Montreal Esprit Ironman 9-15-07 Race Report

This race meant so much to me after having a hugely disappointing DNF at Ironman Lake Placid due to major nutrition plan mistakes (not enough calories and hydration) and poor mental prep. I was at rock bottom after LP but learned so much from the whole experience. I needed to go through all of that disappointment to learn. Everything happens for a reason.

I could not have raced at the level I did in Montreal without the support of my amazing wife Lindsay. She has been so patient and understanding of the sacrifices I made to train adequately for Ironman. I think that the significant others of Ironman athletes are the real heroes of our sport. Without them we would not race at our potential. I also want to thank my family for all their support and encouragement.

This race was on the Ile Notre-Dame in Montreal. Basically we were on an island and the swim was in the Olympic rowing basin, the bike was on the F1 race track and the run was 9 laps around the basin. This course is normally really fast but this year it was 50 degrees, rain most of the day and a headwind on each lap of the bike (41 laps). HTFU (Harden the Fu** up) was my mental toughness strategy, I had it written on both hands and my aero drink.

The race started at 6:30.The sun wasn’t even up yet and the gun was about to go off. Once we started the 2 lap swim we had the first lap all to ourselves and then we would be joined by the half iron racers. I started out nice and relaxed, long smooth strokes trying to keep my technique perfect and as relaxed as possible. I found myself swimming with the front pack with one guy off the front of it. This was really cool because I am never in the front pack but since this is a small ironman race (only 100 athletes allowed for the full) I was right in the mix. Lap one I was at 30 minutes flat---perfect I thought as I was right where I should be and feeling relaxed too. The swim was a lot like Lake Placid—there was a cable and you had to get out and run to start your next lap. As I exited with a pack of 5 or 6 guys the half iron gun goes off and we jump in the water at the back of the half iron athletes. This is where it got tough. I had to be really on it as I was trying to stay on a guy’s feet that I had swam on the first lap and didn’t want to get dropped. I stayed on his feet as he weaved through slower half iron swimmers (ironman had different swim cap so I could see him). I couldn’t believe I stayed on his feet as we went in and out of slower swimmers. This was where HTFU was really helping. It was hard to stay with this guy but I knew I would be faster if I stayed on his feet rather than try to find a straighter line. I was really happy getting out of the water in 1:01. Swim split-1:01.

The bike was very hard mentally because it was cold (50 degrees), raining pretty much non stop and we had a headwind each lap. You just couldn’t get very comfortable. Lindsay was my lifesaver and was able to give me my GMM 180s jacket and 180s gloves and a hat. Without this I don’t think I could have ridden the whole thing. I couldn’t feel my feet for the whole bike. My only goal coming into this race was to nail my nutrition and hydration plan. I was totally committed to executing my plan to the best of my ability and I have to say I really came through on this!! I had energy the whole day and no stomach problems. I want to say thanks to Jesse Kropelnicki at http://www.qt2systems.com/ for writing me up a custom fueling and hydration plan and to Tim Snow for convincing me
to recognize what I don’t know (IM nutrition) and let someone who knows what they are doing do that for me by writing me up a plan. I highly recommend QT2 for anyone struggling with nutrition in triathlon. The plan was amazingly comprehensive breaking down race week nutrition, and specific race day nutrition which included the timing of all my calories and type of carbohydrates as well as hydration (which was based on a sweat test).

About half way through the bike my family arrived. I slowed to say hi and they all were wearing t-shirts with my picture on them and it said team Spinney!!!! I about cried I was so moved by this. At this point I said to myself I have to have a great race now---no excuses just race, execute, and HTFU. I paced the bike very well keeping my heart rate around 130. I was feeling great and averaging about 21.5 mph. I can only imagine what it would have been without the wind and rain. The winner’s bike split was about 25 min slower than last year so the effects of a really fast course were negated by Mother Nature. I got off the bike in 5:12 which is a PR by about a minute over my IM Florida time. Without wind and rain this would be an extremely fast bike course. Bike split: 5:12

On to the run I was feeling great. I couldn’t believe how good I felt. The fueling plan was working really well. This was the first IM that I ran with my bottle holder. I think I will always use it now at IM. Part of the reason I’ve had problems in the past is due to having a very high sweat rate and inadequate hydration. On the bike I drank about 1 and half big bottles an hour and on the run a little more than a 20oz bottle each hour. All of sport drink no water. I was eating every half hour too (either gel or half a bar). It was pouring rain hard the first half of the marathon. My brother Brian knew HTFU was my mantra and he took it further with a Rocky 3 analogy I had been talking about. He kept saying “aint so bad!!! aint so bad!!!” Anyone who’s seen Rocky 3 more than once or 30 (like my brother and I) knows this. It’s in the second fight against Mr T (Clubber Lang) and Rocky is on fire. He’s enticing and tiring out Mr T by telling him to hit him while Rocky isn’t hitting back but just saying to Mr T “aint so bad, you aint so bad”. The analogy was that the rain and wind “aint so bad” and I needed to HTFU and beat Mr T/this race. This fired me up more than anything anyone could have said to me. Full body goose-bumps that make your hair stand on end. I was running about 7:30 pace for most of the first half and started falling off that around mile 18 or so. This is where my lack of run volume was affecting me. I had passed a few other IM racers and at about mile 20 or so I passed a guy and he said “you’re in 3rd now”. I was surprised by this and kept pushing. At about mile 23 I had a hamstring issue and needed to stretch a few times and got caught by that guy putting me in 4th. I tried hanging with this guy but my hamstring wanted no part of it and I was forced to slow. When I had one lap to go Lindsay said “you could go sub 10 !!!”. I was really surprised to hear this and asked her how long these laps were taking and did some quick calculations and realized if I ran strong I could do it. She fired me up with sort of a tough love reality check that really reminded me how bad I wanted to go under 10. That last lap was the most pain and suffering I’ve ever felt in a race because I pushed so hard and wouldn’t let myself off the hook. Somehow I dug deep enough to run hard that last lap. HTFU right to the finish. Run split: 3:35 I crossed the line ecstatically in 9:55!!!!! This was a huge PR and my first time going under 10 hours!!! I am really happy as I have been underperforming at this distance.
I’m just plain really thankful I can do this and my family is so supportive. I could not maintain this kind of lifestyle that I love so much without their support. Thanks guys.