Mont Tremblant 70.3

I just finished the Ironman 70.3 up in Mont Tremblant, Quebec and had a great day. Kelly and I arrived up here on Thursday night, picked up a car from my bike sponsor Argon 18 – which like their bikes was the fastest airport transition ever…  Thanks guys! We didn’t see much driving in from Montreal as it was midnight, but navigating via a Google map print out felt a little old school, but after a few wrong turns we made it to the amazing Mont Tremblant. The town in the winter is a ski resort which I could imagine is unbelievable beautiful, Kelly and I both felt we had left north America and were hanging out in the Swiss alps.

About a week ago Ironman announced that this race would be the venue for the Ironman 70.3 World Champs next year once it moves from Vegas and let me tell you, it was worth seeing the course first hand.

The swim was the usual 1.9km lake swim and there must have been 3 Aqua Sphere wetsuits in the front group. I snuck into 3^rd spot and settled in there for the duration while fellow kiwi Tom Davison led pretty much from start to finish.

There was a massive 1km run up to our bikes and Brent McMahon must have thought it was an ITU race cause he had the burners on full. But soon the front group formed and we had 6 guys up there. I tried to keep the pressure on as much as possible as I knew we had a few good runners further back in the field so I ended up leading most of the 90km super hilly bike, that was until Romain thought it would be good idea to attack me up the hills. I guess good on him for racing to his strengths, but after riding hard at the front that was the last thing I felt like responding to – especially in the last 20kms where it was near impossible to find any rhythm.

I was a little unsure if I had left too much out on the bike and the run was going to be a bit of a mystery. McMahon who has been having a great year went out strong, I managed to get on his shoulder and let him repay the favor. He set a good fast tempo and at the half way mark we had managed to close the gap to Romain who had built a minute lead coming off the bike. The run was basically 5km hilly, 10km on a gravel trail then 5km hilly to finish off. I think everyone struggled a little those last 5km.

I made my move with 2km to go and thought I would test the water and see what McMahon had in the tank and to be honest I was thankful when he didn’t react and come after me. There were still a couple good hills before the race was over but the adrenaline and the lively crowd gave my legs a little extra gas to take it out.

Now I am back in my routine of trying to recover as quickly as possible and nothing beats my 2XU compression Quads sleeves, socks and tights combo along with some Clif Bar Builders protein bars to get the legs back in shape for the Lubbock 70.3 race in Texas next weekend where Kelly and I are looking forward to catching up with our regular homestay out that way – the Holloways and catching up with the Bowstead boys.

Until next week

Au Revoir 

ITU Long Distance Triathlon* World Champs - Silver

Coming back to Europe to compete for the first time in 2 years was a bit of an experience. I was targeting the ITU long Distance Triathlon World Champs (4km Swim, 112km Bike & 30km Run) and was hoping to learn a bit more about myself and what I can do in the future to help me transition from the 70.3/ half ironman distance racing to full Ironman distance races which seem to hanging out just out of reach.

Due to the polar temperatures in Europe at the moment the organizers cancelled the swim and made the race a Duathlon (10km run, 90km bike & 20km run), not quite what I was coming to Europe to do but none the less a great opportunity to race the Euros on their home turf in what was sure to be a battle, both with the competition and the course which included a 8km climb up 600 Vertical Meters (1800 feet).

Coming here for an ITU World Championship event brought back memories of my very 1st world champs in Calais, France in 2000. That time it was actually for a duathlon and I finished off 19^th after a small crash on the bike. Unfortunately my French back then was probably better than it is now but hanging out with the New Zealand Age-group team here in Belfort made the trip a lot of fun. “Table for one” at races becomes old after a while…

I got to the start without having to many croissants in the lead up and was ready for the longest Duathlon of my life. The pace for the first run was not as fast as I was expecting but we still managed to separate the group and tire some of the uber biker’s legs. The ride seemed to be up and down with not many flat sections but thanks to the great roads we were flying over the course. There was a group of about 10 guys that hung together until the 45km mark, the bottom of the 8km, “Le Ballon” climb. Knowing how these guys can ride and with the Alps in their backyard I was a little nervous and wasn’t sure how I would stack up against them but I was determined to “bring it” the whole way. Bertrand Billard and Toft, the Dane took off at the bottom of the climb, I was positioned behind the race favorite, a Frenchman, Sylvan Sudrie who is a strong cyclist and I thought he was the man to watch. After 2km I moved in front and tried to keep the pressure on to limit my deficit to the leaders. Soon I had dropped Sudrie and I was clicking off the kilometers. I have a climb back home where I do my hill work, “The Quarry” which is a 15minute climb and as I was climbing I visualized sitting on my training partners wheels, Mike Northy and James Oram who are riding for Pro teams in Europe. I think they will be proud with how I climbed out there. The ascent and descent where definitely my favorite parts of the race this weekend. 

Descending through the fog and trying not to loose to much heat was a little hairy, I would have loved to have had someone who knew the roads to follow, but I was giving it a good crack.

Soon I road past Toft and with 5kms to go Dirk Bockel caught back up to me and was riding like a man possessed. Weaving through the narrow streets we came close to overshooting a few of the corners. I pulled out one of my signature transitions and was off trying to chase down the race leader Bertrand Billard who had the race of his life and went on to become the 2013 ITU World Long Distance Triathlon* Champion while I had to settle for the silver and Drik Bockel took the bronze. Although another world title would have been awesome I am pleased with how I raced and where my form is at the beginning of my season… and 2^nd to a Frenchman on French soil, not too bad!

Back to LA to thaw out for a few weeks, then next stop is the Mont Tremblant 70.3 in Quebec in 3 weeks but what I am most looking forward to is Kelly joining me in 10days.