Antoine Ledoux's Timberman Race Report

... or how to shave 35min off your Half Ironman time without shaving your legs.

So for those who did not know, 12 people from the MIT triathlon team were racing this weekend at Timberman 70.3 in NH. And it was a great weekend for everyone! 

On a personal point of view, I'm particularly happy about the race for several different reasons: I PR my swim, my bike AND my run on the HIM distance (and thus my overall time by 35min) and I had a LOT of fun with the team.

Instead of only talking about the race, I'll try to explain on how I managed in 3 seasons of triathlon to go from 6h06 (Mooseman 70.3 2011), then 5h38 (Mooseman 70.3 2012) and finally to 5h03 (Timberman 2013, including a 4min penalty... I'll talk about it later).

The three times in brackets are for the 3 HIM (2011, 2012 and 2013),

Swim (39:11 -> 32:38 -> 32:25)

The swim has always been a strength for me so I decided to focus on my bike this season. I was only training once a week for the swim which explains the same result as last year.

The swim went well, the buoys weren't very aligned when we got in the water an hour later so when I saw that I knew that sighting will be particularly important (bad sighting resulted in that terrible 39min swim in 2011).

The water was very clear so it was easy to spot people around you and then draft them. I drafted pretty well the first third of the race but then I lost the group as we were catching up people from the previous wave and I kind of ended up by myself from that point on. Which could have been avoided in order to waste less energy. On the other hand though, I sighted really well, and went straight to each buoy and literally turned around AT the buoy.

T1 (2:04)

Never take transitions as a zone to "rest and relax". It is part of the race and it is easy to pass people and improve your overall time.

My technique to have a great T1 is to kick hard the last 50yds of the swim to get the blood going in your legs, so that when you stand up and get out of the water you don't feel dizzy and you can run right away. I again passed a good 15-20 people on the run to T1 and used the wetsuit strippers to save some time too.

Also, I put socks on for the bike. I usually don't but because I was going to put them on for the run anyway I felt like putting them for the bike too for some extra comfort.

Bike (3:27:19 -> 3:15:37 -> 2:43:28)

I trained a lot on my bike last year during my IM training as it has always been my weakness and this year I replaced some of my swimming training with some more cycling. It looks like it paid off because I averaged 20.55mph on that course and cut more than 30min off my previous HIM bike time.

I still need to train on my bike, Especially for the climb. I think I have the endurance but I'm lacking strength and speed -> that is next season's goal for me.

The middle part of the race (the 106 road) was pretty flat and thus a good place for me to push hard in order to catch up on my poor hill climbing. I was doing good around mile 20 when two guys slowly passed me. They kind of slowed down after passing me and before I even realized it a motorbike from the race officials came right next to me and said 

" NUMBER 2211 YOU HAVE A RED CARD FOR DRAFTING YOU HAVE TO STOP AT THE PENALTY TENT TO SERVE YOUR TIME".

I couldn't believe it! I almost wanted to start an argument as I wanted to tell him that they had JUST passed me (according to the rules you have to be behind the guy for more than 30sec to get a draft penalty) but he and his mustache did not seem like the kind of person who wanted to argue... 

Anyway, that was complete BULLSHIT. And it really pissed me off. It also prevented me from going under 5h overall because I finished with a time of 5h03...

T2 (5:14 - 4min = 1:14)

So I had to wait for my 4min BS penalty in T2 with Mustache Guy #2. I took advantage of this forced break to stretch, eat a gel and drink the rest of my Gatorade left my water bottle.

Thanks to the stretching that I did in the Penalty BS Tent, I was able to fly through T2 in 1min14 and start my run really fast 7min15/mile. I averaged 7min20/mile on the first 3mi.

Run (1:56:18 -> 1:43:29 -> 1:40:18)

Pardon my french but... this is where the magic happens. I don't know how to describe it but I felt SO good the entire time. I was simply the happiest guy in the world on the run. I kept smiling, was not thinking about my legs and was just cruising the race. I passed 63 people overall on that run, including 7 in my age group.

I honestly don't think I effectively trained for the run enough over the past couple weeks, but this where I want to point out that the mental game with yourself can have a huge impact on your performance. At the end of the bike I remember telling myself "Yes Antoine, you are STRONG, you just rode 56mi and you still feel fresh, you know you can crush those 13.1mi, it's easy, it's not even a full marathon, this is so stupid, I don't even know why there is even a run after this, I'M GONNA KILL IT!".

I also get an incredible boost out of cheering for people (in case you had not noticed) and I cannot be thankful enough to all of you who were on the race with me. Morgan, Adam (to be pronounced A-dam), Ben, Cameron, Nick, Eleanor, Sam (kudos for literally yelling when I was passing lol), Ernest, Isabel, etc. You have no idea how much of a boost I get from it. And this is really why I love racing with people I know. It makes the race so many nicer and simply just fun.

I kept having positive thoughts in my head again and again. Each person has their won technique but I have a couple ones I can share: I always have some electronic background going on in my head. A good song that keeps playing in my head to stay pumped. I usually wake up on race morning with that song and listen to it on my ipod up until transition closes. I also think about who I'm going to see next (Adam, Ben, Cameron,...) and think about what I will tell them. And how happy I'm going to be when I will see them. I also think about the next aid station and how good that coke is going to taste. All those thoughts keep running in my head (no pun intended) and prevent negative thoughts like "oh shit I'm never going to finish - oh shit my legs hurt - oh shit I was swimming this morning - oh shit why do I do that to myself etc". 

Concerning my improvement for my time, I'd just say that I rarely missed a track training over the past year (either on Tuesday morning or some other time during the week depending on my schedule) and it really helped me to gain speed. Once again I think I really have a good endurance so speed and strength are my limiters and track workouts are a great way to improve those two limiters. If you want to improve your run there is no secret: it is the way to do it.

Quick note concerning aid stations: 

- I would take a cup of coke followed by a cup of water (to prevent the sugar taste to stay in my mouth) and it would really help me.

- I used those sponges every time to pour water on y chest and back. I messed up at one aid station and pour the water on my legs. It turned out to be a great mistake because it felt great (my legs would feel fresh with the wind instead of a rather uncomfortable burning sensation) and I kept pouring water on my legs to feel fresh at every aid station after that.

Conclusion: 

- Mental game with yourself is often underestimated but can be crucial especially on long distances such as HIM or IM.

- I will not shave my legs.

- This weekend was really fun.

See you soon for training,

Antoine

Ben Woolston's Timberman Race Report

TLDR: I finished, but felt awful afterwards, and would train differently next time.

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Timberman was my first half ironman distance race, and wow was it fun! Having a whole bunch of other MIT athletes and friends, as well as my dad and his triathlon training buddies there, made it a really memorable experience.

Swim (33 min)

The swim is usually the worst part of my races, but in this race I posted my fastest ever swim pace (my fastest sprint up to this point has been 1:45/100m, vs. 1:42 at Timberman). In retrospect I attribute this to two factors: 1) The water was crystal clear. This made it really easy to see the splash from feet of people in front of me, and I put a lot of effort into making sure I was always in someone else’s draft, which turns out to be really helpful. 2) Because I knew the race was going to be long, I wasn’t worrying about swimming as fast as I could, which I think made me more relaxed, and swim with better form and thus (ironically) faster. I remember getting to within 100 yds of shore and thinking “I can’t be done with the swim yet; I don’t feel like I’ve done any work!” I got out of the water not feeling at all dizzy or shaky (as I normally do) and ready to get to work on the bike.

T1 (Too slow to put up here)

My transition was slow. I think Antoine is right; that you can gain precious time in transition, but I was mostly concerned with making sure I had everything properly ready for my ride, and that I was sticking to my nutrition plan. I’m ashamed to say I sat down to put on my shoes and socks :/

Bike (2:27)

Even the morning of the race, I wasn’t sure what my pacing strategy was going to be for the bike leg. I knew this was the leg I could make up the most time on (with most of my training this year focused on improving bike fitness), but I was really worried about going too hard and putting myself into the red for the run. In the end I decided (on the suggestion of Stephen Shum) to follow the advice in Andrew Coggan’s book “Racing and Training with Power” to aim for 80% of my Functional Threshold Power. For me, this translates to about 240W. So, on the flat and downhill sections, I tried to keep my power around this mark, and on the hills (of which there were quite a few), my aim was to keep below my threshold power. I think this strategy worked quite well: I never once felt tired on the bike (even after the climbs), and my average heart rate stayed comfortably in the tempo range, with a few bumps up into the threshold region on the longer hills. I focused on staying in my aero tuck as much as possible, and then giving my shoulders and neck a rest by sitting up taller on the climbs, where the speed is much slower and aerodynamics don’t count for as much. I think the biggest thing I noticed on the bike was how much cheating was going. In contrast to Antoine’s unfortunate situation, I witnessed several people actively drafting each other for minutes at a time. In fact, for about 5 miles of the race, there was someone sitting right on my rear wheel! He stayed there until someone passed me, and then hopped onto his wheel instead. I tried to get a look at his race number, but couldn’t see it clearly. By the end of the bike leg my shoulders were getting tired from being tucked in for so long, but other than that I was feeling pretty good. I’d eaten a gel once every 45 minutes and timed it so I drained my electrolyte drink (2 bottles) just before getting into transition. I made sure that I didn’t eat anything within half an hour of finishing the bike, since I tend to have uncomfortable stomach issues if I run with a full (or even partially full stomach). Average power: 232W, average speed: 22.9mph. So far, so good…

T2 (~ 3 minutes)

Nothing too much to report here. I changed socks for the run, put on sunglasses, and managed to remember to attach my race number belt (most of the time I seem to manage to forget this).

Run (1:48)

This is where it got hard… The first seven miles of the run felt great. My legs felt good, I was keeping a high cadence, and I was happy with the pace I was running. But round about mile 7, I started to feel… awful. It’s hard to describe: I’ve ‘bonked’ on the bike before, and it didn’t feel like that. I’ve had GI issues while running before (mainly caffeine related), and it didn’t feel like that either. It just felt like suddenly I had absolutely no energy left. My positive attitude was starting to fail, and I couldn’t believe that the mile markers were showing up so infrequently! It didn’t feel like I needed to eat (and I was wary to put anything in my stomach), so I was a little at a loss to know how to fix it. In the end I thought to myself “OK, you’ve only got 6 miles to go, just think of it as two 5K runs.” This seemed to really help. I’d also read other people’s race reports with similar feelings at about this point, and they all seemed to say it would get better if I just pushed through it. So I kept running, but it was getting harder and harder to keep turning over my feet. I think I actively groaned when I rounded a corner to find the major hill of the race waiting for me. In the aid stations, I started walking, taking the sponges they were handing out and trying all sorts of things (water, Ironman Perform, etc.) to make myself feel better (none of which really worked). I kept looking at my watch, doing the math, and I realized that, even if I kept up the terrible pace I was currently running, I could still finish in under 5 hours (my stretch goal), as long as I just kept running. To cut a long story short, there were many many times when I almost stopped, but somehow didn’t let myself. At mile 12, I knew I’d done it: The hills were over, and the last shreds of adrenaline gave me a little kick to finish of the race.

Final time: 4:55:50.

Post-Race

I might have been running and smiling when I crossed the finish line, but it was only about 10 seconds afterwards that the effort from the run caught up to me, and I started to feel terrible. As my Dad said, “You looked like death”. I guzzled down two water bottles (I guess I was pretty dehydrated), said only a few words to the other people who had already finished (I wasn’t in the mood for talking), and went and sat in the lake for a while. My legs hurt, my muscles were tight -- I was completely drained. It took a solid 30 minutes before I started to feel even a little better, and another 30 before I felt able to force some food down. Basically the whole rest of the day I didn’t feel good at all, and my muscles were so stiff I could barely walk (something which lasted until… today, actually). But, I had done it.. that was the important thing.

What would I do differently next time? I think what happened on the run was that I had completely drained my glycogen reserves by about half way through. (At the point where it got bad, it was ~ 3.5 hrs in, which as I understand it is about as long as your glycogen can possibly sustain you). I have a tendency to do too much of my training at too high an intensity - I’d like to get more efficient at burning fat (a virtually inexhaustible energy supply), and being able to do longer efforts (most of my training rides are never more than 4 hours, and I rarely run more than  6-7 miles most of the time). In the future, I think I’ll focus on longer training sessions at lower intensity, to make a long race like this one more manageable.

I’m looking forward to doing this race again next year, and hopefully at some point the full Ironman, though given how I felt most of this week, that is clearly a while away… :)

I just want to thank all the MIT people that were up there this weekend, racers and non-racers alike. Seeing people on the run and hearing Zuzka and Isa and others cheering was probably the only reason I finished!

Escape from Alcatraz 2013

Escape from Alcatraz 2013

Well, right now I’m sitting on the plane back to BOS from SFO and reflecting on the torture that was yesterday’s Escape from Alcatraz. While the event normally takes place in June, it was rescheduled this year to accommodate the America’s Cup yacht racing series in San Francisco this summer. The course consists of a 1.5 mile swim from a ferry just off Alcatraz Island (the site of the notorious prison, from which no one ever escaped successfully), a 0.5 mile run from the beach to the transition area, a hilly 18 mile bike ride along the coast, and an 8 mile run with hundreds of stairs. Yes, stairs. Course map and elevation map available at: http://www.escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com/Race_Info/course.htm

The Swim:

Oh, the infamous swim… From the transition area, we were taken by charter bus to Pier 3, where we boarded the San Francisco Belle and set out at 6:30 AM. Everyone cheered when we felt the engines roar to life and start to push us away from the dock. The ferry ride took us out around Alcatraz, for a sightseeing tour of the island. This was quite the scene, with some 2000 people clad in wetsuits preparing for the swim. As the start time approached, they gave us weather reports: 4 knot current going westward toward the Golden Gate, water at 51F (10.5C for you metric folks), and a wind coming out of the west that was ranging from 15-25 knots. Not exactly ideal conditions, but apparently there was a system off the coast that was churning up the water and providing swells of 3-5 feet. When the clock struck 7:30, the unload started. All of these 2000+ contestants jumped off the ferry in the span of about 6 minutes. The neoprene cap and wetsuit made the temperature of the water bearable, though maybe that was because the waves were a bit distracting. The general consensus was that the swim was quite comparable to being in a washing machine, with one competitor (a Chicago police officer) saying afterward: “I’d rather chase down drug dealers with guns than jump in that water again!” Quite a few people were picked up by the Golden Gate Bridge and returned to the course… I can’t say I remember much about coming out of the water, but there were volunteers in the mini-transition to help us shed our wetsuits before we put on shoes for the run to the main transition area.

The Bike:

Sure, only 18 miles, how bad could it be? This is San Francisco, so…  The course was out and back, so I’ll just talk about the trip out with some notes about the return. The initial mile and change was mostly flat, heading into a nice headwind. Aero bars would have been helpful for this portion of the ride, but would have been mostly unused for over 70% of the ride. The first ascent up to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge presented some challenges, but I was mostly able to stay in the saddle for the full ascent. The road was rough on the descent from this and I managed to lose a bottle as it bounced from one of my cages, though I had no hope of retrieving it at over 30 mph. This was immediately followed by a sharp right turn and a shorter uphill and an extremely steep downhill with a sharp left onto another downhill (this particular combination resulted in a lot of walkers on the return leg). From there, it was a nice flat stretch along the beach with some gorgeous surf (pretty to look at, but not to swim through), then into Golden Gate Park for some cruising and then looping back around. Overall, I managed to stay in the saddle more on the ascents than on the descents.

The Run:

Stairs. Lots of stairs. Aid stations were located at every mile marker, making it not matter so much that you probably used all your gel on the bike leg. This course was also out and back, with one notable exception – more on that later. The first 1.9 or so miles were flat and really quite reasonable, then just past the 2^nd aid station, the course turned and showed its first challenge. This was in the form of a rather long hill that counted for a 250 ft climb (with plenty of stairs) over the span of a mile that also passed under the Golden Gate Bridge. The marker at mile 3 started a descent down to the beach over the span of about 0.5 miles for a turnaround at mile 4. The return on the beach was slightly longer than the outbound leg and stopped at the base of the Sand Ladder. What is this Sand Ladder? Stairs. Lots of Stairs. Over 400, allegedly, though I was too tired to even think about keeping track. It was only on seeing the mile 5 aid station (also the mile 3 aid station) that I felt confident of actually finishing the race. Most of the ascents and descents for the run were narrow, so opportunities for passing other runners were few and far between, with the exception of the flat portions along Baker Beach or Chrissy Field.

Overall, the race was an amazing experience with fantastic views of San Francisco. With all its hills, the course was extremely challenging and seemed to test everyone involved, including the current reigning Ironman champions and the 2012 Olympics silver medalist, though I imagine they had an easier time of it than the rest of us. Unfortunately, as some of you may have already seen, the event also made the national news for a reason that none of us ever hopes to see in our sport. It seems that a competitor suffered a massive cardiac event toward the beginning of the swim and did not survive in spite of rescue efforts by the event staff and emergency responders. I only learned about this from the news and so can’t really comment any further on this other than to remind everyone to make sure that you’re healthy enough for such competitions before pushing yourself. That said, stay healthy, stay safe, and keep going!

--Jeff

How to PR at an Olympic Triathlon

Title: How to PR at an Olympic Triathlon

Subtitle: Why cycling fitness is king in triathlon

Subsubtitle: and practicing triathlons makes perfect.

-Sam Nicaise

 

As an intro, I PRed today at Lake George, an olympic distance triathlon.  I raced this race last year, and so this was my first reasonable race to compare "the old me" vs. the "new me".  I was gunning for to go sub 2:20, and I broke that mark by over a minute!  I was still mid-pack in the Collegiate males, but this is over 2 minutes faster than any other olympic-distance tri I have done, and over 7 minutes faster than last year!  All this, and I have only ran like 40 miles total in the year of 2012!  Here are my take aways:

 

1) Sleep your excuses away: I was nervous going into the race...I have had a mild cold / allergies (I really don't know which) all week, meaning that I haven't been able to sleep too well.  I thought this might inhibit my performance, but I did my best to recover anyways. I wasn't feeling much better going into Thursday night, so I sucked it up and took some nyquil to knock me out.  I got in a solid 9 hours of sleep on the night-before-the-night-before.  We didn't get much sleep the night-before (Friday night), but this didn't matter.  I woke up this morning ready to rock it, and I think the good sleep on Thursday night was super important.  Not new news, but another great way to prove the validity of what everyone preaches.  The night-before-the-night before...sleep!  Aint no sickness/allergies getting in my way.

 

2) Find some feet: Today I PRed in my swim!  Have I been swimming much?  Nope.  Should I have been?  Yep.  Am I actually faster?  Nope.  But!  I did something I have never been able to do before.  I found the feet of someone slightly faster than me, and stuck it the whole second half of the swim.  I was able to draft off this awesome BU guy all the way back to the beach today.  Not only was I therefore faster personally, but I also got out of the water with a lot more conserved energy.  As much as fitness matters, being good at triathlon makes perfect. I have been getting better and better at OWS and drafting with each race, and today was a huge improvement.  I learned how to find a good swimmer, how to surge my speed to stay on their feet, and how to sight well enough to not lose them for 0.4 miles.  Win!

 

3) Do your transitions right: Easier said than done, but today: were some of my speediest transitions.  Practice and repetition makes all the difference.  

 

4) Get fit on the bike, and then use it wisely: Over the past year, I have put a lot of work into my bike speed.  In April 2011, my olympic bike speed was 3 mph slower than it was today.  I can't say I have made the improvements that I have 100% wanted, but no matter what, it has paid off.  Cycling in triathlon is hugely important, and is possibly the most important sport in collegiate triathlon racing (plug: join the cycling team, and race with them!  It will get you faster at triathlon, hands down.).  That was obvious today.  I not only put up an incredibly fast bike time for myself, but I was able to do at a relatively low effort level (more on that later).  The bike fitness I have gain hasn't only made me faster, but has allowed me to conserve energy for the run instead of killing my legs (see TriNats April 2012).  Prior to today, I wasn't sure that all my work on the bike was worth it, but I can tell you now that it makes all the difference.

 

5) Non-drafting?  Ha, that's a joke: What we do is non-drafting triathlon, right? Well that is a joke.  The official rules state that you must be 7m behind the front wheel of the person in front of you.  At 7m, you can get a huuuuuuuge draft!  Learn to take advantage of that draft!  I saved a ton of energy today by soaking up the drafter of a handful of generous (and slightly crazy) guys along the bike course.  Find that 6'6" guy who likes to hammer down the hills.  That way, you don't have to do any work!  Did it test my fitness?  No, but sometimes it is more about being good at triathlon, instead of being fit.

 

6) Be a skinny (but smart) bitch: Like I said, prior to today's race, I had ran likely a total of 40 miles in 2012 due to an injury.  And I still put up a run PR!  How?  Well I am obviously not a better runner than I was before.  I think it had to do with 2 things.  1) being able to conserve so much energy on the swim (because of drafting) and the bike (because of my better bike fitness and drafting).  I went into the first 2 miles of the run rocking it!  The middle two miles were rough, but I was able to knock out a 6:15 minute mile at the very end of the race.  I simply had enough energy in the tank!  and 2) be a skinny bitch and get to race weight.  As much as I had to admit it, over the past 3 months I have dialed in my nutrition and accidentally lost weight.  But I also have to admit, today on the run it really helped!  I felt much lighter on my toes, and feeding myself really well has helped with that.  Once tri season is over, I will do my best to put that weight back on, but there is something to be said for getting to you "race" weight.

 

Ok, that's all for tonight.  Get pumped for an amazing season.  I am so proud of what everyone has done up to this point during the summer race series, and I have high hopes for the Collegiate Season.  

 

Ironman Mont-Tremblant

-Antoine Ledoux

PRE-IRONMAN - training for the event:

Training for an ironman is a huge commitment, financially, physically, emotionnally, it is an actual journey. The race is only the harvest of all the hours of training you have put down. Staying motivated for all those months is also quite difficult and you will find yourself in moments where you are wondering "why the hell do I do that?". But it is all for the best :).

 

Books: I followed a book by Joe Friel "Going Long: Training for Ironman-Distance Triathlons", which is a great source of knowledge and was my best guide from the beginning of my training until now with my recovery. It covers everything, for all levels, and if you want to read it, I will be more than happy to lend you mine (it is already bookmarked and it is highlighted in many places). I also had "Triathlete's Training Bible" by Joe Friel, which I didn't use as much as it covers all distances in triathlons and the part dedicated to ironman-distance is already covered in "Going Long" (same author), but it has the advantage of having a whole section to help build a specific and accurate training plan depending on your strength and weaknesses, and good workout templates that go with it.

Those books are like 14$ each (new), but considering how much you are going to use them, you may as well buy them used and save a few bucks.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Going-Long-Triathlons-Challenge-Multisport/dp/1934030066/ref=dp_ob_image_bk

 

http://www.amazon.com/Triathletes-Training-Bible-Joe-Friel/dp/1934030198/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345561379&sr=1-1&keywords=triathlon+bible

 

Training Plan: I followed the pan I made with "Triathlete's Training Bible" as I said, and wrote down ALL my trainings in my training log (huge excel spreadsheet) in order to keep track of what I was doing. I will be more than happy to give this out to anyone interested. Basically, I swam 160 miles, biked 3200 miles, ran 480 miles and lifted a bit more than 1 million pounds at the gym. Averaging 12 hours a week or so that ranged from 3 hours to 18 hours.

 

Race location: I chose Ironman Mont-Tremblant under the advice of my cousin (who races ironman-distance triathlons as well back in France), it was an AMAZING location. Great people. Great scenery. Great lake (73 degrees on race day from what i have heard). Great bike course (with brand new road), very challenging, going along a river for part of it and with many hills (Mont-tremblant is a ski resort in winter). Great run course going on “Le P’tit Train du Nord”, a former railway bed that is now the longest linear park in Canada, with a few waterfalls along the way. Most people speak French there (according to a volunteer I talked to, 90% of the athletes spoke at least a few words in French), but everyone is bilingual so they choose what language to speak if you say "Hello" or "Bonjour".

 

Motto: Swim smart. Ride strong. Run Tough.

 

 

IRONMAN - the race:

Details of my results here (bib# 86): http://ironmanmonttremblant.com/results/

 

SWIM - 1h04m45s (1:42/100m)

It is probably what I am the most proud about. I started completely on the left side of the beach (outside part of the loop), thinking I am a good enough swimmer to swim maybe 100m more but not having to fight to breathe for 2.4 miles. Well, that was a great idea. I was middle of the pack, left side, and even though I had to fight a bit at the beginning (not more than for a usual triathlon), after only 5-10min, I had clear water for me, nobody in my way, just 4-5 people were on my left. I tried to sight a few times but for the first 15min, you can only see splashes of water, with arms and blue swim caps. So I was just following the crowd, just making sure I was keeping people on my left side to cut the waves for me.

The whole time, I kept telling myself "kick, big stroke, relax, draft, relax, big stroke, relax, draft, kick, again". Only a few people were passing me, and when they were, I was happy to see that they had a cadence of stroke roughly twice as high as mine, thus wasting twice as much energy as me. After twenty minutes, I was barely even fighting anymore, and i was able to see the buoys in front of me. I was happy to see that without even realizing it, just drafting off other people, I had swum towards the right and was now in line with the buoys, thus adopting the perfect curve. From that point on, swimming in a triathlon had never been such an enjoyable experience. I was in clear water, not fighting, drafting off other people with a cadence twice as high as mine, in line with buoys, in a water at >70 degrees, doing an ironman, and clearly already at the front of the pack. It couldn't have been better. The rest of the swim stayed the same: enjoyable, relaxed and drafting everyone passing me.

I started kicking harder 100m before the end, so that I would have blood on my legs when i get up (I had had problems at Mooseman 70.3, trouble finding my balance, blood rush, feeling of passing out). When I got out of the water, I was 1h04 (better than 2 pros :) ) and was like "Oh my god!!", few people were around me, I was 295th / 2300 athletes out of the water and felt like I didn't waste any energy! Plus Mike Reilly was there and he yelled "Antoine Ledoux getting out of the WATERRRRRRRRRR".

 

T1 - 5m31

There was a 800m run to the tent, I jogged it, enjoying the crowd cheering up everyone, caught a glimpse of my family cheering me up as well. With the crowd and my swim time, I was PUMPED.

 

BIKE - 6h06m57s (18.3mph avg)

The bike course was two loops of 56 miles, and each loop was divided into 2 smaller loops of 37.5 miles (L1) and 18.5 miles (L2) (see bike course http://ironmanmonttremblant.com/course/bike/ ). When I got on my bike, I had a whole strategy that i had to stick to (that I read in Going Long), do the first 30miles upper zone 1, then zone 2 until mile 90, and finally upper zone 2 til the end. Building up your effort along the way is DEFINITELY the best way to finish your ironman with your best time. The hard part is to stick to this plan, and it is really a mental game, way harder than it seems. In fact, when I got on the bike, I was among the first out of the water, and I knew I was going to get caught by the good cyclists. To put numbers on it I think I got past by like 50 people in the first 20min, and another 375 for the rest of the bike leg. It is hard to see people passing you easily, I know the bike is my weakness, and I worked hard to get better at it, but it gets frustrating and the goal is to stick to your strategy no matter what.

First loop: I felt very good on L1, even on the two big climbs. L2 was much more challenging, rolling hills coupled with one brutal hill (see second part of bike elevation). I was getting passed uphill but was catching up everybody going downhill, I was being agressive on the curves.

Second loop: L1 became a nightmare as the wind decided to play along, we had to face a major wind in our faces. Being weak on the bike, I had to slow down and let go the few people who were going the same pace as me at the time. Again, I stuck to my race strategy, don't go above your zone 2, there is a marathon ahead. I heard two older women saying "that reminds me of the winds in Kona" when they were passing me. That gives you an idea of how brutal that was (at least for me).

To better run the marathon, I wanted to slow down my pace for the last 10-15 miles of the bike. But as it was L2 and only rolling hills, it was impossible to relax and stay in zone 2 at this point in the race. Climbs took some energy from me, so many of those hills, going up, then down,... and had to take on myself not to swear everytime I would see another one. It would never end! I don't think I did well during this part of the race.

I finished the bike leg with a time of 6h06 which is way better than I was expecting as my PR on 70.3 was 3h11, so i was shooting for 6h30. Basically, I PR my bike time on 70.3 on both loops :) (in 2h56 and 3h10, the wind significantly slowing me down for the second loop).

I spoke with Romain Guillaume (prob the best French triathlete on ironman-distance and who won the race) the day after the race and he was telling the bike course was very challenging and this is why he won. In fact he is an amazing cyclist (his bike time is 10min faster than the 2nd!!) so it's on this type of race that he is able to make a difference. So that made me feel even better about my bike time :).

 

T2 - 3m17

There were volunteers to take your bike and rack it up for you and save you time. Pretty awesome. Made me feel like a pro. I ran to the transition tent, picked up my bag and quickly changed. Many people spend some time in T2, I don't think it is good. You are better off moving to your marathon quickly (and maybe walk at the beginning/ jog easily to get your legs going), rather than thinking "Omg, I have to run a marathon now" and waste some time sitting in the tent.

 

RUN - 4h18m33 (9min53/mile)

Again, building your effort will get best results. I started with an easy 9min25/mile pace for the whole first half of the marathon, then speeded to a 8min55/mile pace from 13 to 20 mile, and finally pushed the last 6 miles with a 11min40s/mile pace. Which I was surprised to see as I kept running the whole way (except at aid stations), and I NEVER WALKED!! I guess at this point I didn't realize that I was slowing down, i was just pushing it to finish as quickly as possible.

As soon as I started my run, I knew I had taken way too many gels (I hadn't eaten all my gels from the bike and had taken another load from T2), they were bouncing on my butt, so I stopped after 1/2 mile at a temporary bathrooms (there were a few along the way, as well as on the bike course). Once inside, I looked down and faced a huge pile of vomit and I thought "that's right! You are about to do a marathon in an ironman race, so get your stomach ready!!", I peed, threw out a few gels, and left. 

The marathon is really a mental game where you have to adjust your mind and body, keep eating, overcome the pain and keep running. This is really the crazy part of the race, what makes an ironman an IRONMAN. So I started relatively easy and ran the first 10k in 55min and did the first half marathon in 2h03. I walked at every aid stations for 10-15m to hydrate and eat, but never stopped and ran the whole time between the aid stations. A bit before the first half (around mile 12), for the first time I take a gel im my mouth and I just don't want to swallow. I have never had any digestion problem during a triathlon (I'm so lucky with that, my stomach can digest everything you give it) and I don't want to experience it for the first time. It's okay, I don't panick, I tell myself "it's been 9h14 that you eat only gels, give your stomach a break". I decide to switch and eat CLIF BLOKS that I had brought with me instead of taking a gel at the next aid station, and it worked! My stomach was fine, I was feeling better. I repeated the process for the next two aid stations, eating one CLIF BLOK each time, and even though I slowed down a bit compared to my pace I kept running and was back on track.

At this point, I'm at mile 14 and it's exactly 9h30. I think: if I want to do sth big and finish my first ironman in less than 12 hours I need to run 12 miles in 2h30. All of a sudden I get so pumped and I run the next 10k with a pace of 8:50/mile. I'm pumped.

Here we are. Mile 20. I have a thought for Matthieu Talpe who had emailed me the day before the race and told me "don't forget, the race does not start before mile 20". My hips, knees and ankles start hurting really bad but I can overcome the pain. I keep running, and I get motivated when i realise that at this point I'm now art of the minority of people who keep running. I'm passing a lot of people overall, including 3 in my category. I walk a bit longer at each aid station, but I keep running in between. I don't feel like I'm slowing down but as I look at the result it looks like i ran the last 10k with a 11:40/mile, which means the second half in 2h14.

2km before the end, it started to rain like craaaaaaaaazy. I was SOAKED in 10sec and there was literally a small river that I had to jump over on the last hills up to the village. My legs hurt so bad but I push it. Going to that finish line. The last 500m are pure happiness, it is a little path going downhill in the heart of the village of Mont-Tremblant, and even though it is raining like crazy there are SO many people cheering. I open my arms to do high five to as many people as I can. I'm flying. At this point I could probably run another marathon. I see the time 11h39. I did it. I... AM... AN IRONMANNNNN!!!

 

I finished with a time of 11h39m03s, 13th in my age group M18-24 and 695th overall. Very happy and way above my expectations. Now it is time for recovery, but I'm doing ok so far (I was able to walk "almost" normally and go down the stairs without holding the ramp 3 days after the race).

 

See you soon for training! I will probably get back to the pool soon for some recovery laps.

 

Collegiate Nationals 2012

Collegiate Nationals 2012

4/21/12

Tuscaloosa, AL

Shaena Berlin:

Training background: This season, I spent the vast majority of my time training and racing for cycling, generally riding 10-14 hours per week while running and swimming 3 hours combined. This was certainly less than ideal for overall triathlon fitness, but my swim generally doesn’t suffer too much as long as I swim a lot the last few weeks before the race (which I sort of let slip this time...), and I did keep running consistently ~10 miles per week all winter and through the cycling race season. I generally went out for a long (7-10mi) moderately hard run each Monday and added as many short (1-2mi) transition “bricks” after cycling workouts or Sunday criteriums as seemed reasonable. This year I acquired a Garmin 310XT GPS watch and a Powertap, and using these gadgets for training and racing greatly improved my motivation for doing fast runs (I started running >1 min/mile faster once I could see my pace on my wrist!) and also gave me great enjoyment since I’m a numbers geek.

Travel and team: MIT sent 9 athletes, 4 women and 5 men, as well as our friend Leslie from Dartmouth. This year, each team had to qualify to send athletes to Nationals, so the weakest teams no longer could compete, raising the overall standard. We flew to Birmingham on Thursday and drove to Tuscaloosa, where we stayed at a hotel filled with other triathlon teams (several of which looked far more intense and organized than our own, with gorgeous bikes and trainers and coaches). Friday we rode the course and I did some openers, with my legs feeling pretty sluggish after taking a few days off (proper tapering for once!) but power pretty high. We jumped into the river for a quick swim and found the water temperature to be nearly perfect, 69 degrees and much warmer than last year; this served as a relief, since many of us didn’t have a chance to try open-water swimming in the frigid New England waters yet this year.

Race day: We awoke to very nice weather conditions, with temperatures in the 60’s F and mostly overcast. Compared to last year’s extreme heat and humidity, this felt fantastic. Women raced first, with the first wave leaving at 7:30.

Swim: 1500m, 28:19

I was in the second wave and had a really awful time right before the start; a few days before, I had essentially torn off my knuckle with an Allen wrench while removing pedals (note: if you forgetfully take wheels off the bike before pedals, don’t be lazy and decide you can get them off anyway). Anyway, the invisible skin I’d been using completely came off as soon as I jumped in for the warmup, so I had a bleeding, torn-up hand right before the swim start. After running around frantically trying to find a medical tent or something, I found someone with electrical tape and wrapped it a few times around the hand to hold it all together. This worked sufficiently, but the whole experience left me extremely frazzled, and I swam really inefficiently, exhausting myself for a pretty awful swim time.

Bike: 40k (actually measured at 25.5mi)/1:13, 21.0mph

I really looked forward to the bike leg, since I thought I should be faster than last year and it ought to be the leg I exceled at. After a very long and inefficient transition, I took a while to get into the bike, legs feeling quite tired from the swim up until the first turnaround (the course consisted of two out-and-back loops). However, even feeling slow and low-power, I passed a large number of women who looked intense and rode with gear many times more valuable than mine, which felt satisfying. The second lap I sped up a bit, and in the end the bike time was pretty decent, 3 minutes faster than last year and averaging 21.0 mph (according to my power meter – the official time included a 1min run next to the bike to the transition mat, which slowed the average pace down).

Run: 10k/51:01, 8:07/mi

Upon starting the run, I thought some pretty negative thoughts along the lines of “Why am I doing this?” and “I don’t even care about running fast; the bike is already done, so  maybe I should stop while I’m ahead”. These thoughts were not helped by a steep hill right near the beginning combined with shin pains and barely-held-off stomach cramps. Even so, I ran OK, not as fast as during my training runs but faster than last year.

Overall: 2:37: 43, 132/469 women

Overall, I did better than last year, with a similar swim, faster bike, faster run, and much slower transitions. Unfortunately, one of our team members had bike trouble and didn’t finish the race, so the MIT women’s and combined teams were not eligible to place. Even so, some individuals did quite well, and the men placed in the top half against very intense competition!

Collegiate Nationals is always a fantastic event, one of very few gatherings of all the strongest, fiercest young triathletes in the country. Sharing a venue with such amazing athletes is really neat, and it becomes better every year as I get to know more and more people from other teams. After seeing University of Colorado’s complete domination of the team omniums, I look forward even more to living and training in Boulder this summer and coming back for more road races and tris in the future!

Collegiate Nationals 2011

More to come!

Sam Nicaise


Wow, this was my first triathlon ever! And, boy, was it a blast. I’d like to throw out some mad props to the other first-timers, Becca and Diana, for running awesome races! I never thought that racing could be so fun, damn challenging, invigorating, and motivating.


PRERACE:
Getting to Alabama on Thursday before the race was well worth it. It gave us time to get to know the area, see the course, and settle in to the hotel. Sticking my head in the river water at 60F for the first time was a shocker! But it helped get me accustom to the temperature that was to come. Some of us did an easy ride of the bike course, and instilled false confidence that the “few hills” would provide for a fast and doable course. Little did we know! I think the best part of Thursday was sleeping for almost a full 12 hours. I always underestimate my ability to sleep, and that night was surely an example of what compounded sleeplessness can lead to. The rest was needed, and I found the value in getting that “second day before” sleep. My energy levels were super high the next couple days.


Friday was another good day. We woke-up mid-morning, and headed down to the river for our first swim (with wetsuits of course!). The water was clocking in at 59.7F, and sure felt like and ice bath. After realizing that your hands and feet were inevitably going to go numb, it didn’t seem so bad. A couple hundred meters later, I was ready to mount up. Another smooth bike ride on the route, plus the heat of the day, added up for a smelly bunch of triathletes. Us, and the rest of the students from around the country. Seeing all of the other teams was a very exciting part of registration and the Expo. The afternoon concluded with some hardcore bike maintenance (I successfully adjusted my gears for the first time in my life) and continuous eating. Lastly, we headed over the pretty (GREEN!) large campus of U of Alabama for grubbing in their dining hall. 3 heaping plates of salad, garlic bread, green beans and pasta later, and my carb load was complete. Sleep was nigh with a food coma to the max.


RACING:
I don’t know how to start. I guess from the beginning makes sense, even though I want to start at the end. We woke up super early, though got to the parking slightly after we wanted (about 2 hours before my wave went). I thought that this would be plenty of time, but after waiting in bathroom lines (major orchestration fail), transition check-in lines (another fail), and warming up in the river (a great idea on my part), I only had 20 minutes before my start. I watched the first 5 waves start, then jumped in the water with the rest of the wave 6 people, including Eric. At this point, the 3 times in the water were paying off.


SWIM: (27.39 including run to T2 for 1500m)
My first mass-start swim went better than I expected, though it still seemed like bedlam. The thrashing continued for the first ~300m, before I was finally able to get into my stroke. It was then that I remembered I needed to ‘sight’. I looked up to see that I was veering way off-course…first of a few of these mistakes. After rounding the first or second turn (about 600m), my confidence started to pick up as I saw blue swim caps of people from wave 5. Though the water was cold, it wasn’t phasing me too much, except for the often gulp of river water. The long far-side stretch continued to get better and better. As soon as I was clear of people in front of me (about 500m left), I was able to concentrate on a very efficient stroke. I made it through the last turn, and powered into the shore-finish. The swim-T1 transition was one of the hardest parts of the whole race! Between the very muddy shore, and cold-to-hot difference, I felt light headed, even though my legs were dead. It was a few hundred meters run to the T1 area, during which I stumbled a little, dropped my swim cap, though I lost my goggles, and evidently completely didn’t hear the MIT girls cheering for me. In the end though, I think I was able to get my head on my shoulders and power through.


T1: (1:21)
Better than I expected! I got my wetsuit off with little problem, helmet on, and was off to mounting. Then I remembered that tired legs = can’t clip in. After about 5 tries to get on my pedals (a significant embarrassment), I finally heard the satisfying “click” to the cheers of “MIT”.


BIKE: (1:21:47 for 40k, 18.2mph)
Though I felt great about the bike, it was obviously my weakest sport. The “slightly hilly” course seemed way hillier once you are tired, and have been racing for over 1 hour. I stuck with my plan and shot for an 18mph average. To get there, I powered up a lot of hills, and played it conservative on the down hills and flats. I still don’t know how to work my biking strategy, but I don’t think I have either – power or endurance – legs just yet. We’ll see how that unfolds. Also, this was my first ride with sunglasses, and they really helped with the sun and wind. My energy level was high, breathing low, but after the first lap (of 2 total), my legs were starting to feel the fatigue. I mentally and energetically felt strong, but my pace dropped quite a bit on the second lap. Nonetheless, I kept pushing. The wind wasn’t bad (way less than Boston). I also experienced my hands going numb, something that hasn’t happened to me in a long time: more core, get aero bars, and remember that standing is a good recovery. I later found out that I had put my handle bars on wrong: over 1cm too far to the right...woops! I drank both of my accelerade bottles, which kept my energy high, though I think the liquid was more than I was used to. After pushing really hard on the last 2 miles of the bike, my stomach started to cramp up. Old haunts came back to bite me. In the end though, I averaged over 18mph, and met my goal!


T2: (0:58)
I was able to get my feet out of my cycling shoes and on top of the pedals before T2! As I dismounted, I started to feel the cramp in my stomach acting up :( I ran into T2, threw on my shoes (thanks lock laces), and was out in a great time.


RUN: (45:15 for 10k at 7:18 min/m)
My stomach was still aching out of T2. My legs were dead tired at this point, energy was mediocre, and the sun was getting high! Lucky for me, the first part of the run was uphill. Being from Northern Kentucky, running hills is what I live for, and as others walked arduously to the top, I was able to fly by them. I had one person pass me at the beginning of the run, but that was the last person the whole rest of the race (though I had probably set myself back pretty far after a slow bike). I chomped a few energy chews to give me a burst, and came through mile 1. At this point, I realized that I wasn’t going to make my “I would be ecstatic if I got a time of” 2:30, but set a new goal of 2:37, under my desired 2:40. With my cramps still going strong, I grabbed water at each station and threw it over my head to cool off (instead of adding to the pain with a sloshy stomach). I had forgotten what it meant to run in super humid heat since leaving Kentucky. After the downhill between mile 2 and 3, the long straight stretch started. I had passed Antoine and pushed him along, hoping that the heat wasn’t killing him too much. Though my stomach was setting a limit on my pace, I felt strong, and wasn’t waning. No negative splits, but surely even. The run got harder and harder, but I continued to pass people, either overtaking them, or shouting out encouragement for them to beat their injury/heat. Miles 3-5 were the hardest, in the sun, with few water stations, and not knowing where the turnaround would be. The best part, was high-fiving Senovio and Scott as we crossed paths. That boost kept me pushing. When I finally got to the water station near mile 5, I downed some Gatorade, knowing it would kill my stomach, but my body needed some liquid. At this point, I mentally found a second gear, even if I wasn’t racing any faster. When I finally saw the mile 6 marker, I turned it up a notch, as I approached the crowds. “Unfortunately,” I turned up the heat and sprinted through the finish line! My first race was complete! I obviously had more energy left, but my next couple steps were quite wobbly :P Nothing a gallon of Gatorade and water couldn’t solve. Best part: I was just over my goal of 2:37 after keeping a consistent strong run pace!


WOW:
I couldn’t be happier for finally completing a goal I had set for myself back in October. Not only did I train my butt off, but I made my first triathlon an Olympic, not even a Sprint. It was awesome to be able to do it with friends, compete against/with so many amazing athletes, and realize that possibilities really are endless. Thoughts after crossing the finish line: 1) Can I stand? 2) Yes, mostly. 3) This Gatorade tastes more delicious thant 25-year old bourbon! 4) When do I get to start training again? 5) Can I start training now? 6) I don’t get to race again till June? Damn! 7) Oh well, maybe I’ll do a 70.3 …So yah, triathlon is definitively addictive.


TAKEAWAYS:
-Coach Bill is the freaking man! I could only fumble through the water when I started going to his beginner lessons in January (1000m was the furthest I had swam in years!). After the lessons, and a few months of practicing what he said, my TriNats swim rank was almost better than my run rank! If I get in some good OWS this summer, I think it may become my best sport, which seems crazy, but exciting.
- All of my running practice has paid off. I couldn’t have ever imagined how hard running of the bike is, which is why everyone emphasizes bricks (and high intensity bricks too). Granted, I have a running background, but I have gotten way better since going to track workouts (thanks Andrea) and working with Coach AJ. It was evident when I was passing dozens of people on the run, didn’t bonk, and kept a consistent pace. Now, I just have to learn how to run while fatigued, and with a full stomach of water/chews.
- Tri can seem like it would be a very individual sport, but the team aspect is incredibly important. It was amazing to make new friends / strengthen friendships. Thanks to the whole MIT TriNats team for making it an awesome trip. There will be plenty of group training to come. We need to keep pushing.
- If I am ever tempted to spend money on tri gear in the next half-year, I will remember that there is no more effective or efficient way to get faster than training. Money spent on gear is only well spent if it helps you train better. Granted, I am not shaving seconds, but I think this was a very important concept to learn, especially when I was passing the guys on cervelos.
- Every couple weeks, do a “race scenario” training (or simply a race), in order to get your body used to the fatigue, transitions, and water/energy supplements.
- Triathlon is freaking hard. Everyone who completes one is a sweet athlete, and deserves congratulation. It takes physical strength, physical endurance, mental toughness, self-control, dedication, and incredible long-term and short-term drive.
- When to do I get to start training again? Why is the next race not till June? Oh, well, more motivation to qualify for TriNats next year and return to Tuscaloosa.

Shaena Berlin

Warning: I usually love writing race reports, but have had a lot of schoolwork to do so put off writing the most recent ones for such a long time that this might be annoyingly short or boring.

Travel: 13 athletes from MIT (5 women, 8 men) flew out to Birmingham then drove to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for collegiate triathlon nationals. The flights were uneventful, but the dramatic change in landscape and climate totally shocked me; we came from cold, rainy Boston to almost tropical-feeling, green Alabama.

Swim: 28:35
The water temperature felt fairly cold (~62 degrees), but not altogether unpleasant because the air was so balmy. For this race, the men all started around 7am, then the women did not start until 10:00; this altogether made the races for men and women quite different, as we had to deal with horrible heat and humidity by the end, and they didn’t. Anyway, I started in the first wave, with all of the elite/semi-pro triathletes along with all the other women who just happened to be seeded first for some reason; the swim was ok, though I didn’t really go as hard as I would have in a pool because everything was so chaotic. The crazy part of the swim (and the reason for the super-slow time) is that the run into the transition area was at least 2 minutes/.25 miles, which was quite long.

Bike:1:16:20
The bike course and race was great, super fun. It was mostly flat or rolling hills, without very much wind. It’s always really exciting to pass women on super-expensive bikes with aero-everything, who should probably just spend some more time training…On that note, I got to watch the men’s bike start because our race hadn’t started yet, and it was AMAZING how many of the top men fell off or totally messed up their bike mounts; sometimes, simple methods (i.e. putting on shoes in transition zone) are more efficient! The course consisted of two laps, so it was fun to see other MIT women going the opposite direction and cheer for them.

Run: 52:21
The run was not fun (it rarely is, but this was particularly not fun), due to the heat and humidity; it reached the high 80’s during our race, and there were literally girls who just sat down in the middle of the road and couldn’t move, and people who were carried in on stretchers and dunked in ice baths. So, compared to them, all of us MIT women survived fairly well; I felt like I was sprinting and was shivering pretty badly on the final mile (which was around a 9:00 pace, yikes), but ended up running a 53, which is far from the worst I’ve ever done. Anyway, it was a great relief to finish and walk around with big bags of ice for the next few hours (and sunburn for the next few days).

Overall: 2:39:45
Overall, it was quite fun, and we had a great time. I placed fine, not a lot better than last year but at least slightly so. This summer, my goal is to get better at running in the heat.