Ironman 70.3 Mont Tremblant - Triathlon

I put myself behind two very fast guys hoping they would clear a way for me.
Well, the excess testosterone in my AG, although we are supposed to be low, had people swimming over me, elbowing, hitting.
So stupid. When I did WC in 2011 I realized the experienced guys know that the energy spent fighting in the first 300m is wasted. Oh well.

Within about 400m things got a little more civilzed although I felt a lot of people were pulling away.

I was silly not to take advantage of several drafting opportunities.

Overall, a relaxed swim, probably came out as fresh as I ever have

However, there was one issue. In pool swims I always cramp up around 2200-2400m in a practice. i never figured this out. While I didn't cramp coming out of the lake, I felt I was not far from it. Back of leg, calves and hamstrings. They were very tight. I need to figure this out

I was ok with the swim. I probably left a minute with a bit more effort or less energy for the same time, but overall in line with what I have invested in my swim


I could have easily benefited from a draft. There is a guy that swim next to me the entire 2nd half of the swim. I should have just tucked in behind him. But he was as silly as me

Strippers got it all wrong.
I came out and wasn't going to use the strippers since the run to T1 is about 500m.
Anyways, I decide to. They scream at me to lie on my back, which I do, except the top of my wetsuit isn't off. Duh !. get up, take off top, lie down, tug tug.. This was not very efficient.

probably lost a good 30 seconds here

Not listen to strippers. I thought I learned that a long time ago

This is the part I feel I executed poorly. My target power was 225, I hit 224 NP. But I did it at a 1.075 VI, which is too high for this course. I would do the ups too hard and slack off too much on the flats.
I had about 14 30 spikes above 300 watts, which wasn't necessary.

I was very unsure about my target power. I normally do several 3hr rides at target power which i didn't this round. I did a lot of long rides with a mix of Z2, Z3, Z4, knew I could handle this so kind of overdid the climbs.

The black line was my target wattage. And you see my zones. Too much time in Z2, too much in Z4.

First 30km or so was pretty smooth, I was worried about the tighness in the leg, but it was not getting worse. I was expecting local 1 and local 2 to catch me before the turn around. We turn around, and within about 1 min I see them both, so I figure I have 2 min on them. In hindsight i would have wanted them closer to push me

Also there was a D-bag that sat on my wheel every time there was a flat. Twice I let him go, fell back about 50m but then I would catch him and sure enough he would be on my wheel. So I would I try and drop him on the hills, which was stupid.

He eventually hooked up with a passing train and I didn't have to deal with him any more. He approached me after the race, and after a few minutes discussion I saw everything that is wrong with some of the people in this sport and WTC.


At 80km he cramped up bad, had to unclip to stretch and as I passed him said "Karma's a ^itch".

Then about 5 min later, boom, my right quad seizes up. This has happened to me in 3 races now. First time in 2011 I had to stop after the bike. In 2012 I managed it better and stretched it out. As soon as it twitched I backed off and decided to manage it. The important this is to be very steady, no sudden acceleration, changes in cadence....But we were approaching Duplessis which has several 12%+ pitches. I rode it very conservatively, as conservative as you can

I also know this doesn't affect my run, so as long as I made it to t2 I would be ok.

One the way down, I slacked off. My last 10km split was 175w.






Definitely pace things more evenly, everyone knows this.
I need to figure out the cramping in the quads.
It's not hydration, maybe electrolytes, it was not over-cooking. I think it's related to swim before bike because it never happens in training.

Good T2. I decided to wear socks.

However, just as I was leaving, local 1 showed up. I knew he saw me and I knew he would chase me.


Not much.

My best runs have always been very evenly passed. If there is anything to learn from this RR, this is it.

I took the first km easy, even though I knew local 1 was right behind me. HR was low, 4:40/km. Felt easy. So I slightly picked it up. i felt very good. I then saw a guy I know that has a ton of experience and is like a diesel train, smooth and steady. I sat behind him, watched my HR, watched my pace and said to myself, "perfect", this guy is better than a Garmin.

There was a flat trail between km 5 and 10 which was the turn around. So enjoyable. My HR was 148-150, pace around 4:35ish, it was a breeze. I probably passed James at the 6km mark, because I am pretty sure it was on this trail.

When I get to the turnaround this is where I would assess my lead. I had about 1min over local 1, 90 sec over local 2. The change in direction caused a bit of a change in pace and I was accelerating which I knew was wrong. Then I saw James who screamed "put the hammer down". James, remember that ? Guess what i did ? yep, I decided to go for it.

Look at the chart. Look at my pace increase slightly at 45min and my HR spike. This is the problem. For a few seconds per km, you spike your effort and it doesn't come back down. I backed off the pace and the HR did not come down. This is a mistake. I passed my diesel train, and within a few minutes started to suffer big time. I tried to back off but the HR would not come down. If you are still paying attention, keep it steady. If you make this mistake within the first 2km of the run, you are in big trouble. Go steady. Hold back on km 1. Run below target pace and adjust. You have 13 miles to adjust.

We then had a second turn around. I measured again and I was pulling away from local 1 and local 2. rather than manage things I decided to push. I tried to climb the last hills at full pace. Look at the HR spike, I never recovered from

For a benefit of 30 seconds on my run I suffered a lot more than I needed to. Put that effort to properly pacing the bike and overall I would have done much better

PACE THE RUN EVENLY !!!
Next bad move was to not slow down on the last few climbs. You can see the HR spike and I needed downhills to bring it back.

At this point I was on fumes and just wanted to manage a finish.

I beat local 1 and local 2 by 5 and 8 minutes, so was happy with my result. D-bag finished behind.


Overall my pacing was not bad. The first 10.5 km were the same as the second, but with a lot more effort. A lot more.

My average pace was 4:33/km, my NGP which takes in account hills was 4:32. So it was well executed.

Went to the med tent to test my blood sugar. It was high normal

Nutrition

Cliff block every 15min starting at 30 to 2h15 but skipped one 7x8g = 56g carbs = 224 calories
3 bottles water. first one had 300mg sodium, 2 salt tabs so 900mg sodium total.

Run
2oz water with 2g every mile for 9 miles 9x2g = 18g = 64 calories

total calories = 288 calories for the entire event. Some people consume this per hour

I thought I took more than this but miscalculated. Oh well, it looks like it was sufficient.

We can talk about nutrition and calories if you want :-) The guy that won our AG is a 4x ultraman world championships runner up. He has some interesting stories on nutrition. To find his minimum he tried to do a IM on 0 calories. He says he bonked, but not by that much.


it was a good race, but I could have got more for the same effort. I slacked off on the bike and the run hurt.

I need more confidence in my bike. I know I can do more.


While this is an amazing venue, I decided I will not register unless one of my local buddies wants to do it. There are too many races I want to do, especially in Europe. Plus it gives me motivation to qualify for WC in 2014 to do it then