Tremblant Ironman 70.3 Race Report

My first half ironman and one of the best experiences of my life. Tremblant & St. Jovite volunteers and spectators really know how to make you feel special. This is definitely something I would like to do again.

Race morning, I woke up at 3:45, hit the shower and got my breakfast in. Since we were staying on the hill we just took the cabriolet down to the transition area and as we walked off we were greeted by markers and were marked up before you knew what was happening. In transition I went to check my tubes and inflate but when I noticed the number of volunteers with pumps I got them to do it. Then with a nod to coach Adrian's bike clinics I let out a bit of air to make sure they weren't too inflated.

After everything was sorted I headed down to the beach which is where some nerves kicked in because it looked like the water was blocked off and I wasn't going to get a warm up in...luckily, this was not the case, I just had to walk a bit further down. Once I got in the water I realized how pristine the lake was and how exciting it was going to be to see my hand in front of me when swimming.

Swim went really well, for me. I am not a fast swimmer by any means but I chugged along and finished in just under 41minutes. Never getting overly out of breath and feeling full of energy. My only issue was the boulder field at the swim exit where I banged my toe quite badly.

I ran very gingerly up to transition with thoughts going through my mind, can I do this? Is this just a stubbed toe? Will the pain go away? Lucky me, this got captured on camera.

I was pretty slow getting through transition removing my wetsuit carefully and trying to make sure I had everything. One MAJOR thing I forgot (even after I created the thread about sunscreen) was sunscreen. Believe me, I was a bit "lobsteresque".

The toe pain wasn't too bad when I biked, except for the one time I curled my toes. My bike went well, I followed the plan Adrian and I came up with and took it very easy on the uphills and hammered it on the downhills. I had one moment on the return on duplessis where my hamstring threatened to cramp so I hopped off and stretched it out. I was almost at the top of the hill but knew I couldn't clip in on such a steep hill, so I walked the next few steps. Many people came by cheering and saying "Robin, only one more hill". I appreciated it, but there was no way I could clip in til the top so I kept walking. Once I hit the top it was all good from there. I finished in 3:10 and change.

I got into T-2 and my dad was actually right along the fence and close enough that I told him, I am feeling good but I think I may have broken my toe. The toughest part at this point was putting on the running shoe. I felt the pain but it seemed manageable and if I slightly altered the way I landed, the run wasn't too bad. Of course, changing the way I ran didn't really help the pace so my run was disappointing with a 2:23 finish.

When I finished I got to the line and in OTC style had pre-planned my finish line pose, pulling the "Bolt" pose...really hope it got caught on camera.

After getting the guts to take off my shoe my toe was evidently black and blue not looking good at all but what can you do. I was lucky and got to see Ian (my hubby) finish and of course after we celebrated he looked at my toe and insisted I hit up the med tent to get it checked out. I felt silly doing this as most people were in there on IVs and all that was bugging me was my toe, but I followed his orders and got it checked out.

The doc that looked at it said you can't say 100% if it is broken without an x-ray but based on her assessment with the appearance and the pain when touched/moved she was 99% sure it is broken and to ice and tape.

My final race time was 6:23 and change and with everything considered I am really happy with that. A PB :)

Robin

9 DAYS!

I looked up my email yesterday to find my Tremblant Ironman 70.3 registration and the date I registered was September 20^th, 2011. Now 9 months later I am just 9 days away from race day. This is both exciting and nerve racking.

I am super excited to finally, after a lot of hard work and sacrifices, be able to complete my goal of a HIM. On the other hand, there were workouts missed and workouts where I didn’t quite get to do the fully planned set and therefore I feel I may not be trained enough. That being said, I don’t think any amount of training would ever make me feel fully prepared; this is a long day ahead. Sure I’ve done marathons but the longest continuous exercise I have ever done was about 4.5 hours, next weekend it will be at the very least 6 but more likely closer to 7 hours. That is definitely intimidating.

Questions that have been going through my head this past week are all related to minor details. Like, this is a super long race, I am a pasty kid who burns easily, sun tan lotion even the sport stuff put on before I swim will not work….so what am I going to do? Well after asking around and getting a few suggestions I have decided to go with a spray on sun tan lotion that I can get on really quickly in the swim to bike transition. Another one, littering anywhere outside of the aid station areas is a violation. I believe this is a really good rule but I have to make sure that I have a garbage pocket either on me or in my bento box. Mostly this is an on bike concern, as that is where I am going to ingest the most food and beverage.

Overall though I feel prepared for this race, as I have put in a lot of training and I had a chance to bike the tremblant bike course a couple of weeks ago. I was super worried about the hills before actually doing them. There are definitely some tough ones but the steepest hills are the shortest and the longest hills are not too bad. Biking Gatineau park has definitely built some leg strength for those hills.

Last weekend we raced a sprint triathlon on the Saturday following our last hard training week, so I went into the race pretty tired. There wasn’t enough time to taper as the taper for tremblant was beginning right after the race so didn’t want to start that too early. The race went well, I learned that the crashing and fighting for your spot in the swim is really no different than fighting for the puck in a corner and instead of freaking out, my competitive streak came in to play, and I pushed my way through. I am however, thinking with the longer swim distance at tremblant, that there will be a bit more space for the majority of the race. The bike was alright, the legs were still pretty tired so I took a bit of time to warm up, but I got up to speed about 5km in. Then when it came to the run I felt great. I just started picking people off in my age group (our age is listed on our calf) and climbed my way up to 4^th place. The difference between third and me was over a minute so I didn’t even see them to try and catch them but ah well. The goal of the race was to practice for tremblant and working on transitions…note, my shorts did not fall down when I took off my wetsuit, and I was able to do it without falling over :) 

 

Now to the race, I’ll be sure to report on how it went afterwards.

Race Season

Less than 4 weeks to go... that makes me nervous/excited. Ian and I have both had dreams concerning preparation related to the race. His was just last week and basically he found himself without goggles, or earplugs at the beach, and then realized he hadn't removed his bike from the car and therefore it wasn't in the transition zone. Mine, I come out of the swim with about 30minutes to spare before the cutoff time and I can't find my bike, I search and search and search and find it at the 29minute mark, I rush to get everything but don't make it to the bike mount line in time, and I'm disqualified.

Neither of these things will happen I'm sure, but Ian will make sure he has everything he needs, and my goal is to have as obvious a t-zone set up as possible.

The past few weeks have been hectic. May 5th was my first bike time trial. It was 15km and the scariest part was the held start, but I didn't fall over, and I was told by a few people I had one of the best starts...I guess a lot of people started in too hard a gear and couldn't get going. I ended up with the second fastest female time but to be fair there were people out there riding anything from tri bikes, to road bikes, to cruisers and mountain bikes, so I wouldn't really say it was a competition except for against oneself. I learned that I should reset my cateye which tells me distance because I held back and only really pushed it when I noticed the finish line from about 1km left. Definitely had too much in the tank at that point.

May 12th was the first duathlon I've ever done, and Ian and I did the long version, which wasn't really that long, the distances were 2.5km run/30km bike/5km run. The runs ended up being shorter than that, but that's what it was supposed to be. This was a smaller race of some pretty strong athletes. I'm used to being in the top 25% for my category but that didn't happen. I was happy with my race as I followed my goal pacing exactly.

May long weekend I took the Friday off to get some training in as the weekend was a wash. I was going to Svina's wedding which was an amazing party that started with the ceremony in Ottawa on Saturday then the celebration in Toronto on Sunday. In between we had Chris' going away party, so really no time for training. On Friday I went for a long ride that was supposed to be 90km but at about the 80ish mark I blew both my tubes and only had one spare, so Ian had to rescue me and bring me home. In the evening Ian and I tried our wetsuits for the first time with about a 1km swim. I only had an hour between the bike ride and the swim and I guess I hadn't eaten enough because a 1km swim shouldn't be too bad, but when I got out of the water I was shaky.

This past weekend was Ottawa Race Weekend where the goal was to race the half marathon. I haven't really trained as much for running specifically as I usually do before races, but I felt fit and thought I could have a good race, so I tried to go out with the 1:45 pace bunny. This pace, plus the fact that the pace bunnies usually go out a little faster to have time in the bank for the last half, resulted in me blowing up. It was a hot day, not necessarily for lazing around but in the sun at about 10am with no breeze or shade I felt the heat. When you train all winter in cold, the heat takes a toll on you. Between the heat and going out too hard I ended up getting a calf cramp at the 12 or 13km mark and my pace slowed down completely. I finished with a time of 1:59:27 which was almost 15minutes slower than goal time and one of my worst times ever at this distance. Because of this race I have signed up for the Army half in September which will be cooler, and I hope to get some more running in, to get a better time.

This coming weekend Ian and I are heading to Tremblant, to check out the bike course primarily, but also the run and maybe swim too. It looks like it is going to rain all weekend but hey, guess we should get used to riding in the rain.

Next weekend June 9th, we are competing in the Ottawa Riverkeeper sprint distance, which will then start our 2 week taper.

I definitely don't feel confident that I got enough training in but I do feel confident enough that I can complete the distance. As my coach/mentor says "Remember your first HIM is NOT about a time goal (even though you have that in mind) but to complete.  If you get the bug then the next ones can be about times." So I am trying to keep this in mind. Especially since Tremblant is going to be a hilly course, I won't likely be able to ride at paces I normally can pretty easily on flats.

So that's the lineup. This whole adventure has been quite a ride, can't wait to see what happens next.

The Anti Inflammatory Diet

Last week I touched on the fact that I have been working with a Naturopathic Doctor on my diet. Basically what I am following now is what she calls an anti inflammatory diet. I'm not supposed to eat dairy or any other animal milk products...believe me, I asked about goat cheese. I'm also not supposed to eat red meat or gluten products. This makes my diet very limited but I'm adjusting. I can't say I've made it through an entire week without cheating but I feel if 90% of my meals follow this plan I'm doing ok.

Fish, chicken, chickpeas and quinoa have been my main staples, and I am trying to learn some more interesting options.

I've also been filling up on a few supplements: B6, glutamine, magnesium and 3000mg of fish oils.

Overall, I have been feeling a lot better, I don't have nearly as much pain as I thought with the training regime. At the same time, I'm not having the GI issues I normally get with training.

Training regime this week included:
~ 3 hours of running - missed another 5km of running because of hockey
~ 4 hours of biking
~ 2 hours of swimming - missed one swim this week

I have been working with a coach to help me build around hockey and it has worked fairly well so far, but I still miss a couple, as we are getting closer to the finals. In just under 3 weeks provincials will be over, and my training regime will change. Biking will be the biggest build afterwards, a little bit more running and a bit more swimming, hopefully this anti inflammatory diet will continue to work with the increase in training.

Alright, enough rambling, I will end with one of my favorite triathlon quotes:
"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming" Dory, Finding Nemo.

Race Line Up

Ok so I planned on writing in this while I was on holidays over Christmas and have been awful with keeping up. I am going to try to improve but this is what has been up over the past couple of months:

1. Rocking it out in the pool every Tuesday with Nepean Masters and am seeing some improvements, also getting in a swim on Thursdays and Sundays during lane swim time.
2. Loving the OTC cast iron program with the bikes, strength and run training. Now that we are up to long runs and long rides we are no longer doing the strength component as part of our session. 
3. I am seeing a naturopathic doctor to help with dietary issues but also to help with energy for training and it is going really well. I have now lost some weight (still a bit to go) but I no longer fall under the Athena category for races...yeah :) I also have a lot more energy for training, and the recovery time after hard runs/rides is minimal.
4. After posting on the OTC wall about half ironman training I had one of the OTC coaches contact me personally and has been working with me to set up a realistic training plan that revolves around hockey. Since time for training is a bit of an issue I am not looking for an outstanding race at Tremblant, especially with my new understanding of some of the hills, however I want to have as strong a race as possible. 
5. What is the race calendar looking like so far: a) "Day before Mother's Day" Long Duathlon May 12th. b) Half marathon at the Ottawa Race Weekend c) Ottawa River Tri (sprint distance) June 9th d) Tremblant 70.3 June 24th. Afterwards we (Ian and I) are seriously considering the Canadian 113 in Ottawa Sept 1st and the Army half marathon Sept 23rd. In between we may sign up for some shorter distances last minute depending on schedule.

Ok I think that sums up what has been happening overall. I will try to improve my consistency in these posting.

Cheers.

Let the race specific training begin

I know it has been awhile since I posted, still trying to get the hang of this thing. 

Holidays are over tomorrow and the new year has begun. Many have New Year's resolutions and I guess I do in a way, I want to complete my first Ironman 70.3 this year. However, that to me is more of a goal that is unrelated to the new year. 

Over the past 4 or 5 months Ian and I have been trying to build up a base in swimming, biking and running in order to be able to handle the training for a half ironman. We've done fairly well but over December we got a little slack, it is time to get back on track as the real training begins now. 

I have been searching and searching for an Ironman 70.3 program that fits my schedule and abilities, everything I found was either too intense or too basic. I spoke with my godmother about this, as she is a triathlete who has competed at the world championships as an age grouper in the olympic distance...throwing that in there because I'm proud :) She recommended that I look at a book called "The Triathlon Bible" by Joe Friel. He has a lot of tips on how to build your own program. I spent a lot of time over the holiday studying this book and finally came up with a program that I think will be challenging enough but still manageable enough, that we can be consistent. 

Also, starting this week and next are two group sessions I've signed up for. The first starts tomorrow and it is with the Nepean Masters Swim Club. I have no problem swimming 1.9km if I mostly do breaststroke but I want to do this race with a little speed, so I figured training with a group, will force me to push myself harder. The second group session starts January 14th and is with the Ottawa Triathlon Club, the Cast Iron program. From what I understand, the program includes biking (spinning in winter), strength and flexibility, and then running. The first week the whole thing is about 2 hours and we work our way up to 4 hours. I'm really looking forward to this as I think I'll learn a lot from both the instructors and the other members. 

I'm really excited to take on this new adventure. :)

Pool's closed :(

Tonight I was meeting Ian at the Nepean Sportsplex as he was just getting off work. Just as I was about to head out I get a call..."did you know the pool is closed for a swim meet?" well boo.

These days training together has become a difficult task. Ian's is working shift work and I work regular 8-4 M to F. Tonight we had it planned that I would get home, make dinner (Tikka Masala) and Ian would meet me at the pool, he'd eat when we got back since he was working 11-7:30pm. Well so much for that...but I digress.

Last week we were able to get in a run, a swim and a ride but with a hockey tourney this past weekend that was it. At hockey we played 3 games in 2 days with just under 2 lines by the end, playing against 4 line CEGEP schools, so needless to say I definitely got a workout...just not triathlon training, can I call it cross training? I sure hope so.

I know from reading triathlon material and looking at training programs that to fit it all in, requires a lot of planning, and double checking the pool schedule :) This is the challenge that Ian and I will have, and for the rest of this week we will get in our bike rides, our run and our swim. This weekend I will plan food for the week so that it will be easier to be able to just come home, and either go to a work out, or cook, then work out. Without stopping by the grocery store, we shouldn't be running out of hours in the day to work out. This is the goal. I feel if I state it publicly I will be more inclined to follow through.

Wish us luck :)