Breakfast: Thursday before Race Day started with a yummy, savory breakfast crepe with friends at Crepe Shop in village.

Shopping: Next, we hit the Ironman Store in the village, as soon as it opened. I got Ironman Mont Tremblant t-shirt, hoodie, cycling jersey, car emblem, the works. The Expo was pretty good too. I got a new pair of Zizu sunglasses with transitioning lens (light to dark in sunlight). With lightweight and flexible earpieces, they stay on your head in an aero position. I also got a second set of red/orange polarized lens too.

Registration: Registration was easy and smooth event. I ran into blogger buddy Jesse at the front door, who volunteers at races too. It was fun seeing him again (Vineman last month)! There was a weigh-in at registration. I’m not sure why. These triathletes are the most neurotic people about their weight. We got a nice roll up bag from Ironman.

Bike / Gear Pickup: TriBike Transport. I got my bike and gear bag without a hitch. Whew! Very convenient. It was a relief to see my bike again. They mounted my pedals back on and I pumped up my tires. After the race, you just drop it off again and then it reappears in Burbank.

Ride: Bike preview. Trevor led the ride. We rode the tough parts of the bike course; the hills show up at mile 45 and mile 95 (same places on the two loop course). 10%-11% grade, at spots, but they are short and sweet. Nothing too long and steep. It was so beautiful riding around. The weather was great, the roads were nice and clean and smooth. The trees and the rivers and lakes. Wow. Amazing place. It got me very excited about riding the course on Sunday. Quebec has got the bike course certified by World Ironman. The course will be permanently marked every 2km. IMMT says that every Friday, from May to Sept, they will have the course swept to be the cleanest, best Ironman 90km course anywhere. They’re all in for Ironman. In return, Ironman donated $75000 to Quebec.

Swim: Alvin and I went for a short swim in the lake. The lake is beautiful and picturesque. They have a triathlon swim training center, with a new pool in the works. It’s at a dock that you sign in and then the lady shows you the buoys. You can squeeze into your wetsuit and leave your bag on the deck. The water was warm near the shore and medium (not hot, not cold) farther into the lake. We were there at 4pm and the water surface was pretty choppy from the afternoon winds. The chop was really making breathing sketchy. I took at least one big gulp. We swam out to the floating dock and got up and looked around. Then, we swam back. In the mornings there is a coffee barge.

Dinner: Lynda drove down to Saint-Jovite for some groceries. We stopped and had dinner in the town, which is a cool older vibe. Italian food. Filet mignon was very good, slow service.

FaceTimed with the kids back home. They started school today. It was fine. Nothing to crazy. Kinda wished they were here, but my mind is so full with thousands of details, I have very little bandwidth left for anyone else.

Tomorrow is very sparse on the agenda. I’m picking up my friend Zack from Montreal in the morning. that’s about it.