race report: ironman mont-tremblant

I told myself a pretty shitty story last year, one that manifested into a pretty subpar season. So this year, I reframed my mindset: I *get* to this (even the hard stuff!).

And it made all the difference. I found the joy in the journey again – and that’s a bigger win than punching a ticket to the Big Island. (Though I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed because I wanted to so damn bad. Mostly because there were so many friends I wanted to see!)

With that, a quick look at my day racing the incredible IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant.

swim | 1:03:27 (a two-minute swim PR!)

Never thought I’d say this, but swimming has almost become one of my favorite parts of racing. (During training is usually another story, however. It’s such a production!) And in Lac Tremblant?! Incredible. After an hour delay because of fog – that didn’t clear until the last 300m or so – we were off. Most of it was disorienting since you couldn’t see the next buoy until you were about halfway to it. But that also made it kinda magical – the pine tree-lined shore barely visible every time you looked up from the clearest green water. And for only the second time ever in a race, I found feet(!), which made the last 500m even more fun. 

bike | 5:35:09

After I raced IRONMAN Wisconsin 2014, I wrote three times on a blue post-it – and ever since, it’s been stuck to a mirror I look at every day. Four years and lots of hard work later, I finally hit my hard + hilly bike course goal time. (And hit the swim time last year at Canada!)

There’s not much else to say about the bike. Like any 112-mile ride, there were meh moments: specifically, 50+ year old men who hate being passed by a woman, riding aero for long stretches during the second loop, and the Chemin Duplessis section (holy hell, that’s some serious climbing!). But overall, I loved the bike course – my Argon is a dream to ride – and smiled for nearly all of the 5,500+ of climbing. I tried to eat like a champ (~240 cals/hr) and was almost spot on my target watts for my AG’s fastest bike split. Still pretty stoked about that one.

run | 3:44:28

I think one of the hardest things to do during an IM is to run your own race. As several women flew by during the early miles of the marathon, I continually reminded myself of this, even though my legs felt surprisingly decent and wanted to keep pace with them. The plan: to run 8:30s for the first half and then drop the pace the second if possible. And besides a couple porta potty stop miles early on, I stuck to that pretty closely. By the halfway point, I felt ok, but I just couldn’t go any faster. Instead, I was focused solely on the mile I was running – it was too overwhelming to think of running another 13. I kept moving forward, inspired by and running for friend and teammate Lectie ♥

And in true erin fashion, with 1k to go: puke + rally, and I hightailed it outta there because I had no idea how much cushion I had over third. I felt terrible and am kinda bummed to barely remember the last bit through the village to the finish line. All I could think about was willing my legs to keep me upright and getting to the finish line so I could stop and sit down.

Could I have dug a little deeper and gone to a darker place on the run? Maybe – but that’s easy to say now. Nonetheless, I’m happy with both my run and my race. But you know what? It’s short of the elusive time written on that little blue post-it, so I’ll try again – eventually 🙂 

official results | 10:30:39, 2nd AG, 7th amateur, 15th OA

High-fives and big thank yous to my awesome team: Coeur Sports + our amazing sponsors and Skratch Labs. I couldn’t race happy + healthy without you! And to my people: my #1 Nick (the best supporter, bike mechanic, photog, partner!), coach Andy, my parents (they drove 20+ hours to watch me race!), and to all the family + friends who put up with me and this adventure. You’re the reason I get to chase my light ♥