Non-Cooking: Ironman Mont Tremblant Race Report!

Well, whaddya know, I finished another Ironman!! Long story short, it was a wonderful experience to chase a PR versus a time cutoff, I took an hour and 25 minutes off my Ironman Wisconsin time (gaining a small amount of time off the swim and the bike, and a whopping 55 minutes off the run!), stayed mentally strong through some tough moments, danced at the aid stations, skipped through the finish line, and really freaking enjoyed my race!

Now for the longer story. (Thanks in advance to Miro who is a fantastic photographer and who took the majority of the best photos below!)

Pre-race

My parents and I headed up to Canada on Wednesday. My mom really wanted to make it partially a vacation, so we spent Thursday hiking despite on/off ran and I hung out in a coffee shop while her and my dad rented bikes on Friday. For the hike, we did a couple of short ones to some waterfalls, and then we had a choice between an easy hike around the lake and a intermediate hike to the best views in the park. Of course, I can't hear the words "great view" and not go for it, so I tested my legs a little hiking ~2.7km uphill to the view. Whoops! The view was totally worth it.

Wearing a sweatshirt because Canada is COLD

<3 my support crew

Thursday night, I ditched my parents and had dinner with John, Aileen, and Aileen's friend. It was nice to catch up with them before all the real craziness began.

Leading up to Sunday, I hadn't felt overly nervous or worried. My low moment came Friday while my parents were biking. With the rain and the lack of activity, I started to get into a bit of a funk. I decided to head to the athlete's banquet on my own since John and Aileen weren't going, and hoped to run into some other Team Z friends (trying to save text messages/data limited my ability to make plans). Boy am I glad I did! I did find my teammates, and they had circus acts during the show! It was more celebratory than I feel Wisconsin was, and I got my excitement for the race back.

On Saturday morning, I headed to the race site for a 10/10/10 swim/bike/run workout with the team. I had bought new goggles Thursday, and wanted to test them out. I felt the water was so much colder than it was at the half, and I had a bit trouble breathing/getting into a rhythm so it was good to test the water out. The rest of the brick went well and then it was time to check in my gear to the transition area. As the rain decided to keep pouring all day Saturday, the rest of my day involved lunch, napping, and eventually heading to the Team dinner. At the dinner I was surprised to receive cards/gifts from Sherri/Jen/Aileen. Jen - I am happy to report I took your advice and made sure to dance throughout the day!

I give 100% of the credit to Linda for getting me to the pool this year. Who wouldn't go to enjoy her great company?

No clue what I am thinking here

Photobombed by the goggle salesman

The team at the pre-race brick

The team at the dinner

Race Day!

Race day started bright and early around 3am! My poor parents - they are such troopers and are becoming support crew pros! The one "argument" we had was upon my insistence that we go to Tim Horton's on the way to the resort for coffee like I did before the half, although it would require us taking an extra five minutes. They bought a Keurig for this trip since the hotel room didn't have coffee makers, but a) I don't like the Keurig coffee, b) I am a stickler for routine, and c) I have inherited my stubborness from both of their mothers (and them). (Quick aside - my 81 year old grandma recently broke her hip while putting groceries in her car. She drove herself the 20 minutes home, directed my grandpa in sorting the perishables/non-perishables and putting them away, and THEN went to the hospital. This is not even the Grandma I consider the stubborn one (Hi Gram!). No wonder I am as strong/stubborn as I am!) I ended up hearing about another Tim Horton's nearer to our hotel from another competitor, so we made our way to that one so we could take the easier route to the hotel that avoids all the cones. My dad bought a travel coffee mug so it all worked out the best.  

We got to the transition area in plenty of time, so I took care of my final items, found a deserted bathroom, and then looked for the team for the pre-race picture. I didn't see anyone where I thought we were meeting and started to head over to the Team tents. All of a sudden, I see a sea of green heading towards me with Alexis in the lead. Found them!

I felt much calmer then I have before all my other races (no matter the distance), which was a huge mental improvement for me since I always have dreaded race starts. The only ten minutes of uneasiness occurred when Mary insisted I set a specific time goal by asking me my projected time for each leg (14:45 was what it added up to which would be a dream come true - keep that in mind), and I said goodbye to my parents to make my way through the crazy crowds to the swim start. The uneasiness passed as I was able to get in the water to get the cold shock over with, and lined up with a bunch of my teammates for the start of my swim wave.

The partial team that morning

Last moments of calm before the race.

Swim (1:37:26, projected for Mary 1:40)

This swim was a SIGNIFICANT improvement over my Wisconsin one, both in time (12 minutes) and in overall comfort level. I stayed calm, stayed near the buoys, and felt like I swam in a straight-line. Unlike Wisconsin, I was never alone (huge sign you are off course!) and while I didn't feel super fast, I never felt like I was super slow. The water got rougher over the course of the swim, but I wasn't overly bothered. The one "ouch" moment was when I got kicked by a swimmer doing the breast stroke. I am happy to report I still have a pretty solid bruise, so my hurt was justified. I didn't check my watch during the swim, and I just hoped I wouldn't be really disappointed by my time when I finally got out of the water. For Wisconsin, my time was much slower than I thought which just set up the next 8:30 hours of chasing the bike cutoff/worrying all day. When I got out and saw 1:37, I was so relieved and felt like my race had started off just how I wanted it to.

I can't tell if I love or hate these photos.

Probably both.

T1 (11:21, projected for Mary 10)

The run to transition was painful, and I was disappointed they didn't have the red carpet they used at the half. I used the bathroom, grabbed my bag, and found a spot in the very crowded changing tent. (This is huge! When I got to the transition areas in Wisconsin I was mostly on my own!) Unlike Wisconsin, the volunteers were not super gung ho to help you change/get ready, which was a bit disappointing but not too much of a bother. I quickly changed and headed out for the bike.

Bike (7:56:37, projected for Mary 8:00 but she/Mark rejected it and reduced it to 7:45)  

During the half, my legs just felt super heavy until the last 10 miles of the bike. Fortunately, my legs felt strong from the get go this go round. I couldn't get my heart rate to show on my watch so I just went by feel. The first loop went really well! A highlight was having Aileen catch up to me and riding with her for a bit before she pulled away. I felt strong and steady, sang at the aid stations, cheered on teammates as we passed each other on the out and backs, and arrived at special needs in good spirits. I even almost missed seeing my parents because I made it to St. Jovite ahead of my prediction for them. I finished it in 3:45, and really thought I had the chance to crush both mine and Mary's predictions.

We are the CHAMPIONS, my friends!

Famous last words. As soon as I turned onto 117 (the highway) for the 14 mile out of the out and back, I got hit in the face by what felt like 20mph headwinds, and they didn't let up. My back hurt, and my spirits were starting to get low. This low moment though is also a highlight of the race for me. While I struggled physically, I showed a lot of mental strength and just told myself "This is your low. Keep peddling, and you will get through it. This too shall pass. Just Keep Moving." I made it to the turnaround, and then allowed myself to stop at the aid station in order to use the bathroom, eat, and regroup mentally. The rest of the loop was not too bad (just more winds/rain/hills), and while I struggled in the last section of stair step climbs, I was able to keep my cadence up and my spirits relatively high. Unlike Wisconsin where I was chasing the time cutoff from the word GO, I never felt like it was a concern here. The second loop took me more than 25 minutes longer - a lot of that was the wind, but I also probably went to hard the first loop. Oh well. I still managed to shave nearly 20 minutes off my bike time from Wisconsin. The real test of how hard I went on the bike would be how I held up on the run.

90% of my bike photos look like this

T2 (9:44, predicted for Mary 10 minutes)

I got off the bike and could barely walk (ouch thighs!). Not a good sign! The changing tent was hectic, and it was good to hear everyone felt about the same as I did about the wind. I kept it quick and headed out.

Run (4:50:39, predicted for Mary 5:00)

I got onto the run, and I knew I could take 5 hours and still break my dream goal of 15 hours. My best marathon leading up to Wisconsin was 4:30, I killed myself on the bike, and then had a time of 5:45 for the race. In the last two years, I took 28 minutes off my marathon PR, and I felt like I had not used all my energy on the bike. This boded well, and I took off feeling confident, loving the fact that my run is my strength. After a few miles during which I walked the steep climbs (my race plan), my back pain went away and I settled into a comfortable rhythm and was happy to see my mile splits were not crazy slow (around 10:30-11 minutes/mile). I was annoyed they had run out of coke on the course (talk about getting caught up in the little things), and I did something I never thought I would ever do in my life - I reached for the red bull. I needed the caffeine boost!

I started to get a good feeling about 5-6 miles in, and that feeling only increased as my race went on. I had a huge boost when I saw my teammates had all made the bike cutoff! My tendency on the run is to push it a bit at the start and then just try to hold on as long as I can (it's worked surprisingly well). I reached the half marathon point in around 2:11/2:15 still feeling relatively strong (much better than at the half) and with 2:45ish to go before the 15 hour mark. It was such an exhilarating feeling to just know I was going to crush my PR and meet my goal! I saw Mark Edmunds about 2 miles ahead of me on the run and he said "come and pass me." I kept going and as I passed him about 30 minutes later I took pleasure in saying "Challenge Accepted." Then I yelled "I am going to crush my Wisconsin time!" and kept going.

I passed John and Aileen, said something similar to them, and just kept going. I danced/sang at the aid stations (the playlists were amazing), stayed strong to the finish, collected my high fives from the spectators, tossed my fuel belt to my surprised dad (gotta look good for the pictures), and skipped through the finish line! While I heard Mike Reilly say my name, I am once again disappointed to report I didn't hear him say "You are an Ironman."

Total Time (14:45:48, predicted for Mary 14:45. BAM!)

I crossed the finish line, collected my finishers gear, and sat down to collect myself. I made a new best friend I will never see again (Marvin from Team in Training in LA), was able to congratulate Dexter/Addie/Allison, found the poutine truck, took a post race photo, and went to find my parents. It had been a long day for my parents and I was really cold, so while I wanted to stay to see the rest of the team finish, I agreed to head back to the hotel.

On Monday, we woke up to the best weather of the entire trip, ate a delicious breakfast at the B&B while chatting with Andreas and his family, and went to the village to check out the finisher's gear. Despite protests from me and my dad, my mom insisted we spend our afternoon on a canoe as a great "family bonding experience." I got to sit in the middle of the canoe enjoying the scenery/reading my book while my parents argued over how to canoe, and I find it hilarious to report I think I am the only one who actually enjoyed the experience. (Thanks Mom! I can't wait to still be bringing this up in 10 years.) Afterwards, we headed to Catherine's Crepes for our final dinner and my post race dessert - Nutella/Banana Crepe!

Not sure about the cheese curds, but the combination of fries/gravy hit the spot!

I really need Andreas to make me this breakfast every morning

Overall, I am so overjoyed with how this race went. It is so validating to see the hard work I have put into training/eating right in the last 2 years since Ironman Wisconsin pay off. More than the time savings, I am even more thrilled with the mental growth/strength I showed in how I handled the training and the race day itself. The Ironman training is not easy - there are so many early mornings and late nights, many turned down social invitations, and at least at one point many tears shed. Crossing the finish line a stronger person makes it worth it.