Ironman 70.3 Mont Tremblant - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This swim is right where my I thought I'd be. I was hoping for a time a bit closer to 33 min, but the swim actually felt a lot longer. I was fearing to take a peak at my watch when I exited the water, but it wasn't all that bad.

I did an ok job with navigation, but drifted a little bit outside the buoy line a few times. One funny thing that I noticed were a lot of dead trees on the lake bottom hundreds of yards out in the lake - how did they get there?

On the run into transition I was feeling that my weakest area was checked off and I was right where I was planning on being - so far, so good.

I know I have good fitness, but I know my swim technique is probably pretty crappy. I'm thinking of getting some coaching over the next month or so in hopes that I can get a faster swim in at AG Nationals and in Vegas.

I feel like this was a solid transition. It was definitely a good run up from the lake - probably 300-400 yards - then grabbed my bike stuff and headed out.

With the bike being my strongest tri discipline, I knew this was the area where I could gain the most on the field. Out of transition it was flat for a mile or so, then there were constant hills out to rt. 117. The course headed north on 117, again lots of ups and downs, including a good climb in the middle.

My goal heading into this race was to average somewhere between 275-285 watts. I actually forgot to hit the start button af the very beginning of the bike. I made the mistake of going a bit too hard, but it felt sooooo easy for the first 30 or so miles. At around an hour and ten minutes in I was averaging around 296 watts, which I knew I could not sustain and then run well. I decided to do a bit more coasting on the downhills, which had speeds in the mid 40's.

On the way back in on 117 we again hit the same hill in the middle. At this point I had passed quite a few people from my AG, but there were a few guys that I kept going back and forth with. It went this way pretty much all the way back to transition.

The last 12 or so miles of the course had the steepest climbing, with grades around 12%. I had switched out my usual 11-23 to an 11-25, and with that I was still grinding at around 70 rpm and 10 mph on a few of the last climbs.

The last few miles into transition were downhill, and I got stuck behind a few riders. We were pretty much only able to go single file at that point, and there was a ton of coasting. My average power went from 282 to 278 watts in that little section. The total elevation gain/loss on the bike was 3182 feet - not bad for a HIM, but I definitely didn't want to head out for another loop!

While on the bike I took in an 800 calorie concentrated Infinit bottle and 100 calories in Cliff Blocks. I stopped taking in calories for the last 10 miles, hoping that would alleviated digestion issues, just going with water for the last 25 or so minutes.

I came into the transition area at just over 3 hours down, feeling pretty confident that I had a good chance of breaking 4:30. Based on training, I felt that a 1:27 or so run was possible.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/192511298

Nothing - right where I wanted to be. Pretty pleased with having one of the top amateur bike splits.

In the morning I had been wearing my run shoes without socks, and when I took them off to leave for the swim I guess the insole partially pulled out. When I went to put them on in T2 the insole got all bunched up, and I had to pull it out and then put it back in - this cost me a good 15 seconds, and one spot in my AG.

Check my insoles next time

My plan for the run was to target a pace around 6:40. Coming out of transition, I felt great, and my first mile was 6:48. However, soon after that I began to get really bad side stitches. My legs felt awesome, but the pain was pretty severe. As a result, I had to slow down quite a bit.

Miles 2-6 went by with side stitches at around a 7:20 pace, and it wasn't until half way through the run that I began to feel better. I was able to get my pace back to around 7:00 or a tiny bit under. It's funny, but my fastest two miles were 12 and 13, where I was at 6:44 and 6:39.

I had a pretty severe negative split, and was actually able to catch about six or seven people who had passed me in the first portion of the run. I was still pretty pissed, as I'm not quite sure what caused the side stitches. I hope to figure that out before Vegas.

In the final mile of the race I was closing on two guys in my AG who had passed me earlier. However, I simply ran out of distance to chase them down. I was thinking at the time that I may have lost out on a Vegas slot as a result.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/192507103


More race pace rides and runs to work on nutrition and avoid cramping/side stitches.

Hung out with Mighty Magz and Jenny Fletcher - Jenny told me that the Garmin 910 is crap and not to get one - ha! Got some food and received a wonderful 20 minute massage from a great guy from Montreal! Katie and I then walked around and she bought me a Tremblant 70.3 bike jersey.


My run just wasn't what I wanted. I should have been about 4-5 minutes faster on the run. The swim and bike where what I expected.


My first experience at a WTC race was a good one. The venue in Mt. Tremblant was spectacular. Our hotel was literally right on the course, and super convenient. The weather turned our to be nice, albeit it a little hotter and sunnier than I would have liked.

I'd think about doing the full IM next year, but that bike would be brutal!

I stuck around after the awards and snagged a roll-down slot to Vegas. I'll have to do a lot of summer training during the hot parts of the day to be ready to race there!