Ironman Mont Tremblant...Part Duh - After Thoughts

As I crossed the finish line, I was bitterly disappointed.  Goal number one was to beat 2012's time of 12:57:15 and goal number two was to beat my brother's IMLP time of 12:51 (yea I know, it a different course).   Paul S later texted to say that both he and Cathy watched me cross the finish line on Ironman Live and I should smile.  I couldn't.  I was too pissed.  I just wanted to finish.

I had no desire to hang around the finishing area.  I headed back to the hotel with the family and cleaned up while they passed out from the day's event.  I toyed with the idea of going to the finish line party but couldn't find my pants and only did a cursory look around the room.  I could clearly hear the music and Mike Rielly and at midnight, I could hear the fireworks.  By 12:15 am, I shut off the lights and went to bed.

Well how bad was this race?

                              2012                                                     2014

Swim              1:16:23 (197/320)                            1:14:32 (102/307)
T1                   11:51                                                9:24
Bike                6:19:43* (234/320)                          6:35:14* (170/307)
T2                   4:50                                                  3:50                                    
Run                 5:04:28 (209/320)                            5:09:29 (189/307)

Total               12:57:15 (209/320)                          13:12:29 (189/307)

* four minute penalty

I think the weather did play a big role.  It was much cooler and windier than 2012.  Coming down the hill on Highway 117, in 2012 I hit 75 km/hr.  This year I hit 66 km/hr on the first loop and 56 km/hr on the second loop.  The headwind played a big role in why I was so tired after the second loop on the bike.  One thing I've learned is that it takes a lot of things to be right, to have a successful race.

So what's next?  Well I signed up for Lakeside Olympic for September and decided to run the Scotia Marathon in October for redemption.

Next year, I'll do another Ironman as I move to a new group but everyone I train with is done with Ironman.  Might be a bit lonely training by myself.   I haven't decided what race to do but have booked a room at Deerhurst for Ironman Muskoka.  Ironman Canada looks interesting but a tough course.  Tammy's niece is supposed to be getting married next year one week after IMC in Saskatoon so I could race IMC and then drive to Saskatoon or we can reload for Mont Tremblant but it will be sell out very soon.

Time will tell.  I'm not done just yet

Ironman Mont Tremblant....Part Duh - The Run

Its All About The Bike....Until You Get To The Run

Transition Two (3:50) - 2012 (4:50)

Coming off the bike, I was totally bagged.  The last climb up to Lake Superior had left me exhausted.  I still had one full bottle of nutrition but my stomach was bloated.  After giving my bike to a volunteer, I ran into the tent and grabbed my bag.  I dumped everything on the ground, put on my race belt, water belt and shoes and ran out of record time.  This was going to hurt.  I felt terrible.  How in the world was I going to run 42 km?

The Run (5:09:30 - Goal 4:30)

As I ran out of the tent, I had to loosen my water belt as it was too tight.  There was no way I could run 42 km.  There is a short nasty hill about 300 meters from the village and I started walking up the hill.  Most of the people ran past me but I didn't care.  At the top, I saw Nigel and Fiona (NRG) and they yelled encouragement.  I weakly smiled and said "this was going to hurt."  They laughed and yelled keep going.  Keep going?  I'm not even at the one kilometer mark.  I started running but by the second kilometer I was walking and that's how the first six kilometers went.  Lots of walking followed by short spurts of running.  I kept gobbling down the salt tablets and started drinking coke at the aid stations.  In hindsight, the coke wasn't flat and it didn't help my bloated stomach.  The plan was to walk the aid stations and hills and run in between.  The aid stations are 1.6 km apart.  How hard could it be to run 1.6 km without stopping?   Very hard.

Somewhere in the first five km I noticed I was still wearing my bike shorts.  I guess that explains how I shaved one minute off my T2 time.  It was tight against my legs and my arm was rubbing against my tri top and was raw.  Odd, I've worn this top several times.  Good thing I put body guild in my run special needs.  Too bad it was about two hours away.  I stumbled my way to the trail and saw Peter A run by.  He was running good.  I wondered where his buddy Adam was.  It would be interesting to know how Adam would do as he just did an Ultra 100 miler a couple of weeks ago and had done no swimming and very little biking. Peter said his long run was only 15 km due to foot injury. Yeah both will smoke me.

My brand new Garmin was buzzing every 10 minutes.  Some how intervals were set on the watch for the bike and run to buzz every 10 minutes (I don't remember setting them).  It was annoying as it reset my pace time for each interval.  I was wearing my Polar watch as well but couldn't be bothered to turn on my foot pod so I just kept hitting the interval button every time I passed a two kilometer marker.  Oddly enough, looking at my splits, the first 10 km I was ALMOST running around the pace I wanted to run at (6:48 vs 6:24 min/km).  This part was through the old village of Mont Tremblant and has several rolling hills.  As I walked all the hills, my pace dropped to a foot dragging 7:58 min/km.  Ugh.  Has the death march started?

I saw Rom and he looked like he was running good.  I was coming back from the turn around on the trail and he was heading in.  I don't think he was going to catch me as he started three minutes earlier on the swim.  After what seemed like running for a life time, I made it to special needs just before entering the pedestrian village.  I looked for my body guild but there was none.  I could have sworn I put one in my bag.  I borrowed one from the girl sitting beside me but didn't want to rub it under my arm as she said it was brand new.   I wiped some on my finger and then wiped it under my arm.  Hopefully that would do the trick but as so as I started running I could feel it rub.  I finally ran into the pedestrian village to the cheering crowds.  Run left to the finish line.  Run right to start the second loop.  I ran right.  I saw Tammy and the kids cheering.  It was the first time I saw them since the run to T1 even though I was wearing a tracker so they wouldn't have to stand outside for hours wondering when I'd stagger by them.  In 2012, I wore the same tracker and they saw me several times on the bike as I rode by the village.  This year, nada.  I gave them a quick hug and told Tammy I was really fucked up.  She yelled keep going.  Apparently Jake (7 years old), repeated what I said to everyone.

The first loop was about 2.5 hours.  There was no way I was running the second loop in two hours to hit my goal time.  It was all about surviving.  Nigel was still on the hill yelling encouragement.  I saw Jason motor by.  He was running fast and I saw Peter and Adam walking in the Old Village.  I yelled I was hurting and they said they were too (they were almost finished).  At an aid station I asked if they Vaseline or body guide.  They said they had Vaseline so I scoped a handful and wiped it under my arm.  Ahh relief.  I saw Lindsay on my way in to the trail as she was coming out.  I yelled at her and she just grunted.  I could have sworn my running was picking up looking at at my splits, it was just as slow as the first loop.  I stopped at one aid station and they asked if I wanted chicken broth.  "Fuck yeah" I replied and everyone laughed.

I had my Garmin set to display total race time and kept trying to figure out if I was going to beat 2012's time of 12:57.  I told my coach I would be severely disappointed if I did not.  Running by each kilometer marker I looked at my watch and tried to do the math in my head.  As I ran to the turn around point on the trail, I would look to the marker on the other side.  If I saw the other side was 28 km, I'd tried to figure out how far it was to the turnaround and then how long it would take to run to the marker and then how long to go from 28 km to the finish line.  Anything to pass the time.

Coming back from the turnaround I kept telling myself wait until you get to the 32 km marker.  Then you know you can walk to the finish.  I hit the 32 km marker and thought keep running until you get to the 36 km marker then you can walk.  This went on for the rest of the way.  Near the end of the trail, I saw Rom heading onto the trail.  He looked like he was slowing down.  I also saw Toraj who is a pretty good runner.  He'll catch Rom.  Heading through the Old Village of Tremblant, I passed an older guy about mid 60s with a white beard.  I wasn't sure which way he was going but he could barely stand.  He was staggering all over the road and a lady (a local) was trying to help him.  I ran by two cops and asked them to call medic.  Running by the swim start, I saw a golf cart medic go tearing by me.  By the time I got to the second last aid station just outside the village, you could hear the music and Mike Rielly.  The crowds were bigger and cheering as I stumbled towards the village.  I had to walk that nasty hill before the special needs while everyone was telling me to run (easy for you to say).  Running through special needs I picked up speed and started high fiving kids.  Entering the pedestrian village someone asked me if I was on lap one or two.  TWO!!  Thank God.  I saw Tammy and kids before running down the LEFT side of the chute to the finish line.  I vaguely heard Mike Rielly call me an Ironman.  13:12:29.  189/302.  Almost exactly 15 minutes slower than 2012.  I was massively disappointed.

In the finishing area, Derek D came up to me.  I've talked and emailed Derek several times but never met him.  A couple of times I came up to Ottawa we never could meet.  How great that we finally meet at the finish line?  After we talked, I tried to get something to eat but my stomach started to rumble and the kids were waiting.  Vanessa started to cry when she saw me (I must have looked pretty scary) so I gave her my medal.  I had to go to the bathroom really urgently so I went and then grabbed a plate of food then shuffled off back to the hotel for a shower.

Ironman Mont Tremblant...Part Duh - The Bike

Bike (6:35:15 including a 4 minute “phantom” penalty / Goal 6:10)

“It’s all about the bike”

Prior to leaving for Mont Tremblant, I had a conversation with my coach.  I expressed concerns about my biking.  During the winter, many of the bike workouts were zone two with not many tough intervals.  My previous coach had integrated several tough teeth gritting intervals that left me almost puking.  None of that this year and I think that had an impact on the summer riding.   I was unable to keep up with the group on most rides and looking at the power files, I seemed to be riding 1-2 km/hr slower than the last year.  At IMMT 2012 my bike time was 6:19 (including a 4 minute penalty).  Coach said he thought I could ride 6:10.  I thought a 6:30 bike split would be more accurate.

Leaving the resort, the roads are narrow and lots of people are cranking it up on the bike.  I unscrewed my Garmin and put it the correct way and then noticed it was asking if I wanted to calibrate.  I pushed yes and it said “Garmin Calibrated” but I didn’t know how to switch screens to race mode.  I fiddled with in for about 10 km until I got to the highway before I figured it out.  What was the saying about “not buying new things before your race?”   

The temperature was quite cool, overcast and a slight breeze.  I had debated about arm warmers (socks with the end cut off) or a riding jacket.  I opted for neither and it was chilly on the bike.  According to my Garmin, it was only 12 degrees.  I was hoping for the sun to come out and warm up a little bit.  The headwind wasn’t bad but was noticeable.  I was riding alongside a girl wearing a Boston Tri Club kit (there were quite a few of them) and she was fiddling around with a Cliff Bar.  I mentioned a massive downhill was coming up and it might not be a good idea to be eating while going down that hill.  In 2013 I hit 72.2 km/hr going down and in 2012 75.6 km/hr.  I was a disappointed as with the headwind I only hit around 66 km/hr.  

The first loop was unremarkable other than the fact that it was overcast and chilly.  I regretted not having worn my riding jacket and my toes were cold.  I didn't see any large draft packs and after the turn around rode back to Montee Ryan and St Jovite.  This part of Highway 117 is narrow as its open to oncoming traffic.  Riding through the town of St Jovite was nice but once again, the crowds were not packed like in previous years.  Thankfully they took out the stupid climb at the end of St Jovite Street. 

The climb to back up Montee Ryan was slow going.  All the riders were bunching up as it was a grind.  I could hear a motorcycle sitting about 10 meters behind me.  It was too dangerous to look back.  I thought it was odd that he'd be sitting there for so long (maybe five minutes).  I looked up and saw that the girl in front of me was about 10 feet.  Sort of outside the draft zone.  The motorcycle pulled up beside me and the marshal said something to me gesturing with a red card in hand.  I couldn't hear what he was saying and he zoomed off.  Did I get a drafting penalty?  Crap I wasn't sure.  If you get a penalty and you don't serve it, that is a DQ.  The penalty tent is at the bottom of the climb to Lake Superior.

The grind up the hill to Lake Superior continued.  Every time I saw it spike above 250 watts, I geared down and spun my way up the hills.  Even though it wasn't hot, I kept maintaining the salt pills every 30 minutes and took in a gel every 30 minutes on top of a bottle of Infinite every hour.  But by the third hour, I was falling behind on drinking my calories.  

The descent down Lake Superior is fast and smooth even though there are two hill climbs on the way down.  Checking my Garmin, I hit 72 km/hr which is a little scary as the road is narrow, twisty and turning but nothing sharp enough to force you to hit the brakes.  This part of the course is cutting though the forest so if you run off the road you'll be hitting a tree, rock or off the side of the cliff.  Returning back down, I stopped at the penalty tent to plead my case.  The lady was unsympathetic as neither one of us knew for sure whether or not I got a penalty.  I sat there for the required four minutes and ate a cliff bar with another rider.  I didn't see anyone from the Markham Tri Club until Hong blew by me.  I considered for a brief second of catching him but he’s way too fast.  Roger also passed me a couple of minutes later.  I rolled into special needs to exchange my bottles, pick up more gels and salt pills.  I glanced at my Garmin and I was about 3:10ish for the first loop. Not bad. I could live with that. 

Zipping down Montee Ryan again for the second loop, I turned onto Highway 177 when Lindsay rode by.  I asked where Rom was and she said he’s behind her.  I thought for sure Rom would have passed me by now.  I actually began to wonder if something happened to him in the swim like Lisa last year during MT 70.3.  I yelled “I’m going to catch you” as Lindsay pulled away.  This section of the highway is moderately hilly and I am a terrible hill climber.  At the first aid station, I decided to stop and take a leak.  Just as I headed into the porta potty, Lindsay came out.  Ah, "now’s my chance" I yelled at her.  I never saw her again until the turn around about 20 km away.  

Heading to the turnaround point on the highway was not fun as the winds had picked up considerably.  From Montee Ryan to the turnaround, it was about 23 km straight into the wind.  Going down the big hill on the highway, I only got up to about 56 km/hr.  At several points along the way, I was riding in the small chain ring in order to keep the watts down and cadence up.  Finally I reached the turn around and zipped back down the highway with a nice tailwind but the damage was done as I felt tired.

Riding down one hill, I passed a rider standing one his pedals.  That was odd, I thought until I noticed a stream of liquid coming out of his shorts.  "Well done," I said as I passed him and he smiled.  Note:  In case some readers can't figure out the significance, the athlete was peeing while riding so he wouldn't waste time stopping at the porta potty like me.  Its not as easy as it sounds.

As I headed back down the highway towards the town of St Jovite, I noticed a large rider.  He was about 220 pounds and a pretty good rider.  I was unable to out ride him as we rode through the town together.  It was only by the time we started climbing back up to Lake Superior that I was able to leave him.  By now the sun had come out and it was getting much warmer.  The second climb up Lake Superior was brutal.  My breathing was much more labored and at one point I had to pull over to catch my breath.  The marathon was going to be a death march.  I had burned way too much energy on the bike and was unable to drink enough calories.  I had almost one full bottle of nutrition left meaning I was short over 350 calories.

Still no sign of Rom but someone did yell at me on the way down Lake Superior

Ironman Mont Tremblant...Part Duh - The Swim

The Swim (1:14:32 / Goal 1:10)

Prior to coming to Mont Tremblant, I had bet Doru that I could beat him…again.  In 2012 I beat him by about three minutes and so we bet for 2013’s 70.3.  He totally crushed me and so this year would be a “double or nothing” bet but I needed a handicap as he is several years younger than me and a very strong runner.  In fact, he qualified for the Boston marathon earlier this year.  After much bantering back in forth we agreed on a 75 minute handicap.  He was planning to go about 11:30 and I figured I could go about 12:30 based on my training.  I felt fairly fast in my new wetsuit and if I could bike a 6:15, that would set me up for a 4:30 marathon.  That meant running a 6:24 min/km pace.  Piece of cake based on my “new and improved” running.  I could easily run a 5:30 min/km during my “slow runs,” so I should easily be able to run a 6:24 min/km pace for the marathon with lots of room for error.  Famous last words…………..

It’s about a 20 minute walk to the swim start and after doing this race twice (Ironman and 70.3), it’s really not fair for the family to join me for the start.  Its early in the morning (I was in the 6:51 am wave start), the kids aren't walking as fast as I am (they’re wandering around) and once you get to the beach, you can’t get close to the water as it’s so packed with athletes and spectators.  It would be much better for them to wait as we ran by to transition near the hotel.  Once I got to the beach, I saw Lindsay who looked like she was going to be sick (she was) so I made my way to the water for a warm up swim.  I saw Rom and we watched the male Pros start at 6:30 am followed by the female Pros at 6:40 am.  They had a flying drone that hovered about 15 feet above the water and followed the swimmers for a couple of hundred meters.  I assume they were filming and that would be a very cool angle.

The next thing I knew, the Age Groupers were lining up on the beach.  Rom was in the wave before me and had a three minute head start.  The water was cooler than 2012 but was ok.  My wave was massive with over 350 athletes.  With the waves only three minutes apart, we could see the faster swimmers overtaking the slower swimmers from the previous wave in a matter of a couple of hundred meters.  I guess it’s less congested than the mass start of 2,300 all at the same time but the faster swimmers will always be running into the slower swimmers.  In fact, about 300 meters out, I ran into a guy swimming backstroke.  Not sure if he was planning to swim the entire 3.8 km on his back but I wondered how he was able to swim straight.  I didn't see a lot of people doing breast stroke either. 

I didn't really think about any swimming strategy but as we stood on the beach, you could see the bulk of the people were to the left of the buoy line.  The swim course was a rectangle shape with 1.7 km straight out and a right hand turn for 300 meters and then 1.8 km swim back to shore.  I started swimming to the right of the buoy where there were less swimmers but as we got out near the turn buoy I cut across the buoy line and ended up too far left of the line.  I probably swam an extra 300 meters zig zagging across the line.   On the home stretch, someone swam in front of me and I immediately arched up and brought my legs back.  I got a nasty cramp in my calf.  I couldn't do anything but tread water for a couple of minutes.  A couple of people swam around me but the cramp went away when I started to swim again.  I finally made it to shore and glanced at my watch.  It read 1:13.  I was ok but was really hoping for 1:10.  Perhaps some “tune up races” would have helped my swim strategy.  I wasn't sure where the timing mat was as I made my way to the wetsuit strippers.  I undid my Garmin as it was too big for the wetsuit sleeve to get over.  It was pretty crowded but I found two ladies to help me.  I already undone the top of the wetsuit and I sat down while they ripped off the lower half.  I went to get up when I had a searing and painful cramp in my calf and quad muscle.  I couldn't move for about 20 seconds and someone stepped on me.  The ladies helped me up and I hobbled my way to transition.  I made a mental note to start taking salt pills right away.  Now how many salt pills did I pack in each film canister? 

Transition (9:24) - 2012 (11:51)

The run to transition is about 400 meters on a road.  In 2012 they literally had a nice red carpet the entire way.  For 70.3 in 2013 they had about half of the run with the red carpet.  Running barefoot on the road hurt.  This year, they had about 200 meters of carpet right before the tent.  I saw Tammy and the kids on the way.  I noticed the crowds lining the route were not as big as 2012.  I grabbed my transition bag and ran to find a spot to change.  It was chaos in the tent but not as bad as previous years.  I guess the wave starts on the swim helped spread the athletes out more.  I was really hoping for a quicker transition than 2012, which I took forever.  I stuffed everything I didn't need back into my bag including my wetsuit.  A volunteer grabbed my bag and wetsuit and said he would take care of it for me.  I headed out of the tent to find my bike.  I undid my Garmin from my wrist and put it on the bike…upside down.  I didn't notice until after I started riding.  

Ironman Mont Tremblant....Part Duh

Here we go but not off to a good start.  I went to sleep around 9:00 pm but was wide awake by 11:30 pm.  Its now 2:12 am and I'm tired.  The alarm is set to go off in about two hours.  Wonderful.  Its going to be a long day.

All day long Saturday, it rained off and on.  After taking the kids to the indoor swimming pool, I came back to the hotel to get my transition bags ready.  After much panicking I think I had everything sorted out except I couldn't find my run hat.  I could have sworn I packed it.  I guess I'll have to wear my Around The Bay 120th Anniversary hat.  I really like it and never wear it running.  I refuse to wear any Ironman Mont Tremblant gear for the race....bad luck.  After dropping my bike off in transition, I took my bike and run bags into the tent for the race

Bike Bags

Run Bags

After I dropped off my bags, I went to the expo show to buy a new run hat.  I found a cheap plain one ($20 cash) and went back into the tents to swap my Around The Bay hat.  After I got back to the hotel, I found my run hat underneath the coffee table.

The plan is to "wake up" at 4:15 am, drink one bottle of Boost Plus Calories (350 calories) and then eat a bagel with Soy Butter (fake peanut butter because Jake is allergies to nuts) and then an hour later, drink another bottle of Boost.  That should get me about 1,000 calories.   Then I'll hang out in the bathroom for a while as I am lactose intolerant.  I can handle some milk but not a lot.

Transition opens at 5:00 am and I'll go down to pump up my tires and drop my water bottles off.  Last year I forgot my bottles and ran back to the hotel.  It wasn't far away but not smart.  I also hope to get access to the bike and run bags as I want to add a water bottle to the run bag and take out the GPS tracker in my bike bag.  I'll leave it by my bike and this will allow Tammy to track me as I flounder on the course for many hours.

Its now 2:40 am and I can hear the drunks staggering home from the bars.  One disadvantage to staying in a tourist resort is that not everyone goes to be at 9:00 pm on a Saturday night.

The weather is almost identical to 2012.  Lots of rain the days before but clear the day of the race.  Lets hope it doesn't rain while I'm on the bike.  That would just suck

That's all I got for now.  Race Report is next

Do You See My Bike?

The Prize

PS:  I haven't had a beer in almost three weeks

PPS: I have a bet with Doru.  I beat him by three minutes at Ironman in 2012 and he clobbered me last year at MT 70.3.  This year, he's given me an hour and 15 minute head start as he qualified for the Boston Marathon earlier this year.  He plans to go 11:30.  This should be interesting.....

Getting Here.....Ironman Mont Tremblant

I originally wanted to leave the house by 6:00 am Thursday but as usual we didn't get going until just after 7:00 am and after grabbing breakfast at McDonalds, we officially hit the road at 7:30 am.  It should be a six hour drive to Mont Tremblant but driving with kids, it’s always a guessing game as to how long it takes to get there.  And sure enough, our first stop was at Port Hope, one hour later.  The second stop was another hour later and the third stop was in Kingston.  Etc, etc, etc….

The drive to Quebec was uneventful until we got to Hwy 117 about 70 minutes outside of Mont Tremblant.  Traffic was fairly light and the roads were a little wet from the rain.  The highway wound through the Quebec countryside and is quite nice except when a large tractor trailer decided to have some fun with the out-of-province-foreigners (us).  The speed limit was 90 km/hr. and I was driving about 100 km/hr.  There were enough turns and double line no passing zones which made for slower driving.  At first, the trucker would catch up and sit about three meters behind us so I would speed up and put some distance between us.  The truck would speed up as well until he was three meters behind us.  This went on for about 30 minutes.  Tammy and the kids were freaking out.  There weren't a lot of places where I could slow down and pull over.  It seemed like a Stephen King movie.  Finally we came to a small town where traffic was a little heavier.  A car in front of me slowed down to turn into a parking lot so I followed and the truck drove by us.  Totally weird.  When I was younger, I would have probably reacted differently.

We arrived in Mont Tremblant only 9 hours later.  I've driven in 6 hours by myself.  I can’t figure out why there’s such a difference.  We checked into the hotel right in the pedestrian village which is all of 200 meters away from transition.  We stayed here in 2012 and its super convenient but stayed in the Marriott last year.  Tammy wanted to stay there again but this place was cheaper (l should have listened) and Rom was staying here as well.   Actually Rom had beaten us here by over an hour but their room wasn't ready and wondered around.  On Thursday, Ironman registration ended at 4 pm and I had missed it.  That meant a huge line up on Friday.  Fortunately, from our room I can see the registration line up so I can pop over when it’s not busy.

Later Thursday night we met up with some of the people from the Markham Tri Club.  It’s definitely much more fun when you’re at the Ironman with a bunch of people.

Lindsay mentioned at registration, they wanted to know your OHIP (health card) information.  Odd, I did this in 2012 and the half in 2013 and they've never asked that information.  I didn't think much of it until Friday morning when I got a call from my sports doctor’s office.  I didn't answer but they left a voice message.  They reminded me that my last visit several months ago, wasn't covered as my health card expired and they would be sending me a bill.  I looked at my heath card and sure enough.  It expired in March.  Doh

The weather forecast for the entire weekend was very similar to 2012.  Cool and rainy.  This leads too much anguishing about how to dress for this race.  At one point, the weather app said the low would be two degrees Sunday night.  I would hate to be walking the marathon at that temperature wearing a tri top.

Friday morning, Rom and I went for a quick swim and bike.  The water temperature was cool but nice.  I ran into Paula N who is racing as well.  She recently got into Kona (via 12 Ironman races) and was racing Ironman’s when my brothers did them more than 10 years ago.  After the swim, we went back to the hotel and went for a quick bike ride.  We rode part of the run course but turned around when it started to rain.  I had no desire to ride in the rain risking a crash.

Later that afternoon, they had the Iron Kids One and Five km runs.  My kids did the one km run with Jake coming ahead of Rebecca and Vanessa.  There were a couple of hundred kids running and it was quite impressive.

Almost race ready……………

By The Numbers IMMT

From January 1st to Aug 14th

                       2014                                                                2012

Swim             150 km  (62:15 hours)                              44.2 km* (59:56 hours)

Bike               4,115 km (150:01 hours)                         3,897 km** (173:33 hours)

Run                767 km (76:03 hours)                              504 km (62:26 hours)

Strength          26:44 hours                                             15:23 hours

Total              5,032 km (315 hours)                               4,445 km (311:30 hours)

                                                                                      *Did not track distance from Jan-June
                                                                                    ** Mileage wasn't tracking properly                                                                                                                indoors

I could have sworn I trained less this year than 2012.  I don't feel as tired as I did in 2012

Are we ready?

The Triathlon Song

The Triathlon Song starring Bryan Payne who just completed his 12th (and last?) Ironman



I haven't had a beer in almost two weeks.  Man, I can really go for a cold one.  I picked up a new Garmin 910xt.  It should take me 3-4 months to figure out how to use it.  Nothing like buying something new for your "A" race.

The taper continues but at least I'm not eating everything in sight.  I've actually lost a couple of pounds but not near my goal race weight of 175 pounds.  At IMMT 2012 I was just over 170 pounds.  I'll pay for those extra pounds on the climbs

I still haven't registered for IM Muskoka even though registration opened yesterday.  I only know one guy (Scobie).  NO ONE wants to do this race.  I really don't think it will be as bad as every one thinks.

Seen At IM Boulder Today

Catching Up

I can't believe how fast this summer has gone by as IMMT is now just around the corner and taper time is here.  Last Wednesday I took half the day off to squeeze in a four bike and 30 minute run as I wasn't around for the weekend. I left the house at 6:15 am and headed out by myself to Zephyr.  Riding north on York/Durham wasn't all that fun as most of the traffic was heading south into the city but whenever a northbound car approached they had to slow down as they had limited opportunity to move over the yellow line to pass me.  Thankfully no one tried to "squeeze" by.  I rode over to Concession 4 and got as far as Davis Drive where they were repaving the road.  I had to ride on west on Davis Drive to Concession 3 but traffic was very light.  Looking to the north, dark storm clouds were forming over Lake Simcoe and I had no desire to get caught in a rainstorm.  I hit the store (the only) in Zephyr were I saw two tri guys out for an early ride.  Otherwise I didn't see any other riders.  I climbed the hill going back to Concession 4 just to get some additional mileage in but I wondered if I was going to get caught in the rain.  Once at the top of the hill, I turned around and bombed down the hill and headed back on Concession 3.  Heading north there was a brutal headwind but now I had a nice tailwind.  Just before the big hill on Concession 3 south of Ainsworth Road, there is a campground that I discovered had a water fountain where I can reload my water bottles.  I felt a couple of rain drops as I headed out of the park.  With the tailwind I managed to shave off 15 minutes.  Too bad I can't always ride at that speed.  I also managed to out run the storm.  I got home and did a quick 5 km brick run and then headed into work, only to find out my afternoon meeting was cancelled.

Thursday morning we were heading out to lovely, sunny, tropical Saskatoon for my brother-in-law's wedding.  We were flying out at 10 am so Tammy didn't want me to go swimming at 6 am so I opted for a short run.  I left the house just after 6:15 am and got back 35 minutes later to find Tammy and the kids waiting impatiently by the door with all the suitcases.  Doh!  "Go take a shower" everyone yelled, "we're going to be late!!"   Ahh the flight is at 10 am and we live about 40 minutes away from the airport.......  Needless to say, we made it through check in with only 70 minutes to spare.

Coach had factored in my trip to my workout schedule but I opted to make some changes.  For example, he scheduled a long run (28 km) the day after the wedding.  Hmmmm, that might be a challenge.  The weather was also chilly and rainy for the next couple of days so I ran Friday morning while everyone was still asleep.  Saskatoon is two hours behind Toronto time so while I was used to waking up around 4:30 am, in Saskatoon that would be around 2:30 am.  I didn't quite wake up that early but it was still early enough.  Interesting, Saskatoon is much further north than Toronto so that means sunrise is around 5:00 am while back home, it would be just after 6:00 am.  Totally awesome in the summer time but it must suck in the winter (short daylight).

Mapping out a route was challenging as my brother-in-law moved to a new subdivision and the streets had very similar sounding names:  Briarhurst, Briarvale, Briardale  etc.  Really??  They couldn't think of different names?  I ran out of the subdivision and down Taylor Street which would take me straight to the Saskatchewan River.  I've run along the river before and there are some nice trails.  It should be about 12 km to the river and the street was a secondary road so hopefully it wouldn't be too busy.  Also, if I timed it right, I'd miss rush hour as I figured to be running back home around 9 am.  I mean seriously, how long could rush hour last in Saskatoon in the middle of summer?  I found Taylor Street easy enough and ran for about 13 minutes when the street abruptly ended in a new subdivision under construction.  Doh!  I ran the wrong way.  I ran back past where I started and headed towards downtown and the river.  Pretty uneventful run.  The roads were nice and wide but not in great shape to ride a bike.  It was pretty quiet out as I passed only four runners and one cyclist.  I guess everyone sleeps late in Saskatoon.  I made it down to the river and followed a nice trail along the fast moving water.  I ran to a new road bridge which had a pedestrian crossing underneath, so I ran across to the other side.  Kind of cool but the crossing was made of solid concrete and I could feel it on my feet.  I made it home after 2:45 run but not before getting lost coming into the subdivision.  What street did he live on?  Briarhill, Briarvale......

The next morning was wedding day and I decided to go for a 6:00 am swim.  I headed over to the Shaw Center (I guess sponsored by Shaw Communications).  It is a massive complex with basically three pools.  A play area and water slide for kids, a regular 25 meter pool and a beautiful 50 meter 10 lane pool with dive towers.  Its staggering to think how much water is in that pool.  The water was crystal clear and cool.  Perfect for lane swimming.  In the middle lanes, there was a swim club so I opted to take the lane against the wall.  During my swim, I could see people standing on the deck near the lane where I was swimming.  No one said anything to me so I kept swimming.  After I finished, I noticed a bunch of backpacks with bike helmets on the the deck.  I can only assume I took some tri-club's lane and they went to the other side of the pool.  I assume this pool will be similar to the new Pan-Am Games pool that is being built 15 minutes away from my home.  Sweet!  Other than that, the swim was ho-hum.  I'm really glad Tammy got me a Finis ipod so I can listen to music while I swim.  These 3,800 meter swims are getting boring.

On another note, I took my bike into the LBS near work.  I needed a race tuneup badly as my gears were slipping.  They checked their computer for the last time I changed my chain and cassette and it was August 2012.  Right before IMMT.  Time for a new one.  Afterwards, I started having issues with my Power Tap.  When I started riding, it would show really low watts like 30 watts, 50 watts, 17 watts.  Then about 20 minutes later it would reading normally.  I'm toying with the idea of getting a new wireless Power Tap but that would cost $850 and I'd need a Garmin to read the data seeing that I use Polar and the Little Yellow Computer only works for wired harness.  So I'd be looking around $1,400 or I can get a new set of wheels and a wireless Power Tap for $1,100 but I'd still need a new Garmin.
Agghhh what to do?

Taper makes me feel like this..........



But at least I can run faster than this guy......






That's all I got..........