Ironman Mont-Tremblant 2013 Race Report
Ironman #21 in the books
The short:
I was not in Ironman race shape and should not have raced but that has never stopped me before. I’ve got an injured foot, and a virus wiped out training for the month of July. I just needed to complete the race in order to fulfill requirements to apply for the Legacy program. Mission accomplished. I raced easy and totally enjoyed my time out there. Race recon done and hopefully I will be healthy and ready to go next time I step on the Ironman start line.
The long & I mean long:
I surely didn’t set any pb’s on this day, but this day wasn’t about that. My 21st Ironman race at Mont-Tremblant was my most enjoyable Ironman race experience for a variety of reasons.
First of all, Ironman Mont-Tremblant is the best location for an Ironman race. This town rolled out the red carpet (literally and figuratively) for the athlete and their families. Whatever you might think of, they had it. The service was top notch in the hotel I stayed at and at the shops in town. You felt their appreciation for being there to spend your tourism dollars. They had activities to keep families busy while we athletes did our thing. They’ve basically taken the best of every Ironman race around the World and brought it to Mont-Tremblant. Kudos to race director Dominique Piché, Marc Roy, and the rest of their staff and volunteers for creating a first class experience. I will be back.
You should not hesitate on registering for this race. If there is one negative, it is the cost. Everything costs a bit more since it is a tourist resort and due to extra taxes. The cost of eating out or shopping in the village is notably expensive. However, most accommodations have some sort of kitchen so you can do your own food preparation or visit the local grocer for ready-made foods.
Second, were the people of the Markham Tri. This little unofficial club has some of the best people you’ll ever meet. It was an absolute pleasure to hang out with everyone all race weekend. They are also a passionate and motivated bunch of athletes that continue to raise the bar each year. And while some had outstanding races, and some did not have the day they wanted, everyone supported each other out on the course and after.
Plus, those who did not race, made the trip to Mont-Tremblant to volunteer and support all the racers (Ace, Brian, Cat, Rom, Wil, Gibs, and Troy – thanks for taking my bike up the hill after the race even though I wanted to ride it). Not to mention the great support also offered by everyone’s families – and the dinner put on by the Asadi and Waung Families. Thanks a ton! Unfortunately the weekend had to come to an end. Sorry if I missed anyone.
Third, were four very special athletes who entrusted their faith in me to guide them through this Ironman journey. I admire and treasure their dedication, desire, and friendship. And I was proud that they took their training to peak levels and entered race day with the opportunity to achieve great things. Congrats to Sue, Lindsay, Kevin, and Jason. And while some of you had a great day, and some of you didn’t, you all finished what you started and will return next time even stronger. I am sure of that. Thanks to you all for helping trigger my move to Ignition Fitness.
Fourth was the race itself. I needed to complete the race in order to be eligible to apply for the Legacy program to hopefully get to Kona. However, an injured foot put serious doubt into that plan. Thankfully, things came around where I could finally start light running in March – so I knew I could at least walk the marathon if I had to.
I was hopeful that I could post a decent time if my foot progressed as it did but I still could only manage runs of less than one hour. If my foot felt good I ran for whatever duration I could (typically 20-40 min), if not I didn’t run at all or started the run and just walked back home. All looked good until a virus floored me for the month of July. I’ve never been sick for so long. I managed to make it out for 2 long rides, one at the end of the first week of being sick which I knew it would knock me right back into full on sickness and it did. The second ride took place at the end of July where I finally beat the virus.
At best, the rides would make race day less painful. All functional bike fitness was gone. In June, I was maintaining close to 200w aerobically, now I was maintaining 140-150w at the same heart rates. As for the running, I finally managed my longest run of 1 hr 50 min run 17 days before race day. That was also done to make sure my legs wouldn’t take a total beating on race day, and to see how the foot would react to a run that long. It seemed okay, but I knew it was close to the limit.
The day before leaving for Mont-Tremblant I finally got an appointment with a Specialist (close to one year post-injury). He ordered a CT scan, gave me some anti-inflammatories, and among other things he recommended water running to ease me back into running. I said thanks for that but I will be doing an Ironman in a few days. We had a chuckle but I told him my plan was to just get through it and not torture myself. He agreed that would be fine.
Race day
Swim – 1:36:31
My shoulder has dislocated for the last few Ironman swims, and at the Welland half. My only swim this year was at Welland, so I was easily expecting a 1:42-1:50 swim so clocking 1:36 was fine by me and my shoulder felt decent. It only ended up seizing up during the run. Maybe Brian Bennett’s ART assistance the day before did some magic.
T1 – The long run to transition in bare feet was not kind to my foot. A stabbing pain with each step can best describe what I felt all along that red carpet. I could only hope it would go away during the bike.
I did an efficient change, and would have clocked a 7-8 min transition time but when I reached my bike I discovered a rear flat tire. Thankfully, tech support near the bike exit helped me out. Then as we were putting back on the wheel the axel of the Powertap wheel fell out. Yikes! They took care of that too, and what felt like an eternity took a total of 20:24.
Bike – 6:43:46 with 2 pee breaks. 145 avg hr, 151w avg power.
My plan was to ride easy and maintain a mid 140’s heart rate. I felt no desire to break from that to make up for the lost time due to the mechanicals. I still wanted to give myself a chance to run off the bike so hammering away was not an option. With no time goals, truly enjoyed the ride. Even with that nasty last 20 km section of the course at the end of each 90 km loop – beware! The ride seems mostly easy up until that point and I was thankful to have the compact gearing on my Litespeed Saber. The winds also picked up big time during the second loop and that took a toll on a lot of people. With me taking it easy, increasing the effort to combat that wind was not a problem, and I continually passed riders into that wind and especially on the flat sections. I still behaved with my heart rate plan and kept that going with the hills. I must warn of the crosswinds you’ll face, especially when flying down the descents on the course with deep profile wheels.
Run/Walk/Crawl/Limp/Roll/Moonwalk – 7:02:52. No need to add lame stats here.
I made a promise to myself that I would run unless something prevented me from doing so. I exited transition and stopped to kiss my daughter and chat with our MTG supporters to get updates on everyone. After a few minutes, off I went and running felt fine. Just after the 3km mark, I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my Achilles, the same one I ruptured a few years ago. This threw in a huge scare to me since it could jeopardize my chances of finishing. I did not want to snap it again and try to get through 39 km on one leg. So I immediately started walking. I tried a little jog a few kilometres later and there was still the some pain so the walking continued. I tried running again at 8km and all felt good so I did the Ironman shuffle right back into town and kept it going until my quads gave out due to lack of run fitness or my foot pain kicked in big time. This happened between 22-23km.
I walked the rest of the way, cheered on everyone I recognized, and hooked up Ed with 1 km to go (a friend from the Markham Tri who I knew was coming from behind). We started the swim together, and joked during the week that we’d finish in 16:59 together. We were one hour off from that prediction but we had fun during that final kilometre and had the finish chute to ourselves. Mike Reilly pumped up the crowd, Ed declined a dance routine finish, so I did some kind of moonwalk type deal with a turnaround jump across the finish line where we were greeted by a throng Markham Tri crew who volunteered as finish line catchers. A wonderful surprise. They took care of us and capped off a very enjoyable day and Ironman finish #21. Legacy program here I come. Thanks to my wife and daughter for dealing with my desire to get this done.
(left to right) Jason of Team Running Free, Ed, and myself on race morning in transition. – photo by Jason Ng.
