Ironman North American Championship Mont-Tremblant : Official Thread (Page 9)

Originally posted by Fred D

Great stuff!

What do you think was the biggest limiter last year? the bike?

If so, what gearing are you using?

Originally posted by lepfan72



Biggest limiter last year was nutrition. I don't know if I swallowed too much lake water, or it was just a bug, but by 20 miles into the bike I couldn't even handle drinking water without wanting to throw up. By ~mile 67, I was done, too weak and dizzy to continue. Lessons learned? Absolutely, I'm playing with some different options this year and so far, the stomach is holding up.

The hills on the bike were a rude shock - even though we'd scoped out the course elevation maps, and talked to local folks who had done IMMT in 2012, and trained on the local hills they recommended (which is still a 3 hour round trip from us!); it wasn't enough. Now that I know what to expect, my coach and I are focusing on hill training this year. I've got a compact cassette on my bike - I can't recall the exact gearing, but my fitter at my LBS has ridden both MT and Whistler and tells me this is the right one.

8 weeks out, I'm feeling confident that my swim and run are in good shape, and the bike will be something I survive.

Originally posted by Fred D

Quiet group here lol.

Anyway, training is going well over here. Have a nice ride and run planned this weekend with a bunch of swimming.

I was wondering if anyone has ever used Best Bike Split's website, as they have an IM Tremblant simulator that can estimate your bike time. It's pretty cool actually.

Originally posted by thedallasceliac



I've been playing around with BBS a lot after seeing how accurate it was for some people over on ST.

So far, it seems to be telling me that I should have lost 5 lbs already (not likely to happen before race this year) and that I should have spent more time working on upping my FTP.

It seems to think it won't be very windy on race day, but I've heard several folks say that it can get quite windy on the second loop. How windy is windy? 15mph? 20mph?

Originally posted by dmbfan4life20

I finished the Challenge AC full Aqua/Bike yesterday and it went pretty well. Having completed 2/3 of an IM gives me a lot of confidence going into IMMT. A few things I took away from the race this weekend:

1.) Things happen beyond your control and you just have to deal with it the best way possible: Water temp was 80 so non wetsuit. Probably one of the strongest currents I have ever swam in. I was shooting for a 1:35 swim and went 1:55. Everyone I spoke to was 15-20min slower on average. One guy swam 1:20 at his last IM and went over 2hrs at this race! They actually extended the swim cutoff due to the current. Additionally, there were so many turns, people were cutting the course because it was so technical. Did not make for an easy day. I was upset when I got out of the water but I felt decent and just said to myself "Get over it, its a long day"

2.) Biking was better then I thought- I probably started out too strong but average 19mph for the first 45miles. Once we got into the Hammonton loop area, the road surface quality drastically changed and so did my times. I was much slower on the crappy roads then the smooth ones. I never knew that road quality played so much into speed.

3.) Headwinds are demoralizing- After hitting mile 80, I was on pace to go sub 7 with my bike split which for me, was more then I could have imagined. Unfortunately, those last 32 miles were straight into a 20mph headwind for the whole 32 miles!! It was demoralizing and frustrating to be struggling to go 11mph. Also, I felt like the headwind took a lot out of me. I am sure that going too fast earlier in the course played into my speed dropping too but it just plain sucked!

4.) Nutrition- I found that I cannot stomach my Infinit as much as I thought. I made (2) 2hr bottles for each loop and only could stomach 1 bottle each loop. I did find that I like solids more and could feel the pick me up they gave me. I have a 100 miler next month and I plan on carrying 2 water bottles at all times and 1 bottle of a less concentrated Infinit mix while eating more solids.

5.) Tired but not done- When I finished the bike I was tired but after changing and sitting down for a minute, I felt good about running 26.2 With my finishing time at this race, I would have had 7.5hrs to finish the marathon so I know that I would be able to do that.

6.) Drink more- I was dehydrated, plain and simple.

7.) I need salt tabs- I craved salt all day, had salt crusted on my skin when I was done and when I ate food afterwards, the roof of my mouth burned.

Overall, it was a good day and I learned a lot, could have been better, but that's the way it goes.

Originally posted by dmbfan4life20

I finished the Challenge AC full Aqua/Bike yesterday and it went pretty well. Having completed 2/3 of an IM gives me a lot of confidence going into IMMT. A few things I took away from the race this weekend:

1.) Things happen beyond your control and you just have to deal with it the best way possible: Water temp was 80 so non wetsuit. Probably one of the strongest currents I have ever swam in. I was shooting for a 1:35 swim and went 1:55. Everyone I spoke to was 15-20min slower on average. One guy swam 1:20 at his last IM and went over 2hrs at this race! They actually extended the swim cutoff due to the current. Additionally, there were so many turns, people were cutting the course because it was so technical. Did not make for an easy day. I was upset when I got out of the water but I felt decent and just said to myself "Get over it, its a long day"

2.) Biking was better then I thought- I probably started out too strong but average 19mph for the first 45miles. Once we got into the Hammonton loop area, the road surface quality drastically changed and so did my times. I was much slower on the crappy roads then the smooth ones. I never knew that road quality played so much into speed.

3.) Headwinds are demoralizing- After hitting mile 80, I was on pace to go sub 7 with my bike split which for me, was more then I could have imagined. Unfortunately, those last 32 miles were straight into a 20mph headwind for the whole 32 miles!! It was demoralizing and frustrating to be struggling to go 11mph. Also, I felt like the headwind took a lot out of me. I am sure that going too fast earlier in the course played into my speed dropping too but it just plain sucked!

4.) Nutrition- I found that I cannot stomach my Infinit as much as I thought. I made (2) 2hr bottles for each loop and only could stomach 1 bottle each loop. I did find that I like solids more and could feel the pick me up they gave me. I have a 100 miler next month and I plan on carrying 2 water bottles at all times and 1 bottle of a less concentrated Infinit mix while eating more solids.

5.) Tired but not done- When I finished the bike I was tired but after changing and sitting down for a minute, I felt good about running 26.2 With my finishing time at this race, I would have had 7.5hrs to finish the marathon so I know that I would be able to do that.

6.) Drink more- I was dehydrated, plain and simple.

7.) I need salt tabs- I craved salt all day, had salt crusted on my skin when I was done and when I ate food afterwards, the roof of my mouth burned.

Overall, it was a good day and I learned a lot, could have been better, but that's the way it goes.

Originally posted by dmbfan4life20

I finished the Challenge AC full Aqua/Bike yesterday and it went pretty well. Having completed 2/3 of an IM gives me a lot of confidence going into IMMT. A few things I took away from the race this weekend:

1.) Things happen beyond your control and you just have to deal with it the best way possible: Water temp was 80 so non wetsuit. Probably one of the strongest currents I have ever swam in. I was shooting for a 1:35 swim and went 1:55. Everyone I spoke to was 15-20min slower on average. One guy swam 1:20 at his last IM and went over 2hrs at this race! They actually extended the swim cutoff due to the current. Additionally, there were so many turns, people were cutting the course because it was so technical. Did not make for an easy day. I was upset when I got out of the water but I felt decent and just said to myself "Get over it, its a long day"

2.) Biking was better then I thought- I probably started out too strong but average 19mph for the first 45miles. Once we got into the Hammonton loop area, the road surface quality drastically changed and so did my times. I was much slower on the crappy roads then the smooth ones. I never knew that road quality played so much into speed.

3.) Headwinds are demoralizing- After hitting mile 80, I was on pace to go sub 7 with my bike split which for me, was more then I could have imagined. Unfortunately, those last 32 miles were straight into a 20mph headwind for the whole 32 miles!! It was demoralizing and frustrating to be struggling to go 11mph. Also, I felt like the headwind took a lot out of me. I am sure that going too fast earlier in the course played into my speed dropping too but it just plain sucked!

4.) Nutrition- I found that I cannot stomach my Infinit as much as I thought. I made (2) 2hr bottles for each loop and only could stomach 1 bottle each loop. I did find that I like solids more and could feel the pick me up they gave me. I have a 100 miler next month and I plan on carrying 2 water bottles at all times and 1 bottle of a less concentrated Infinit mix while eating more solids.

5.) Tired but not done- When I finished the bike I was tired but after changing and sitting down for a minute, I felt good about running 26.2 With my finishing time at this race, I would have had 7.5hrs to finish the marathon so I know that I would be able to do that.

6.) Drink more- I was dehydrated, plain and simple.

7.) I need salt tabs- I craved salt all day, had salt crusted on my skin when I was done and when I ate food afterwards, the roof of my mouth burned.

Overall, it was a good day and I learned a lot, could have been better, but that's the way it goes.

Originally posted by dmbfan4life20
I hope not that windy. If it was anything like yesterday, it makes for a long day...

Originally posted by dmbfan4life20

I finished the Challenge AC full Aqua/Bike yesterday and it went pretty well. Having completed 2/3 of an IM gives me a lot of confidence going into IMMT. A few things I took away from the race this weekend:

1.) Things happen beyond your control and you just have to deal with it the best way possible: Water temp was 80 so non wetsuit. Probably one of the strongest currents I have ever swam in. I was shooting for a 1:35 swim and went 1:55. Everyone I spoke to was 15-20min slower on average. One guy swam 1:20 at his last IM and went over 2hrs at this race! They actually extended the swim cutoff due to the current. Additionally, there were so many turns, people were cutting the course because it was so technical. Did not make for an easy day. I was upset when I got out of the water but I felt decent and just said to myself "Get over it, its a long day"

2.) Biking was better then I thought- I probably started out too strong but average 19mph for the first 45miles. Once we got into the Hammonton loop area, the road surface quality drastically changed and so did my times. I was much slower on the crappy roads then the smooth ones. I never knew that road quality played so much into speed.

3.) Headwinds are demoralizing- After hitting mile 80, I was on pace to go sub 7 with my bike split which for me, was more then I could have imagined. Unfortunately, those last 32 miles were straight into a 20mph headwind for the whole 32 miles!! It was demoralizing and frustrating to be struggling to go 11mph. Also, I felt like the headwind took a lot out of me. I am sure that going too fast earlier in the course played into my speed dropping too but it just plain sucked!

4.) Nutrition- I found that I cannot stomach my Infinit as much as I thought. I made (2) 2hr bottles for each loop and only could stomach 1 bottle each loop. I did find that I like solids more and could feel the pick me up they gave me. I have a 100 miler next month and I plan on carrying 2 water bottles at all times and 1 bottle of a less concentrated Infinit mix while eating more solids.

5.) Tired but not done- When I finished the bike I was tired but after changing and sitting down for a minute, I felt good about running 26.2 With my finishing time at this race, I would have had 7.5hrs to finish the marathon so I know that I would be able to do that.

6.) Drink more- I was dehydrated, plain and simple.

7.) I need salt tabs- I craved salt all day, had salt crusted on my skin when I was done and when I ate food afterwards, the roof of my mouth burned.

Overall, it was a good day and I learned a lot, could have been better, but that's the way it goes.

Originally posted by Fred D

I think another key point touched upon is that be prepared for things to go different than you planned in an IM. Don't get down, see it as a challenge. Or, as the wise philosopher Mike Tysaon said... "Everyone has a plan until they get hit in the face". Expect to have a few disappointments early.

Originally posted by strikyr



^^^This is great advice. All my friends who have done IM and imparted their wisdom on me pretty much said the same thing to me when I was getting ready for my first one last year. It's not if you have a bad moment you will have at least one bad moment in your race. Expect it and be prepared for it because how you deal with it can make a big difference on whether you have a good day or a bad day.

Originally posted by thedallasceliac

How long will everyone's longest run be?

I'm behind on long runs, but not willing to cram it in, so my longest will be about 15 or so 3 weeks out.

Originally posted by thedallasceliac

How long will everyone's longest run be?

I'm behind on long runs, but not willing to cram it in, so my longest will be about 15 or so 3 weeks out.