Verdun - Laprairie, by bike

I am amazed at how easy it is to go southshore from Verdun. Since the Champlain bridge estacade is reopened it's the first time the idea of riding southshore comes to my mind.

The course is flat, no worries about that. Take your time and enjoy the view.

My First 70.3 Ironman - Mont-Tremblant

June 26th 2016 was marked in my calendar for a year. It was the day I would line-up for my first Ironman 70.3. It just felt huge at the time.

I volunteered for Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant in 2015 so I can grab a priority spot to participate the year after. My tri club was assigned to a run course aid station, at KM 16. We were at the perfect place to witness athletes in pain, wanting to stop, dizzy, alienated by the heat. Finally, I decided to still pre-register for next year on the basis that I still had a few weeks to change my mind and choke. The thing is, I had time to erase images of fading athletes from my mind and I rarely choke once I have something on my mind.

I officially registered some time mid-August. Then, all I had to do was to train. Being an avid reader and fan of the sport of triathlon, I read a lot about training for long course triathlons. I build my training plan by myself. It was more of a skeleton since I am too new to the sport to commit to a rigid training. I didn't know how my body would react to the increased training load at the time.

To be honest, I trained a lot less than I planned for. But I felt I did a great job every training session. I did not get hurt; my subconscious knew when it was too much for my body and I stepped back whenever I felt the rubber band was tight.

I was confident I was ready when I glanced at my Chronic Training Load curve in Training Peaks.

Swim

The swim went well. I entered in the water 25 minutes before my start to warmup and get used to the water temperature. Gun! As I planned, I entered water almost last of my wave. I swam the interior of the buoys (except corners one) to swim almost alone. This was legal and depends of the race venue. That is why it is important to assist to pre-race meeting where this type of info is given.

I swam straight, my sighting being efficient. I did not push the swim, just trying to find and respect my rhythm as I had never swam 1.9K continuously in open water yet. No story here, it just went smoothly. Not fast at all (1:55 min/100m), I will keep working in the pool to increase my speed.

Bike

This is where I am a bit disappointed. It was a really hot and humid day at Mont-Tremblant and I was afraid to explode during the run. I was repeating myself I need to save my legs. Unfortunately I saved too much, getting a Intensity Factor of just 0.61 when I would have aimed for 0.75-80 on a day with decent temperature.

Anyway, I wanted to build on a great experience instead of trying to break a record. Bike went as smoothly as the swim. Volunteers made us slow down after a big crash on Chemin Duplessis leaving about 10 riders on the ground. On my way back to T2, I crossed 3 ambulances.

Run

This is where it paid off being savvy on the swim and the bike. Leaving T2 I was feeling fresh and ready to run a half-marathon. I respected my plan which was to walk every run aid station. I did just that, putting ice cubes in my cap, singlet and shorts. I ate at the beginning of the run: oranges and banana. Then, it was strictly fluids: alternating with Gatorade and water.

I felt the heat of the day around half point. At 18K is where the day really started to hit me as I walked a bit over the hills.

Conclusion

5h 28m. Without a crazy training, anyone can complete a 70.3 triathlon and feel happy at the end of the day. I understand it is a different story for competitive athlete reaching for a time.

I followed my plan and above all I did not let myself get excited too much and push myself over the limit.

How to Plan a Training?

I don't have a coach but I would like to progress. Marketing will put pressure on you to find - and pay - for a coach. Having a coach is not the only way to go for success. If you are curious, bright, resourceful and a bit stubborn (in a good way!), you can be successful by being a self-coached athlete.

Here are some key questions you should ask yourself when you are planning a training session...

What Period Of The Year Is It ?

Check your annual training plan or ATP in order to check what current week should be devoted to. If you are not familiar with periodization, read about it. There is plenty of documentation about it.

Annual Training Plan example from Training Peaks

How Do You Feel?

Whenever an athlete feels tired or hurt, I will offer some avenue to alter the training and still get something out of it. It may be a longer warmup or reduce the number of intervals in the main set.

Sticking to the plan might not be necessarily the way to go. Be flexible. Listen to your body and try to decode what it needs. That being said, do not get mixed up by laziness of your mind. Getting up and go running on a rainy morning even though you do not feel like it (anyway, who feels like it?!) might just be the best thing to do for your body and being proud of yourself for your tenacity.

What Are Your Limiters?

"Race on your strength, train on your limiters"

Take a minute to sit down and write down race situations you hate. You might be scared of swim start squeezed within dozens of people around you. You might fear a puncture on the bike. You hate fueling your body on the run. You do not swim straight and sighting is not your forte.

Be honest.

Then, reserve a few minutes in every training session to address your limiters for this sport.

Training Templates

To avoid blank page syndrome, find a training plan template on the net and fill it with what you intend to do.

Every training session should include a major objective (optionally secondary objectives), a warm up, a main set and a cool down.

To help build your training sessions, I strongly suggest reading about training phases of strength training:

1. Anatomical Adaptation (AA)
2. Hypertrophy (HYP)
3. Maximum Strength (MxS)
4. Muscular Endurance (ME)

Training Journal

A great habit is to jot down a few notes after every training session on what went right or wrong. What were your thought during the training. How hard (or easy) your training was.

Keeping a journal is zen and a good way to sustain your love for the sport. The night before an A race, go through your journal and notice all the work you have done. Nobody can steal it from you.

Be proud!!