IRONMAN Mont Tremblant Race Report - by John Meyerle
Wednesday, September 5, 2012 at 09:25PM Travel:
We arrived in Mont Tremblant from Connecticut on Thursday at around 3:55pm, only 5 minutes for my wife to register for the Merrill 5k run. We would have been there earlier but we got lost after entering the Canadian border. We had printed out the route from Google maps, however the road signs did not appear to match the instructions. We stopped at a gas station and purchased a map, the local people, were very nice and trying to help us but could not speak English and we did not understand French. We were directed to go towards the "tunnel" which we found and eventually became oriented with the map. Lesson learned, 'O' = ' OEST' = 'WEST'.
Race:
My plan was to finish in 10:45. Actual time: 10:10.
Swim: 1:08
Bike: 5:45
Run: 3:45
Transitions: :07
Swim 1:07
It was a wide beach start, however there were boats on the left side that we found out later should not have been there. They caused a funnel effect very early into the swim. It was like a six lane highway merging into two lanes, not a pleasant experience for a lot of people I talked to after the race. I started on the right side, and still experienced a significant amount of contact. It was not as bad as last year at IMLP without the wetsuit but it was close. I had a mostly clean water swim after about a half mile and I was happy walking up the beach right on schedule.
Bike: 5:09
The bike went very well, I felt comfortable and fast. I had a plan to hold specific wattages on the flat and climbing sections and stuck with it. My time for the first loop was 2:35, 17 minutes ahead of schedule, and I was a little worried that I was over-doing it and would pay later on the run. I backed it off a little but then went back to the plan since I was feeling great. My coach Dominic Gillen spent some time with me on my position and apparently it paid off big. The plan was to ride the Duplesis (Hilly) section which comes at the end of the loop out to Lac Superior a little easier the second time to get ready for the run.
Run: 3:45
I was a little concerned at the run start after seeing the 5:09 bike split, but I felt good. I was very cautious in the first few miles and held back the urge to go faster. The plan was to run 8:30-8:45 pace and the miles were ticking off in the low 8's for the first 8 miles. The first loop went great, I saw my wife who made an awesome sign and felt super motivated going into the final 13 miles. This is the best I have ever felt in my last four Ironman events. The good part was I knew the course and what was ahead of me. The trail section was starting to get crowded it was not very wide, which made passing more challenging than normal. I was spoiled from the first lap with a clear shot and empty aid stations. In the back of my mind I was thinking about the "mile 18 wall" that has hit me in the past so was trying to be cautious as that approached. It was cool having the km markers instead of miles, I felt like it broke up the run into more workable segments. With 10 and 5k to go it seemed shorter than miles. The run pacing was right on target at 8:39/mi average and I felt great at the finish.
This was my best race execution and result in the four Ironman races I have done. The training and coaching I received from Dominic Gillen and Targetraining gave me the ability to outperform all expectations! I will be back to IM Mont Tremblant in 2013.
Reader Comments (1)
Although people can calculate it - I think you should have done the math for people and mentioned you finished in 10:10 (versus your 10:45 prediction) - great race John.