It’s fitting that it’s Canada Day as I start this post.
Well, that’s as far as I got when I started that post. It’s even four days past U.S. Day, a.k.a. July 4th, that I pick up on this again. (It’s July 8th if your Math is meh). Thankfully, my notes I’m referencing are far fresher than my memory.
Gotta Gotta Get Up to Get There – Part 1
The journey to Mont Tremblant began with a 6pm train to South Norwalk, where I met Colin after our workdays. A regional train (Metro North) at peak commute hour doesn’t feel very “race weekend,” but it allowed us to split the 7 hour drive into two parts. We drove 3 hours to Lake George on Thursday night, ensuring a shorter drive on Friday and allotting more time to get out of the car, move around, and not get too stiff. These are things you must consider when you’re 32 [racing age, but also 1 week from 32 birth cert age].
Gotta Gotta Get Up to Get There – Part 2
We stopped in Montreal on Friday for classic Montreal bagels. They’re dense, boiled in honey water, and enjoyable without a spread. If NYC bagels are beefsteak tomatoes, then Montreal bagels are heirloom tomatoes.
We arrived at the home of our hosts, Charles & Christina, that evening and learned about the Quebec maternity and paternity leave policies. (They get 20 weeks plus an additional 30 to split between the mom and dad!) That’s enough time to…have another baby!
Race Preview
On Saturday, we drove to the course. Well, almost. Since there is an Olympic distance triathlon the day before the race, we had to park on a random side street, where I pulled up my pants to take this picture:
At the pro meeting, they gave everyone a personalized cookie(!), socks with the Tremblant logo, and bottle of wine with Meredith Kessler’s (last year’s winner) – finally a use for my bike’s third water bottle holder!
The meeting was at one large, long table, boardroom style, with metal pitchers of water. I had flashbacks of work and thought there was a presentation I was supposed to prepare. Then I saw Cecilia and Ross, and then Rinny (legend Mirinda Carfrae) and Meredith Kessler! At these pro meetings, everyone is very relaxed and the directors breeze through the course, sometimes too presumptuous that “ahh, you’re pros, you know the course and you know what to do out there,” but then on race morning, half of these people are scurrying around looking for the tool that fills their disc wheel!
Having run and biked before the meeting, I swam after it. It was crazy windy that day, and there was significant chop in the lake. Every other time I took a breath, a wave interrupted that. My stroke ryhthm was that of a toddler hitting a tambourine. On the way to shore, I felt like each wave was about to break over me and cause my body to capsize. I made it ten minutes, enough that I felt like I had a good read of the water without stressing myself too much.
Colin finished his 84 mile ride as I finished my swim, so we get the heck out of the sun and had sandwiches at a café along the course. I let my glycogen get a little too low – thank god for Picky Bars – but it’s truly amazing how a 30 minute ride, 20 minute run, and 10 minute swim takes 3 hours!
Hey Look Ma, I Made It (to Race Day)
Sunday started at 5:30am. I achieved transition prep in record time (12 minutes), since my bike was already there and there’s not much to do besides checking my shifting, gear, attaching my fuel, and setting out my helmet, socks, bike shoes, run shoes, bib belt, and sunglasses.
The swim was solid. I got into a good pack to draft off of, and I made a decision to spice up the pace a bit about halfway in and took the lead. I actually thought Amber was in my group and I was taking a pull for her, but it turns out that it was someone else. I was still pleased with the effort, however. A few minutes before the finish, an age group male passed me, and I almost thought about latching onto him, but that would have been as futile as running to the next subway stop when you just miss the train.
🏊Swim: 29:55, 12th fastest pro🏊
The ride was a large L shape. I was expecting an “OMG SO BEAUTIFUL” ride, but truthfully, it was a lot of highway with nice-looking pine trees. I suppose if naked Christmas trees arouse you, then yes, it was “OMG SO BEAUTIFUL.” Colin was amazing and cheered for me at the apex of the L shape to catch me in the rare moment that I was not in aero. Ah (Aer?)-well.
I caught two women during the ride and got passed by one. If I had one goal for the race (LOL JK, I always have like 10 goals per race! Like “Don’t forget goggles” and “put on bike shoes in T1” are two of them!), it was to ride HARD. I want to get the point where I ride so hard that it hurts my run.
🚲Bike: 2:34:42, 21.5 mph, 2800′ gain, 11th fastest pro🚲
My legs felt heavier while running out of transition than they have in over a year. “Mission accomplished! I rode hard” I thought. And I did. But I clocked a 6:42 first mile which included an annoying hump, so I had a feeling it was going to be a good run.
I saw Colin around mile 2.5 where we got sandwiches the day before. There was a bike shop next door, so it made sense that he was camped out there 🙂 He told me that just ahead of the two girls in front of me was 10th place. Within the next two minutes, I passed both and clocked a 6:10 somewhat downhill mile. I was on fire and started thinking about placing top 8 to be in the money.
The run was an out-and-back, so a mile later, I saw Rinny absolutely crushing the run, as she was already on her way back, 20(!) minutes ahead of me. (She would go on to beat the rest of the field by 7 minutes, so to be “only” 20 minutes behind is an honor.) I tried to drink in her glisten drops (ok, sweat) as she ran by.
I kept chugging by, clocking more and more high 6:30s and low 6:40s. However, I never caught another woman again. I saw some going the opposite way and never stopped believing and trying to chase down more women. I summoned energy from every person I knew – and it was wild how many people I spotted on the run course: Charles & Christina & kids, Ross, Cecilia, Amber, Tara, Piers, Michaela, & Angela! I gave high fives to them whenever it wasn’t prohibitive to my stride or another competitor to do so. It sounds cheesy, but these small actions are incredibly high doses to my spirit and help me enjoy the racing experience.
🏃Run: 1:26:09, 6:34 pace, 5th fastest pro🏃
Total: 4:34:38, 10th pro of 24
It took me a while to find Colin after the finish, but I grabbed some iced tea for him, making it up to 3 drinks I carried on my way out of the athlete zone.
We hung around the race and I had my first poutine ever! We then did the entire drive back starting at 4pm and made it home by midnight. Not bad!
You know those races where you finish and are like “I want to do this again next year?!” That was one of those races.
Next up: Boulder 70.3 on August 3!