Transition pro Andrew Armstrong
Canadian police officer Andrew Armstrong won the M40-44 age group at Ironman 70.3 Mont Tremblant not really during the swim, bike or run, but in transition. Without these fast transitions he would have been third.
Slowtwitch: Good to chat with you Andrew.
Andrew Armstrong: And likewise with you. I am a longtime ST reader, and occasional poster, nice to talk to some of the brass.
ST: I am far from the brass, but I appreciate your vote of confidence.
Andrew: I do what I can. If you can get me invited to California then you're Brass in my books.
ST: I can invite you to California, but what or whom would you want to see? I personally reside in North Carolina.
Andrew: Go Tar Heels. Well, Son #2 thinks he's a surfer…and it'd probably be pretty fun getting crushed on some of the legendary group rides in San Diego. Plus I could go see Emilio afterwards and try to get some free gear!
ST: On a more serious note, are you recovered from Mont Tremblant?
Andrew: For the most part. I swam Wednesday and went for a short painful run of about 40 minutes. No races on the schedule right now so I'm in no rush.
ST: What goal did you have going in?
Andrew: I went to Mont Tremblant with the goal of winning M40-44, not that I was making it public. I was 4th last year, four minutes off the pace. I felt this year that I was fitter and could go a little faster. With some luck and good execution, I felt that on the day I could be right in the mix.
ST: Was Vegas on your mind or practice for next year when the world take place there?
Andrew: I've been to Vegas many times, but triathlon isn't usually on my mind when I'm there! The timing of Worlds isn't the best for me, summer is family time, barbeque, relax, etc. so the idea of training, and hard training that is, through July and August is not ideal for me. Having said that, WC 70.3 is on my list of things to do, maybe next year.
ST: Were you surprised to see how close it was in the end in you age group?
Andrew: Not really. Typically we are the largest field at most triathlons, as we were in Mont Tremblant – almost 300. This means that while we aren't the fastest, there is usually a very deep, competitive field of guys near the front.
ST: Do you know the guys who finished second and third?
Andrew: I don't know either of them, but the beauty of cyber-stalking means I know of both. I hadn't done my homework on Bernard, a mistake on my part. He is a monster biker that had a very strong run on Sunday. Sean is a flat out animal on the run. I knew he was behind me, which provided equal parts motivation and fear!
ST: The close finish was actually a topic in our forum.
Andrew: I chased Bernard, who was about 30s ahead until the first run turn around at 9.6k, not knowing if I was racing him. Then I saw his number, damn! I had been closing the gap ever so slowly to that point. It took me almost 10k more to finally pull along side.
After that first turn I also saw all kinds of guys chasing me or us, and they all looked really good. Uh oh. Then I saw Sean and thought, "What the fluck is he doing here?" He has run 1:23-24 off the bike during half Ironman events. I knew that things were going to be really close by the time we got to the final kilometers.
ST: Your transitions were indeed speedy fast. Your 3:11 T1 and 0:50 T2 were actually closer to times of Pros like Trevor Wurtele versus your peers.
Andrew: I hate to say this, almost like it's a trade secret. If you add the times for SBR of the top three guys in M40-44, I would be 3rd. Add in the two transition times…..well, I guess they are part of the race!
ST: Should we assume you spend most of your training time practicing transitions?
Andrew: Hahaha, no, I don't spend any time practicing transitions. I do prepare my area for speedy changes though. I also finish one leg, swim for example, while thinking about what I have to do to get in and out of T1 as fast as possible. Mental preparation and execution is a big part of my racing.
ST: Is cycling your strength?
Andrew: It seems to be, but I make it so. Would I run three minutes faster if I biked two minutes slower? I don't know, and don't really want to find out! Biking fast is fun, so is passing people, a nice side benefit of being a very average swimmer. I am a strong cyclist but more so I have massive trust in my ability to bike really hard, versus running close to 1:30. Maybe not ideal, but it is how I roll and I love it.
ST: What kind of work do you do?
Andrew: I'm a police officer with the City of Ottawa. Demanding at times, but the ability to log big hours mid-week, while my wife works and the boys are in school, does work well.
ST: So what does your weekly training look like, maybe not the week past a race, but in general?
Andrew: Like most people my age, I face normal time constraints. I'm married and actually like my wife. My two boys are active and I love being involved in their activities. If there is one thing that training has to be it's consistent, which involves serious time management.
Here's my week of May 27 – June 2, which started the day after I raced the Ottawa half-marathon.
Monday – early am, 1hr swim – at noon 2hr bike (worked an evening shift, 3pm-1am)
Tuesday – 1hr easy run on treadmill (work evening shift)
Wednesday – early am, 1hr swim, after I hooked up w two training buddies for a hilly bike ride 3hr15min, and 35min transition run (day off from work)
Thursday – 2hr bike, hard, 20min transition run, quick (day off from work)
Friday – am, 1hr swim, 1hr53mins on treadmill – pm, easy 1hr bike ride (worked day shift)
Saturday – am, easy 50 min run (day shift)
Sunday – am, easy 60 min run (day shift)
Total – 16.5 hours
As you can see, it's not uncommon for my longer training days to occur midweek. It's not conventional, but it works for me.
ST: How did you get started in triathlon?
Andrew: I tried the Smiths' Falls Triathlon, a local sprint that's been around 30+ years in 2003 as a couple of friends were prepping for Ironman Canada. I had a blast, swam breast stroke (thought I would die), biked in sneakers and toe clips (got crushed) then ran like hell. Life got in the way until 2005 but I was hooked.
ST: Can we assume you no longer ride in sneakers and toe clips?
Andrew: You laugh. If you happened to be at XTERRA LV April 13th of this year, you would have seen me drilling it on the bike in my racing flats and toe clips! And by drilling it I mean trying not to die, mountain biking is a whole different ball game.
ST: So that is the rule and not the exception?
Andrew: Yeah, my standard wear is bike shoes, no socks. Toe clips are saved for special occasions.
ST: And what kind of bike do you ride and how is it set up?
Andrew: A Cervelo P3, seat pretty far forward, reasonable amount of drop. Don't ask me for measurements, too technical. H3C front, H3C rear with a homemade disc cover. When I want to go faster I push the pedals harder, seems to work.
ST: Do you ride with a power meter?
Andrew: Nope. No power meter, no GPS, no HRM, no cadence, no bike computer, nada. I like to race with a plan, a watch and cojones.
ST: Any other interests?
Andrew: Life is awesome. I married my high school sweetheart and we've been together for 26 years. I have two boys aged 12 and 14 that love hockey and rugby, and I'm very involved in both helping out as a trainer and coach. We love going on holiday together and just hanging out as a family, what could be better?
ST: Not much really. Thanks again.
Andrew: Anytime, thanks.
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