Ironman North American Championship Mont-Tremblant : Official Thread (Page 4)

Now that we're getting into these nitty gritty practical questions, I'm wondering where most of you store gels/nutrition on the ride. I don't like saddle bags or bento boxes rattling around on my frame and I'm not a big fan of taping things to the frame. (I have a cool Velcro strap that holds tube and CO2 tightly under saddle).

So I will put gels in my tri jersey pockets, but it gets a bit bulky at the IM distance. This generally works for me, but I'm curious what others do. I will also snag a banana and some Honey Stinger waffles from aid stations.

well I usually tape 2-3 gels to my stem with separate wraps of tape, and some in a bento box, and the rest in my jersey pockets.

The gels on the stem come in handy, in case you are having trouble getting stuff out of the bento or pockets, and need to eat.
very true in my last race. hands were frozen from cold rain and all I could do was rip the gel off the stem (Canada btw).

bento box is nice because you can offload your pockets from being too bulky, and is easier to access.

jersey pockets are useful, to offload the bento box as extra storage

For IM you need a lot of food, so it's difficult to put it all in one place. Eating from Aid Stations is not easy, without stopping, because usually you are getting hydration. The line moves fast so...I normally do not plan on getting food at the bike Aid Stations.

I bring almost all of it with me, I don't do well with on course. I also wear a bike jersey, so I don't stress about room. the extra 30 seconds to put it on isn't killing me and i only have to stop at SN

Good advice about not relying too much on the aid stations. At my HIMs I only grabbed a banana from one. My bike nutrition plan for MT is:

1 Gu in T1
Then, 1 Gu every hour (this will mean 6 more)
2 Honey Stinger Waffles
4 bottles of Perform and/or Gatorade

I will also try to grab a banana on the course.

Does anyone think this is not enough? That's what I worry about. I'm 6' 3" and 190 lbs.

I'm working with a nutritionist this year, and she's planned out everything for me. On the bike I'm supposed to consume 8.5 bottles of Gatorade, 9 gels and one Powerbar. I think that works out to around 440 calories an hour. On the run I take in a Cliff Block every 2 miles and a gel every 45 minutes, plus 4-5 oz of Gatorade or water at each aid station.

Edit - I'll be around 167-168 pounds on race day.

Edited by natethomas2000 2015-08-03 9:43 AM

I keep calling my clothing changes "costumes." It makes my friends laugh (and I giggle) when I talk about my riding costume vs my running costume.

Yeah, it's the little things that are keeping me sane now........

My biggest challenge always seems to be drinking that much fluid and doing it over a slower period of time vs gulping now and then. By bottle number 6 I am sick of the same flavors over and over again. Will eat more solids/gels on bike to account for changing over to a bottle of water every so often.

Less than a week to go. I'm starting to get a little anxious about this. All of a sudden I'm worried about the swim, which is usually not a problem for me. I guess a bout of nerves is normal for the first IM.

Does anyone have a sense of the forecast? The app on my phone says 78 degrees with 10% chance of rain, but it's still early in the week.

The swim is nice. One hint is to get an accurate count of the buoys going out and coming back in. That helped me gauge my progress.

The sand is cold in the morning so wear something disposable, such as a pair of cheap flip-flops.

Looks like a decent weather forecast for race day, light winds, decent temp, and low chance of rain.

One note from my swim last year at IMMT.....on the return portion of the swim, about 300-400 yards from the beach, there is an area to the left (ok, I'm not the best sighter out there...) that is very shallow. It sneaks up on you and then you can stand. It's a small area, but weird. On the other side of the shallow area, you will need swim in, but for that small area, it's walkable. Hopefully you sight better than I did...

btw, don't forget the espresso boat on Friday morning during the morning practice swim. it's hard to hot drink coffee while treading water, but it's doable.

If anybody has any specific questions, please let me know. I raced last year and totally love the venue and everything about MT. So, if you're freaking out about something, ask away.

It is also somewhat rocky at the swim-out unless you swim all the way until your fingers are touching. It's also almost always faster to swim until you can touch the bottom anyway.

On the buoys, I think there are 12 out and 12 back and a few at the end between the turn buoys. Nice to count, and there are big numbers on each buoy to gauge your progress.

speaking of the swim - did anyone look closely at the athlete guide? It looks like you turn BEFORE the buoys?!

yeah that is odd. the course looks the same as 2013, but we went around the outside of the turn buoys, but the 2015 course shows the swimmers corralled after the 13th but before the "turn" buoys. hmmm.

well that part will clear up in the race briefing. it could be just a poorly made diagram.

Edited by metafizx 2015-08-11 2:22 PM

I just heard about the floating coffee bar the other day. Way cool. I hope it's still there on Saturday. I don't get to MT until around noon on Friday.

I'm actually curious about a small thing. I understand how the gear bags work now, but where do I put the stuff I'm done with? In other words, after the swim I will take the blue bag and grab my helmet and bike shoes, but where do I put my wetsuit and goggles? In T2 I'll grab the red bag and get my running shoes, race belt and hat, but where do I put my helmet? (I assume I can leave my cycling shoes clipped to the pedals).

Thanks for the help. It's the little stuff that's on my mind at this point.

Your stuff goes into the bag you just emptied. In other words, once you dump out your bike stuff, your swim stuff (wetsuit, goggles, etc) go in that bag. Same thing for the run - dump out run stuff, put in bike stuff. If you get lucky a volunteer may do it for you. You'll be able to collect all of these bags after the race.

100% correct. Here's a bit more detail if you're interested. The changing tent is huge and split up in three parts. The right side of the tent (looking from the village perspective) is closest to the lake and you'll put your blue (swim to bike) bag in rows according to your race number on the right side. The middle of the tent is the changing area. The middle is subdivided for men and women. There are chairs to sit down on and change. it's get a bit hectic, so be careful in there. Based on what I saw last year, everybody tries to get the first chair they see, which means everybody is bunched together. There's usually plenty of space on the sides and towards the back, so you don't have to bunch up. I would suggest that when you're done changing and putting your swim stuff or bike stuff into your bags, that you tie the top of your bags so stuff doesn't fall out. it may cost you a few seconds, but you'll have your stuff at the end of the race, otherwise, when the bags are tossed around, stuff may fall out. The left side of the tent is for your red (bike to run) bags. They will also go into rows according to your race number.

so here's the flow on race day. After the swim, there's a small 250 meter run/walk to the tent. (BTW, there are porta-potties just before the tent on the right if you need to go, and there were also some on the left last year too). You'll enter the right side of the tent where you will grab your blue (swim to bike) bag. Go change in the middle, and you will leave at the back of the changing area (ie. in one side, and out the other). As you run to your bike (be careful the floor can be a bit treacherous when you have your cleats on), you'll pass the rows of red bags. I can't remember where you drop off your blue bag that will now have your wetsuit and goggles, but it's pretty obvious. you leave the tent and goto your bike.

After the bike leg, you'll hand off your bike (btw, help out the volunteers and come to a stop...there's no need to do a running dismount, imho). there's a 100ish meter run to the tent. You'll enter the left side where the red bags are lined up according to race number. You'll grab your bag, go into the appropriate changing area, leave out the back, drop off your bag, and exit the right side of the tent where the run begins.

That's pretty much it.

Hopefully this is helpful.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE!!!!!!! I will say it again...you should already have started to HYDRATE!!! High of 88 and humid on Sunday. Its going to be a tough one out there! We got this!

So how did everyone do??? I heard it was about 80 degrees on race day this year.

First timers- Did you enjoy IMMT and that finish line?

It was my first IM and I'm glad I finished but I was pretty unhappy with my time. Swim and bike were good, but it was 83 degrees when I left T2. I had major dehydration issues and couldn't solve them with Gatorade or water or Coke. My stomach was a mess and it hurt to run. Finally I went into a medical tent and they gave me warm salt water, which helped a lot. Lesson learned. On super hot days I need to take in more salt. I never trained with salt tablets before, but will try them out in the future.

In the end I finished at 14:02. A super slow run, but they put that big medal around my neck and Mike Reilly said I was an Ironman. I'll take it!

I'm thinking 70.3 is a better distance for me, but I know from experience that the first few days after a race are not a good time rule things in or out.

hey great job Mike. IMs aren't easy and you did it !

My first IM too!

I also wasn't thrilled with my time however I NAILED the nutrition in spite of the heat. I just can't run to save my life and would have liked to been a little faster - but like Mike said - I FINISHED and I"m an IRONMAN!

ps - going back next year to give it another go

Edited by mtnbikerchk 2015-08-27 1:48 PM