Weekly Quickies: 2016 Ironman Mt Tremblant

Commitment: Mt Tremblant seems committed to being a top rate destination. The customer service was phenomenal with volunteers everywhere speaking both French and English. After Mt. Tremblant was granted an IM race, they repaved all of the roads and are currently in the process of placing permanent signs on the bike course for athletes to train year round. At the start of the race, they had fireworks and a fighter jet flyover.

Sunscreen Need Not Apply: Ironically, the only day it rain was the day of the race. Thankfully it was dry in the morning, however there were dark clouds in the distance. By mile one of the swim, the water became choppy and you knew it was going to be a windy day. The pros would swim 5-8 minutes slower than their usual splits. After 30 minutes on the bike, the clouds unleashed a pelting rain that would continue through most of the day. When I picked up my bike at midnight, my chain had rusted. As a side note, I unexpectedly noticed a huge shift in my spirits when I removed my dark sunglasses halfway through the bike making things brighter. This reminded me, once again, that little things can make a big difference.

Focus: During the swim, I focused on another athlete of similar speed. The water was crystal clear so I could just watch his feet and not raise my head as often. Staying on his feet also motivated me to maintain a solid pace. My sleeveless wetsuit worked extremely well as my shoulders never fatigued. However, I forgot to spray lubricant on my neck and the material rubbed.

Attachments: My goal was to avoid being attached to the finish line. It’s a long day and it would be over soon. Thinking about mile 140, at any point, was just going to cause needless worry. I paced myself for the first 35 km of the bike. From there I built my speed then maintained my effort on the second loop. The course has slightly more elevation than Lake Placid, but the nature of the hills made the challenge comparable. There was one steep section at the end of each loop that caused some people to walk their bikes, but the climb was broken up with several plateaus which made it very manageable. Throughout the ride I nervously watched for Tiffany and finally saw her on the second loop. Could I catch her? Would I be able to run a full 26.2 miles with her after I finished? I later learned that she hyperventilated on the swim.

Mindset: I was confident I would run well because there was no other option. I was not going to reduce my effort. I focused on relaxing my shoulders and driving my knees forward to catch the athlete in front of me. On the first loop, it was a 26 y.o. male who passed me at mile 1. I eventually started consuming my sea salt at each aid station and it gave me the extra boost I needed. I also calmed my mind by counting backwards from 10 to 1 as I exhaled. The run course is a mixture of hills and flats, more challenging than Chattanooga, but not as difficult as Lake Placid. I used Coke and water at each aid station and thankfully did not have any GI issues. With 2 km remaining, another athlete in my age group flew by me. I tried to stay with him, but I couldn’t. It cost me a 5^th place trophy, but allowed us to skip the awards ceremony and go on a hike. After I crossed the finish line I saw Tiffany enter T2, but I needed a break before I could run with her. After warming up and eating some food, I ran/walked the final 15 miles with her.

Crepes: French is everywhere in Mt Tremblant and not everyone is bilingual. Thankfully I remembered a little from high school and we were able to enjoy some great food. Saturday night we dined at La Maison de la Crepe and had a banana and peanut crunch crepe. On Monday we went to Creperie Catherine after our hike and had a huge crepe with 4 scopes of ice cream, bananas, and caramel sauce. It put me in a food coma.

Intermediate Hike: In support of my beautiful wife, who also completed the race, we went on a hike the next day at 8am in the Parc National de Mont Tremblant. It was only 2.5 km each way, but it took us 2 hours to complete due to the elevation gain and exhaustion. They classify it as Intermediate, but it felt more Expert level. From there we traveled to Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, and Cooperstown walking roughly 9 hours a day. Needless to say, my legs were forced to loosen up and cooperate. Overall it was a great race and phenomenal trip.