Okay, so the preface...I signed up for my first "ironman" (non M Dot event Iron distance) in early June. First week of July the poop hit the fan in my thirteen year relationship, one day I have a home, my own money, yadda yadda yadda. The next I am living in my buddies basement out of a bag of clothes I grabbed from the dryer (and the bike shorts air drying) with my dog and bike in tow...not the ideal three months before your first ironman I am thinking! So the summer was a bit shady, got all my long stuff in but was hit and miss with some stuff. I am now settled in a new place with my new partner, my former training partner, who was also going through the big D. She was signed up for the same race to do her first half, so in the mess of our lives this summer, we desperately struggled to fit in our training and work through separations and find a place to live. I also gained three kids in the process, whole new experience for me...So on the flight up, I convinced myself I had the training in, was healthy and fit and ready. The day before the race was fairly high stress, nerves and such, plus we farted around Montreal exploring and getting gels and CO2 etc. Ate big two days before and the day before morning allowed a few more carbs than normal. Nutrition strategy was a gel every hour (Gu Roctane and Hammer espresso with caffiene) plus hammer perpetuem mixed with hammer heed, drank 2250ml on the bike, 1500 on the run, stopped eating at about 28k on the run. When my guts broiled I had bagels and bananas from feed and I tried some water melon early in the heat of the run. It wasn't bad, but I didn't have more than 2 pieces cause I was nervous what my gut would do)
Race start was seven am at the Olympic Rowing Basin in Montreal. It was a two lap swim in basically a giant outdoor pool. The swim was solid, kept a comfortable but smooth pace, didn't push overly, but tried to ride as many feet as I could to minimize energy output. I got through transition in 1:17, moderately long transition, so decent swim. Transitioned smoothly and calmly to bike the F1 grand prix Gilles Villeneuve circuit for 42 laps of the 4k course. Wow! This was amazing! There were sprints and oly's and half people out there all day, so so fast! I held on to a comfortable pace, keeping the marathon in the back of my mind. My gf rode about 70k with me as we were staggered starts and out together for most of her ride. The last thirty were rugged as there is no real reason to stand and change position on that course, so I was uncomfortable positionally. Last five laps I was only thinking about the marathon...I had only done one and it sucked, so I didn't really know what to expect. 6:07 off the bike, mellow transition making sure I was all together and settled to take on what I expected to be the biggest challenge of the day.
So started out running comfortably, short strides but high tempo. I left my garmin behind on purpose because I didn't want to pressure myself. I knew the last ten k would suck worse if I gunned the first thirty! It was 9 laps around the basin, so first five laps I ran steady, no walks, very comfortable, caught four or five people who blasted me on the bike and felt good about that. Lap 6 I started walking the water stops. Lap 7 I said to my pit crew in the start finish that I could tell it was about to get a bit tougher as I was mentally starting to crash and feeling a bit like I didn't want to be there anymore...lap 8 I held together and 9 was rugged, but I ran to the finish line at a good solid pace for the last couple of km's and hit the line in 12:34:34, finishing in daylight and in the area of my dream time of 12h. My marathon was 5:02 and the whole thing was good enough for 2 AG, top half of everyone. I was thrilled! I flew home the next day expecting to be in hard shape, but recovered well enough to run 5k Tuesday and hit the gym this morning back to normal!
So now time to face my "new" life and live life like an Ironman! Thanks for reading!