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 Swim
Comments: My swim training hasn't been the greatest this year. I think I did one swim over 4000 meters. But I was very consistent and tried to swim 4 days/week. I expected to be a minute or two slower than last year. I lined up in the center of the beach about 2 rows back. I'm nowhere near an elite swimmer but I don't like starting too far back so I don't get stuck in a slower group. The gun went off and I ran for a bit and then started swimming. There really isn't much to say about the swim. I felt pretty good the entire way. Never felt uncomfortable and kept the pace honest. I will say that there was a ton of contact. It was a much more combative swim than last year. I'm not sure why. I think I was just stuck with a group that didn't mind the contact. I do think some of it was unnecessary though...especially the couple times my shoulder was used to propel somebody forward. Oh well. It doesn't really bother me. The back half of the swim was very enjoyable. There was very little contact and I got in a nice rhythm. My back usually tightens up on long swims but none of that this time. I felt great late in the swim and exited the water in 1:06:33. I was happy with the time and it's within a few seconds of last years time. For the amount of effort I put in swimming, I'm perfectly happy swimming a 1:06. I used the wetsuit strippers and put on my LG course speedsuit running to T1. It was very easy to put on while running. I had it tucked under the wetsuit for the swim. The long run to T1 is great. I love that the crowd is so big and screaming at you. Feels great. Grabbed my stuff and got ready to bike.  Transition 1
Comments: Long run to T1. Could have been a few seconds quicker but I wasn't rushing.  Bike
Comments: Felt smooth and comfortable on the bike right away. The plan was to bike easy for the first 30 minutes and then pick up the pace a bit. Towards the end of Montee Ryan I realized I was going a bit harder than I planned so I backed off. I had what I thought was a great bike last year. I finished in 5:14 but even split the first and second loop. I was looking to do the same today so I wanted to take things easy the first loop. The first out/back on 117 was crowded. I got caught in a pack for a good portion of that section. It mainly consisted of a group of riders surging ahead on the uphills and another group surging ahead on the flats and downhills. I was taking the hills really easy so I was in the latter group. I was very surprised how many guys seemed to be hammering up the hills and just coasting going down. Terrible IM strategy. I've learned from my 2 previous IMs that evening out the effort makes for a much faster and easier ride. Getting caught in a group is a blessing and a curse at the same time. Used properly you can really make your ride easier. But you are always on the edge of legality in terms of drafting and blocking. It was a mess at times with riders 3 wide. Surging and slowing down over and over again. I had to shake my head a few times at guys who couldn't decide if they wanted to pass you or not....so you're forced to drop back way slower than you want. When you drop back you get passed by 4 others and now your in the back. It wasn't a big group, maybe 6-8 but it was enough to make me uneasy. I sat 10 meters off the back when I could and used the draft when passing or getting passed as best I could within the rules. I did my best to keep things legal without giving up my race and just dropping back completely. That's about as honest assessment as I can give. Towards the end of 117 once you get into old Mont Tremblant, things broke up nicely. I surged a bit on the long downhill into town and distanced myself. I was happy to be clear. The ride back on Montee Ryan was uneventful. It gets a bit narrow in there but things were spread out at that point. Once I was on Duplesis most of the guys in the 117 group started fading. I was happy to be out in front of them and pushed on. I ended the first loop in 2:30. This is 5-6 minutes faster than last years first loop. At the time, I attributed that to the lack of wind, the passing/repassing on 117 and the surge I did to break clear of that group later on. I was a bit worried in the back of my mind that I over biked that first loop but I felt great and pushed on to the second loop. I made a quick stop at special needs and picked up some bottles then continued on Montee Ryan. Once back on 117 I saw the familiar Zoot suit of my friend Fred. I've seen him for part of the bike for all 3 IMs I've done. We leap-frogged a couple times on 117 but we tend to have different riding styles so weren't together long. The second loop was fairly uneventful really. The path was clear and I was feeling great. I was with a couple other guys and we played the pass re-pass game for portions of the second loop. My back did start to tighten up a bit but nothing like it did in 2014. I was glad to be on the Duplesis section the second time around. I had open road and was continually passing. I took the hills easy and tried to take in nutrition on the descents to get ready for the marathon. Overall, I felt about as good as you can after biking hard 112 miles. I cruised into T2 with a time of 5:03. My splits were something like 2:31/2:32 for the 2 loops. There was something about that course in 2015 that made it faster. I'd like to say I'm in better biking shape but I'm really not sure. I was ecstatic with my bike split and even more happy that I felt great and was ready to nail the run. Nutrition consisted of 2 400 calorie Infinit bottles (1 in special needs) 5-6 gels and some gatorade. In 2014 I used only 2 800 calorie Infinit bottles and I was sick of that drink by the end. I decided to use Infinit along with gels and on course nutrition. This seemed to work out quite well as my stomach felt great coming into T2 and I feel like I took the perfect amount of calories on the bike. In total I'd say I took in about 1600-1800 calories on the bike. Transition 2
Comments: Did a full change into running clothes that cost me an extra 45 seconds or so. Was worth it in the end but could have cost me. What would you do differently?: Nothing.  Run
Comments: I grabbed my T2 bag and did a quick change into running clothes. I decided to do a full change into a running single and running shorts rather than try to run in the LG course speed suit. This decision was mainly due to the heat and my history of melting down on runs in the heat. My T2 was about a minute longer than most others but I think this was the right decision. The running singlet and run shorts are so much more comfortable and cool. I started the run and the first 100 yards out of the gate I knew I felt good. I saw my wife and that made me feel great. Legs just felt light and smooth and snappy. First mile felt easy and was 7:11. I knew that was way too fast for the conditions and I backed off quite a bit. I eventually settled into a 7:35-7:45 pace. This felt comfortable and was about the pace I ran last year for the first 20 miles or so. I decided to stick to this regardless of how I felt and re-assess at the start of the second loop. When you feel good running, it's so incredibly hard to watch people run away from you. I had a few guys pass me at various points on the first loop and I wanted to chase them down so bad. I felt like I could have but I knew how important the last 10 miles of an IM are. I reluctantly let them go hoping I'd see them again on the second loop. I had shoved my singlet under my race belt and used that to hold ice. I took at least 2 cups of water at EVERY aid station along with 2 cups of ice that went down my singlet or in my hat. I had so much ice jammed in there I sounded like a rattle running down the road. Took a gel every 3-4 miles along with gatorade periodically. I saw my buddy Scott on the first out/back on the run. He screamed for me. Feels good when somebody does that. :) By the end of the first loop I was starting to get hot but generally still felt pretty good. There was no indication that I was going to slow down any time soon. I was still running in the 7:35-7:40 range. I did some quick math and realized that even if I slowed some on the second loop I had a realistic chance of low 9:4X. I couldn't believe the position I was in at this point. The thought of going 9:4X was a dream to me and I really started concentrating on getting down to business and holding things together for the next 13 miles. I didn't see my wife at the halfway point. She was busy drinking Sangria in the perfect spot next to the run course. What a great town! If you look back at results, I was 10th in my age group at the 13.1 mile mark of the marathon. I had no idea at the time but my age group had an unbelievable race unfolding. There were 10-12 guys all bunched up that had a realistic chance of winning the age group. I was toward the end of this group....but gaining. Would have been nice to know this. Wouldn't it be cool if they had live results along the course that athletes could look at. Just a thought. Now to the fun part. To say that the second half of the run is a dream to me is an understatement. I started my run out to the railroad trail and noticed my pace was around 7:25-7:30 without even trying. With 10 miles to go I could not believe how great I felt. I tried to keep myself in check a few more miles and ran 7:30s until about mile 20. In was during this time I started passing people in my age group. I moved from 10th to 5th between miles 13 and 20. Once I saw 20 miles on my watch I knew I had nailed the run. My legs did hurt but they felt light and I felt great. I picked up the pace some more and started running in the 7:10-7:15 range. By mile 23 I was first in my age group. Of course, I had no way of knowing this. I picked up the pace some more and ran as hard as could those last 3 miles. I absolutely buried myself. I lapped Scott around mile 24 and he was screaming like a girl. Kudos to him because I felt that energy. The last 3 miles were 7:00, 6:45, 6:50. I literally sprinted up the last few hills into the village. Something happened to me over the last 10 miles that I just can't explain. I'm normally terrible in the heat. But for some reason I just kept getting faster while most others were just struggling to maintain pace or fading big time. I ran past special needs and started down the through the village to the finish. Without question, this was the greatest I've felt at the end of the race. It isn't even close. I could not even believe I had put together a run like that in the heat. Crossed the line in 9:31:32 with a 3:13 marathon. Negative split the marathon something like 1:39/1:34. Just unbelievable to me and I still can't believe it as I sit here and write this. What would you do differently?: Maybe....just maybe....start running faster a bit earlier. But that could have gone terribly wrong if I didn't time it correctly. Post race
Warm down: Post Race I walked around in the recovery area for a while trying to absorb what just happened. I kept thinking to myself "I'm not a 9:30 IM guy. How did that happen". After a few minutes some of the other guys in M35-39 stopped and we chatted. Met some great athletes in the hour or so I was there. Had a nice conversation with Jonathan Rohl and Jimmy Phillips. Sorry you didn't get your spot Jimmy. I was told I likely finished 6th in my age group. I kept looking for my wife to try to figure out where I finished in the age group but it took me a while to find her for some reason. My #1 goal in this race was to chug a beer at the finish. My stomach hurt so bad last year I couldn't eat at all. After a few minutes I walked over and grabbed a beer. With nobody around to cheer me on...I downed a beer in silence. This was a drink to my fallen comrades Tom and James who crashed earlier in the season with broken collar bones. Cheers guys. Next year. You we're missed. I finally find my wonderful wife Sue and she helped me collect my bike and gear. We headed up to our room at the Mariott and I finally found out I had finished 1st in M35-39. Holy shit! There were about 15 times in the age group between 9:31 and 9:45 all with a shot towards the end. Somehow I pulled it off. In fairness to all the M35-39 reading this blog, although this was a more competitive age group than last year...there really weren't any uber-fast times this year. 9:31 doesn't win M35-39 very often. Got lucky this time...but I'll take it. Not complaining. So what was the difference this year I really have no idea what the difference was this year. I suspect that coming into the race 4-5 pounds lighter really helped towards the end of the marathon. I have to credit my wife for changing our diets. I think it made a huge difference. I think experience on the course and doing IMs back to back probably helped. Big training volume 2 years in a row. I've done big running blocks in the winter for the past 3 years and I've gotten progressively faster running. Build volume through frequency. Speed work comes last. I ran a 1:18 half marathon in March so I guess a 3:13 IM marathon is not an unreasonable expectation. Finally, I think I may have accidentally paced perfectly for the conditions. Holding back on the first half of the run seemed like the right choice on a day like that. But in reality, it may just have been one of those days where everything comes together perfectly. Not sure I'll ever replicate a race like that again. Endurance sports can be so incredibly humbling some days....and so incredibly uplifting other days. I had one of my worst races in late May at Black Bear. Walked a good portion of the run and completely fell to pieces in the heat. I think I paid more attention to hydration and heat management at IMMT but nothing drastically different. I wish I knew exactly what the difference was. I'll probably never figure it out. Kona Nope. Not this year. I passed. The only reason I even mention this is because I've been asked why so many times. My answer is this: As a family man, I sometimes have to make decisions that I'm not happy about because it's the right decision for my family. Taking a 12K hit and another 6 weeks burying myself in training is not something I think is a wise choice right now. Please don't take this the wrong way if you're headed to Kona. This is just the right decision for me right now. It may be different in a few years if I'm luck enough to qualify again. Thanks Well.....I don't have any sponsors or a coach so I guess I can skip that part. The only people who really need to be thanked are my family. My wife is so incredibly supportive of my hobby and passion. I couldn't do it without her understanding, especially those last 6 weeks before the race. I try to be just as supportive to anything she wants to accomplish. That's the way a marriage should be. Our least favorite word is "let". We don't "let" each other do things. Adults shouldn't have to do that. We can have our own life and ambitions provided it fits within the goals of our family. I also credit my kids for keeping me honest and realizing how great this sport is. I had the opportunity to do a triathlon with all 3 of them this year. Best feeling ever. I should also thank the triathlon community. As somebody who is uncoached, every decisions I made about training, nutrition, pacing, racing and gear selection was due to research on slowtwitch and advice from fellow triathletes. With the correct approach and training, it can be done. Finally Such a surreal feeling standing up on the podium of one of the big Ironman events. Standing up there with all those great triathletes was the honor of a lifetime. At the end of the day my splits were 1:06 / 5:03 / 3:13 with a 4:48 T1 and 3:03 T2. Good enough for 9:31:32 and 1st in M35-39 this year. Just a fantastic experience for me. I can only hope to have another race like this in the future. Profile Album Last updated: 2015-03-27 12:00 AM
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Canada
World Triathlon Corporation
71F / 22C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 31/2300
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 1/300
How did I even end up in Mont Tremblant
2014 was supposed to be my big Ironman year. I've always said that I'm not the type of person that can manage an Ironman every year. I have a great life at home. The perfect wife, 3 great daughters. A ton of property to take care of. I'm involved in youth soccer and the swim team at the Y. I keep myself very busy...but they are all things I enjoy doing so I can't complain. The problem is that it's just way to much to handle along with IM training every summer. There comes a point in the summer where things just get set aside for later or ignored. It becomes annoying after a while.
I dedicated my entire 2014 season to Ironman Mont Tremblant. My entire training and racing season was configured with IMMT in mind. It was a hard summer but things came together nicely and in August I had I very successful race at Mont Tremblant. I finished in 9:54 taking 25 minutes off my previous Ironman. Finished 9th in my age group and had the opportunity to take a Kona roll down slot. I turned down the slot but was ecstatic with my race. I looked forward to taking things a bit easier in 2015.
That all ended a couple months later. I got word that my friends Fred and James were heading to Mont Tremblant in 2015. I've always enjoyed racing with them so it started putting the thought in my mind. Shortly after that, 2 guys I train with in Gettysburg decided they were going to sign up in 2015. There was also rumor that a crew from Gettysburg might head up there to cheer them on. So my wife and I had a conversation and decided that we'd head up there again in 2015 and I'd take it a bit less serious this year. Just do the race for FUN. Ha.
Well before the race
Things don't always turn out the way we think they are. James went down with an injury and he was out. One of my friends from Gettysburg crashed his bike and he was out. The Gettysburg cheering crew dropped out. My nice trip to Mont Tremblant with a big group turned in to just a couple guys I know. I guess it was at this point I decided that I might as well try to make this one count.
It's worth mentioning that sometime in May, my wife (Sue) and I decided to completely change our diet. She hadn't been feeling well and thought it might be something she was eating. So on June 1st we started a diet called Whole30. 30 days of nothing but fruit, vegetables, nuts and meat. No dairy, grains, added sugar, processed food, alcohol, legumes, etc. Look it up if you want more information. I won't get into the details of how I felt but I'll just say that it really worked for me. I started again in July after a few cheat days on vacation. So nutrition wise, I went into the race with 10 weeks of an incredibly clean diet. Along with the diet I decided that I wasn't taking any type of supplement anymore. No vitamins, protein power, beta alanine, amino acids, pre-workout shakes, recovery drinks, blah, blah, blah. None of that crap. I always joked with Sue that I was going to get a jersey that said "Powered by real food". I will admit that I did take gels and sports drinks during long rides. Not sure how I could have avoided that. Other than that I stuck to the diet and just ate real food. Somehow I survived by eating chicken and potatoes after a big working instead of some bottled recovery drink. Toughest part of the diet is refraining from beer. I love beer.
The big takeaway from this diet was that I dropped somewhere around 4-6 pounds without even trying. I felt great most of the time and ate whatever I wanted within the rules of the diet. I've tried years to drop those extra couple pounds and it had always been painful and uncomfortable and I usually failed. I felt and looked very lean heading into the race.
I approached training a bit different this year. In 2014, I put in a huge May and found myself exhausted in early June. I think I just started the heavy volume stuff way too early. In 2015, I kept my training in the 14-15 hour/week range in May and June. Having a couple extra races and a vacation in there helped. Once July came around I piled on the biking mileage. July was my biggest biking month I've ever had. Wednesdays were 4 hour rides in the evenings. Sunday ride was 5-6 hours. A couple other 2 hour rides mixed in there when I had time. I generally spend the winter running big miles and back off a bit in the summer. This summer was no different. I just can't run that well in the heat when I'm tired from so much biking. Runs in July were generally easy pace. 1 long run on Friday. Very little speed work. About 6 days and 40-45 miles per week. The 5 weeks leading up to taper my volume was something like 20, 23, 23, 21, 19 hours.
By the end of July I was REALLY tired. I honestly thought I did too much in July. I started my taper just about at the end of my rope. Even a week out from the race I thought I was in trouble. I just felt flat and had no pop in my legs at all.
Pre-race
Left for Canada on Wednesday afternoon and arrived Thursday after a stop somewhere in Watertown, NY. I went out for a run on Thursday and felt GREAT. First clue that my taper might actually be doing what it's supposed to. Swam with Fred and Scott on Friday. A couple short bikes on Friday and Saturday. Legs felt good. The rest of the time on Friday and Saturday was just hanging out around the village and trying to rest. I absolutely HATE the Friday and Saturday before an IM. Worst 2 days of the year.
Race morning
Woke up at 3:45am and had breakfast. 2 eggs, a banana, a sweet potato and beet juice. Met Scott in my room at 4:30am and we walked down to transition. I had a complete feeling of calm on Sunday morning. As much as I hate Friday and Saturday...I absolutely love race mornings. No nerves at all. I'm just ready to go.
I get to my bike and immediately notice that I have a flat. Crap! I wheel my bike over to the bike maintenance guys and ask very nicely if he can give me a hand. No problem. I hand him the latex spare I brought with me to transition (just in case) and he changed it in 5 minutes. No reason to panic. By the time I left the maintenance area there was a huge line with panicked athletes. The lesson here is to get to transition early, be prepared and stay calm. I dropped my bike back off at my transition spot and noticed that I forgot one of my bottles. Crap! This was actually more annoying than the flat tire. So much for me being prepared. I walked back up to my hotel and grabbed the missing bottle and walked back down to transition. No big deal really but annoying that I had to walk extra. I finally headed back up to my hotel room and put on my wetsuit for the walk to the swim start.
My buddy Scott actually had a flat in transition too. He was a bit more panicked about it but managed to get it repaired in plenty of time.
We took a few pictures once we got to the swim start and I warmed up for 2-3 minutes in the water. Watched the pros start and got in line for a 6:45am start. Ready to go.