Ironman Mont-Tremblant - Triathlon

I was able to get in the water and probably did a 150-200 yard warm up. However, I was in the first age group wave so I didn't have much time.

I lined up in the front row all the way over to the right. The guy next to me said he was planning to see around 50 minutes (which I don't think happened) and I knew I wouldn't be swimming that fast, but I figured I would be better off out front.

When the gun went off, I stayed to the right. I had very little contact with anyone. I'm sure the age group start as opposed to the mass start had just a little affect on that. It was a clear shot all the way to the first turn, but it did feel like a long way. After I got into a grove, I did end up starting to get some more contact with some other guys. At one point, I almost got my goggles knocked off and it was a good thing I had them under my cap. I did have to pop my head up for a second there because I no where to go and I wanted to take a clean line.

They had all the buoys numbered which was awesome! It really helped keep you going and let you know how much further until the turn. This is something every race director should consider doing from now on as far as I'm concerned.

The rest of the swim was relatively uneventful. I just focused on maintaining my form and going from buoy to buoy. There were a few times I would veer off a little bit, but never did too significantly.

I was hoping to break an hour, but came up a bit short. I was a little disappointed to see 1 hour on my watch, but knew it was a very long day and 45-50 seconds in the swim weren't going to make or break my day. Looking at other people's swim times, it does appear the swim may have been a bit long, but who knows.

My Garmin had about 4500 yards for the distance. If that's the case, I did about a 1:21/100 yards pace. If this accurate, I am very happy with the swim!



I'm pretty content with this swim. I will continue to try to get faster as I really want to break the 1 hour mark, but nothing in particular to do differently here.

I decided not to use the wetsuit strippers because they were right at the swim exit and it takes me a few seconds to get my wetsuit over my watch. However, I ran with a good pace and passed at least 4-5 people on the way to the tent. I saw my Mom which was awesome and the crowd was simply fantastic. It is a quite long run to the actual transition area.

As I ran to the changing tent, a volunteer had my bag ready and followed me into the changing area. He tried to pull the bottom of my wetsuit off, but for some reason it just wasn't working. Nonetheless, I got it off pretty quickly and moved right along.

I put my helmet on last and started to run to my bike while buckling my helmet. However, as soon as I went to strap in the male buckle piece fell off!!! I don't know how that happened and have never had that issue before, but I picked it up, stopped, and it took probably 20-30 seconds to restrap it. I was freaking about a bit, but think I kept my composure pretty well. I knew I had to fix this because I would be DQed if I rode with my helmet not strapped.

Once I took care of that, the rest of the transition was fine. Grabbed my bike and got on the road.

Have a little better luck getting my wetsuit off, but definitely not have my helmet strap fall off!

What a fantastic course this is! I did come and train on the course a few weeks before the race and liked the course, but I absolutely loved it on race day. It is very easily broken down into 4 sections (2 per loop). The highway section, and then in town/the out and back from town.

There were not many other riders out on the road when I started off which I knew was a good sign, but I expected that being in the first AG swim wave. The crowd heading out of town was tremendous. They were cheering like crazy and its times like this when a power meter is very beneficial because we want to blast out of town doing 500 watts and you're feeling so good. I was able to keep my power in check, but was really fighting to keep it down almost the whole way to the turnaround. My legs were feeling good and I just had that feeling that today was going to be a great day. I really focused on my nutrition and making sure I got my fluids and solids in. Besides that, the first section was pretty uneventful. I just stayed within myself and focused on my power. I peed once about 45 minutes into the ride which I knew was a very good sign and that I was staying on top of my hydration

Once I got off the highway, I headed into the town next to Tremblant (sorry forget the name of it) and it ended up being my favorite part of the course. They had music blasting and there were lots of spectators routing you on. It was another section where you needed to stay disciplined and not let the crowd get the best of you. Once you got out of town, you were in the Tremblant village again before you knew it which meant another awesome crowd. The crowd continue further up the out and back than I expected. The hills were pretty significant and slowed you down a bit on the way out, but you gain most of it back on the way back into town.

The second loop was really just a repeat of the first loop. I felt really good and just stuck to the game plan. As I approached mile 75-80, my legs started to get a little tired, but I just focused on my form and staying disciplined. The winds did pick up a bit, but because its an out and back on the highway, it really evens itself out. I continued to see Nate a few minutes after each turnaround which was great. He looked good and it was great seeing him out and there looking strong.

I did really good with my nutrition and stuck to a very similar plan to what I used in New York last year. I must have peed 8-10 times during the bike which again was a very good sign.

I'm very happy with the bike split. I ended up 2 watts below my goal, but my normalized power was towards the top of my goal so I'm pretty sure I nailed it.

No issues in T2. I felt great when I popped off the bike and I knew that was a very good sign of things to come. There were not too many other people in T2 at that time so I was getting a lot of attention, which was cool.

When I headed into the changing, a volunteer handed me my bag and another one met me at my chair. I changed my socks, but the run shoes on and was out of there. It was great having the volunteer open up my bag and assist me.

Very happy with T2. Not much to change here.

As mentioned above, I came out feeling very strong. I took in my banana as I headed out and did my best to not go out too fast. The crowd was really supportive and I smiled my way into a good grove, focusing on a good form, arm swing, and a high cadence. My heart rate was nice and low and I wanted to make sure I kept it there. I figured this would end up being somewhere between a 7:10 and a 7:20 pace which ended up being almost exactly right. There are a couple hills on the way into old Tremblant and before you hit the rail road bed. I slowed a bit for those to keep my HR down, but they were not very difficult and did not have any trouble cranking through them. I didn't know exactly what place I was in heading into the run, but I passed one guy from my AG that I had gone back and forth with a few times on the bike as we were climbing the hill to old Tremblant. I picked up the pace on the downhills by keeping my turnover up.

As I hit the railroad bed, I saw a couple guys in front of me. I just kept my pace, but before I knew it, I had passed 2 guys from my age group. At this point, I was pretty sure I was at least top 3 in my AG and was very happy! I knew if I could just maintain my pace, I'd be in great shape for grabbing a Kona slot.

About 100 yards after the turnaround, a guy from my AG ended up passing me and he looked very strong. A part of me wanted to run with him, but I knew I had to stick to my plan. He ended up running about 25-30 yards in front of me all the way through the rest of the out and back as well as the short out and back. However, as soon as we headed up the hill towards town and out of old Tremblant, he had started to fade a bit and I ended up passing him on the following downhill. I didn't pay too much attention to him, but the few times I checked, he was within stroking distance of me, but by the time we got back into the village, he was pretty far back.

As I headed back into the village, I heard my wife and my Mom yelling for me. It was great to hear/see them as I hadn't seen my wife all day and hadn't seen my Mom since the swim exit. I got a quick glimpse of my son in his stroller and it really amped me up. The rest of the run through town was outstanding with nothing but more awesome spectators cheering like crazy.

As I headed out on the second loop, I was still feeling strong, but as expected, I was starting to fatigue and my HR was elevating a bit. This is when I started focusing on my form even more. By this point, there were a lot of runners on the course so I was passing people like crazy. There were a few times when the course was a bit tight and I had to nearly rub shoulders with people as I passed, but I got through all day without any issues. I guess if I had one complaint for this course, I would say there were a few times where it was really tight and it would have been nice if there was more room, but it really wasn't that bad.

The rest of the second loop was relatively uneventful. I just kept trucking along, focusing on my form, and making sure I was getting my nutrition in. I am not sure when I passed the guy that got 2nd, but I just kept on pushing. The last 7-8K or so we're really tough. My body definitely want to slow down, but I just wouldn't let it. My cadence would start to drop, but I continue to focus on picking it back up when it would drop.

This was the first IM I had done in my Hoke One One's and let me say, I absolutely love them!!! I have one little blister, but my feet are in amazing shape. Normally there are in absolute shambles after the race, but the Hoka's were comfortable, awesome for keeping your pace up, and for keeping your turnover up on the downhills. I ended up with an average cadence of 90 for the marathon which is the highest I have ever maintained during an IM and I do not think it is a coincidence that it was also by far my best run time.

When I got back into town, the crowd was rocking. The run through the village is sensational. Before I headed into the finisher chute, I think most people just assumed I was on my first lap, but when I hung a left and headed down the chute, I got some big cheers. I did give some high fives, but I kept running through the finish line. I didn't know exactly what my overall time was going to be, but I was absolutely pumped when I crossed the line and I realized I had gone sub 9:30.

Here are my run mile splits:

1 7:07.7
2 7:14.8
3 7:07.6
4 7:16.5
5 7:14.8
6 7:13.2
7 7:10.5
8 7:17.5
9 7:04.9
10 7:10.6
11 7:03.7
12 7:05.3
13 7:01.7
14 7:18.1
15 7:13.5
16 7:01.0
17 7:09.8
18 7:09.3
19 7:25.1
20 7:22.5
21 7:25.0
22 7:19.8
23 7:20.2
24 7:11.7
25 7:01.1
26 6:55.7

Keeping working my cadence and not allowing it to drop as I fatigue. However, I am extremely happy with this run.

That incredible high was followed by a pretty quick collapse to my knees. I was toast! The volunteers got me over to the med tent and I laid down for a good 10 minutes or so. They then ended up wheelchairing me over to the massage area where I got all kinds of attention. Since there weren't many people in yet, the massage woman must have worked on me for at least 30 minutes, which was really nice.


I don't think I had many limiters today. I felt pretty darn good all day and I'm happy with my results. I ended 1st in my age group and the 6th overall age grouper. That is my first WTC branded AG win. And oh yeah, and I'm going back to KONA! :)


This is an ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC race. For anyone considering doing an Ironman, I HIGHLY recommend this race.