Ironman Mont-Tremblant - Triathlon

This was a great swim for me. My prior attempts at 1.2 were 46 minutes and 41 minutes and when I had come to train on the course a few weeks back it was more like 1:40. I was hoping for a 1:30 time. I got a groove and just held it the whole way. There really wasn't too too much contact during my swim, mostly on the back stretch. The chop was up at stages, but overall when I came out of the water with a 1:18 or so on my watch I was thrilled.

This is proof positive I'm starting to get this triathlon thing. WIth better form this will improve.

okay, i take back everything I said about getting this triathlon thing. I have no idea why the hell this took so long. I ran from the lake, did take one pit stop at a porta potty. the transition tent was packed and I had trouble finding a seat, but got down and put on my bib shorts, top and creamed up like crazy.

Clearly I left at least 8 minutes here. But I really don't know how my time was 14 minutes.

Pretty solid bike. Goal was to keep power in the 140s. I did a 2:55 first loop and felt really solid, I knew I was keeping a good bike pace, and had some good stretches out on 117 in the 27-28 mph range tucked. Had my first glorious on bike pee, ended up peeing three times on the bike. Second loop was a LOT windier. I knew this was coming having trained on course a few weeks ago. It's a lot easier dealing with the wind without auto traffic next to you. I felt like I was working a lot harder, but could tell my power was down. Second loop was 3:15 ish.. Overall I stuck with my plan of spinning up the hills. Nutrition was on plan, although I misplanned my gels and ended up taking some bananas out on course. about 5900 ft of elevation

Come to find out, biking is my strongest discipline. That said, I've got a lot of room for improvement, and look forward to doing so on the trainer this winter. joy joy, sweating in the basement to sufferfest!

Pretty good t2, especially compared to t1. I did take the time to change my top and shorts.

scrap the bottle belt, just go with the race belt and deal with fluid on course

This. Run. Sucked. I was told what I was getting into going into it, but wow. I'd run a couple of stand alone 26.2's but didn't really appreciate the difference here. The plan was to go out at 10:30s and then bring it down. First mile was 9:49, then I spent most of the first loop in the high 10's. I stopped in run special needs to get some more salt, a sock change (which I had forgotten in T2), and my notes from the wife and kids. Actually I left special needs and had to go back for the notes. A solid hamstring cramp popped up at mile 15, worked it out and took some more salt. Struggled in the low 12's mile 14-20. The chicken broth showed up at the exact right time when I needed salt. Evidently in Canada they can't serve capsules of any kind without being sealed, so if you're reading this for future reference BRING EXTRA SALT TABS!! With the 10k left I looked at my all up time for the first time and my very slowly working brain figured out I could break 13 hours if I stopped dicking around through the aid stations. I started taking just water and perform and focused my mantra (which my wife and I spent a long time determining) in my best Star Wars Gold Five voice "Stay on Target!!" I found my other gear and got back to sub 11's. I saw the fam on the last k, ran up the hill knowing I had it, smiled my ass off, high fived the world, ran down the chute, and finished my Ironman. Reilly wasn't around when I finished, and the announcer missed me entirely until I was done, but that's not what it was about.

Now that I've done it, I know I left a ton of time out there on the run. Didn't need the long special needs stop, and I've got a lot of room to improve the run. That said, I never walked except for nutrition and my cramp. That was a goal.

Saw the family, took some pictures. Sat down for a few minutes, then realized I wasn't doing so hot. I told my wife I was okay, but to take the kids back to the hotel while I went to medical. Sat there for an hour or so with an IV for some nausea and OJ.


Wow. First IMMT is just an amazing amazing experience. While it is my only 140.6 to date, it was an extraordinary venue and event. When I picked my first full last year I had read the early rave reports and decided on this over IMLP. I can't exaggerate how much local support the community puts behind this race. The town is all in, as evidenced by 3 WTC events here in 2014. If you've got a family, it's not even a question. People have said it's a hard course, but if you train anywhere near hills like we do in the northeast it's REALLY not that bad (i ran a 34/28).
From my perspective, I met my goal of sub 13. I can identify an easy 15-20 minutes I left out there at my current fitness level, but at this point, really, that's not important. I think if I really went after it I could have pulled a 12:20 or so. Before Sunday I was pretty adamant that I wouldn't be doing another one of these until the kids were in college. Now I'm not so sure. I'll focus on sprints and 70.3's in 2014, but will probably be back to the full distance before I expected.