Ironman 70.3 Mont Tremblant - Triathlon


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Mont-Tremblant, Quebec
Canada
World Triathlon Corporation
68F / 20C
Overcast
Total Time = 4h 53m 58s
Overall Rank = 169/2200
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 42/380
Pre-race routine:

Up at 5 AM, Big bowl of oatmeal with raisins, Big cup of coffee, Sunblock on and walk down to transition. Body marking and setup of my transition area was quick and easy. Drank an entire bottle of my Infinit-UCan mixture, approximately 400 calories in the last hour before the swim start.
Event warmup:

Got my wetsuit on and did some dynamic stretching. Got in the water and swam about 400 yards as a warmup with a few pickups.
Swim
  • 37m 24s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 46s / 100 yards
Comments:

I am not sure what I was doing here. I just lolly-gagged along. This was so easy and I never really thought about the fact that I wasn't breathing hard, wasn't working hard and wasn't swimming fast. I felt really comfortable in the water and this was really, really easy.

I need to learn to swim hard in open water. Without the visual cues of the pool I tend to just take it easy. A swim like today's will probably serve me very well in Boulder or Tahoe but I could have worked much more on this swim.
What would you do differently?:

Push harder in the water. I have learned that pushing really hard and burning myself up in the water is not a good idea. Conversely, taking it too easy is a recipe to be really, really slow.
Transition 1
  • 04m 57s
Comments:

This is about a 400 meter run from the Beach to transition. Wetsuit strippers are right at the swim exit so you are running about a 1/4 of a mile carrying your wetsuit. I passed a ton of people on the run to transition but in retrospect I could have run faster and cut some time out of this transition. I wore a new pair of cycling shoes with a BOA closure system that took a little longer to get on. I knew this would be the case and I was willing to accept the extra 20-30 seconds that this might have taken me. I did not leave my shoes clipped in as I kind of think it might have taken me more time/been more dangerous.

I got a great jump on to my bike and was up to speed in seconds. I probably passed 10-12 people in the first 100 yards on the bike.
What would you do differently?:

Love my new shoes. Need to practice getting them on faster.
Bike
  • 2h 41m 12s
  • 56 miles
  • 20.78 mile/hr
Comments:

So, my next big goof-up after swimming too easy..... My cycling computer would not pair up with my Powertap. It worked great the day before when I took the bike out for about 30 minutes of riding. I assumed that the torrential rain that soaked the bike in transition had done something to the power tap. I decided that I would just have to ride by feel which is what I did for about the first 15 miles or so. Then I had the brilliant idea of trying to "pair" the Powertap again, which it did and voila, I had cycling data. I have no idea what my first 15 miles looked like as far as power goes. Part of me wishes that I would not have paired the computer because I think that looking at the numbers actually made me hold back some on the ride. I still don't quite know how to make myself hurt on the bike. I am always worried that I will burn up my legs and then not be able to have the kind of run that I want. Well, sometimes I think worrying like that just holds me back too much. I don't think I hit my goal power numbers and I rode too conservatively/slow. I still think I could have had a nice run if I had pushed a little more on the bike.

Following the Powertap meant that I had to hold bask on the ascents. I was passing people like crazy on the descents but by capping my power numbers people were going by me like I was standing still on the climbs. Very disappointing. I guess it was the right thing to do.

I drank two, 20 ounce bottles of Infinit-Ucan at 400+/- calories per bottle + about 1.5 bottles of water. This was the perfect amount of calories and fluids for this course on this day.

Overall, this course is fantastic. Smooth roads. Challenging hills. Screaming fast descents. Beautiful scenery.
What would you do differently?:

Be willing to push harder.
Transition 2
  • 01m 6s
Comments:

Fast. When I hopped off the bike my shoes hit the ground and started spinning. This messed things up a bit but I just picked the bike up and ran.

Shoes went right on and I grabbed the visor and belt and put them on on the fly.

No muss, no fuss.
Run
  • 1h 29m 29s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 06m 50s  min/mile
Comments:

I was hurting when I started this run. I did not really feel like running 13.1 miles coming off of the bike, but the conditions could not have been better for this run. Overcast. Temperature in the high 60s. Of course I had to make major mistake number three, which I actually had made three days before..... I left my Garmin at home in Michigan. I have been doing all of my training using the Garmin for pacing so this was a bitter pill to swallow. However, of all of the legs of a triathlon, running is my best.

I took it a little bit easy out of transition. I was not sure how much the bike had taken out of my legs. I loved that the run was marked in kilometers. Somehow seeing a kilometer come and go every 4:30 made it seem like I was doing something. I had figured out that I needed to run 4:26/Km to be at around 7:00/mile so that was my worst case goal.

As we got further and further in to the race I felt better and better. Doing the mental math of converting Ks to Miles helped occupy my mind for the race. When I saw the sign for 6 K (approximately 3.6 miles) I knew I had the legs and the energy to finish strong. I just opened things up and tried to empty the tank. There was a lot of passing going on. Unfortunately, as fast as I was running, a guy blew by me at this point like I was standing still. I tried to go with him and kept him in sight all of the way to the finish but no way I could keep up with him.

I was passed by three total people on this run and I was able to pass one of the guys back at around the 17K mark. The first guy passed me at about the 1K mark and probably put close to a mile on me by the end. The last guy was the one who passed me in the final stretch.

Nutrition: Coke and water at every aid station I could get it. I probably took in 6 small cups of coke and probably 8 cups of water. Water and ice in my tri top as often as I could get it.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe start a little faster. However, my somewhat conservative start may be what allowed me to finish strong.

The timing is messed up for everyone over the last 11.5 K. It says I took 28 minutes to go 5K and then 19 minutes to go the next 6K. If you look at everyone's results, they look the same way. No way I finished running 3:13/K. I was moving, but not that fast. Look at the results..... everyone else has the same skewed results.
Post race
Warm down:

Felt better than I should have. Found my wife pretty much immediately.

Beer and poutine as recovery food is highly recommended. In fact, the best post-race eats I have had yet.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Mental toughness. I am a slow swimmer. Need to learn to suffer on the bike.

Event comments:

One of the best races I have ever done. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to do a great 70.3 race. The people of the Mont Tremblant community were great. Volunteers were great. Race organization was great.




Last updated: 2013-04-05 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:37:24 | 2112 yards | 01m 46s / 100yards
Age Group: 118/380
Overall: 757/2200
Performance: Below average
Suit: Aquaman Wetsuit
Course: Big rectangle. Out 900 yards, across 200 (or so) yards, in 900 yards.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 63F / 17C Current: Low
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 04:57
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
02:41:12 | 56 miles | 20.78 mile/hr
Age Group: 99/380
Overall: 418/2200
Performance: Average
Wind: Little
Course: Rolling course with a lot of ascending and descending. Perfect roads. Well marshaled.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 88
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:06
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
01:29:29 | 13.1 miles | 06m 50s  min/mile
Age Group: 42/380
Overall: 168/2200
Performance: Good
Course: A VERY rolling 13.1 miles with a significant amount of the course on a crushed gravel pathway. I thought this would be flatter than it was but there is not a whole lot of flat running in this entire race.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5