IRONMAN CANADA 2018- 5th place

I am happy to report that my second Ironman attempt was a success! I came home with 5th place at Ironman Canada- reinvigorating both my intrigue and passion for full-distance racing. Both the build up to the event and the race itself presented unique challenges that I was able to take on and overcome. Below I’ll dive into my abnormal taper, the dynamic of the PRO mens race and the pure brutality of the 2018 IRONMAN Canada course in Whistler.  If you enjoy it please like, comment and share!

I’ve made it clear that Ironman Boulder was not the full distance debut that I had planned for. I spent hours trying to plot my next move and ultimately pinned Ironman Canada as the event to seek 140.6 redemption. I liked the fact that it was in North America, I heard great things about Whistler and it was a men’s only race (meaning the prize purse would be double that of a typical event). On the converse, there were aspects of this race that made me very nervous. First and foremost, it was going to be hot AF. Record high temperatures were predicted for race day with the peak heat for the day coming between 11-2pm at 95-100 degrees (right when I was going to be running the marathon). I had better heat preparation leading into this one but still feared an epic meltdown similar to what happened in Boulder. In addition to the heat, this course is arguably the most difficult on the circuit with 9000 feet of gain on the bike and 1500 feet of gain on the run. It was going to be up and down all day long and I had to figure out a way to get all 170 lbs of me over each hill as efficiently as possible. 

My win at Challenge San Gil a few weeks ago was perfectly timed and put my confidence back on the right track. I did a lot on race week before Mexico and because it worked, I did it again before this one. In the 10 days before the race I did 32 total hours of training with 430 miles on the bike, 27,000 yards in the pool and 36 miles of running. None of the training was aimed at making me better in Canada, the primary objective was to have me “peripherally open” and prepared to deliver the goods come race day. I spoke about my physiology in another post and for those interested you should go check that out HERE or dive into my STRAVA. 

With all that training race week (including a 4h ride on the Thursday before), my final build up to Whistler flew by and before I knew it, I was suited up and about to dive into the amazing waters of Alta Lake to start the race. The atypical warm weather pushed up the water temperature and the glacier fed lake read 72 degrees on race morning making it an unpredicted non-wetsuit swim. I was smiling ear to ear with the final decision knowing it would allow me to set up the day nicely with a bit of a gap out of the water. 

picture: IM Canada 

I had a poor start cutting my foot open on a rock on the long run into the water forcing me to fight really hard to move from the absolute back of the field to the front over the course of the first 600m. By the time I reached the first turn buoy, I had made contact with the front group including Brent McMahon, Mark Bowstead and Jeff Symonds. I locked in there and comfortably cruised the rest of the way. 

Once onto the bike, Mark and Brent absolutely hammered their way out of T2. My #1 objective was to pace the bike evenly and take loop #1 of 3.5 conservatively. I let them go almost right away and rode solo for about 40 minutes. On the first major climb I was caught by the Belgian powerhouse Marino Vanhoenacker. I rode with him for a little while but I was still on the first loop and again felt like his pace was too aggressive. I let him slowly fade into the distance up the road. 

Right at the start of loop #2, Sam Long had made up a massive 6 minute deficit out of the swim (in the first 35 miles!). Sam has seriously stepped up his game this year and I knew he would be a serious player in this race. Around the time he caught me, my legs started to feel a lot better and from there it was GAME ON. Sam and I, along with Tripp Hipple, worked together and were able to close down the gap to the leaders over the final 80 miles. I came off the bike with Sam in 6th/7th place and we set out on the run with the temperature already over 90 degrees. 

photo: Tom Pennington/ gettyimages

The first 2 miles of the run go straight uphill on a tough gravel trail which felt rough but my legs snapped into place after about 15 minutes and I started to feel great. I was down about 2 minutes to Sam but I was running very well and was confident that my consistent and smooth pace would pay dividends in the late stages of the marathon. Early on I overtook Bowstead, Vanhoenacker and ex-pro cyclist Andrew Talansky. I quickly found myself running in 4th place at the 13.1 mile mark and on pace for a 2:50 marathon. By mile 15 I had closed down the gap to Sam and was within about 50 meters of him. As we approached the big climb that kicked off the first loop, Sam got a glimpse of how close I was. He SPRINTED the downhill and pushed the gap back out to 200m. From miles 15-20 we played cat and mouse. I was running faster than him between the aid stations but the effort that took in the heat would raise my core body temperature so high that I would have to slow down massively though each aid station. He was able to move through the aid stations at a constant pace and by mile 20, my pace between the aid stations slowed down a lot. And around that time, I seriously started to suffer. Sam got the gap out to 2 minutes and held it there to the finish. One of the most consistent Ironman runners in the world, Matt Russel, came through late in the marathon passing both Sam and myself to capture the final podium spot.

Despite near total body shutdown the final mile, I was able to grovel to the finish line and secure 5th place on what was easily the hardest triathlon I have ever finished. I was completely depleted but my physical pain was outweighed by the satisfaction of conquering something I didn’t think was possible. And no matter the result, that’s what Ironman is all about. 

picture: Roger Thompson 

Sunday was far from my perfect day and I think my lack of Ironman experience showed at times. The heat and hills made a lot of people write me off for this one and I am PROUD of my ability to adapt and overcome. This was far from a BIGMETZ-style race but I am grateful that this race gave me an opportunity to face some of my weaknesses head on. I don’t know what Ironman I’ll do next but I would prefer it to be very flat and very cold ;). 

I feel like I have great momentum rolling right now and would love to take on another full-distance race but out of respect for the distance, I will not do another full Ironman in 2018. I’ll have some down time to recover from this one and then jump into a whole bunch of 70.3 races all over the globe. Stay tuned for a back half 2018 race schedule announcement soon. 

THANK YOU for following along. Each race I continue to get more support, comments and messages. I take notice to every one of them and it inspires me to challenge myself to be better. 

And a particular special shout out to my inner circle: Jeanni Seymour, Jesse Kropelnicki, Erin Carson, Amy Quirion and my family who believe in me more than I believe in myself at times. 

Until the next one, 

JM

Made possible by: Timex, Trek, Juice Performer, Boulder Sports Chiropractic, First Endurance, Shimano, Castelli, Blueseventy, Feedback Sports, ICE Friction and Stages.