my
legs and lower my heart rate. Coming out
of T2, I was ready to run.
Run: 4:10:44
Within minutes of starting the
run, a windy, hard rain started.
Actually, it was so windy the rain was coming down horizontally and I
had to lean my body into the wind.
Luckily, it only lasted a few minutes and really cooled me off. I like running in cooler weather so I didn’t
mind the cooler temps after the rain. The run course was challenging but fair. Of course, I dreaded the hills and relished the
flats. The hills at the end of the loop
were painful, mentally and physically; and all I thought about was having to
run these hills again. My strategy for
the run was to run the first 6 miles 30 seconds slower than my long run pace,
then miles 7-18 at my long run pace and the last 8 miles at my best sustainable
effort (hopefully not any slower than my long run pace). As planned, I walked 20 - 40 steps at each
water station (about every mile) while taking in fluids, except one where I was
too full of Perform. After the first
hour I had a gel every 30 minutes and a salt tab every hour. I was rather surprised that my heart rate was
in a normal range for the pace I was running.
Usually during the run leg, it’s 10 beats or more higher than normal. Was I running too slowly? Nah, I took that as
a signal I was well hydrated and running at the right pace. I’m sure the cool temps and short walk breaks
helped too. I had zero nutritional
issues and just a little cramping in my left inner thigh around mile 20 but it would
go away during my walk breaks making it manageable. During the middle 8-10 miles I ran and
chatted with a guy from NJ doing his very first triathlon…talking about jumping
in the deep end. My estimate for the run
was 4:30 – 5:00 hours. I had a very good
run.
The last quarter mile and the
finishing chute were very energetic with lots of cheering and high fives. Crossing the finish line was a blur in time
but an unforgettable moment…hearing your name and “you are an Ironman!”
Total
time: 12:52:51
Lessons
Learned / Summary:
Lessons Learned
-
It was very motivational seeing my family throughout
the course; they lifted my spirits every time I saw them. Major kudos to them for being out there for
13+ hours; it was way more than I expected -
My nutrition plan was 100% on target. Nothing needs to change, but see below
-
Try adjusting my nutrition plan to use on course
nutrition (Preform) for the bike and supplement as needed. This will allow the use of two on bike bottles
and eliminate the need for replacement bottles in special needs bag -
Drive most if not all of the bike course and note
the mileage at any significant hills and the turn a rounds, especially when the
course is marked in kilometers and your watch is using miles -
Embrace the Tarzan swim drill; it pays big dividends
in open water race -
My transitions were slow, but this was my first IM
and I wasn’t chasing a time goal
Comments
Congratulations! YOU are an IRONMAN! Sounds like you had a pretty good day overall. A 4:10 marathon to finish the day is legit, and a testament to the EN execution principles that you applied and your fitness. You left some time out there in transitions, and perhaps on the bike, but when not chasing any time goals, and just looking to check the box for your first IM finish, I'd say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!