Finisher Medal on IMMT chamois backdrop |
(the longer
the race, the longer the race report)
Leading up to the race I was feeling strong and
healthy. I had hit the pool regularly and had done a bunch of long open water swims, I rode six solid solo 100+ mile
rides and five 18+ mile runs averaging 7:30 pace. I was ready to knock this thing out of the park.
The idea was to drive up to Mont Tremblant (MT), spend a
couple relaxing days with the family in a beautiful condo overlooking the lake,
close to the race start.
View from the Condo |
Ironman Mont Tremblant Village |
Dinner with family and friends |
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Goofing around Thursday night |
Poutine and Sausage Dinner Thursday night - Yum |
I got up early on Friday to ride the technical part of the
course about 11 miles nice and easy – oh boy, this was going to be fun to race.
We visited with friends who have a place in MT and I did a short, easy swim afterward and felt great.


Race day I woke up at 4am, but felt groggy and not at all
hungry, but forced half a bagel with peanut butter down along with a
banana. Got my nutrition bottles
together and headed down to the race with my daughter at about 5:30am. When I
got to transition, I realized I forgot my most important nutrition bottle and
my daughter ran back up to the condo to get it (Thank you Erika!). My front tire didn’t seem to be holding air,
but there wasn’t much I could do about it (in hindsight it was the pump and not
the tire, so all was good although I may have been a bit over inflated).


When we got to the middle of the lake, there were swells and
chop – I kind of dig these conditions when swimming alone – easy to get into a
rhythm with the water. But when people
are banging into you left and right, it’s just annoying. Well, I lost my swim mojo a little over
halfway through the swim when someone hit my foot and my foot and calf
immediately cramped up and I had to stop and massage it for a couple of
seconds. The rest of the swim was just
about grinding it out until I got to shore.
I’m a land lover and once on shore I got my wetsuit peeled
off and I started running past people – lots of people – I had to push through
a few of them because they were moving so slow and blocking the way – come on
people, this is a race!
In the changing tent, I threw my ear plugs into my
transition bag, put on my helmet and sunglasses and spent WAY TOO LONG trying
to put on the top of my tri suit because it was wet and tight fitting – in
hindsight, I should have just kept in on during the swim. I also struggled with putting my electrolytes
in the inside pocket. I would say I lost
a full minute messing around in the changing tent. Then I got to my bike and went to put my
first shoe on and I felt something in the shoe – it was my ear plug, so I took
the shoe off, removed the ear plug and put the shoe back on again –
Unfortunately, when I went to put the other shoe on, the exact same thing
happened – what are the odds?! Another 30 seconds lost in T1.
I waited until I was getting a little hungry before I
started taking in nutrition – I’ve learned never to force the calories. About 45 minutes into the bike I was hungry
and started drinking my Perpetuem/Heed mix – it was heavily concentrated, so I
was taking in a little at a time. I felt
like I was flying and was surprised how easy it was. I should have realized I had a tail wind. The hills were long and rolling in the first
part of the course and my max speed got up to almost 50mph at one point, but a
lot of riding in the high 30s and low 40s.
Coming back was a different story and it was time to focus on getting
small and aero. I continued passing –
there was a pack that kept riding my wheel and repassing me, but after a few
hills, they petered out - none of the young guys likes a skinny old dude with
“54” on his calf to pass them.

Halfway through the bike, I hadn’t taken any electrolytes
yet and didn’t want to deal with digging them out of the inside pocket of my
tri suit – this was probably a mistake that I would pay for later.
I got to the bike special needs bag and I called for my bag
and no one came, so I just kept going.
This may have also been a mistake not getting my nutrition bar and
banana, but I figured they had nutrition along the way and I would just take it
as necessary.
I fumbled around with the one nutrition bar that I had in my
rear bottle – first I had to open the bottle, then open the packaging on the
bar – let’s just say that is a period I was being passed by other riders.
But I got the bar down and was feeling pretty good having
already ridden 60 miles. I still had
some nutrition in my bottle as well. I
grabbed a 1/3 of a banana at a stop at one point and a bite sized Cliff bar
about 80 miles in, so I felt like I was getting just enough calories.
The headwind and hills coming back were tough and everyone
was slowing down having already gone 80+ miles.
I was still passing people, but wasn’t feeling great – just getting
through it - pretty much as expected.
Through the town and up the hills again – my brain was
getting a little fuzzy and I was pretty tired and now it was time to run a
marathon!
(apparently my Garmin was not recording elevation properly - the course was about 5500 feet of climbing)
T2 was interesting because you get to ride your bike right into transition up to a red carpet running path and hand your bike to a race volunteer. I got through T2 pretty quick, slathering my toes with Vaseline knowing that I would be soaking wet most of the run.
T2 was interesting because you get to ride your bike right into transition up to a red carpet running path and hand your bike to a race volunteer. I got through T2 pretty quick, slathering my toes with Vaseline knowing that I would be soaking wet most of the run.
By mile
10, both quads were going and over the next 16 miles, I was in survival mode
doing whatever I could to get to the finish line. At the halfway mark, I ran through the resort
and my family was there to cheer me on which felt good. Near the end, I would jog .2 miles and walk
.05 miles – I did this for the last 6 miles of the race. This was totally unexpected given my training
and I wasn’t sure how to handle it, so I just muscled through the run watching
people pass me left and right. I was
really out of it at that point and couldn’t think straight – I just wanted to
finish this damn race. I hit a lot of
dark spots during the run – vowing that I would never do this again – wondering
why I was out here in the first place, but I just kept going. I had to play a lot of mind games with myself
to keep going. At one point I was forcing myself to run for 100 breaths before
taking a walk break and as soon as my heart rate got below 120, I would start
again. Not a great way to run a race.
Not sure how, but I made it to the finish line – a beautiful
spot to finish – downhill – right through the middle of the resort area. My family was there to cheer me on and it
felt pretty good to have that last boost.
I was still out of it, apparently looking at my watch as I went through
the finishing chute when they take all the pictures – dope!
I’m glad it’s over.
In hindsight, I should have waited a year before doing another Ironman –
I was far too distracted with work to have a good race. A week later, as I write this, I am feeling
the post race withdrawal blues – at the same time, I am feeling extremely
fit and healthy. I feel like I want to
jump into another race and see how I do – but not another Ironman just yet!
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