IRONMAN MONT-TREMBLANT 2019: MY RACE REPORT
The journey to my first Ironman started 8.5 years ago, with my first of 2 full ACL tears, which ultimately got me back into swimming and, eventually, riding a bike to work. With some good influences from some triathletes in my office, I gave Triathlon a shot. At the end of my now 5th race season, I faced my toughest test ever: Ironman Mont-Tremblant. Long story short, I made it, finishing in the daylight. Below is my shot at a race report.
Thursday, August 15 — Travel to Canada:
Mont-Tremblant, here we come! Butterflies swirling in my stomach, my wife and I departed the South Jersey Shore at 7a, ready for the long drive ahead. With a few pit stops along the way, including a stop at Five Guys in Plattsburgh. There, we met a friendly Canadian motorcyclist who led us away from the main customs clearance (where, he informed us, there was an hour-long wait) to a much less traveled one in Hemmingford — being 3rd car in line was a huge time-saver — thanks, kind stranger!
We arrived at the Ritz Carlton for our overnight stop in Montreal at around 5p (10 hour trip all in). A bottle of champagne and thoughtful note wishing me luck in my Ironman race were waiting in our room. Easy 5 stars (check my more fulsome review on TripAdvisor, plus a review of an amazing dessert spot we hit up, Mr. Puffs). Great start to the trip!
Friday, August 16 — Arrival in Mont-Tremblant/Race check in:
After a delicious breakfast buffet at the Ritz, we hit the road around 10a, and arrived in Mont-Tremblant around noon. Our room at the Westin was ready early (thank you Marriott Bonvoy status!), and we were taken to our suite with a balcony that overlooked the village — which felt like the make believe fairytale land at a Six Flags park, or even Disney Land, no joke — as well as the final race aid station and approach to the finish line. Awesome!
Race check in and Ironman Village were a short 3–5 minute walk thru the village, along what, on Sunday, would mark the end of the first run loop and, later, the final leg of what (hopefully) would be my moment of glory/agony. Check-in went smoothly, with a nominal line of fellow racers waiting to complete legal waivers (signing away any right we — or our loved ones, in the event of ultimate disaster — have to sue; my wife doesn’t care for the morbid point, as a litigation lawyer, I can’t help it). Ironman Village was nicely organized, and of course I made my obligatory trek thru the merch shop, plopping down $300 for a tri top, short sleeve, trucker hat, and jacket, but I don’t think I’m the only one who can’t resist!
Then, a quick 10-mile out and back on Montee Ryan, to test out the first stretch of Sunday’s bike leg. It felt good.
After that came the Ironman welcome banquet. The banquet is worth doing — good motivational speakers and video, plus FREE food (well, we DID pay hundreds to register. The chicken and pasta were solid). The athlete’s meeting immediately followed, and was informative and helpful. We closed the evening with mini golf and a soak/stretch in the outdoor hot tub at the Westin.
Saturday, August 17 — Bike check in:
Last day before the hardest day of my life. After complimentary continental breakfast (thanks again Marriot Bonvoy status), wife and I went for a brisk 3 mile out and back along the start of the run course, including the fearsome first hill I’d read so much about. That hill alone kept my wife’s legs sore the next several days; I’d have to face it twice on race day. Ugh. A brisk 1500 yards in Lac Tremblant followed — last pre-race workout complete.
Next, we checked my bike and bike/run bags in at transition — easy peasy.
My wife also got a motivational message for tomorrow video-recorded. More on that later!
Then a special needs bag run to the grocery store just outside of town. Meals were chicken fingers from St. Hubert (a Canadian chain) for lunch, and the usual pre-race pasta dinner (spaghetti bolognese) from La Pizzateria — loved the meal! Another hot tub soak/stretch followed, then special needs bags prep, then bed. Big day tomorrow!
Sunday, August 18 — RACE DAY!!:
· Wakeup/transition set up
Alarm went off at 4:33a. Fortunately, I slept well. Breakfast was yogurt, coffee, and a microwaved sausage McMuffin. Two productive bathroom trips later, I was on my way to transition, special needs bags in hand. Transition set up was once again painless, leaving me plenty of time to get 10 good minutes of stretching in before heading to the swim start at 615a.
· Swim — 2.4 miles, 1:07:44, 66th age group (out of 214), 428th overall (out of 2,230)
I walked into the swim start on the Lac Tremblant beachfront as the Canadian national anthem was wrapping.
Swimmers were well-organized in corrals, self-seeded by estimated swim time. A bit intimidated by the moment, and also mindful to not push too hard on the first 1/13 of my race, I lined up in the 1:15:00 to 1:20:00 corral.
Soon enough, the starting fireworks shot off, and KONA pros Cody Beals & Lionel Sanders were in the water kicking off the race. 10 or so minutes later, it was my turn. With a quick prayer for the strength to perform to my physical capabilities, I was in the water with 2,230 other swimmers.
The swim was a single loop, 1+ miles out, small swim crossways, then 1+ miles back. It was quickly apparent I’d seeded myself too conservatively, as I passed swimmers left and right, easily 100 total. To avoid the clutter, and never finding the “benefit” of swim drafting worth the risk of kicks to the head, I stayed to the outside. The strategy worked, and other than a few swimmers zig-zagging across my sightline, I had a very clean swim. Relaxed like in training, but steady and relentless. Only minor fogging of my goggles, so sighting was never an issue (unlike my 2018 AC 70.3 zig-zag mess).
My Garmin Forerunner 935 buzzes every 500 yards, so I knew I was making great time with ~8 minute splits. Before I knew it, I was at Turn 1, then completed Turn 2, then was on my way back. The good splits kept coming, and soon I could see the exit. There is a long shallow stretch leading to the exit, but I swam as long as possible, and left the water with a 1:07:44, and a big smile on my face. With minimal exertion, I’d killed that swim!
Random swim notes:
- Small bummer that the pre-race jet plane flyby didn’t happen — too much morning fog. Oh well.
- Lac Tremblant water temp was ~72 degree — absolutely perfect. Though brownish in color, the water is so clear you can see the bottom of the lake.
- No nutrition pre-swim.
· T1–9:28
As soon as you reach the top of the stairs, tens of wetsuit-stripping volunteers beckon; I was on my butt with my wetsuit ripped off in an uber-efficient matter of seconds. Then we jogged along a carpeted path of several hundred meters, with throngs of enthusiastic spectators cheering the whole way. Electric!
After a port-o-potty stop, into the male changing tent I went. I changed into my bike shorts and zip-up top. For normal triathlons, one tri outfit is obvi the only way to go. But with 112 miles on the saddle coming, I needed as much butt padding as possible. Extra seconds/minutes in transition be damned! Quick walk (not chancing a slip on my cleats) from the tent to the bike. A smooch from my wife on the way was a great bonus! Minor hiccup as I clumsily dropped my bike approaching the exit, but a kind volunteer helped gather my stuff, and I was on my way.
· Bike — 112 miles, 6:23:39, 134th age group, 1,043rd overall
The segment I’d feared most; I race as a Clydesdale, and it’s the one discipline I never competed in growing up (as opposed to competitive swimming thru age 14, and running my whole life playing high school/college basketball & football). Also, my “hill” workouts in the Jersey Shore consist of back-and-forths over the causeway bridges. Plus some hills on Zwift (including a ride up Alp-du-Zwift). So my priority here was course and bodily management.
The course is 2 hilly but scenic loops, with what my Garmin says was over 9,900 feet in elevation. From transition we spilled onto Montee Ryan, the hilly, ~10 mile road into/out of the village. Then we turned onto highway 117, an out and back that makes up the longest stretch of the leg. There were some challenging up-hills followed by super-fast downhills, on which I easily exceeded 40+ mph (max speed of 43.9 mph) — an occasional crosswind made a couple of those REALLY scary. After the turnaround on 117, I soon bunched up with tens of fellow bikers, and we slugged up the steepest hill so far. Once conquered, the rest of the ride on 117 felt basically like it did on the way out. From there, back onto Montee Ryan, and then…
…onto the (in)famous Chemin Duplessis, about which I’d heard so much. Don’t get me wrong, there are 2–3 uphills that are quite taxing and, for the first time on Loop 1, forced me out of the saddle. But they’re mixed in with some really fast downhills and, when I hit the turnaround on Duplessis, I thought “that was it?!” Not easy, but manageable. Back into town from there, where I got some much needed support from the spectators lining the village fences, then onto Loop 2.
First a special needs pit stop. I’m the only one I saw actually get off the bike to sit and scarf half a ham/cheese sandwich and grips of flavor-blasted goldfish. I definitely wasted time here in hindsight, but like I said, bodily maintenance was the name of my bike game.
Not surprisingly, Loop 2 was tougher than Loop 1, with the heat picking up a bit. Many of the rolling hills on 117 seemed to play tricks on me; I was fast on what looked like uphills, working hard but going slower on what looked like downhills. Who knows? After not leaving the saddle once on 117 in Loop 1, I left saddle on ALL the big hills on Loop 2. But I still felt good enough, ready to take on Duplessis again. Again, every uphill was out of the saddle, but then adversity struck — on one of the little downhill breaks at around mile 103–105, a bug hit my thumb. Kind of stung. Then I hit an uphill, and then the stinging happened again. And again. I screamed, pulled off my glove, and found a BEE inside. Yes, a BEE got into the millimeter-sized gap between the edge of the glove and the skin of my thumb. “HOLD IT TOGETHER,” I thought; don’t toss the glove, and damn sure don’t stop or, worse, fall. And so I held it together as the sting started to bleed and swell. At the turnaround I hit up the medical tent, got the sting cleaned and bandaged, and was told to monitor my breathing and any bodily swelling — luckily no issues there.
With the bee sting debacle managed, it was back down Duplessis for the final 5–10 miles on the bike. Made it home free, once more absorbing the energy of the throngs of cheering spectators. I ended with a 17.52/mile average (all stops included) that I can live with ALL day every day on this course at this distance.
Random bike notes:
-Nutrition: 1 energy bar, 4 Cliff gel tabs, 2 Gu’s, 1/2 banana per loop; 1/2 ham sandwich, goldfish at special needs.
-A LOT of racers complained about the BASE/water mix served on-course. I trained with it and don’t mind the flavor at all, but did find it made me thirsty. Still, after downing my own 2 bottles of watered-down Gatorade, I stopped to fill up with BASE. Predictably, it made me thirsty. So I hit the next stop, and cut the BASE with more water — not good enough. So I hit the NEXT stop and cut it again. Better, but point taken — no more BASE today; but the thirstiness would bite me on the run.
- Good thing I’d read about pedaling thru downhills to avoid blowing over. I totally thought I was tipping at one point, and was scared to death.
- I have changed 1 bike tube in my whole life. It took me an hour. I’m not handy. Woe is me. I had the equipment for it, but fortunately, it never came into play. That said, if I’d had an issue, there were several roving bike techs on the course helping riders, so a flat is not a game-ender.
- To the above point, the road surface is awesome; very smooth, and what few cracks there were, were well-marked with orange paint. Top notch course.
· T2–5:52
Handed my bike to a volunteer caddie and walked to the changing tent. Another full outfit change, because there’s no running in those padded bike shorts. MAJOR mistake made here in not re-applying body glide to prevent chafing (well, to be accurate, the mistake was made in my planning phase). That would come back to BITE; but that was later. I left the tent feeling as well as I possibly could, putting aside my swollen bee-stung thumb. With another kiss from my wife outside the tent, off I ran.
· Run — 26.2 miles, 4:47:01, 114th age group, 905th overall
Brick runs are, for whatever reason, a strength . Even after that bike, my legs felt fine enough to get into a good pace on the run. That hill I ran with my wife? Not a big deal. The rollers after? Also not bad. And as the first miles eased by at a clip of ~9:20, visions of a sub-12 hour race-time entered my head. But even from mile 1, the splits crept steadily up. After mile 8, I never broke another sub-10-minute mile. After mile 11, I stopped running uphills; despite telling myself that if I start walking, there won’t be a stop to it, my legs just couldn’t do it. I guess Duplessis really did soften me up after all!
The run is 2 hilly loops, with lots of nice forest scenery the whole way, including some lakefront running. As I approached the village, I passed a big screen. On it, they showed a video from each racer’s support team, shot the prior day in Ironman village. I was almost past the screen when finally my wife popped up, wearing big sunglasses and a Boa, holding a sign, screaming “GO ROMAN!!” before literally almost jumping off the screen. So silly! And boy, it was GREAT to get a bit of pep and a giggle at the same time! Up one final hill, and there was my wife in person, waiting to cheer me as I passed the Westin. She tagged along and chatted as I hit the last aid station before making my first run thru the village.
And let me tell you, that run thru the village gave me goose bumps. The atmosphere is PURE electricity. Fans on both sides of the fences, all giving high fives. Amazing. But then you reach a fork in the road. You see it front and center in the top pic. Left to the finish. Right for the second loop. The agony! So cruel. I forked right, and began loop 2.
After the high running thru the village, it was tough knowing I still had a whole 13 mile loop to go. And at a slower pace now that I was no longer running uphill. But hey, this is what I signed up for. Add to it that somewhere around this point, the chafing started. Bad. Also, the bee sting was swelling, so I had to stop for some ointment. Later, I would have to stop for some anti-chafing lube. And the thirst from the bike? Did not subside the whole run. Did not feel like dehydration, just an unquenchable thirst. Other than some Cliff gel tabs and orange slices, there was no more food for me. Just ice water and iced coke, at almost every aid station after the first few miles. It got to the point I was worried about the all-liquid diet and what it might do to my belly — luckily, nothing ever came on that front.
What did come, however, was energy sapping from my legs. At some point after mile 14, I started walking even rollers. And then started a 50–50 walk-run every mile.
I suspect most people have a point in Ironman where they’d love nothing more than to hop on a medic golf cart and end it. Mine came around mile 16–17. Quickly shut out, but there it was; comforted by the realization that “hey, I could just walk the rest of this.” But all I wanted any more was to be DONE. HOME. NOT on this godforsaken-ly hilly run course! And walking the whole way, at a 15+ minute/mile clip, wouldn’t get me there for another near-3 hours. FORGET THAT.
So on I kept with the 50–50 walk-run for the rest of the race. Thirsty and miserable. Lots of unhappy moans and groans along the way.
But as I kept going, I realized that even with a 5 hour marathon I would still break 13 hours on the race and finish in sunlight. And that was legit solace. And, lo and behold, the miles did keep ticking by. Suddenly it was less than 6 miles away. Then less than 5. Then 4. You get it. And then I was passing that big screen where 2+ hours ago I’d seen my wife’s support video; not showing any more, but I was now THAT close.
Almost to the village, almost on the home stretch. I ran the final uphill, passed the Westin, did not stop at the final aid station. Adrenaline from the crowd once again SURGING, I was now running as fast as at the start. Choking back tears as I began the final downhill. Pumping my fists, giving ALL the high fives, yelling out “YEA!!” all the while. Then I hit the fork, and this time I turned LEFT. In the day light. Just meters from the finish chute now, I extended my arms wide, as if embracing the finish line, tapped the clock as I crossed, and heard Mike Reilly say it: “Roman Galas, you are an IRONMAN.” Then found a private spot for a quick sob. The toughest single day’s exertion of my life complete; all the hard months (years) of training paid off. AMAZING day, amazing experience. One of the best athletic accomplishments of my life. And I loved it.
Random run notes:
-Nutrition: 4 Cliff gel tabs, 5–10 orange slices, 3–4 cups of chicken broth, too much ice water and iced Coke to count.
-Tossed my run special needs bag; too thirsty, motivated to not waste more time.
-The run hills were a much tougher animal for me, at least, than on the bike.
· Finish time 12:33:42, 113th age group, 872nd overall (top 39th percentile)
I could barely eat the post-race poutine, still too thirsty. I found my wife, and we trudged back to the hotel, only to realize I’d left the bike in transition. Back we went. High-fiving finishers the whole way; so cool to see and support other people finishing their own journeys. Closed the night with pizza at the Pizzateria (like the pasta, so good), and FaceTime with my parents, who were so proud. What a day, what a trip.
I close by expressing how grateful I am for this day, and everyone who helped me along the way. Thank you to the race organizers & volunteers. Thank you to my friends & fellow triathletes who got me into the sport and helped push me along the way. Thank you to my parents for their eternal support of my athletic endeavors, and for pitching in with our 14-month-old as needed. And biggest thanks to my wife, for (sometimes reluctantly) putting up with the hours of training, pitching in the most with our little sweetie, and supporting and cheering me on at the race. I love you!