Ironman Mont Tremblant 2015
Before:
I don’t really know what to say about this race, except that it seems weird that it’s over. It feels like a test I studied pretty hard for but then had no idea of answer to the essay part. I couldn’t have done it differently, and wouldn’t have done anything different leading up to it, but I just had to do the thing through an injury in the sciatic nerve that came from nowhere a week before the race. I knew it might hurt, but wouldn’t let myself even think that it would be a limiting factor. ART treatments helped a lot and I recommend!
Swim – 1:22:55 48/88
I loved the way the waves were set up – all the guys, and then two waves of females. All day, I knew I was just looking for any girl. The swim waves were good because I didn’t get almost drowned like last year. The only hard part of the swim was the dense fog. I had a hard time seeing the buoys, and was turned around a few times.
T1 – 5:55
I took a chair close to the exit, because everyone else was huddled near the bags. I got out fast, but a guy tipped his bike in front of me as I was running up the aisle.
Bike – 5:40:58 9/88 (or, thanks Jim, I guess I was 4th in my AG here).
The bike was pretty good. The best part of the bike was Best Bike Split. The numbers popped up like a video game. It worked great and I hit my predicted time.
It was hotter than expected, and I kept rinsing myself off with water at the aid stations. But I had tons of salt tabs in my snack pouch thing on the bike, and they started to get sort of deformed.
T2 – 2:57
Nailed the flying dismount. No disaster. Phew. I had all my hat/visor/accessories in a ziplock bag and got right out of the tent. The only problem was biofreeze. I meant to spray it on my leg but sprayed it in my eye, because that’s how I roll. It was pretty cool that T2 was essentially empty
Run – 4:53:25 19/88
First 6 miles as planned. Then at mile six, I got this shooting pain up my leg into my back and that changed the game. That would be the same sciatic nerve thing. It felt like it does when you sprain your ankle and you try to put weight on it. So my mind went into disaster mode, like when you see something really bad and just know exactly how to react in the situation. I knew I needed to protect this leg at all costs and get to the second loop. The dirt part of the trail was exceptionally painful. I hit a couple stretch stops and med tents for tape. With two miles to go I started talking to myself out loud because it really hurt pretty bad. I held onto the pain spot, and went as fast as possible to the finish.
Overall; 12:06:10, 19th ag, 110 women, 698 overall
Takeaway;
As someone who comes to race, lay it all out, there is nothing more disappointing than crossing a finish line with something left. I know that’s the max for the day given the constraints, and I’m glad I was smart enough to minimize my losses, but it still is not something I will say I raced. It was an event I participated in.
There were so many positives to the day though! The teammates on the course were amazing. I loved seeing everyone on the run, and then even passing the condo we rented at camp and remembering our group. I was elated to see some teammates crush their goals. So happy for you! Other positives: Colin – awesome coach. This guy makes huge improvements possible and expected. And I’m sure I’m not the easiest to coach on the roster… Leslie gets huge honors for figuring out the weirdest digestive system ever. No GI issues. This was a miracle. Thank you Leslie!!! And again, I’m sure I’m no picnic to coach. Thanks to both for dealing with all that is me, I appreciate you :). Peak Tri Coaching is legit.
But not so hot: Race Day Rentals. I rented wheels and they did not work. I use powertap in my rear wheel and got a PT rear wheel. The PT did not work. He switched out the batteries, still didn’t work, and determined it was the hub. Then, he put my wheel back on and it was rubbing the frame. This involved three trips to the athlete village and a trip to the bike store. Basically he was like, ‘that sucks’. I raced with the front wheel and my training wheel on the back because they didn’t have extras.
Overall I loved Tremblant and am considering a repeat! I’ll use the sort of disappointing run for training motivation and just call it part of a multi-year training cycle. Wasn’t going to win anything this year anyway, so why not just focus on how the experience can make me faster in the end.
Thanks for reading and happy training/ racing! Congrats to the first time Ironmen and women 🙂
goashattack 