2016 Ironman Mont Tremblant Race Report

So, Kelly and I decided to race Ironman Mont Tremblant (IMMT) because we had raced Lake Placid a few times and wanted to experience something different.
We had raced IMMT 70.3 a few times and we decided that the village really welcomes the athletes in a way that Lake Placid doesn't. The community seems to embrace the athletes in a more positive way. We had some success one the half course so we decided, why not?

Training

Training started a little earlier this time around. We really wanted to see what we could accomplish in Tremblant so we talked to our Coach, Jamie Boward, about getting it going earlier. He welcomed the idea and we got going in November. That would mean we would be training for roughly 10 months. Now, this is not peak training for 10 months, this is base training and racing local races along the way. The races would allow us to check the fitness level and gradually work up to the longer distance training.
I made it through this time period very well. I achieved many personal bests in several race distances. I also stayed relatively healthy the whole time. I tend to be susceptible to illnesses around winter time. This time around I didn't have any illnesses that interfered with training... until my last peak weak. With 3 weeks left before the big race, I came down with a strange illness that knocked me off my feet for over a week. This resulted in me having to miss my last long ride and run. I was able to make the ride up just before I tapered, but I wasn't 100%. I was able to convince myself that I had done enough work leading up to this I was ready. Maybe the time I was sick and incapable of training would do me some good. My body was rested and that might help on race day...??

Race Weekend

Kelly and I decided to head to Mont Tremblant on the Thursday to give ourselves time to calmly get things ready for race day.

Thursday, we arrived at the village very early. We went through Trout River border crossing this time instead of taking 87 across. The reason behind this was because the last few times we went to Tremblant, we took 87 and went through Montreal. The construction and traffic before, during, and after Montreal was enough to add an hour to our travel time. It is never enjoyable and always leads to a build in anxiety. This was exactly what we were trying to avoid this weekend. I looked at the different ways to cross into Canada and avoid Montreal. I researched Trout River and found that many people recommend this route to travel into the Quebec area (which is where Tremblant is located). Boy, am I glad we went this way! We were the only vehicle when we approached and the worker at the booth was fantastic! The route was so scenic and continued to be after the border cross. Since there was a lack of traffic and construction, we arrived in Tremblant sooner than we expected! We even stopped at an IGA just outside of the village for some essential race day breakfast items! We arrived at our hotel so early that our room was not ready yet. They allowed us to park our car underground and we decided to stretch our legs and walk the village. When we popped up above ground, we noticed that there was absolutely no line for athlete check-in. WHAT?! We immediately went to check in to take advantage of this lack of a wait. We went straight through and had many volunteers waiting to help us. When I made it to the area where we weigh in, I became nervous. I always end up about 3-5 pounds heavier than I think I am. THis time around I was sure I had nailed my goal race weight. When I stepped on the scale, I saw that I was about 3 pounds UNDER my goal. NO WAY! I was hoping that this doesn't end up meaning a lack of power and energy on Sunday.
We get the rest of our swag and then head to eat some lunch. I will spare you the rest of this day as we ended up waiting longer than we wanted for our room to be ready, but we eventually made it in and unpacked.

Friday, we went to the Race Day Wheels tent to get our race wheels for Sunday. Kelly and I dropped our bikes off and went to join our Loco teammate, Uncle Chuck, for a quick swim in Lake Tremblant (the lake we would be swimming on Sunday). Kelly and I had heard about a pontoon that is in the lake on race weekend that serves coffee and espresso to athletes. All you have to do is swim up to it and order your free beverage. The 3 of us finagled ourselves into our wetsuits and set out for the pontoon. It wasn't long before we came around a swim buoy and saw the pontoon right before us! We swam up and ordered our drinks. The pontoon has roped hanging from it so athletes can hang off of them while drinking their highly caffeinated beverage. The drink was fantastic and it was a truly awesome experience. We frolicked for a few minutes and then decided to turn back to shore. The swim was great and did a lot to raise the confidence level.
Kelly and I went back to the village, picked up our bikes with our speedy wheels attached, and told Chuck we would meet him later for the athlete's banquet and info meeting. The rest of the day was dedicated to trying to stay calm and hydrated.
We met Chuck outside of his hotel (which was literally right across from ours) and made our way to the athlete's village (which was literally 100 yards down the hill).
The dinner was full of entertainment that was provided by IMMT. The food was decent and there were options for all kinds of strict diets.
After dinner there was a brief information session for the athletes. I was specifically interested in hearing about race morning scenarios in case of storms. The forecast at that point called for a significant chance of severe storms with torrential rain. This was to start at about 7am (swim start time). The slide show went over 3 different scenarios for the swim. I heard all I needed to know. After the session was over, we parted from Chuck once more and threw out a shaky time for a bike ride for Saturday.

Saturday, Kelly andI woke up a bit early but the plan was to get out on the bike before breakfast. We figured the sooner we got out, the less chaotic the roads would be with athletes and traffic (always a bad combination). We texted Chuck that we were leaving at 8:30 and due to crappy cell service, Chuck didn't get our message until later. Kelly and I waited a few minutes outside of Chuck's hotel just in case but after a while, we decided that the phone must be acting up. We went out to get our 30 minute bike ride done. Kelly and I separated a bit because I wanted to check the gears at different speeds. Because of the race wheel swap, I wanted to make sure all gears were functional. The bike ride was great. I am so happy we went so early. Upon arrival at our hotel, I noticed the bike and car traffic starting to thicken quite a bit. I also found out that there was an ambulance tending to what was believed to be downed bike rider.
Kelly and I missed breakfast but was able to head to an early lunch which worked out well, too, because other athletes and families were not quite ready for lunch. We basically had the place to ourselves.
After lunch was over, Kelly and I went back to our room to get our bags and bikes ready to check in. Bikes and transition bags had to be checked between 12 and 4 today. This was the only time that athletes can get this done. We decided to go after the initial rush of people. This process was pretty standard. We racked our bikes and let out some air from the tires. This is to save the tubes from possible ruptures. The pressure tends to build from the heat (the sun was definitely out) and you might find yourself with a flat tire on race morning if you don't alleviate some of that pressure when you rack the bike.
We dropped out bags in the transition tent and memorized where our bags were to make it easier for race morning.
After this was done, we went back and waited for dinner. We decided 5:30 was a good time for dinner so that we had time afterwards to make sure our gear for the next day was ready.
Dinner was great! We go to the same place every time for our pre-race dinner. Service is always great and the food options are just right for the 2 of us.
Kelly and I at as much food as we could comfortably fit into ourselves and then went back to the room. We ensured that everything was set to go and then set our alarms for 4:15am. Sleep came quickly and lasted until 3am. This was the best pre Ironman sleep I have ever had!

Sunday, was RACE DAY!! We woke to Phil Collins on the Canadian radio channel. Breakfast was prepared and consumed and we dressed and exited the hotel. Immediately, I noticed how humid it was. The sky was partly cloudy and it hadn't rained yet so the swim start looked like a pretty good bet. Kelly and I met Chuck and Michelle and went to transition to place our bottles on the bikes and refill the tubes. Transition was great! Things went very smoothly and we had plenty of time to prepare.
I met Kelly at our predetermined location and we made the trip to the lake together. This part was pretty quick as we jumped in a potty line and when we were done we hopped into our wetsuits and ditched our morning clothes bag in the massive dump trucks. We walked to the swim warmup location. I jumped in really quickly as my wave was lining up in a few minutes. I came out, made sure Kelly was zipped up. Kelly and I gave each other one more assuring smile and kiss and then I lined up with my wave. People were moving toward the front of the wave pretty rapidly which was different from the half. In the half, it seemed like nobody wanted the front.
Pretty soon the waves in front of us set out and it was our turn to make our way to the swim start. I used the previous waves to see what position might work best for me. It seemed the inside of the buoys was the best option for less contact.

Swim- 1:16
When we went through the arch for our beach gathering spot, the announcer said it was 30 seconds until the start. WOW! I still needed to put my goggles on! I rushed to get those on and in position just before the horn sounded my wave's start.
I let all of the athletes go in front of me. 2.4 miles is too long to get so worked up that soon. I found open water and feet to swim with right away. Initially, the swim was great. I was in a groove and focusing on catching as much water per stroke as possible. And then... the waves started. These waves were lifting me up and bringing me back. I tried to stay calm and continue to focus on form, but sighting and breathing forced me to change my stroke a bit. I thought the reaching the turn would help straighten things out a bit but it only made it worse. The whole way in on the swim was full of waves and currents. Thoughts of Kelly kept creeping into my brain. If it was this bad for my wave, it would only be getting worse for Kelly. She started about 10 minutes after me! I readied myself for a horrible result and just convinced myself to stay calm and not to expend any extra energy. I would need as much as I had for the rest of the day. As I approached the shore I started to scrape the sandy lake bottom so I stood and walked the rest of the way out (longer than I wanted to). I looked at my watch and saw 1:15. I was actually happy with that time based on what I just went through. I don't know the actual distance I ended up swimming but I know it was a few strokes more than I wanted. I walked to the wetsuit peelers and plopped down for some assistance. During the 70.3 I pointed my toes to make the wetsuit peel smooth but I ended up with a calf cramp that saw me waiting for a minute before I could stand back up. This time, I did not point my feet and it worked well. No cramp! I was handed my wetsuit and was told that my timing chip was still around my ankle. The peeler yelled at me to GO GO GO!!

Transition- 9:30
So this transition is one of the longer ones I've seen. It is 100% lined with carpet, which is great, but if you are looking to cut down on transition times, this is not the course for you. My goal here was to take my time and make sure I had everything I needed as I made my way out on the bike course. I ran to the tent and found my bag. I grabbed it and found an empty seat. I took my time opening my bag and emptying its contents on the chair next to me. I placed my wetsuit into the bag. What followed was as methodical as could be. I packed everything in reverse order of when I would put it on (shoes went in the bag first, next was the helmet, ... all the way to my calf sleeves). I put on my calf sleeves, arm sleeves, bike jersey (over my tri top), helmet, shoes, and loaded my nutrition and sunglasses in my bike jersey. As I was loading my jersey, a volunteer came over and took my bag from me after asking if I was all set. I got up, grabbed my bottle of gatorade, and ran to my bike. As I was running to my bike, I downed about half of the bottle of gatorade. In the past, I wouldn't take anything after the swim. I would come to figure out later that swimming for over an hour depletes that body of more than you think. It might not feel like it, but it does. So now I take a throw away bottle and place it in the swim to bike transition bag so I can get something back in me before biking. So I arrived at my bike and run it to the transition exit. I discard my transition bottle and cross the mount line. It's time to see how bike training went!!

Bike- 5:28
WHAT?! No rain?! Okay, well, I am only slightly overdressed... I make my way to the Montee Ryan for the first section of the bike. As soon as I start the first climb, I start to feel the humidity. I peel my arm sleeves down around my wrists but I am not convinced I won't need them. I roll my bike jersey sleeves up over my shoulders and I unzip my bike jersey halfway. The dilemma was that it was currently VERY humid with no wind, but would it stay this way? I decided I would wait until the first loop is over before ditching any of my current gear. I made my way to the end of the Montee Ryan and turned right onto the longest stretch of road for the race, Route 117. When I made this turn, a bit of a breeze kicked up and cooled me down just a little bit. I was hoping for just a bit of a drizzle at this point (boy was that coming). As I was approaching the turn around on Route 117 (almost 20 miles in) I noticed the road was wet. Oh man! We just missed the rain (boy was I wrong)! After turning to come back down 117, the sky opened up. I'm going just tell you here that it didn't stop raining for the rest of the bike. It was only varying degrees of rain. It was either a steady cold rain or a driving torrential downpour. Got it? Okay, good. Let's continue. So it was raining and I thought that it felt great! I welcomed it, at first. But it got old really quickly. I lowered my sunglasses down my nose so I could see the road and the riders in front of me. I attempted to avoid the standing water and rivers of water flowing down the roads. That got old really quickly, too. Eventually, I just rode through what was in front of me. I was able to see enough that when Kelly came riding by in the opposite direction that she looked very good! This made me happy because I was still worried about her swim at that point. The last part of each loop requires some climbing. When I reached it on the first loop, I tried to take it very slowly, knowing that I would be here again in another 2:40. Upon reaching the halfway point on the bike, I was hoping to see 2:45. When I looked down and saw 2:38, I was really happy. The weather hadn't kept me from my goal ride at this point. My concern was whether I was burning my matches and not even knowing it. I felt great as I started the second loop, but here is where I will learn if I had used too much.
The second loop was much the same except mother nature became a bit angrier. She added a crushing head and side wind. The second loop was crazy. I was riding blind for portions of it and couldn't tell what my effort was. My power meter stopped working a while ago and I couldn't see my bike computer anyway. As I made my way up the final hills towards the end, I noticed a man standing in the middle of the road. He was yelling at people coming down the hills to slow down. He said the only way you will finish this race is if you are still in one piece. He looked at me and made me promise to reduce my speed on the way back down. If I could breathe enough to say anything, I would've said I promise. Instead, I nodded an affirmation. After getting by him, I saw the reason that he was standing there. There were a few bikes leaning against the trees off the side of the road. They were severely damaged and riderless. Come to find out after the race, there was a massive crash that put a rider in the ICU. This happened in the 70.3 in June, too. It happened in the same spot of the bike course. When I returned down the hill, the man was still there and he was saying how he loved my speed... nice and controlled. I nodded to him again and made my way into transition. I found out later that the man in the road was the race director. He decided to personally do something about the lack of caution people were showing at the spot. I stopped my computer at 5:28. I had slowed quite a bit on that second loop but I felt very strong. I was looking forward to the run.

Transition- 6:00

The goal of T2 was to be calm and use the potty. I grabbed my run bag and found a seat. I was shocked to see that the tent was pretty empty! I had the pick of seats! I dropped my bag next to me, opened it and emptied it on the chair next to me. I placed my horribly disgusting bike shoes, helmet, jersey, and arm sleeves in the bag. I started to put in my socks and sneakers when a volunteer came over and asked if he could take my bag for me. I looked at the items that surrounded me and noticed my sunglasses. I picked them up and said, "Well, I probably won't need these today, will I?" The volunteer just looked at me and I threw them in the bag. I nodded that he could take it now and he lumbered away with my 500lb bag of sopping wet funk filled slop. I got my sneakers on, put on my long sleeve shirt, placed my hat on backwards (I don't like seeing the sweat and/or rain drip in front of my face), and grabbed my handheld bottle with gatorade and started out of the tent. The volunteers are lined all of the way out of the tent to cheer the athletes on and they were yelling for me to run... go go go! I told them I had something to do first and walked right over to the bathroom. I heard some of them laugh as they watched where I was going. I came out of the potty with an empty bladder and confidence.

Run- 3:55

My goal for the run was a 3:30. I had trained for this pace and felt comfortable coming off of the bike at this pace. I even switched my Garmin over to KM so that the course markers and my pace would make sense.As I set out, my legs felt great as I exited transition. I tried to settle in and find a groove. As I approached the first hill coming out of the village, my legs responded well. I leaned into the hill and stayed at a comfortable heart rate. Before I knew it, I was out of the village and done with the first set of hills. The middle part of  the course (it is a 2 loop course so you have to do everything twice) is a flat rail trail. It used to be crushed gravel but they paved it a few years ago. This is a great spot to put your head down and get into a mindless pace. I did that on the way down, but as soon as I turned, my intestines started to cramp. Up to this point, I had taken gatorade and sugary gels for my nutrition. While this worked in training, I think I took in more than I ever had during training. I was worried about exerting myself too much on the bike and not knowing it due to the cold, wet, windy conditions. Sometimes in those conditions, you don't realize just how much you are working. I made sure I was taking in enough fluids and nutrition on the bike and I think it caught up with me. Until this point on the run, I had felt great! I even started to let myself think about a better marathon time. The cramps started to have an effect and it slowed my pace. I started to think of what I could do to help the issue. I came to the conclusion that all of my nutrition has been sugary liquids so I started looking for solid foods in the aid stations. Starting at around mile 7 or so, I walked the aid stations looking for anything that could absorb what I had in my stomach. The only thing that I could find were pretzels. I started double fisting pretzels at every aid station along with water to make them go down easier. As soon as I got those down, I would start running again. Amazingly, this helped! After I got back through the end of the first loop and up and over those hills a second time, I found some comfort and was able to hop on a better pace. I continued the pretzel and water strategy for the rest of the run and took some chicken broth once they started serving that. With 5K left, I saw Kelly coming in the other direction. It's always nice to know how Kelly is doing and seeing her smile on race courses. It puts me at ease and lowers my anxiety a bit. After we passed each other, it was all about the finish. I went through the final aid station and looked at my watch. My main goal of 10:30 was gone; it had flown away several cups of pretzels ago. I thought about a sub 11 hour performance, but according to my calculations that was now gone too. I decided that I would still muster a strong finish. As I came back to the hills just outside of the village, I moved up and over them and looked at my watch with 1KM left. Wait, according to calculations (which is always a dangerous and questionable statement to make this late in an Ironman) I could finish under 11 hours! Let's do it! I put my head down and summoned the rest of my energy to push up the final hill before the big downhill finish through the village. As I made the final turn into the finishing chute I realized that I would be an Ironman again. I was thrown a lot of obstacles on this day and I made my way through them. The finish line was different from other finish lines. This isn't because it is in a different location. It is because I learned a lot about myself during this 10 month journey and it all played out here, ending at this line in this place on this day. It all came crashing in at one moment and left me a better athlete and person because of it. Although you are surrounded by athletes, volunteers, and spectators all day long, Ironman allows you to spend some quality time with #1 (yourself). This could be a scary thing depending on where you might be, mentally, during this day. When I cross that finish line, I always bring so much new knowledge with me and I cherish it every time. This year is no different.
Although I finished off of my goal, I am the most proud of this result. I don't care about the time. I care about who I became at the finish line.