Congrats to Nick Ditchey who just completed his first Ironman at Ironman Mont-Tremblant! We asked him to share his experience in a blog post. While things didn’t go exactly as planned, they rarely do when competing in long course triathlon. Nick still had a great day and learned a lot that he will carry forward into future races. For example, he will now be training with warm chicken broth instead of gatorade ;).
Ironman Mont-Tremblant Race Report
The Swim
Fog caused officials to delay the start time an hour but this happened in increments of 15minutes and added to the typical anxiety that an Ironman brings. The rolling start format put me in the water around 7:50am with a group of swimmers who expected to come out of the water between 1:20-1:25. The water was clean, clear-ish and cool (73.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Some visibility issues persisted for the first 30 minutes into the race as the fog made it impossible to see from buoy to buoy. I had to sight off the mob of swimmers in front of me which caused uneasiness but nevertheless got me to the turn-around buoy on schedule. As I made my 1st of 2 right-hand turns, my right quad locked up. I took about 30 seconds to turn on my back, relax and float, before the cramp subsided enough for me to crawl gingerly so that I could resume the swim. The entire course was a simple out and back and after about an hour and fifteen minutes I could see the swim-out. Upon arriving at the swim out I also began to see the sandy bottom of the lake which meant I was close and could start thinking about my transition. Official swim time—1:22:39
T1
This was my 1st Ironman-branded race so I wasn’t too familiar with transition protocol but the volunteers made things simple from a procedural perspective. Wetsuit peelers made quick work of my Roka Maverick Pro neoprene suit and I headed quickly to the tent to grab my transition bag filled with my helmet, headband, sunglasses, bike shoes and solid nutrition (honey stinger waffles). Official T1 time—7:46
The Bike
The 2-loop bike course consisted mainly of rollers for the first 80% of each loop with the last 20% presenting the most difficult climbing challenge I’ve ever ridden. I was surprised with how crowded the bike course would be, especially in the first hour of the bike, making it difficult to avoid the standard drafting rules that come with every race. The volume of cyclists did clear up little by little but as a larger triathlete I had to be cognizant of when the big descents were since I passed most cyclists during these sections, especially the no-passing zones so I wouldn’t have to use my brakes in order to comply with the course rules. I was aiming to stay in zone two for the entire bike course (145-167 watts) but after averaging 18mph for the 1st two hours I realized that I’d been focusing too much on my average speed and the result was slightly overcooking myself during this stretch. At about mile 50 (km 80) the leg cramps (in both quads and hamstrings) returned and this time I was in a much more compromising position since I couldn’t exactly stop pedaling and risk falling over on a steep incline. After pedaling through the pain, I made sure I stayed on schedule with my nutrition, especially my electrolytes. I stopped briefly for my special needs bag which contained a bottle of Fluid and a caramel-filled chocolate muffin that I included based on coach’s suggestion. After only less than a minute at the special-needs station I was back on the course and hopeful the muscle cramping wouldn’t return. About 75 miles (120km) into the bike, I got flagged for drafting by an on-course official. The nearest penalty tent was over 15 miles away and by the time I arrived to serve my 5-minute penalty and dismounted my bike to try and relax, both of my legs locked up due to the cramping. My contact also fell out, which happens occasionally when I lose the breeze created by the bike and my sweat rate increases. I always bring extra contacts in my saddle bag and 5 minutes was more than enough time to pop in a fresh lens. After serving the penalty, I paced myself and tried to stay in my happy place (zone 2) but I was still dealing with the muscle cramps in my legs that seemed to return every 5 minutes. I tried to cycle through what I could and carefully rest during the more severe bouts. One more time through the gauntlet that is the last 20% of the loop and I was back to T2. Official Bike time– 6:50:37
T2
Immediately upon unclipping from my pedals and dismounting my bike, my diaphragm locked up with the most severe muscle cramp of the day. All I could do was stay still and wait for the pain to subside enough for me to make it to the transition tent. Once inside, I headed straight for the chicken broth tank and drank two cups before passing through the changing tent, throwing on my running shoes and changing headbands. Official T2 time—8:01
The Run
I was aiming for a pace between 10:00 and 10:30 for the first 6 miles and although I was fatigued from a long day, I was nearly hitting my pace with my HR in a manageable low zone-2 range. My muscles were tight and I had a pins-and-needles feeling in my feet that I wasn’t used to, but I had trained for these feelings and I knew that at a certain point, it would subside and I’d start to feel better. But alas, my nemesis for the day (muscle cramps) would return and make it impossible to run causing my legs to lock up at even the shortest shuffle. So I started to walk and hoped that with enough bananas, Gatorades and salt packs, I could get ahead of this limitation. A couple hours of walking got me back to the end of the first loop which consists of a winding downhill, allowing me run, albeit slowly. I realized that I was able to run the downhills and that became my new plan. Somewhere along the 2nd-loop, aid stations started serving chicken broth, which by that point was the only cure to my ailment. This special elixir enabled me to run for about a mile at a time and I pieced together run/walk strategy throughout the second loop as the sun set completely and I attacked the pitch-black course that was dotted with intermittent spotlights along the path. With about 5km to go, the goal of becoming an Ironman seemed so close that the pain seemed to subside and allow me to run the final stretch as I pushed my heart rate into zone 5. The star marks the point with less than 4 miles left when I threw caution and pain to the wind and left it all on the course. Official Run time—05:52:35
Boring Race Details
Wake-up Time: 4am
Breakfast: 2 pieces of toast, almond butter, fresh mango, electrolyte drink, banana
Wetsuit: Roka Maverick Pro
Watch: Garmin Fenix 5x
Bike: Felt B16
Wheels: Blackwell Research Carbon Tubulars (50/90)
Gearing: 50/36 & 11/25
Bike Computer: Garmin Edge 520
Nutrition Plan: 250 Calories per hour (Honey Stinger Waffles, Fluid, Cliff Blocks)
On-course nutrition: Gatorade endurance, bananas, CHICKEN BROTH, salt packets, pretzels, 1 cup of red bull
Running Shoes: Saucony Kinvara 9s
What I wish I’d planned for: Muscle Cramps
What I wish I’d brought: salt tablets
Best Sherpa: Taylor Mittendorf
Overall takeaway: The training and sacrifice were worth it. I’ll never forget the feeling of finishing the race, running down the shoot and hearing my name called.