This is on the water at race start looking up to the slopes
To race Ironman is to complete a 2.4 mile swim, bike 112 miles, and run a marathon (26.2) miles for a total distance covered of 140.6 miles. My Ironman (Full Distance Triathlon) adventure to get to said race in Canada with the family required that I drive nearly 700 miles. I think I would rather do an Ironman than drive 700 miles.
We arrived on a Thursday.
Friday was packet pickup and a familiarization swim in the clear visibility low 70's water of Lac Tremblant. The swim was awesome. If the pre-swim was any indication at all as to how the race was going to go I was very happy. Then the family walked about Mont Tremblant and did kid / adult stuff...you know, find things to buy that you don't really need but desperately want..
Saturday was a short ride and run to shake out the legs. Then rack the bike. Kids got to swim a bunch in the lake and they did a bunch of tubing as well. I took a ton of pictures and a few good wipe outs were recorded.
Sunday
Had the best night's sleep before a race that I can remember. Woke at 0330 even though the alarm was set for 0400. Did the usual and got to transition about 5:30. Finishing touches on bike prep and dropped the special needs bags for later use. Walked to the swim start which was maybe a 10 min casual walk and donned the wetsuit. I went full sleeve this time. Then headed to the beach.
I don't know my planes to well but we had a jet fly over at the start that you'll hear in the video of the race start. 0700 hrs approximately 2200 of my closest friends begin the inaugural 2012 Ironman Mont Tremblant Race. Click link for race start: Swim Race Start
This was by far the most contact I've ever experienced in a swim start. As you can see from the video the race started on the beach but then narrowed down as it passed through a section where boats to the left were anchored to far into the swim course. To the far right you can see the buoy line we would follow till we made our first right turn about 1.2 mi into the lake. Think of it as 4 lanes of car traffic merging into 2 lanes at speed. All signs pointed to a good swim for me. I made a poor choice of start location, it's that simple. Once I calmed down and let some swimmers by I moved left to a clean swim line and began picking the people off I let go. Frustrating that I lost so much time but it's better than quitting which I was close to doing, it was that bad. The return trip after two turn buoys was choppy as I caught the group I let go at the start and the little head wind probably didn't help. I swam till I was hitting ground and was still a 100 feet off the beach.
Wetsuit strippers were awesome!! Popped up and I ran the .3 miles to the change tent...
Heard my name, recognized faces, and acknowleged with a wave. Was really good to see the wife, kids, and even our neighbors were there to root me on. Was a great time.
Swim Details Division Rank: 179
Split Name Distance Split Time Race Time Pace Div. Rank Overall Rank Gender Rank
Total 3.8 km 1:14:47 1:14:47 1:58/100m 179 928 754
Then I had to wait for my bike gear bag (Grrrrr). Changed and got my bike
T1 7:25
Shark Bait
Got on the bike and away I went. Little chilly at first but thankfully I wore my GEC bike jersey to hold all my nutrition and keep some heat in. I did wear arm coolers under the wetsuit but decided last second to remove them as it was still fairly cool and the combination of the wet coolers and the temps probably wouldn't have been good. Ended up being a good call because the weather gods were awesome to me except for the wind on the second loop but no biggie otherwise. Great course! The pictures below are the end of lap one.
Bike Details Division Rank: 95
Split Name Distance Split Time Race Time Pace Div. Rank Overall Rank Gender Rank
30 km 30 km 50:39 2:12:51 35.54 km/h 22.08mph
90 km 60 km 1:50:11 4:03:02 32.67 km/h 20.3 mph
120 km 30 km 54:48 4:57:50 32.85 km/h 20.41 mph
180.2 km 60.2 km 2:01:26 6:59:16 29.74 km/h 18.48 mph
Total 180.2 km 5:37:04 6:59:16 32.08 km/h 19.93 mph 95 432 401
Came into T2 and this time had to get my own gear bag after I spent 10-15 seconds waiting.
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN 2:42
Donned my shoes and visor and off I went. First mile wasn't confidence building as my hamstrings weren't appreciating the change to weight bearing activities. But I was able to run though it. First few miles were hilly and then it flattened out to a gravel straight trail. Nothing terribly exciting except the first half was overcast and the second loop it started to rain. I couldn't have asked for better weather. Well I could of, but it really couldn't have gotten better. Second loop also brought some hamstring spasms and some aggravated hips but I persevered until mile 23.
I don't remember every minute of the 662 minutes I was in motion but I do remember very specifically about 30 seconds. On the swim it was somewhere in the first 150 yards where I thought I should quit because I was getting pounded and I initially reacted poorly. Then that passed and I found a way to continue. Then on the bike I don't remember the mile but I was climbing a hill and came upon another to quickly and my front tire hit his back tire. He reacted by saying HEY and I went around and don't recall seeing him again, and the run. Classic. My nutrition was good on the bike and carried over well onto the run. I was taking a gel every 30 minutes, I was taking Coke, and I was drinking Gatorade/Powerade and I was even taking a little chicken broth and I bonked hard at mile 23. Like the bottom totally fell out. I stopped running and almost fell over, I remember someone asking if I was okay and I remember thinking I wasn't but I had to keep moving. I came to the aide station and asked for sugar and they told me they only had water. I thought you've got to be kidding as the volunteer said the next aide station would have gels and coke among other things. So I tried to run and just then I saw a gel on the course in the other direction. I went over to it and picked it up and it wasn't opened. I may have looked around but I don't recall. I opened it and took it in. Then went to the next aide station and got some water and ran the rest of the way in. Not sure what would've happened it I hadn't picked it up. So whoever dropped it, thank you. Oh...and it was Mocha, one of my favorites. I ran into to town with this one guy determined to pass me but I'm not much on that at the end of a race. Even in the chute he was determined and it was aggravating as I thought I would really like to enjoy this. I slowed right before the finish and the picture tells the rest of the story.
My daughter drafting the lead female.
Aid station at about mile 9-10 and 21-22
Run Details Division Rank: 79
Split Name Distance Split Time Race Time Pace Div. Rank Overall Rank Gender Rank
21.1 km 21.1 km 1:53:02 8:55:00 5:21/km
31.9 km 10.8 km 55:03 9:50:03 5:05/km
42.2 km 10.3 km 1:12:12 11:02:15 7:00/km
Total 42.2 km 4:00:17 11:02:15 5:41/km 79 397 365
In Summary:
Rank: 79 of 433 AG
Overall Rank: 397 of 2542
BIB: 981
Swim: 1:14:47
Bike: 5:37:04
Run: 4:00:17
Overall: 11:02:15
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