Skip Crawford's Mont-Tremblant 70.3 Report
Mont-Tremblant 70.3 (1 week after Eagleman)
Eagelman was a last minute type of race and I used it as a training run and an opportunity to practice execution. Mont-Tremblant was my first A race of the year (IMMT and IMMD are on the schedule for later in the year).
The short version is an 8 minute PR and my first sub 6:00 HIM!
We drove to Mont-Tremblant on Thursday. The Suburban included my wife Kathy (who was also racing) and our four daughters (ages 9-19). It is around a ten hour drive from our home, but with the stops for food, etc, it took twelve hours. If Kathy and I travel by ourselves, I remove the back seat and we place the bikes in a homemade rack inside the Suburban. As it is most likely illegal to place the kids in a luggage carrier on top of the car, they rode inside with us and the bikes were outside on a rack. It rained most of the ride to MT, but otherwise was a rather uneventful trip.
On Friday we registered and toured the Ironman village. The weather was pleasant and we took it easy. The talk in the weeks leading up the race indicated the water would be very cold and it was going to rain all day on Sunday. The water temperature was reported to be in the low 60s. We did walk to the lake and test the water and it did not feel overly cold. As we cannot control the water temperature or the weather, we elected not to worry about either.
Saturday involved dropping off the bike and all of the usual race prep. During the race meeting, they mentioned they were looking for more volunteers. Our fifteen year old was interested so we walked over to the volunteer tent to register her. The computer system was down, but they asked her to show up in the morning and they would register her. We returned to the room for dinner. I brought homemade sauce and meatballs for dinner. We watched bad tv and went to bed early.
Sunday morning I was up at 4:00 am. I had my usual oatmeal and started with Gatorade Endurance. We walked down for body marking and to place our gear in transition. It was not raining. Our daughter went to report as a volunteer. Kathy and I walked to the swim start.
I am a slow swimmer so I lined up towards the back of the pack. My best 70.3 swim is 47:57 (2012 Eagleman). My swim was 47:59. Not a bad start to the day.
The swim start was clean and there was very little contact. At the second marker my goggles began to leak and I tried to ignore it. Unfortunately, they kept leaking and the water in the goggles was driving me nuts. I stopped and let out the water and re-set the seal. I do not know why they leaked, but they have been retired. I could not site well the rest of the swim as I thought my goggles were fogged on the right side. I could hardly see the marker and was trying to follow the bodies in the water. By the last few markers, I kept swimming way offline as there were not many people around to guide me. After I exited the water and took off my goggles, I realized it was not the goggles it was my contact lens. It either fell out or rolled up my eye.
I ran to the wetsuit strippers and they had my wetsuit off in record time. I then was running towards transition thinking I would just go with one eye the rest of the day or would try to put in another contact in transition. My fear was if the original contact had rolled up my eye putting in another contact would probably not end well. Along the way, I decided I would try to salvage the contact. I started asking if anyone had a mirror and one of the people near transition had one. I was able to locate the contact and move it back in place.
T1 – 5:50 – not at all upset as the run to transition is a bit long and the whole contact thing.
I like the bike course and was excited to get out on 117 and ride. I kept my watts low on the way out of town and then tried to keep them around 165. My NP was 162 and my max average power for 20 minutes was 163. Total bike time was 3:05. I felt great the entire time and just kept thinking if I could get to the run feeling this strong, I could have a good day.
As much as I like the bike course, some of the other riders did act in a way that reduced the enjoyment. I do not mind the mini pelotons that pass you. I have accepted people will do what they will do regardless of the rules. I cannot control it so I do not care about it. I was bothered by the number of people that would pass on the right (even when I or other riders were on the right side leaving plenty of room to pass on the left) without even letting you know they were passing. Two riders in particular were troublesome as they passed me on the downhills and I passed them on the uphills or the flat portions of the course.
I lost my focus on the last portion of 117. I passed what appeared to be a significant crash. The medical personnel were on the scene and were administering aid. I spend the next 15 minutes or so just being sure not to crash.
T2 – 2.49 – my favorite T2 ever! I entered T2 and made it quickly to my spot. I removed my helmet, changed shoes, put on my race belt, and was heading out when I heard Dad, and then Crawford. I looked up and my fifteen year old was in T2 volunteering. I got a huge kick out of seeing her in her volunteer shirt. I spoke to her for a brief moment and was out for the run feeling great!
My plan for the run was to be consistent and run 8:30 or better for every mile. I know the first few miles out of town are hilly, but I train on hills and did not think it would be an issue. I did hit the port pot right out of transition. Even with the stop, my first mile was 9:06 (8:08 of moving time). I felt strong during the entire run and averaged 8:30 for the 13.1 miles. Run time 1:50.
I cannot say enough great things about the coaches and everyone on the team. I have been fitter entering races, but I did not know how to race. I am very pleased with my execution throughout the day and it would not have been possible if not for all of you. Thank you for reading my very long RR, and I look forward to reading all of yours.
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