Ironman Mont-Tremblant - Triathlon

This swim was about what I was shooting for. I felt pretty solid throughout the whole swim, catching some swimmers from the wave in front and getting a little draft off a few guys that came by from the wave behind us. I came out of the water feeling fresh and ready for the rest of the day.

Not too much - this was pretty solid based on my training and non-swimming background.

There was around a 400+ yard run from the swim-out to the changing tent, and I put on my sunglasses and helmet, grabbed my shoes and was out.

A little faster - seconds would come to haunt me by the end of the day.

Like the swim, I felt the bike was about what I expected. I was hoping to be a little closer to 5:00, but it didn't happen.

As the bike began, tons of people were flying by me. I consider myself a pretty strong biker and knew most of these guys would pay for these efforts latter. I let them go, sticking to my goal wattage of around 240. On the uphills I was pushing a bit over 240, with some spikes over 300 and a few close to 400. On many of the downhills I ran out of gearing and coasted for most sections over 33-34 mph.

The course is pretty hilly and there were a few sections where I could have done with more gearing. I went with a 12-27 cassette and was pushing 400 watts at near 50 rpms on a few short sections. Not exactly what I wanted, but those sections didn't last that long.

The first loop ended with a 2:33 split and I stopped briefly at special needs to pick up my 2nd concentrated bottle of Infinit. On lap two the wind picked up a bit, but I stayed very consistent and was able to split another 2:33 on the back half, coming into T2 right around 5:06 on the bike and a 6:19 overall time.

I saw Colin a bunch of times out on the bike, always a few minutes ahead of me at the turnarounds - he was looking great, and we often exchanged a shout. I came off the bike feeling fresh and pretty confident that a solid run was ahead of me.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/361368973

Slightly bigger gearing would have helped on the steeps.

Decent transition - again seconds counted here, and I'm sure I could have been a bit quicker.

This was far from the run I was hoping for, but things started out right on plan. I took the first two miles at an 'easy' pace, right around 7:40, then settled in around a 7:30 pace for the next five miles. It was around the 5-6 mile mark that I began seeing guys coming back from the turnaround, and I realized I was around 12th in my AG at that point.

Once I reached the turnaround the grade was slightly uphill back towards the finish area, and my pace dropped to around 8:00 for the remainder of the first loop. I crossed the half-marathon point at 1:41, and hoped I could maintain that pace. On the run course I saw a few teammates, including Colin who was scorching the run. He was looking super strong, and I wish I could have borrowed some of that strength for the last half of my run.

Looking back now, I feel that my mental fortitude is what let me down. I simply wasn't able to click off the miles and deal with the hurt that was settling over me. Yes, I was hurting, but I don't have enough long-course experience to just suck it up and push on through. That is an area that I think develops with time and more base miles of training. I need to become a better runner at the same time to have a more solid run off the bike.

The second loop didn't turn into a death march, but the pace dropped to the mid 8's for the rest of the race. I passed a few guys in my AG, but needed to make a porta-pottie stop around mile 19. Up until this point I had peed 6 times on the run, but decided I didn't want to be 'that guy' who went #2 on himself. Inevitably, this added more precious seconds to the race, seconds which I would have loved to have back.

As I neared the end of the race I really didn't know how I stood AG wise. In the last 1/4 mile two guys from my AG passed me. I tried to hang with them, but they pulled away and crossed 6 and 7 seconds ahead of me, taking those last two slots for Kona. In hindsight, I obviously feel I could have gone faster and made up that microscopic amount of time virtually anywhere on the course or in transitions. However, the fact is those two guys wanted it more than me at the end of the race, and I salute them. Maybe I'll get another shot at Kona in the future.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/361365912

Be 7 seconds faster!

I crossed the finish line dejected. I had envisioned a jubilant crossing, but I somehow knew I had just lost out on my goal, and didn't feel at all happy. I sat down in the finisher area and began to cry. I saw Katie holding 4-month old Jackson and I went over - Jackson gave me a huge grin, which made me smile even though I felt like crap. We ended up going over the get my gear bags and then get my bike from transition before heading back to our hotel.

At this point I was still holding out hope that I could grab a Kona slot at roll-down the next day, but it wasn't meant to me. All four guys ahead of me grabbed the four spots that rolled down - I just didn't have that desire at the end.


Mental strength was lacking - hopefully I'll develop that for future races.


As disappointed as I was with my overall time and placing, I have to applaud the volunteers, the town, and the whole staff that put the race on. It was a great event and I felt very supported throughout the whole weekend. Even though I didn't get a slot to Kona I was glad to see those who did at roll-down and elation that they showed was almost contagious.

Katie and I have decided that IM racing will not be in the cards for the foreseeable future as I want to be with Jackson and Katie on weekends and after work. Maybe one day I'll get one of those Kona slots, but it probably won't be for quite a while.

Here's a link to my blog post on those precious 7 seconds:
http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/2013/08/7-seconds.html