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Second kick at the can - My IM Mont Tremblant Report
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Hey all,

My first time posting a race report on the website. Wrote this for a couple of my friends who were interested in hearing about last week's IM Mont Tremblant. Bit of a long read..!

TLDR version - It was my second attempt at Ironman, it rained and it was awesome!

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Longer version:

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of participating in the 5th edition of Ironman Mont-Tremblant. A couple people have asked for a race report - so here is a quick debrief on the weekend's festivities. I'll try to keep this as short as I can and will be omitting a lot of stuff because quite frankly a 10 hour race isn't all that exciting to talk about (lol!!)

Pre-Race: We drove down to Tremblant on the Friday from Ottawa. It was a nice and relatively short 2 hour drive, door to door. I feel pretty lucky to live within such close proximity to what is considered one of the premier events on the Ironman circuit. Anyway, I made the trip down with the usual support crew (girlfriend, mom, sister and a couple family friends). My father was racing as well on the weekend in his second IM Mont Tremblant.

We had opted for a cottage/house rental slightly outside of the village, which in hindsight is something we likely won't be doing again. Logistically, for both the athlete and the people there supporting them, Iron distance events can be a bit of a nightmare. Couple that with full road closures and it makes for some pretty long days out there for the spectators. Lesson learned and thankfully the cute little village of Mont Tremblant had ample cafes and boutiques to keep the family entertained in between the long stretches where they waited for us.

Friday night we attended the banquet, which was essentially a big pump-up session / propaganda event. With the legendary voice of Ironman announcer Mike Reilly in our heads, everyone left that dinner feeling like they could take on any challenge.

Saturday was a pretty easy day as well. Plan was to ride our bikes down to transition, along with our bike/run equipment bags. Just as we left the cottage, my father's aerobar arm pad snapped off. While not overly panicked, we rode to the village and race expo where we were lucky enough to meet one of my friends and local bike mechanics. After tinkering for quite a while and eventually replacing the part, we racked our bikes and placed our bags in the designated spots. Job done and back to the cottage to put our feet up and have an early dinner. Went to bed at 8:30 that night and I was extremely thankful to fall into a deep uninterrupted sleep. (I was so nervous the night before my first IM last year, I barely slept a wink).

Race Morning:

Alarm went off at 4:10 am and I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to rock and roll. I took a quick look at the weather forecast - they had been calling for significant rainfall all week. No luck on this one, it was destined to be a soaker. Not much I could do about it and I reminded myself that the conditions would be the same for everyone out there and for some strange reason I always tend to race better in the rain. Something I kept in my head as I mentally prepared myself for the long day that was awaiting me.

Had my usual oatmeal/banana/coffee breakfast. Collected my race nutrition items for the day, got dressed into my new full-sleeved tri kit and was driven to the transition zone by my girlfriend and family. Thankfully, the rain hadn't started yet and I was able to do my final preps in dry conditions (pump up tires, final bike check, set up nutrition, etc). I then met my dad and we both walked down towards the swim start. Once there, we met the rest of the family and had some last minute chatter. Around 6:15, I got into my wetsuit, gave my morning clothes to my girlfriend, kissed and hugged everyone and went off to the water to warmup with my dad.

The pro race start was at 6:36, followed by the pro women at 6:39 and my wave (the first Age Group Wave) at 6:42. Got a good spot with my pops to watch the pros go off. The perfectly timed flyby from a CF-18 and start cannon was pretty cool and got me quite motivated. I then hugged my dad and joined my AG in the starting corral. No turning back now..!

Swim (3.8k - 1:07)
https://www.strava.com/activities/685308164

The Iron swim distance usually takes me about an hour (+or- a couple of minutes). I got onto the beach and placed myself right near the very front. To some this may seem like a bit of a doofus move, but I've learned that it's easier to get passed by others than it is to start further back and have to do the passing yourself. In any case, I'm not THAT terrible of a swimmer that I'm impeding many athletes.

The first 13 buoys to the turnaround were relatively easy. Not only was I fresh, I also had the race adrenaline going.. And as it turns out, I had a pretty significant tailwind aiding me. The return portion of the swim was a nice little reality check that I had not magically turned into Michael Phelps during my taper and that I was still indeed just an average tridork in a wetsuit trying to muddle his way back to dry land. The progress felt quite slow and we were battered by some quality waves and swells (which are very uncharacteristic to smaller lakes), as the weather and wind picked up.

I did eventually make it back onto solid ground and was a bit disappointed to see 1:07 on my garmin. That was a full 7 minutes slower than last year in Muskoka, on what I felt was a very similar perceived exertion. Anyway there was no time to dwell on that. I ran off the beach, got my wetsuit stripped and then continued on my way down a long red carpet into the Transition tent. Took a minute to make sure I had everything I needed for the bike: helmet check, shoes check, glasses check, last items of nutrition to go in kit pockets check. Alright, off we go - time to get to work!

Bike: (180k - 5:07)
https://www.strava.com/activities/685315291

Right off the bat, I settled into my goal pace and wattage. I had opted for a power range of 205-225w, with a self imposed cap of 280w on extended climbs and 300w on shorter punchy climbs. Legs felt really great thanks to a well executed taper and I was able to dial it in at 225w (3.4wkg). The first 30k or so was done comfortably, as the rain had thus far spared us. Just as I started to think that perhaps we would be lucky, the skies opened up and that was the last time I would be dry until after the race.

The bike portion itself was a bit uneventful. I was out of the water near-"ish" the front tier of the race and as such was passed by only a couple of riders. I went through my first loop in 2:26 and grinned inwardly when I saw the conditions deteriorating further. I had decided to go out a tad harder on the first loop with the hope that I would a) avoid the higher winds that usually pick up later in the day and b) my competitors would get caught up longer in that bad weather. All that said, I kept things very safe - I pushed steady watts on the flats, climbed smoothly uphill and took zero risks on the technical and extremely slippery descents. Second loop was done in 2:36 and I rolled into transition with a 5:07 split. All in all, not bad considering the conditions and the course profile itself. (Garmin drowned on me - elevation gain is actually closer to 1800m and not 600m as indicated on strava)

Run (42.2k - 3:32)
https://www.strava.com/activities/685308279

As I rolled back into transition, I was surprised and motivated to see so many spectators out in the pouring rain cheering on the athletes. I dismounted, handed my bike to one of the Transition volunteers (who would rack it back up for me - a nice touch!) and ran back into the Transition tent.

I took the time to pat down my waterlogged feet with a towel and changed into some dry socks before heading back out into the rain. Within the first kilometer I saw my family and my spirits were buoyed. 2/3 of the race done, only a marathon left!

I set myself a target pace of 5:00/km which I swore I would keep no matter what. I learned the hard way in Muskoka that an Ironman Marathon is completely different than a standalone marathon. You may feel great and inspired in the first few kilometers of the run, but boy do you run the risk of blowing up big time later on... As it turned out, quite a few people passed me early on in the run and it took a lot of self restraint to let them go. Stick to the plan!!

Despite adequate calorie consumption on the bike, by KM 3 I felt my stomach starting to grumble - needing some kind of sustenance. At that point I took a gamble and opted for a cup of coke and a banana half. (Had planned on switching to coke later on in the race, but if I was already starting to feel hungry/weak, I was treading in dangerous bonk-waters). I continued on this fashion, consuming a cup of flat coke and a banana half at every aid station and was very happy that my stomach was able to handle it. My biggest take away from Muskoka last year was that Coka Cola is a miracle drink. My experience at Tremblant only further confirmed this hypothesis.

As I finished the first loop of the run and ran through the spectator-packed village of Tremblant, I saw my family AND my dad cheering me on. (I would later learn that a rider lost control on one of the descents and crashed into my dad. While it was unfortunate that Medical pulled him from the race, he was extremely lucky as 3 other competitors involved in the same crash were taken out with severe head injuries.. Thoughts and prayers go out to them, that they can make a full recovery. My pops escaped with scrapes, bruises and an unfulfilled goal of completing his 5th IM - still very grateful, all things considered).

The second loop was much of the same. Run, coke, banana, water, run, burp, repeat. By that point I had started reeling in a few of the guys who had passed me early on in the run. I was also surprised that I caught and passed most of the pro-women's field. Those ladies are hard as nails and it was cool to see them in action and also be able to race alongside them. One of the few highlights of the mentally taxing run was seeing one of my friends on course (he was lead bike for the men's pro field on the run). Quick high five and kind words were exchanged before it was back to business.

The last 7-8k felt like an eternity. I was certainly happy to have made it by the 34k mark feeling strong (an indication that my pacing was solid), but I would be lying if I said those last 40 odd minutes weren't tough. Although my pace didn't fall off, the dark thoughts that often occur in the late stages of these races started to pop up. Why are you doing this? Why don't you walk a bit? Why don't we take a break? Amidst all this, I still had enough mental acuity to realize my goal of going sub10hours was still within reach.

Then the mind games began: 7k to go, alright just your standard run around the neighbourhood. 5k to go, come on! You did this as a joke taper run a few days ago. 3k to go, just get these last 2 kilometers done and you're in the village - then it's done, the crowd will take you home! In the end, I made it into the village and ran down the chute with the crowd cheering wildly and Mike Reilly calling out my name, "you are an Ironman!"

Shortly after crossing the line (final time of 9:56), I teared up as I saw my family and also realized I had achieved this big goal that I had set over a year ago. All the early morning workouts, the small daily sacrifices, all vindicated in that moment.

None of this would have been possible without the support of my girlfriend, family and friends. I'm very grateful for all the help I have received over the last year and am already looking forward to the next challenge.

Thanks for the (long) read!
Last edited by: CherryRedBib: Aug 28, 16 10:21
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Re: Second kick at the can - My IM Mont Tremblant Report [CherryRedBib] [ In reply to ]
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incredible time. Were you successful staying within your self imposed caps? Looking back...I think having no "caps" on my ride destroyed my run....to the tune of about 10-20 minutes! Very smart having those in place.

I spent so much time preparing for the last 1hour of racing and the fear what those dark thoughts would bring. Someone bumping into you at the wrong time....the dopey spectator exclaiming "wow, its starting to really heat up out here" are just a few things you have to deal with. It really is amazing that you did so well to fight through that.

Awesome news about your father. Happy he avoided a more serious incident.

very inspirational. Thanks for sharing.
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Re: Second kick at the can - My IM Mont Tremblant Report [CherryRedBib] [ In reply to ]
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Great race report, great pacing, great race! It was good running a lot of that marathon with you! Thanks again!


Last edited by: JoshL: Aug 28, 16 16:37
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Re: Second kick at the can - My IM Mont Tremblant Report [Shaman] [ In reply to ]
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@Shaman - I knew going in that I didn't have the experience (or talent) to challenge near the top of my AG. I picked sensible targets and stuck to them the entire race. It was a bit weird letting people pass me, which is something I would never do in shorter races. Hopefully as I gain more endurance and experience, I'll be able to play the game a bit more at the IM distance. Overall, I was happy with how the day went though! As for my dad, yea we are quite fortunate that road rash and some bruises were the extent of his injuries..

@Josh - Man it was great to have someone to suffer with on the run. You were looking strong and you had an awesome race! I know your AG rolled down a couple of spots - were you able to KQ?
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