Disclaimer: This is written by a member of, and I suppose mainly for, the MOP to BOP crowd. No inside tips on winning your age group in here. This is my experience and what seemed to work tactically and nutritionally for me. I also can't believe how long this turned out to be, so I apologize. Short version first, details after that.
This was my second crack at IM. The first one came at the end of my 2nd season of triathlon and was a product of over-exuberance for the sport, leading to a very long day. I'm not 'competitive' in the pointy end of the field sense but this race was my attempt at properly training for the distance and executing the right race plan for my current level of fitness, as opposed to just showing up and gutting my way through a hopelessly long day of suffering.
First off, I can't say enough positive things about the course, the venue and the organization of the event. Dominique and Marc put on a first class event all around. I honestly can't think of one complaint worth typing out. If you are considering an course for a 'one and done' Ironman experience this should be at the top of your list.
Planning for the race was done through experimentation in training/racing over the spring/summer and immensely aided by consultation with some of the people on ST who are way smarter than me (thanks sciguy).
The Summary (for those who aren't unemployed or bed ridden)
Goal: 12:30:00
Result: 12:34:25
Setting up the race plan I basically worked backwards from the run. Based on my open half marathon time this summer (~1:44) I worked out my Vdot, and then determined a target pacing strategy for the run. Something challenging but achievable with good execution. For me that was 10:20 per mile (4:30 mary), which seemed laughably slow compared to my weekly long run pace even, but I had faith in the experienced minds greater than mine advising me. From there the plan was to ensure I left myself in a position to achieve that run while swimming and biking. I knew going in that my bike fitness was the weakest link so the goal was to swallow whatever pathetically slow bike split was required to set up the run properly. The focus for the run was to turn out consistent even splits while rejecting the urge to stop for anything.
All in I think I squeezed every ounce of fitness I had in me out on the race course so I am satisfied with the result. There was definitely nothing left to give in the last 3 miles of the run. Execution was as close to plan as I think I could have hoped for and I actually enjoyed the day despite suffering pretty badly over the last 30 mins. It was more than a 2 hour improvement from my first IM on what I think is a harder course, so no complaints at all. The course is amazing and while a full IM every year is not in the cards for me I think the 70.3 here may be an annual fixture. If I decide to tackle another full IM in the future I'd like to do it with a realistic shot of comfortably clearing sub-12, so back to Oly's and 70.3's until then.
Lessons learned:
1. Work out a race plan based on prior results, not wishes.
2. Stick to it.
3. Have fun out there.
To do:
1. Lots of trainer work over the winter.
The Details (for those who have already surfed the rest of the Internet)
Nutrition
In terms of bike nutrition I found over the summer that I seemed to be a heavy sweater, needed an avg amount of sodium intake and had an easier time with liquid nutrition over solid. The plan for IMMT boiled down to ensuring proper pre race hydration and some calories at the start, a bottle of Perform from an aid station every hour, and a couple swigs of some super concentrated Perform I carried in a bottle on my seat tube (reload at special needs). I drew lines on the bottles for every 20 miles to ensure I was on track calorie wise. As long as I dropped an empty bottle of Perform at every other aid station, took a new one and kept up to my markings on the seat tube bottle I didn't have to think about anything else.
For the run all nutrition was taken 'on the move'. Maybe when you're dropping 7 min miles walking the stations is better but I can drink out of a cup shuffling along at 10+ just fine. I hit a cup of Perform at each station and took a gel at miles 4, 8, 12 and 16.
Swim
Goal: 1:20:00
Result: 1:18:58
Plan for the swim was just to take it easy and try and catch a tow around the course from another swimmer with the right pace. I was probably one of the last 10 people in the water, as I'm not a fan of the contact in the swim. I have relatively zero swim background outside triathlon and while I swim in open water all summer I can't replicate the stress of running into people, having your legs grabbed, etc. so I try and find clear water or a small group of swimmers to draft. The swim at Tremblant was uneventful for the most part, I liked the long out and back format as it minimized the chaos at the turns where everyone seems to want to cut the tangent despite swimming wide the whole way there. It was a little warm with the full wetsuit on but as a testament to my pre race diligence in hydration I was able to pee twice and scoop a fresh batch of cool water into the suit after each one.
T1
Goal: 7:00
Result: 8:15
Coming out of the water at ~1:20 seems to put you in rush hour in the change tent. Couldn't find a chair so tried to find a spot on the floor out of traffic and kind of struggled into my bike gear. Spent some time trying put arm warmers on and couldn't being wet so I gave up and headed for the bike. So far I was right on pace and feeling good.
Bike
Goal: 6:30:00
Result: 6:32:27
In training/racing I'd worked out that my wattage target for the bike was going to be around 165 watts if I wanted a shot at running the full marathon. The course doesn't lend itself to that and while I haven't been able to download my power file yet I suspect my VI may be pretty high. I was terrified of trashing my race on the bike so my first 40 miles were ridden so cautiously I started to wonder if I was going to make it impossible to reach the goal time. Tried to stay focused while I was passed continuously by people huffing and groaning their way up the climbs on Montee Ryan and Hwy 117. Some of the people passing were clearly studs on their way to sub 12 hour days but I watched no shortage of more mortal people redlining their way up those climbs and wondered what the day would hold for them later.
First lap came in at 3:12 - so dead on target - and I felt great, despite being forced to push 350+ at times on the stair step climbs up to Lac Superior. A much needed port-o-potty stop at the top of the Duplessis climb and then a fast cruise down into the resort to pick up my special needs bag (more on this in the nutrition comments). The second lap was more of the same but I focused a little more on keeping the watts up through the flats/downs, and had the pleasure of riding into a pretty bitchin' headwind for the 15 miles from the first turn around to St Jovite. The impact of the wind and trying to be extra cautious on the 2nd climb to Lac Superior brought me back into T2 with a 2nd loop split of 3:20. Felt pretty good considering I'd been out there for 8 hours at that point and ready to start running.
T2
Goal: 3:00
Result: 3:06
Not much to say here, great organization in the tent and I took my time to change into dry socks that I like better for running than the ones I wore on the bike. Onwards.
Run
Goal: 4:30
Result: 4:31;39
I personally loved the run course in Tremblant. The 3 miles in/out of town are a bitch with the rolling hills (a couple punchy ones) but it certainly keeps it interesting. The spectators along the way were incredible as well. Lots of cheering and music pumping. The route made it very easy to break the run into ~3 mile chunks (transition -> trail, trail start to turn around, rest of trail, back to transition). The spectator support was awesome and the aid stations were super organized and well stocked as far as I could tell.
It was hard initially to reign myself in and run my target pace. "I feel so good! Let's go!" say the legs. "Shut up legs, stick to the plan" says me. The first loop was awesome, it was a novel experience to actually be running at that point and I was loving it. Pretty sure I had a big shit eating grin on the whole way. Coming back through the village was great motivation, definitely picked up some extra energy there. First loop came in at 10:15 per mile, so a touch faster than plan but I was feeling good, other than a slightly cranky achilles. Slight change in gait seemed to allow me to run through it though and taking extra care on the uphills/uneven bits.
I got a little carried away with the energy of the village and being on the last loop I think as my 21.1 -> 31.9 km split came in at 1:01:25 (or 9:15 per mile). I don't remember running that fast but I was starting to get pretty punchy at that point anyway. The big explosion came at mile 23 as I started the hilly section back into town. Pace dropped down to 11:30/mile and nothing could seem to get it any faster but I was able to keep jogging forwards without walking. Little surge of energy on the downhill through the village and man was it sweet to turn left instead of right at the split.
This was my second crack at IM. The first one came at the end of my 2nd season of triathlon and was a product of over-exuberance for the sport, leading to a very long day. I'm not 'competitive' in the pointy end of the field sense but this race was my attempt at properly training for the distance and executing the right race plan for my current level of fitness, as opposed to just showing up and gutting my way through a hopelessly long day of suffering.
First off, I can't say enough positive things about the course, the venue and the organization of the event. Dominique and Marc put on a first class event all around. I honestly can't think of one complaint worth typing out. If you are considering an course for a 'one and done' Ironman experience this should be at the top of your list.
Planning for the race was done through experimentation in training/racing over the spring/summer and immensely aided by consultation with some of the people on ST who are way smarter than me (thanks sciguy).
The Summary (for those who aren't unemployed or bed ridden)
Goal: 12:30:00
Result: 12:34:25
Setting up the race plan I basically worked backwards from the run. Based on my open half marathon time this summer (~1:44) I worked out my Vdot, and then determined a target pacing strategy for the run. Something challenging but achievable with good execution. For me that was 10:20 per mile (4:30 mary), which seemed laughably slow compared to my weekly long run pace even, but I had faith in the experienced minds greater than mine advising me. From there the plan was to ensure I left myself in a position to achieve that run while swimming and biking. I knew going in that my bike fitness was the weakest link so the goal was to swallow whatever pathetically slow bike split was required to set up the run properly. The focus for the run was to turn out consistent even splits while rejecting the urge to stop for anything.
All in I think I squeezed every ounce of fitness I had in me out on the race course so I am satisfied with the result. There was definitely nothing left to give in the last 3 miles of the run. Execution was as close to plan as I think I could have hoped for and I actually enjoyed the day despite suffering pretty badly over the last 30 mins. It was more than a 2 hour improvement from my first IM on what I think is a harder course, so no complaints at all. The course is amazing and while a full IM every year is not in the cards for me I think the 70.3 here may be an annual fixture. If I decide to tackle another full IM in the future I'd like to do it with a realistic shot of comfortably clearing sub-12, so back to Oly's and 70.3's until then.
Lessons learned:
1. Work out a race plan based on prior results, not wishes.
2. Stick to it.
3. Have fun out there.
To do:
1. Lots of trainer work over the winter.
The Details (for those who have already surfed the rest of the Internet)
Nutrition
In terms of bike nutrition I found over the summer that I seemed to be a heavy sweater, needed an avg amount of sodium intake and had an easier time with liquid nutrition over solid. The plan for IMMT boiled down to ensuring proper pre race hydration and some calories at the start, a bottle of Perform from an aid station every hour, and a couple swigs of some super concentrated Perform I carried in a bottle on my seat tube (reload at special needs). I drew lines on the bottles for every 20 miles to ensure I was on track calorie wise. As long as I dropped an empty bottle of Perform at every other aid station, took a new one and kept up to my markings on the seat tube bottle I didn't have to think about anything else.
For the run all nutrition was taken 'on the move'. Maybe when you're dropping 7 min miles walking the stations is better but I can drink out of a cup shuffling along at 10+ just fine. I hit a cup of Perform at each station and took a gel at miles 4, 8, 12 and 16.
Swim
Goal: 1:20:00
Result: 1:18:58
Plan for the swim was just to take it easy and try and catch a tow around the course from another swimmer with the right pace. I was probably one of the last 10 people in the water, as I'm not a fan of the contact in the swim. I have relatively zero swim background outside triathlon and while I swim in open water all summer I can't replicate the stress of running into people, having your legs grabbed, etc. so I try and find clear water or a small group of swimmers to draft. The swim at Tremblant was uneventful for the most part, I liked the long out and back format as it minimized the chaos at the turns where everyone seems to want to cut the tangent despite swimming wide the whole way there. It was a little warm with the full wetsuit on but as a testament to my pre race diligence in hydration I was able to pee twice and scoop a fresh batch of cool water into the suit after each one.
T1
Goal: 7:00
Result: 8:15
Coming out of the water at ~1:20 seems to put you in rush hour in the change tent. Couldn't find a chair so tried to find a spot on the floor out of traffic and kind of struggled into my bike gear. Spent some time trying put arm warmers on and couldn't being wet so I gave up and headed for the bike. So far I was right on pace and feeling good.
Bike
Goal: 6:30:00
Result: 6:32:27
In training/racing I'd worked out that my wattage target for the bike was going to be around 165 watts if I wanted a shot at running the full marathon. The course doesn't lend itself to that and while I haven't been able to download my power file yet I suspect my VI may be pretty high. I was terrified of trashing my race on the bike so my first 40 miles were ridden so cautiously I started to wonder if I was going to make it impossible to reach the goal time. Tried to stay focused while I was passed continuously by people huffing and groaning their way up the climbs on Montee Ryan and Hwy 117. Some of the people passing were clearly studs on their way to sub 12 hour days but I watched no shortage of more mortal people redlining their way up those climbs and wondered what the day would hold for them later.
First lap came in at 3:12 - so dead on target - and I felt great, despite being forced to push 350+ at times on the stair step climbs up to Lac Superior. A much needed port-o-potty stop at the top of the Duplessis climb and then a fast cruise down into the resort to pick up my special needs bag (more on this in the nutrition comments). The second lap was more of the same but I focused a little more on keeping the watts up through the flats/downs, and had the pleasure of riding into a pretty bitchin' headwind for the 15 miles from the first turn around to St Jovite. The impact of the wind and trying to be extra cautious on the 2nd climb to Lac Superior brought me back into T2 with a 2nd loop split of 3:20. Felt pretty good considering I'd been out there for 8 hours at that point and ready to start running.
T2
Goal: 3:00
Result: 3:06
Not much to say here, great organization in the tent and I took my time to change into dry socks that I like better for running than the ones I wore on the bike. Onwards.
Run
Goal: 4:30
Result: 4:31;39
I personally loved the run course in Tremblant. The 3 miles in/out of town are a bitch with the rolling hills (a couple punchy ones) but it certainly keeps it interesting. The spectators along the way were incredible as well. Lots of cheering and music pumping. The route made it very easy to break the run into ~3 mile chunks (transition -> trail, trail start to turn around, rest of trail, back to transition). The spectator support was awesome and the aid stations were super organized and well stocked as far as I could tell.
It was hard initially to reign myself in and run my target pace. "I feel so good! Let's go!" say the legs. "Shut up legs, stick to the plan" says me. The first loop was awesome, it was a novel experience to actually be running at that point and I was loving it. Pretty sure I had a big shit eating grin on the whole way. Coming back through the village was great motivation, definitely picked up some extra energy there. First loop came in at 10:15 per mile, so a touch faster than plan but I was feeling good, other than a slightly cranky achilles. Slight change in gait seemed to allow me to run through it though and taking extra care on the uphills/uneven bits.
I got a little carried away with the energy of the village and being on the last loop I think as my 21.1 -> 31.9 km split came in at 1:01:25 (or 9:15 per mile). I don't remember running that fast but I was starting to get pretty punchy at that point anyway. The big explosion came at mile 23 as I started the hilly section back into town. Pace dropped down to 11:30/mile and nothing could seem to get it any faster but I was able to keep jogging forwards without walking. Little surge of energy on the downhill through the village and man was it sweet to turn left instead of right at the split.