2022 IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant

Caffeine:

2x 200mg Pills at 6:30am ~17min before start

@9:50am 100mg from Quantum Granola bar

@11:00am 200mg Pill

@2:30~5:15pm 200mg from shot bloks, roughly 50mg every half hour

@5:15-6:45 No definite intake, some from Coke

In general I have to assume the caffeine was working/helping as expecting. I don't think I can attribute any specific feeling or performance to the fact that I was consuming caffeine.

Nutrition

Pre-Swim: 100 Cal Gu and 10-12oz Gatorade Endurance

Bike

Nutrition:

3x 500 Cal Nutrition Bottles

1x 200 Cal Quatum Granola Bar

2x 100 Cal Gu

1x 180 Cal Gatorade

Total: 2080, slightly under 2275 cal Goal

Salt:

3x 1000mg from Nutrition Bottles

2x 300mg licks of Base Salts

1x 300mg from Gatorade

Total 3900mg, hit the target of 3900mg. (Assuming base salts lick is accurate)

Calorie wise I think my bike nutrition was adequate. I was glad I mixed up an extra bottle and put it in my special needs because the course had a mixture of Gatorade flavors. It also helped me hit the salt target easier. Nutrition wise, I think I should explore diluting my nutrition bottles. I think especially at the beginning of the ride I wasn't taking in enough water with my nutrition since it was cooler and wet. I also think it would just make everything easier if I can make it work out so that it's simply, drink this 1 bottle every hour.

Run:

3x 200 Cal Shot Bloks

Some Gatorade

Limited Red Bull

Some Coke

Total: 600+ Calories, definitely under 1000 cal goal

Run nutrition was hard, I started out strong eating half a pack of shot bloks roughly every 30min. At each aid station I was taking water and gatorade. However nearly the 13mi mark I was starting to feel a little nauseous and didn't feel like I could keep eating the shot bloks and gatorade. I tried eating a cup of pretzels which maybe helped settle my stomach but not enough to return to gatorade and shot bloks. At this point I switched over to coke and water. I took 1-2 more small cups of pretzels as well.

Report

Woke up at 4:30am, got dressed, hit the bathroom, and had a piece of toast with peanut butter along with a chocolate Kind Breakfast Granola bar. We left the condo at 5:20am getting into Transition around 5:30am. Placed nutrition on the bike and pumped the tires. Prepped the computer. Dropped off special needs next and then dropped nutrition in run bag. We made our way over to the swim start getting there around 6:10. Met the rest of the team and relaxed for a few minutes before getting the wetsuit on. Around 6:30 headed over to the water and got wet and swam a little. Probably somewhere between 100-200 yards total, not a lot. Really I just got wet. I lined up roughly in the middle of the 1-1:05 group. At the start I the swim I ran into water and concentrated on getting lined up on the buoys and into a groove. I also was trying to gauge my effort an ensure I didn't go out too fast. I was hunting for someone to draft but kept passing everyone I found. The first 500yds passed and my watch buzzed with 6:36 which was a little faster than 7:05 target. Based on that information I didn't intentionally "slow down" but I knew I didn't need to push the effort. The next 500yd was a little slower at 6:46 and I was happy with that. From that point on I pretty much kept my head down and swam. Siting a buoy every 4-6 strokes and breathing every 1-2 strokes.

Overall the swim felt very good and I'm happy with my effort. I could have pushed more and swam a little faster, but I'm not sure how that would have affected the rest of my race. I got out of the water not feeling fatigued or light headed. Jogged over to transition and got the wetsuit off, helmet, glasses, and socks on. Carried my shoes with me over to the bike and put them on there. Got on the bike course and the first focus was to get into my power zone. This was a little difficult because of a couple of small roller hills at the start. I think I was able to get into my zone pretty quickly. I was sipping my nutrition and took 1 Gu to help replenish what I burned on the swim within 10min or so. At that point I settled into the ride, just trying to maintain my power target and keep on top of nutrition. My first loop was a few minutes faster than the second, a headwind on the return on 117 the second lap was definitely slowing me down. Rolled into transition and got off the bike feeling pretty good. Legs were getting tired on the bike but not overly fatigued or feeling like I was starting to struggle. Jogged through transition and into the tent to change my shoes. Got the bike shoes off and run shoes on. Grabbed my baggie of nutrition, race belt, and hat, and took off. Started running and worked to get my nutrition from a baggie into my tri suit. Because my trisuit was wet and I had a lot of nutrition the pockets on my top were a bit overloaded and bouncing around. I was able to make a couple of adjustments and improve things but I probably should have left half of my needs in my special needs for pickup at the halfway point. I started off strong and kept telling myself to slow down. I walked the steeper sections of the initial hills and ran everything else. My plan was to take 100cal of shot bloks every 30min, supplement with gatorade and water at each aid station. I still feel this was probably a fine plan but I got messed up by the spacing of the aid stations. I think what turned my stomach was too much nutrition, or possibly really over concentrated Gatorade at one aid station. The second lap was more or less survival mode. Run as much as I can, take in Coke and water, and hope for the best. No pain, but legs got very fatigued. Hip flexors were the most noticeably tired. I was very happy to get back to the village up the hill and across the finish line. My dad was there and gave me my medal, then he helped me into the finisher tent. I quickly went from being ok to bonking hard. Had some difficultly breathing but I was able to get that under control without medical help. After I got my breathing under control I worked to get some calories into. Overall spent about an hour in the tent before I made my way out.

Race Ratings

Swim Effort: Great

Bike Effort: Great considering hills

Bike Nutrition: Good, possible improvements

Bike Hydration: Good, possible improvements

Run Effort: Ok, need to work on slowing down at start

Run Nutrition: Poor, need to consider alternatives

Run Hydration: Ok, don't believe I was dehydrated