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| 2019 CAF Triathlon Team at Ironman 70.3 Mont Tremblant |
So I don’t even know where to start. It’s been a rough few
months. I’ve just mentally and physically been exhausted. I’ve had a constant
cold for the last month and I’ve just not felt right whether it’s my right hip
or my lower back. And mentally I’m sure my DNF in Boston hasn’t helped the
matter. I’d essentially given up swimming since Kona and had only recently
(read two weeks ago) gotten back into the water. Instead of becoming frustrated
with not feeling great, I’ve just taken the opportunity to spend more time with
Claudia and the kids. So to be honest, I wasn’t really expecting too much at Ironman
70.3 Mont Tremblant. I knew my bike fitness was coming back and running fitness
would somewhat be there; it would just be more of a question of how the hip held
out. I’ve been more focused on getting fit for Ironman Lake Placid than trying
to get ready for Tremblant 70.3. I’d seriously thought of skipping the race,
but it just didn’t seem right.
I headed up to Mont-Tremblant Thursday night after picking
up a few of the Cdn Armed Forces Triathletes at the Ottawa Airport. Friday
morning, I got up early and did an easy 10km run, followed by a 2km swim and
finally a 70km bike. My lower back was quite sore, so I wasn’t really sure how it was going to play
out. I figured rather than trying to “taper” for this race, I’d use the weekend
as an opportunity to build my fitness (in essence the plan was to get an
Ironman in over the course of the weekend). Friday afternoon I did athlete
check-in and then Friday night we had a Cdn Armed Forces gathering at J&B
Ski Lodge.
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| Fred, Andrew, and I posing with are Argon 18 E-119s in Transition! |
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| The steed is ready to roll! |
Saturday morning I did the usual pre-race day workout (about
a km of swimming, 40min of biking, and then an easy run of about 15min). Early
in the afternoon I checked in the bike and then waited for Claudia and the kids
to arrive. James had his Birthday party in the morning so after that Claudia
drove up to Tremblant.
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| All set to race and cheer! (Clearly Ruth and James aren't impressed!) |
Sunday morning I was up at shortly after 4. After the usual
breakfast of a couple eggs, a banana, a cup of coffee, and some toast with jam,
I headed down to transition with Fred and Andrew. I got body marked, topped up
my tires, put my F2C nutrition on the bike, and then headed back to the lodge
to relax for a bit. I put on my wetsuit and then shortly after 6:15 we headed
down to the swim start. The Pro Men started at 0700hrs, the Pro women at 0705hrs and
then at 0710hrs the rolling start for the age groupers began. I lined up at the
front of the 33-36min coral as I figured that if I had a good swim I’d be in
the 33min range and if I had a bad swim I’d be in around 35min.
The swim was relatively uneventful. I managed to grab a set
of feet here and there but for the most part I swam solo and just enjoyed the
cool water. I exited the water and didn’t even bother checking the watch. I
figured regardless of what time it was I’d be frustrated. Swim time was 34:03 pretty
much exactly where I expected to be.
Through transition and onto the bike with Fred. Fred passed
me in the opening km and then a few kms later I passed him. Once we were out on
the highway, he passed me and slowly started to pull away. I pretty much ignored
my power numbers and rode by feel. I tried to ride a little cautiously knowing
that I needed to save a little juice for the Duplessis section of the course. I
caught back up to Fred on the Duplessis section of the course, we exchanged
positions a couple times, and then I put a little push in heading into
transition to pull away. Bike Time 2:20:01. NP 236W, Pavg 221W
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| Off the bike and headed into transition! |
I headed through transition quickly and at this point my
back was quite sore. Each foot strike drove a little pain through the lower
back and I felt like I was crawling along. I just ignored my watch and did what
I do best - just ignore everything and run. It was great seeing all the CAF
triathletes out on the course. Run Time 1:21:58.
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| Final Stretch! |
Cant’t say enough about the race that Dominque Piché and his
team continue to put together in Tremblant.
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| Presentation to Dominique Roy (Race Director), accepted by Marc Roy, from the CAF Triathlon Team! |
I was certainly happy with my race, but even more proud of
the great showing by all the CAF athletes!
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| M35-39 Podium! |
Final Time 4:20:17. Good enough for 33rd Overall,
2nd in M35-39, and 5th in the Canadian Armed Forces.
