Michael Q's IM Mont Tremblant 2017 Race Report
Let me start by saying this was my favorite Ironman event I've done in my 4 years of racing. The venue was gorgeous, the race course was challenging yet fair, and the competition was excellent. The race ran as smoothly as I could imagine any event of this magnitude to be executed. It seemed like every athlete got the VIP treatment. For me, the best part about this race was the fact that I had so many friends and teammates participating who I saw multiple times out on the course. EN's presence was in full effect all week and the mojo was flowing upon arrival... I ran into my old friends Rich and Anna Stanbaugh when I first pulled up to the Homewood Suites and at that point the excitement really started to take over.
This was my 5th time toeing the IM line and was coming off my best race at IMAZ last November. Due to a busy year wth work I only signed up for IMMT this year in order to keep all the balls in the air. SO, all eggs were in one basket which I found adds a little more pressure to the day but certainly manageable. My goal was to finish this race sub-11 hours and I knew I had a good shot. Rode the Montee Ryan portion of the course on Thursday, practice swim on Friday and that was about all the recon I was able to get in. My race plan was a simple one that I've used a few times over now and I feel like I made some very good decisions throughout the day that eventually led to me being able to beat my goal of sub-11 by a few mins (10:56).
Swim- the practice swim was my first OWS of the year but was able to execute an uneventful, straight forward swim that only had the 2 turns. I figured my time would be 1:12 and I came just a minute behind at 1:13. I made a conscience effort to slow down the final 500M to keep the HR down.
T1 - very long run from the swim Exit to the change tent. Grabbed my bag and got over to my bike...had a little trouble with getting my shoes on (wish we would have been able to have them on the bike) but moved out of T1 as safely as I could.
Bike- I didn't do as well here as I wanted to. With some more practice on this course I would have pushed harder but I was overly conservative in order to not blow up my run. I'm kicking myself for not getting out on Fri or Sat to do more bike course recon but that's certainly something i'll put into the plan the next time around. I started the bike at the JRA pace and got my HR down to within range very quickly. The first 40 mi of out/back were pretty fast but I purposely held back not really knowing what the hillier section of the course was going to demand. In hindsight, I would have probably pushed harder on loop 1 while the temps were cool and the wind was calm. Loop 2 was definitely a different course as the wind really picked up making the fast rolling section out HWY 117 more of a challenge. I was able to pass 10 guys in my age group on the way back out Montee Ryan/117 and kept passing folks as I could see the hills in Loop 1 beginning to take their toll other riders. My pace on Loop 2 slowed about 4 mins compared to the first loop but I was nailing my nutrition and hydrating per my plan. My HR monitor began giving me some fits around mi 90 but thankfully began functioning properly after about a 5 mile stretch. I remained focused and pulled into T2 feeling VERY good but knew that I probably left a little bit of time out on the bike course.
(IF is incorrectly based off old FTP- Actually comes in at .67)
T2- I was more efficient here. Threw my socks/shoes on and had everything else in the plastic bag that I took off and ran with.
Run- I started out running about 3 BPM higher than my AHR on the bike and felt pretty good thru first 6 mi. I knew I was well-hydrated because I had to stop to pee twice on first loop. At mile 9, I really started feeling the day catching up with me and decided it would benefit me to back off just a bit. I decided that I'd play it safe until about mile 15 and then I'd trash my nutrition plan and turn to cola + water at every other aid station since nothing was going down very well at this point. I stuck to that plan and began picking it up and eventually caught up with my buddy from Atlanta at mile 18 who had passed me at mile 14. We ran together until mile 20 at which point I hit the gas. I got into my zone and just turned everything off in my mind even though the punchy hills had taken their toll. I knew I was going to be close to coming in under my goal time so I really hammered all the way through the finish line. I was absolutely blown away by the incredible finish line at IMMT. I'll also add that the mojo on the course was second to none. the EN'ers were buzzing all over the course and the energy was infectious. Special thanks to Mariah and the other EN'er that were on hand as supporters--you guys rocked! Most of all, congrats to all you guys that raced. I saw many of you in your zones and tearing that course up! The quick chats, smiles, waves, and high fives made all the difference! Congratulations to you all!!
This was my 5th time toeing the IM line and was coming off my best race at IMAZ last November. Due to a busy year wth work I only signed up for IMMT this year in order to keep all the balls in the air. SO, all eggs were in one basket which I found adds a little more pressure to the day but certainly manageable. My goal was to finish this race sub-11 hours and I knew I had a good shot. Rode the Montee Ryan portion of the course on Thursday, practice swim on Friday and that was about all the recon I was able to get in. My race plan was a simple one that I've used a few times over now and I feel like I made some very good decisions throughout the day that eventually led to me being able to beat my goal of sub-11 by a few mins (10:56).
Swim- the practice swim was my first OWS of the year but was able to execute an uneventful, straight forward swim that only had the 2 turns. I figured my time would be 1:12 and I came just a minute behind at 1:13. I made a conscience effort to slow down the final 500M to keep the HR down.
T1 - very long run from the swim Exit to the change tent. Grabbed my bag and got over to my bike...had a little trouble with getting my shoes on (wish we would have been able to have them on the bike) but moved out of T1 as safely as I could.
Bike- I didn't do as well here as I wanted to. With some more practice on this course I would have pushed harder but I was overly conservative in order to not blow up my run. I'm kicking myself for not getting out on Fri or Sat to do more bike course recon but that's certainly something i'll put into the plan the next time around. I started the bike at the JRA pace and got my HR down to within range very quickly. The first 40 mi of out/back were pretty fast but I purposely held back not really knowing what the hillier section of the course was going to demand. In hindsight, I would have probably pushed harder on loop 1 while the temps were cool and the wind was calm. Loop 2 was definitely a different course as the wind really picked up making the fast rolling section out HWY 117 more of a challenge. I was able to pass 10 guys in my age group on the way back out Montee Ryan/117 and kept passing folks as I could see the hills in Loop 1 beginning to take their toll other riders. My pace on Loop 2 slowed about 4 mins compared to the first loop but I was nailing my nutrition and hydrating per my plan. My HR monitor began giving me some fits around mi 90 but thankfully began functioning properly after about a 5 mile stretch. I remained focused and pulled into T2 feeling VERY good but knew that I probably left a little bit of time out on the bike course.
(IF is incorrectly based off old FTP- Actually comes in at .67)
Run- I started out running about 3 BPM higher than my AHR on the bike and felt pretty good thru first 6 mi. I knew I was well-hydrated because I had to stop to pee twice on first loop. At mile 9, I really started feeling the day catching up with me and decided it would benefit me to back off just a bit. I decided that I'd play it safe until about mile 15 and then I'd trash my nutrition plan and turn to cola + water at every other aid station since nothing was going down very well at this point. I stuck to that plan and began picking it up and eventually caught up with my buddy from Atlanta at mile 18 who had passed me at mile 14. We ran together until mile 20 at which point I hit the gas. I got into my zone and just turned everything off in my mind even though the punchy hills had taken their toll. I knew I was going to be close to coming in under my goal time so I really hammered all the way through the finish line. I was absolutely blown away by the incredible finish line at IMMT. I'll also add that the mojo on the course was second to none. the EN'ers were buzzing all over the course and the energy was infectious. Special thanks to Mariah and the other EN'er that were on hand as supporters--you guys rocked! Most of all, congrats to all you guys that raced. I saw many of you in your zones and tearing that course up! The quick chats, smiles, waves, and high fives made all the difference! Congratulations to you all!!
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Comments
I am so happy to see you having success - an I believe that you have just scratched the surface. Super good decision making all week and on race day... the best is yet to come.
I really enjoyed spending time with you and Erica. Congratulations on a super race and year!!
Its fun to look at sportstats and see the execution results by how you went up in the rankings all day long.
Rest well my friend and lets do this again !
BTW : I think you can manually recalculate your data in trainingpeaks, I know there is a function for this
Super congrats on a strong race! MT is one of my favorite venues as well and it's great to see how much you enjoyed the day.
Just really enjoyed meeting and talking with you at the pre race team dinner. Was fantastic racing with you and seeing you multiple times the bike/run of the race....made me smile and made me stronger each time we passed!
Sub 11:00 and sub 4:00 hour run means a seasoned IM performance IMO. .....and you have more room to get faster....just scary!
Congratulations IM!
SS