Where: Montreal - Olympic Basin on Île Notre-Dame
When: 6th September 2014
Distance(s):1.5km swim; 40km bike; 10km run
Marshalling: Good, motobikes on the course, plenty of marshals at turn points etc
Facilities: Good size expo, massage, mechanic, benches, showers, lockers, toilets, first aid, food (Subway!).
Technical: Chip timing
Freebies: Tech t-shirt, lunch!
Cost: $126.51 CAD (including taxes and temp TQ membership)
Prep:
After crashing at the Verdun sprint tri I spent almost 2 weeks out of action and limping around whilst waiting to heal up and have my stitches removed which pretty much put all training off the table. I had 4 weeks between the two races and had been planning to ramp up training to include some longer sessions and to be better prepped for an OD.
This left me with about 2 weeks to get myself sorted out. A few things got in the way of my master plan, the pool I swim in near work was going to be shut for most of that time and my parents were visiting from the UK which meant any normal schedule was disrupted.
In the end I managed 4 'proper' sessions - 2 swims, a bike and a run. Desperately trying to strike a balance between regaining sharpness and not overdoing it - after all I'm not going to get any fitter in that time. Swimming was ok but I felt tired, hadn't been doing many 1500m+ swims for quite a while. For biking I went out to the circuit and did 40k to get a feel for it (most of the time I'm there I do half that), benchmarked at around 1:10 with a fairly strong headwind down the main straight I was quite pleased, just uncomfortable at the 30 min mark which was understandable, not used to being in the saddle that long!
Went for a lunchtime run, not setting the world on fire but did 40 mins (I've yet to upload that to examine it). Generally my ankle was ok but I still had a bit of pain there and a lump which had not gone down all the way.
Registration:
Went to register after work on the Friday, busy with lots of people setting up, getting a practice swim in (not usually allowed to swim in the basin) and attending the briefings. There are sprint, olympic, HIM and IM races all on the same day (this is the last year for the full IM - you have to do a lot of laps which I think puts people off, plus 70.3 is the new IM or was, I'm not sure what's in vogue right now - next year the 70.3 will be on it's own day so they can have more entries).
Walking around checking out the layout of transition etc my legs are pretty sore from running and I'm starting to worry I overdid it in the lead up, too much too soon I feel the pressure is off for this race and I've decided to go out and enjoy it, I am happy to be racing it rather than sitting it out. But then again, once I get registered, see the course, I start to get excited.
Briefing is the usual - they do it in French and English inside the tent because the skies have opened up and it's tipping it down with rain. The forecast is the worst day of the week for race day, most other days have been warm and sunny but we're due some rain - I don't start until 11:40 and it should be finished by then so fingers crossed. I mostly hope it's not windy, the straight on the circuit is quite exposed and last week I had about a 3mk/h drop in speed heading into it, still it's the same for everyone on the day I guess.
Race Day:
11:40 is a strange time to race, I pack up all my kit in the morning as I'm going to cycle down to the island (about 8k away). The rain has picked up again so no support crew for me today. I've stickered everything up etc, just need to pickup my chip and get body marked on the morning. I decide to pack a cap/glasses for the run incase I want to use them to keep the rain out of my eyes, I'm a fair-weather athelete these days and this is going to one of a handful of races I've done in bad weather. And after this one I've learned a few things about bringing kit in waterproof bags.
As I arrive at the course Romain cycles up behind me (he works at my office and was racing at Verdun too) we go off to register and rack etc together. I'm there with plenty of time and layout my kit. I've picked up some gels for the bike leg, Power-Gel ones, never had them before but it was the only choice in the shop last week (I guess they're running stock down before the winter). Everything layed out I walk through transition a couple of times then get my wetsuit on with a liberal application of Bodyglide, shin hurts as it goes over - forgot to bring plastic bags to make it easier to get on too. I have a gel with about 30 mins to go, power gel with double caffeine, Latte flavour IIRC, was nicer than I was expecting. Stop taking on liquid too so I don't overfill myself. Lots of Argon 18 bikes around.
There's a lot of people around - nearly 3000 participants today across the various races and with some underway it's a nice buzz. Organisation seems good - plenty of marshalls looking after the crossings and transition points, a fair few specatators despite the weather. Don't even need to queue very long for the toilet.
Down to the start area where my wave is getting ready to go, the OD is split into AG waves, Romain is in my wave, at Verdun we were quite evenly matched in swim and run but he has the edge on the bike I think, I may well beat him out of the water though, then I could try to go with him on the bike for as long as possible when he passes me.
The rain is holding off, someone helps me zip up once they see me struggling and I have a little paddle in the water to get acclimatised. Then we all line up on a little sandy beach - there doesn't appear to be an official line, some people on the beach, some in the water. I seem to have ended up front and centre, I was planing to go more on the front outside but there are some buoys ahead in the water so I moved inward to avoid them. The swim is an out and back in the olympic rowing basin, should be nice to swim in. The wind isn't up too much. 10 second warning - we're told there will be no countdown - everyone is excited and cheering, clapping then - hooter and we're off!
Swim:
I strike out fairly fast, aware I might get trampled from behind with people running in off the beach ( I started knee deep in the water). No collisions or issues, on the way out and I settle into trying to find a good rhythm, head and body down, using the hips, and try to get a look at the coloured buoys marking the turn points. I seem to end up on the left hand side as I can see the other white hats from my wave to my right as I breathe. Eventually we come up to the white buoy for the sprint turn, that wasn't too bad, onward to the next one, I still can't see the turn point ahead but I'm making my way, there are cables along the base of the basin and it doesn't get more than about 3m deep I think, you're supposed to be able to use them to help you siwm in a straight line but I find that they're not always visible. Reach the yellow buoy for my turn, I've been on my own most of the way. I turn again at the next buoy and then after a minute a kyak arrives - I've missed a buoy, there are 3 across the top, not 2, I have to swim back, it's not too far but as I look back to the buoy I missed I see my wave catching up, bugger I am making a hash of this, definately don't feel sharp and kick myself mentally for not checking the details - rookie mistake!
Swim back to the buoy and attempt to integrate myself with everyone else, a little bump - I guess no one was epecting me to come from so far inside the buoy
I am now on the return leg, heading back down the basin toward the start, I'm halfway just need to keep going, I make the mistake of not sighting often enough keep finding I'm not heading quite in the direction I think I am as I try to move tighter to the line of buoys we're following. As I get to the last 400m or so I start to feel tired, lack of training I guess, not suffering too much from the should issues/tight wetsuit. Then, another Kyak nearby and I find myself almost swimming into the edge of the basin, I've gone about 15m or more wide of where I should be! WTF I realise I have switched off to much and not been looking and instead relying on the fact I usually do this better - really kicking myself now, I must have been swimming nearly 45 deg off! Maybe I'm not so good at swimming in a straight line as I though - oh well, make an effort to follow a white hat in, find I don't really have a good landmark to aim for but get there in the end.Exit the swim up a short sandy beach (very nice) have to head up over a temp bridge that crosses the run course to head to transition, take it steady over that then pickup the pace into transition, it's quite large as you can imagine but I know exactly where I'm going at this point so no issues, could be faster if I wasn't a little bit knackered from the swim.
T1
Pretty easy, wetsuit seems to come off a bit easier than normal, still a bit slow thought. Helmet waiting on the aerobars goes on first, then step into bike shoes (wiping grit off feet on a wet towel first - Romain is literally just ahead of me unracking his bike as I'm arriving, that'll be the last I see of him then. Number belt is waiting for the run this time. Short jog with the bike to the mount line and I'm off, noting fancy going on, make sure the bike comp is ready to show me the distance I've done. 9 laps of the circuit ahead and I know I'm going to lose count. One of my biggest worries for this race is getting DQd for insufficient laps!
Bike
Objective for the bike is to not crash, but it's wet and there are a lot of people on the course - anything could happpen!
It's a fair distance from the mount line at the transition exit to the filter onto the track. The race is going anti clockwise which is a little annoying as it's clockwise when I come to train but I still know the circuit well. Today we have the full width too, half of it is usually reserved for cars and busses heading to the beach etc. The rule in the briefing is to keep left unless overtaking but everyone seems to have forgotten during the excitement of the day. There are a kit if bikes around but I'm faster than 90% of them so it's a case of picking the beat line through. One the course are the LD athletes and the earlier waves which were women and younger men. I get on the bars and select the gear I usually try to do my personal 10 mile TT in around the track. The traffic is not too bad and no one is drafting which is nice to see. Occasionally some really fast guys come past me but I'm doing a decent speed. Averaging nearly 36km/h and maxing out around 45. The best downhill segment this way leads around a sweeping corner so it's hard to maximise the extra speed because of slower bikes. On the turns and chicanes I can't always take the optimal line. I try to settle into the pace, there's some wind today but not as bad as it can be, my main worry is lack of distance in the saddle but I'm sticking with this pace and holding it well, trying to build and take momentum into the 'hill' on each lap. Mostly I am concentrating on counting laps, and then I'm suddenly not sure If I'm on lap 5 or finishing lap 4, bugger. Start watching the bike comp and trying to work out what it should be showing for a given lap. I know the track is 4.4km, which works for 40k withe the entry and exit, but there are slightly different options for layout and I begin to distrust my computer. There's a fair few supporters out in the rain, mostly around the hairpin where the bikes enter/exit the track - good to have some cheers even if my family are not among them today.
About this time the rain starts up again, you don't want to be behind anyone because of the large amounts of spray, I get more wet a few times as I cross behind people or someone quick goes past. I'm also getting wet from the rain and my own spray going up my back. I start to worry about cornering at speed on the wet track, especially with other bikes close by Start to get slightly uncomfortable on the saddle/in my aero positions but on the plus side things are going by pretty quick. This is just down to lack of time in the saddle more than anything I think and apart from taking on a gel at around lap 4 I stay on the bars. I have 2 on the bike, after having the first I realise I proably should have taken it earlier and wonder if/when to have the second - work out that it should probably be near the end of the bike now. I've saved a caffienated one for the end of the bike to help wake me up for the run. Only used them before in a HIM toward the end of the bike where I did notice a boost but I have a lot more caffiene in coffee these days I guess, I need it just to keep going in life and work!
Keep counting down the laps as I go, stay in the big chainring the whole way around with just minor shifts from my crusing gear, mostly to up the cadence every now and then if I feel it's dropping too much.
In the last 3rd I'm feeling good, I feel like I'm working at just about the right level, which probably means it's a little low. If I try to increase too much I can feel it, I think the speed drops off ever so slightly combination of wind, rain and fatigue but when you know there's not far to go it's not too bad to keep going. I can see the run course alongside the main straight and people running along there, thinking about when the race will be over.
Eventually I am on the last lap, I'm not 100% sure, I'm looking at my distance readout, trying to think how much distance left on the lap, it looks about right, the time looks fast though, 1:05 and I'm starting to come up on the exit, quicker than I was expecting. Distance is about right, surely I can't have to do another lap, that would put me quite far over, I worry but make the decsions to exit, made worse by the fact that I can't see many other bikes exiting, oh well - one does leave about 25m infornt. As I leave the track I make a mess of getting the velcro on my shoes undone (didn't practice this), then discover there's a little trek through a car park before the dismount line, kind of just cruising this thinking to myself that I should be going a bit faster now. Full stop before the line, caught up with the other bike, legs not too bad, uncomfortable is good I guess.
T2
I overtake the guy who exited infront of me as I jog into transition I have a nice landmark and the rows are numbered so easy to find. See that Romain's bike is back, that means I've probably not underestimated the laps, good. Rack the bike, number belt on, shoes on, no socks, I decided to go without but they would have been soaked anyway. Put on a baseball cap (BCTTT one) to keep the rain out of my eyes a quick swig of Nuun from the spare waterbottle - decide to rip the 2nd gel off my bike and take it with me for the run, incase I feel like I need it, it will have to be soon though as there's not much racing left now.
Run
The run goes around the rowing basin, first we head out of transition through a little extra turn to make up the distance toward a gravel road/track that runs along side the basin behind a treeline, it's a long straight must be nearly 2km to head out then back down the other side and the second lap is tighter, right around the edge of the water. I see some runners spread out ahead and start working on catching them, one guy in the distance seems to be doing a decent pace so I aim to reel him in slowly. I'm feeling surprisingly good on the run, remind myself that it's 10k and not 5 today, work on good form and staying as relaxed as possible. As the first aid station comes up I decide to take the gel which I'd stuffed in my tri top, have to re-rip the top as it hadn't opened properly which is weird because I'd even pre ripped the sides, had been worrying about leaking gel while I was running along but it worked out in my favor in the end. Take on a bit of water, don't usually like too much on the run as it can cause me to cramp up but want something to go with the gel. Aid stations seem to be every 2km with water and gatorade, the marshalls/volunteers are doing a good job. At the top end of the basin I've caught up with the guy I was aiming for, as I pass him I feel him sit on my shoulder and go with me. Now heading back down the side of the basin on a nicer surface (more even like concrete/tarmac) I keep trying to visualise Alistair Brownlee running, the guy sticks behind me for a while, it makes the run much more interesting, I feel like I'm leading a race, maybe there is a pack building behind me. Stay upright, stay relaxed, keep trying to increase the pace just a tiny bit a time to push the other runner. At each aid station I hear him shout for Gatorade, I don't take anything just run through, at one point I grab water and dump most of it over me.
We make our way back down to start the second lap, still trying to slowly raise the pace without overdoing it, still feeling comfortable enough but not like I can increase, there are distance markers. I plan to pickup on the return part of the second lap and just think about keeping going. My feet start to hurt as I develop blisters and I've also got a load of grit inside the side of one shoe that is starting to hurt. There is light rain, no real wind that I remember, almost ideal conditions for running I guess.
At the start of the second lap one hamstring cramps momentarily, my legs feel like they're getting close to the edge of wearing out, just keep going, just keep going, heading back up and the markers are taking a long time to come past, still got about 4k to go, eventually I don't hear the gatorade shoults anymore and I'm on my own turning to head back down the basin for the last time, there are swimmers in the water from later waves, I'm looking out for the turn buoys so I'll know how far to go roughly. Looking at where I messed up the turn, bike and run seem to be going pretty good - can't believe I've cocked up on the swim- usually my best section!
Still overtaking people, form still feels good, try to open up my stride a little, set my sights on another guy ahead of me in a club tri-top but can't cloe the gap on him in the end, even though I do manage to increase speed a bit. Finally I can see the finish arch and move into the filter, not exactly a sprint finish but a 'strong' one. Knackered crossing the line - volunteer wants to take my chip instantly!
Grab some water, lots of water, drink a whole bottle, tip a load over me, it's still warm today despite the rain and cloud cover. Get some gatorade, drink that and once I'm suitably recovered head toward the tents to find out the result. Once I find what I'm looking for - a bunch of volunteers with iPads - they lookup your results I see that I've done 2:17 which I way faster than I was expecting, check I wasn't DQ'd, I wasn't, good, have a quick look at the splits - no separate transition times again which is midly annoying. Swim was actually not bad even with the detour, run not bad either. Misread my placing at first,think I've finished 50th in AG, must be a very fast course I think and feel a bit disappointed.
Head back to transition, I have a ticket for a free meal, as I collect that I meet Romain - he did 2:12 something and finished 3rd in our AG. I get my meal ticket and check my phone for the results online - I finished 10th in AG (and currently 49th overall before dropping a few places to older guys who started after). That's much better - 2:17 is well beyond what I was expected so can't complain
Due to packing limitations I only have a t-shirt to put on, at least it's dry - pretty much everything else is soaked! Wish I'd thought this through as the weather isn't great.
The meal is good, you get to choose 2 out of 3 pasta dishes, get a 6" subway (turkey or ham) fruit as well - seems to be a standard of racing here. Both races I've done have been well organised, things like coloured cones marking the routes in and out of transition, high quality stickers for bike and helmet that come off without leaving a load of mess. Waterproof race numbers - free tech t-shirts. Even the photos after this race are cheap - $30 for *all* of them.
After food get packed up to ride home, my feet are really sore and I'm tired, I contemplate taking the metro part of the way but it's probably more of a hassle with the bike so after walking around for a bit I get on my bike and ride back, very slowly.
Results:
Swim: 25:25
Bike: 1:10:20 (includes T1/T2) - Bike computer put me around moving time 1:07 IIRC
Run: 42:03
2:17:43.3
10/74 M35-39 - 52/526 M
Given that I wasn't as shap as I wanted to be going into this and messed up on the swim I'm really really pleased with this. Bike is still my weak point but I'm becoming more balanced I think (in terms of times across the 3). Usual things need work, transitions but that's something for next year now. Great to finally have a good OD time, I've only done 2 before, my first race at Reading years ago where I hada good swim, good (for me at the time), bike but blew up on the run (not enough training back then, so these days I guess I'm still using work I banked from before). I also did an OD in Marlow which I was more prepped for but the swim was crazy because it was downriver and shortened with a current that meant it was almost a duathlon and a shorted run so I actually did sub 2hrs.
Perhaps this then was my first proper benchmark for an OD, obviously it's a fast course but I know I've got potential to be a bit faster, now just to actually make that happen!
Winner did:
S: 20:39
Bike: 1:03:22
Run: 34:58
1:58:57.3
Romain did:
S: 25:12
B: 1:05:24
R: 41:38
2:12:12.6 -3rd AG, 23rd overall - beat me on the bike as expected!
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