As part of my training for the Mont Tremblant Ironman, I did a sprint triathlon in Verdun, Quebec, to put my race strategy (nutrition and hydration) to the test and work on the transitions. The swim was 750 meters, bike 20km and the run 5km. After the race, I sent my coach an email going through my experience. I thought I would share this experience with any future triathletes out there!
Well, first let me say that I am very happy I did this tri! I learned so much! Here's a break down of my day.
1. Being prepared: I was so nervous about setting up my bike that I forgot to take out my running belt from my transition bag. So when I transitioned from the bike to the run, I thought someone stole it or kicked it to another location by accident! I finally remembered that I had put it in one of the side compartments of my transition bag.
2. The swim: I went to hard and too fast right from the start. I had great positioning and felt strong! Well, when I got to the first buoy there was major bottlenecking and it killed my energy level. I struggled to get my groove again after that and did not finish as strong as I wanted. :(
3. We had quite a bit of a run from the swim to the bike but it was good practice for the IM. I think the distance is about the same in Mont Tremblant.
4. I transitioned well from the swim to the bike, but again I was so nervous, I literally got on my bike right away instead of walking it to the starting line for the bike portion! I could get disqualified in the IM if I do that! So lesson learned!
5. Because the event was pretty much all in French, I did not know I had 5 loops to do for the bike. So a few times I started to come in to transition to the run. Luckily I asked a few times as I looped around and was told it was 5 loops, not 3 or 4!
The roads were horrible for the bike! They were so bumpy! I don't know why they didn't use the bike path for the bike and then use the street road for the run.
6. On the bike, it was very hard not to push hard and keep up with all the fast cyclist! But I kept reminding myself that this was not about speed. It was about learning about pacing myself for long distance, practicing nutrition and the transitions. So I
focused on maintaining a nice steady pace.
7. The transition from the bike to the run was great. I felt good and was in Z3 the whole run. I felt strong and crossed the finish line with a huge smile!
8. I did notice that my stomach was not feeling well yesterday. I had a good breakfast but had a energy bar 30 minutes before the race. It wasn't one of my usual bars for training. It was one I eat every so often as a snack. I'm not sure if that was what set off my stomach or if was nerves. But by the time I got to the run, I didn't want to drink my sports drink. Water was the only thing I could stomach.
As I reached the last 10 minutes of the run, I had half a power gel because I only had one power gel on the bike. My stomach was okay but not great. After the race I couldn't eat anything. I waited an hour and then had some watermelon. Then 2 hours later I had a sandwich.
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Overall I felt good with my performance (other than the swim). But I have to admit, it was hard seeing people in their 70's and even a 99 year old woman finished in 1hour and 10minutes! They were and are so inspiring! It's that stupid ego that gets in the way every time!
Stay active and anything is possible!
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