Completed my first Ironman last week end!

Inspired by a colleague of mine who wrote a very interesting race report after his Lake Placid Ironman, I decided to give it a try and write one on the recently completed Ironman Tremblant on August 18th. It was my first one, after doing 3x the 70.3 distance since 2011, a few marathons and many half marathons (semi serious running started in 2008). The goal 5 months ago was established at 11:30, the serious training started in January (about 9 hours a week since January 1st, 2013, on average) and kept going until last week. I'm a 29 yo dude, 5'11 and about 147-148 lbs race weight.

 

I would like first and foremost to thank my family and friends for their help and support, my amazing gf for her patience and tolerance and my coach, Gilbert, for all the advice and help throughout the process. Also, the Tremblant Ironman organization was FLAWLESS. I can’t even begin to describe how well this event is run…just flawless. EVERYTHING is flawless…best volunteers I’ve EVER come across, anywhere, in any race. Expensive…but you get what you pay for.

 

Tremblant 2013…Ironman was the goal for 2013, and it was accomplished. The day was beautiful, big sunshine, almost no clouds, cool in the morning but quite warm in the afternoon, with winds that were only a factor in the second lap of the bike. Here is the breakdown of how the race went.

 

Swim (3.8km):

 

The lake was at a pretty good temperature, I would estimate about 70 or so degrees F, relatively flat, not much wind to speak of. Our AG was 198 people, so really not that bad. Somehow, the decent size of the pack was compensated with the violence of the members. It was rather extreme…got kicked in the left eye real good which caused a small leak inside my goggles (not good). Historically, those goggles are fantastic…but as soon as there come off my eye and my face or the goggles are a bit wet, they have issues gaining back the suction. I found a small moment to readjust them and everything turned out to be fine. About 1200 meters in, the sun started coming up over the mountains to my right, and being a right-side breather only, I had the sun in my eyes for a while…as soon as we turnaround, it was no biggie. 2/3rds of the swim in, on the back stretch, I decided to get a glimpse of how much time I was down to and how much distance I had done. So I peaked at my wrist…only to find out my watch was GONE!!!! Bad situation. It probably got blown off the quick release by the scraps at the beginning with other swimmers. Great. First Ironman, completely blind. This was not the scenario I was expecting. 2-3 minutes of frustration later, I just got comfortable with the fact that I have quite a lot of training experience, race experience and I’ll just go with perceived effort (PE) and will probably be able to gauge the right speeds to get to my 11:30 goal. Swim time: 1:07, bang in line with my 1:05 to 1:10 target, and pretty good placement: 50 in my AG (on 198), 408 overall (on 2200 finishers).

 

T1: took a few minutes for first of many nature’s call of the day…transition was a bit slow…there was no point in rushing like crazy and the floor was very slippery with those bike shoes. There is a 400m run between water and transition time, fyi. 9:18 total.

 

Bike (180 km):

 

My nemesis. I’m an OK biker at best…I just don’t have the power of a lot of fellow athletes that I train with and race against. Slap on top of that, I’m probably the only person that finished in the top 1500th places without a tri-bike/aero bars (my carbon fiber flat steering does not allow it on my Cervélo R3), so I was in for a tough one, no doubt. Oh, something about the fact I had no idea what speed, cadence, heart rate (HR), distance and time I was doing, and you can see the difficulties ahead. Moving on…I was asking fellow competitors about how much time we were on the bike for to get an idea of my approximate time. About 70km deep into lap one…my chain almost dropped. I managed to avoid that, but somehow it bent my front derailleur…GREAT. Another problem. I was stuck with smaller bracket up front for about 10 minutes until I saw a mechanic from Cycle Technique, Dom, who promptly repaired it on the spot. Overall I must have lost 6-7 minutes…not too bad. Nutrition went OK. I had 2 bottles on the bike of Perpetuem (2 scoops each, with one dose of Vega electrolytes in each bottle…270 calories per bottle). I had 2 more bottles of that mix waiting at the special needs bags. I ate 3 energy bars from Vega (about 170 calories each). I tried eating the 4th one but I did not feel great stomach wise to have the 4th. I drank plenty of water and sprayed a lot of it in the helmet/jersey to keep cool. Temperature was rising nicely and we were getting toasted on the uphills (where are everywhere it seems…). By km 150-160, I was so done with being on my bike…I could not wait to get on with the run. My legs were tired, the wind was pushing us around quite a bit on lap 2, my bum was hurting, lower back too, I was getting passed non-stop…just sick of it, really. Never looked so much forward to a marathon… Stopped twice to pee on the bike. Bike time: 6:09. A bit slower than the 6 hour target, but considering the issues, not bad at all. 98 in my AG (on 198…as you can see, VERY avg biker), 782 overall (on 2200 finishers).

 

T2: pretty straightforward…stopped to pee on the way out of transition. Consumed a gel with water on the way to porta-potty. 4:25.

 

Run (42.2km):

 

Usually my good part…and it was good for a marathon post 180km bike and swim. Once again, no watch, so no idea what the pace was. I had to ask spectators what time of the day it was to gauge what kind of time I had done on the bike…lol…pathetic. Anyhow. As soon as I started running on the way out of transition, I could feel it would be a good run. My legs felt great. I started up the first hill, only to see the GF, father and a few training buddies and Christian (another CT coach) cheering my on. Man did it feel good to see personal supporters there. All the spectators are always very nice, but nothing beats friends/family with a big smile on their face cheering you on. I went for a comfortable pace which I had estimated at around 5min/km (1:46 or so for the first 21km…so bang on target pace…which is quite remarkable when I had NO WATCH, and NO WAY to exactly tell how fast I was going…I guess all those training sessions and listening to the body pay off). I looked very good according to everyone after the first lap turnaround, was feeling pretty good, pace was still quite strong in the beginning of the second lap, although I could feel things were getting a bit harder stomach wise. After seeing more friends and family at the beginning of lap number 2, I had to slow down the pace a bit…at that point, it was a fine line of enough nutrition/water/electrolytes, and not too much effort in order to keep everything in vs coming back up. Not pretty, but a small art in itself. I started allowing myself to walk during the refueling stations in order to ingest/digest a carefully, and to slow down my HR from the (perceived) 150 bpm range into a more digestion-friendly 110 bpm range for a minute or two. The, for the last part of the race, I realized that I could run just a tad slower, and avoid the longer walks, so I adapted my race to that. The last few clicks went fine, no cramps to legs or stomach, but the legs were definitely getting tired. It’s a weird mix of exhaustion, happiness, being hungry yet wanting to throw up a bit, excitement, relief…but certainly nothing beats the emotions of the last km…you know it’s in the bag (don’t sprint…not worth risking it all…), yet, you still have a full KM (5:30 minutes or so) to let it sink in, to smile at all the amazing volunteers and spectators, give high-fives and just enjoy the pain that has been replaced with adrenalin, tears close to coming out and just happiness. The finishing chute at Tremblant is really special, and with all the friends and family there to cheer and give hugs…man…nothing can beat this…not for a while anyways. Fuel during run…no idea. Probably 5-6 Vega gels, plenty of “energy chewy candy”, LOTS of water (drinking and splashing), ice at EVERY stop, down the shirt to keep cool…3h59:42 secs. Sub 4 hours…all I could care about. J Top 20% of the pack.

 

Total time: 11h30:06 seconds. 6 seconds off my goal from 5 months ago…without any kind of watch/time keeper on me. I think a good testament to the preparation that goes into it, listening to the body and good coaching advice.

 

If you have any questions, don’t be shy. And yes, it was all worth it. Now, time to enjoy what remains of the summer...mountain biking is the order of the day. Next year will be filled with Xterras, mountain biking long distance races, and one or two 70.3 races.

LOL! Me neither.. can we have a 2 sentence breakdown? I'm guessing you did some swimming, running and then you were tired?

I guess you missed the part saying "total time" at the end??? 11h30min 6 seconds. Went very well.

I guess you missed the part saying "total time" at the end??? 11h30min 6 seconds. Went very well.

Congrats! I've been working out lately and find that I am nowhere near being able to endure something like that.

Congratulations. That's a pretty amazing accomplishment. On a vacation to Hawaii two years ago we discovered that the swimming portion of an Ironman qualifier was at Hapuna beach, the beach in front of our hotel. I think most of the guests at the hotel were participating. It was pretty funny gettting up and going to the beach the first two days. There were a hundred people running up and down the beach, swimming, and getting ready for the event. Meanwhile my wife and I are the only people lounging around, snorkeling, and ordering food and buckets of beer and frozen drinks. The day of the event we got up early, watched the swimming, saw a lot of the biking, enjoyed the rest of our day, and then went to the finish line and cheered people on. It was pretty inspirational.

 

I got to see first hand how drained some people were. The following day everyone I saw was limping around, and many needed a hand just to walk from one spot to the next. You could tell who competed, they were all sunburnt other than the number on their arm which had been protected by the permanent marker. My wife is working towards trying a mini ironman this coming year. I don't think most people realize the monetary and time commitment these events take. I commend your effort.

Well done man, that is a hell of an accomplishment! I've done a couple 100 mile bike rides and fcuk, that's enough for me.

That is an awesome feat. I'm sure many people don't realize how fcuking hard an ironman is to complete. Very impressive accomplishment and you should be proud of yourself. Congrats.

They invented boats and cars for a reason

 

Congrats though. That is something incredible!

Congrats! Not sure I could do one. A marathon alone freaks me out. Haven't even done a half!! But the swimming and biking I think would be no problem for me. Maybe someday!

Thanks guys. It was one hell of a journey...the training, preparation, race itself....but all very enjoyable. Looking forward to do other ones. Seeing it first hand is quite amazing. As someone mentioned, inspirational is the key word.

 

And I guess my little jump at the end was enough to make the official video cut...I'm at 8:05 with the "Cycle Technique" black shirt and bandana. Bald head makes it necessary.

 

Well done.

That is awesome, congrats on a very impressive time. My buddy from when I was a kid was the number one age grouper in the world. His name is Joe Bonness. Guy is a machine. He did 4-5 of them on back to back weekends. He is a legend. I cannot imagine doing a half ironman, let alone a full.

Right on OC! Great time for your first Ironman! They are addicting and you will learn how to fuel your body better for your next one. A fuel recommendation - always drink and eat during your training what you will eat and drink during your races. During your training your body will know what works and what does not work. Once you find fuel and drink that works then stay with it. I am not sure what my body burns now but when I did Ironmans I knew I would need to take in a minimum of 600 calories an hour to make it thru the race. So after the swim I would not have anything the first 20 minutes on the bike to get my blood flowing to the right muscles. Then every hour I knew exactly what to intake. You will also get used to pissing from the saddle which will save you time. I do not do any cafiene on the bike bc it burns too much sugar and will make you crash on the run (save the cafiene for the last two hours of your run)! On the last 15 miles of the bike I do not drink or eat anything. This helped me transition from bike to run (otherwise I feel bloated when running). After running about 4 miles I will start consuming some fluid, after 7 miles nibble on whatever works for you for food). About two hours left of my run I personally liked using GU packs (the ones with cafiene) - I would do one ever 40 minutes until I was done and fluid and that was it. The big kick of doing Ironmans for me is the extreme adrenaline kick and I am still chasing that today doing stupid shit. Once you get extreme kicks of adrenaline their is no replacing it and your body will always need it (at least for me). The swim - that is pretty normal at every start (getting kicked, etc). You are lucky they broke it down to age group because most of the Ironmans I have done we all are in the water at once and when the horn goes everyone goes. The swim is always my favorite and I actually like the physical contact in the water. Another thing I loved was the people that attended the events/spectators and the motivation from them to push more! You definitely want to qualify for Kona because running down that Alahi (or whatever the drive is called) to the finish is pretty badass (just pop salt tabs on the bike at Kona)! I do miss doing tri's! Definitely do the Escape from Alcatraz tri as well - one of my favorites and every year the weather is diferent in the swim - one year you can't see the golden gate from the mist and the following year the sun is shining off of it - pretty cool to see from the water. Look forward to hearing about more of your tri's you do!

Congrats OC!! What the hell do you think about during the 11 hours of the race?

Congrats! Not sure I could do one. A marathon alone freaks me out. Haven't even done a half!! But the swimming and biking I think would be no problem for me. Maybe someday!

 

The swim and bike would be no problem, except for the part where you swim for an hour straight and then ride your bike for 6 hours following that. Other than that, no problem! Lol

The swim and bike would be no problem, except for the part where you swim for an hour straight and then ride your bike for 6 hours following that. Other than that, no problem! Lol

 

Lol. The swimming thing maybe I shouldn't say no problem but I have ridden 80 miles in a day no problem without any training really. I just hate to run.

Congrats! Nice job! Did my first full distance IM last year (interestingly with a very similar time).

Was a great experience. The training sucked though.

I think I have one more in me, being 47 years old, and plan on doing IM Switzerland next summer. If I can stay healthy.

 

Regards,

Phil

 

Congrats Ironman!

Congrats but unless I would be in fear for my life I can't imagine myself torturing myself in this manner

That's awesome. Read the race report. Crack the wallet and get a full on TT rig!

 

That's awesome. Read the race report. Crack the wallet and get a full on TT rig!

 

Yeah well I'm not Lambo-status level of income, so I already have a tricked out R3 (upgraded LOTS of components on it) and a good full suspension bike, which I'm going to upgrade in the next month or two (buying a Cannondale Trigger 1 29er), so the TT budget will have to wait a bit. One day though, I'll add it to the stable.

 

Charlie, thanks for the recommendations. I've trained with the nutrition I've used, great way to prepare the body for what's coming up for sure. There are tons of very nice 70.3 and IM distances I want to do...but the next target would ideally be the Norseman. :

 

Congrats OC!! What the hell do you think about during the 11 hours of the race?

 

hey buddy! lots of things...but it's now all a blur it seems. Lots of the time it's thinking about strategy, food, calculating ETA, technique, etc. And sometimes, it's completely zoned out for 10-15 minutes at a time (especially on the bike).

 

Congrats! Nice job! Did my first full distance IM last year (interestingly with a very similar time).

Was a great experience. The training sucked though.

I think I have one more in me, being 47 years old, and plan on doing IM Switzerland next summer. If I can stay healthy.

 

Regards,

Phil

 

Good job on the IM. Which one did you do? IM Switzerland looks very nice. There is that Inferno race there which looks pretty amazing too (swim, mountain bike, road bike, run). That's one thing I noticed from 70.3 to IM: the people are much younger in IM distance. I saw a couple of 50+, but almost no 60+, which I saw a lot more in the 70.3 distance. The IM really takes a toll on the racers.

 

That is an awesome feat. I'm sure many people don't realize how fcuking hard an ironman is to complete. Very impressive accomplishment and you should be proud of yourself. Congrats.

 

Thank you very much.

 

That is awesome, congrats on a very impressive time. My buddy from when I was a kid was the number one age grouper in the world. His name is Joe Bonness. Guy is a machine. He did 4-5 of them on back to back weekends. He is a legend. I cannot imagine doing a half ironman, let alone a full.

 

 

Cool I'll look him up online.

 

Thanks for all the kind words guys. I highly recommend it to anyone...start with smaller races, and then build it up. It's all worth it.