My journey into this Triathlon world started earlier this year, when I had the chance to volunteer for the Full Iron Triathlon, setting up the aid station at Thirukazhkundran where the Half Iron/ Full Iron cyclists take the U-Turn. This got me the chance to spend lot of time with them, having small chats on how this goes and how they feel. Not even one Triathlete mentioned it to be a boring or a tiring one. Everyone wanted to complete it whatsoever it may happen and it proved to me right till date. So started my cycling with the old bicycle, the wonderful Hero Ranger Swing, which my grand father bought me way back, 15 years ago. I rode 250Kms on it over a period of 30 days. Consistently! Parallelly started running practices of 3.5Km a day, which would drain me whole day, cause leg pain and so on. Down the lane, it was a pleasure going for a run.
With my uncle Ananth's yearly visit to Chennai around May/June, I had the chance to increase my distances from 3 to over 7-8Kms at a time.
Next, the injury that I endured in January 2016, because of a wood log falling on my head, stopped me from riding motorcycles since helmets meant neck pain. Didn't get into deep thoughts, rather sold it to welcome home my Merida Crossway 15, which to date, has never made me regret why I chose to sell my motorcycle, although both meant very close to my heart.
Very soon, got to join with Sundhari, Chelvi, Francis and Lakshminarayan, who used to push me alongside their daily runs and soon I touched my first 10K with them. And soon joined Ashish, Ramesh Palani into this gang. Most of the days I used to cycle to Bessy, keep my bags in car, run and cycle back to work, which meant a duathlon routine most of the time. This gave a good workout also for my lungs.
Arunava and me started going for a swim, once a week around May. This brought the right spirit in me, to learn it better, which I couldn't, at that moment. So I had to wait.
With the July Triathlon soon happening, it brought another fresh bunch of inspirations. Made good friends with Vinolee, which saw us cycle to Ottiambakkam together and me getting into the same open water. Intital days of swimming struggle can't be forgotten. But with the change of few things, she had made me a swimmer now, who could do 300-500metres at a time. Eventually we used to practice at a swimming pool in Tambaram too. Everywhere, cycling and straight to work.
Just registered for Hyderabad Triathlon so that I push myself further. Rakesh has been a motivational factor here, pushing me to go further again and again. And eventually it worked out, with me battling severe cramps in the pool and somehow managing to complete it. Meanwhile, I had done my CTM 21K Half Marathon, a PB 10K in Adidas Uprising, A G3 Duathlon. All these made me stronger day by day. Not to forget Khushal, Ahamed and Raja, for their motivation in swimming and Guna, for the number of times I went to him for some improvements in my Merida Crossway!
I did practise constantly also in Aquatic complex, Velachery, once a week when I couldn't go to Ottiambakkam. Special thanks to Eswari, RG, Ram, she gave me a good swimming workout one day in Ottiambakkam! And we swam together that day!
Special thanks to Ashwin Govindasamy and Thomas Habel, for I learnt how to be aggressive during an event from these two. And to Prabhakaran Mohan, the most humble person I've seen, cousin Ramsy, my friend CJ (Vijay), my friend Kameshwari (Bijilee), sister Gayathri (huge Pillar of support) , finally mom and dad, for everything I am today!
A practise Olympic Triathlon one month before, Nagalapuram 120K off road cycling two months back, regular 10k runs with Peter, and few practise rides gave me the right freedom and courage to register for Half Iron man, which I did few days before the event registration closure.
Not to forget Abhishek here, who has been the major key in my practice swims at Ottiambakkam, eventually made him fall in love with the Open water too.
Peter did mention to me twice, one during a swim and another after the practice Olympic Triathlon, that I was good to go for a Half Ironman and he has made me a Iron-Man already.
Onto the big stage now:
Got my cycle ready two days before, checked my Xero sandals, since I was comfortable doing the event with this but also accomodated my Puma shoes along.
Peter's mail on what/not to do before, turned to be very helpful.
Had run a practice Half Marathon one week before, so that I don't find it difficult to finish the Triathlon HM leg. Had asked Rathan and Venkat to accompany me for the cycling leg, since I was skeptical if my tires would get punctured. Venkat was also ready to pace me for the 21K running since he also ran along with me during the last week's half Marathon.
20 minute 500m swim at a pool along with Uma, with damn cold water, a day before the Vardah Cyclone played a major role. Had worked bit on my freestyle part since I used to go for breast stroke to accomodate my poor breathing.
Took good care of myself the previous day, went to Agni, collected the BIB kit with Rakesh and was done for the day. Had Idly for breakfast and as usual, Granny's lovely Avial and rice!
Packed the things well in advance and set off for the enduring task.
The event day was more a goosebumps feel, to step into the fresh Openwater once again. Upon kick-start , I went slow only to realise myself getting squeezed between the others and ended up taking a larger path away from the crowd. This gave me a huge confidence boost since I even forgot the fact that there were tubes to assist me if in case I need any support. So far, I haven't done the 150m stretch without stopping at every tube. It was a blessing in return from the waters. You give something in return since this Quarry is a blessing to this city , amidst pollution and traffic. Soon after the second lap, I felt very uncomfortable with my goggles and hence decided to go without them. Every dip inside, eyes would close automatically. Last U-turn point, it was a real surprise to see the Timing guys tell me to come up! Wohooo . ! I had accomplished the swim in my personal best 1 Hour 8 Minutes (1.9Km). People who have seen me swim here, will know the feel I have, taking basic swim help from Vinolee and only doing self practice. Consistency and dedication paid off. By now, giving up half way was out of question, since I had made up my mind to finish in sub 8 (trust me, set up targets higher than you feel you can do). It was now time for me to get into the endurance mode, discover myself upon 9 hours of solid Triathlon!
Cycling start was easy, since I wore a Tri-suit, thanks to Trek-n-Ride (OMR). The route was by-heart for me since I have been frequenting here very often. Soon followed Lakshman from behind (he is a Kaataan I'm telling you) and then it was time for me to ride along with Arjun (we become good friends , and small world, many mutual friends) . Myself and him made ourselves sure that we won't leave either of us alone and vowed to ride together till the end. First 45Kms was with my lovely Xero Sandals, which I preferred to keep for running and opted for my usual Puma shoes instead.
It was great fun, especially the last 10Km when you come to know that you have cycled 80Km already. 10km more to go meant a special feel. I got numbness at my fingers in between which I relieved through stretches while on the saddle itself. It was a bit pissing! Just
I had a near miss in between a car on my front and a two wheeler behind, when the car braked all of a sudden, making me brake and resulting in the rear wheel going high up, close to the two wheeler rider. Thank god!
I forgot to mention the volunteers here, few gave me a good massage to ease my back, since the same riding position made it difficult to increase my pace. So, rather than pushing, I kept myself consistent, not worrying about speed. Target was 4:30 Hours that I had in mind, ended doing it in 4:15 Hours.
Soon came cycling to end. Wohooo. It was time to run. Venkat was ready with my Xero sandals , his phone and water bottle. Rathan took charge of the other things, to make sure they go back safe into the car.
The first 5K was bliss, since it was our regular 10K route and we had a good chatty 35 Minute 5,K. The second 5K loop went very boring. Had Arun, my college mate for company. So we had a nice aerobic run/walk to complete one more loop. Onto the 3rd loop , got to meet Mithun on the way. Tagged him along and we started to walk/ run , setting our own start/ stop marks. It was fun. And soon joined practice mate Ashish to our last loop. It was dark, so Ashish, Venkat made sure that our route doesn't get dangerous. We ran 50%, walked 50%. And now came the last turn to lead into the final stretch of running. From somewhere came energy and I did my usual sprint. It was my first proper Triathlon, hence as a respect, put in my best to do a very good sprint and it turned successful. Timing ended 3 Hours ! Had kept 3 Hours 30 Minutes in mind, considering the fatigue involved.
Diet Followed : Just the usual daily routine. No supplements.
Swim Time : 1 Hour 8 Minutes
Cycle Time : 4 Hours 15 Minutes
Run Time : Approx. 3 Hours
Total time : 9 Hours 3 Minutes ( Cut off : 9:30 Hours)
It's not about the time, I've endured 9 hours at a stretch now. I've set a mark now! Will look to improve it in the consecutive events, with better timings!
Thank you Peter, once again. Started my journey with Chennai Trekking Club in December 2015 with the Cleanups and now into the Ultra mode. You've opened a new world for me! Thanks again!
To every single volunteer and well wisher who pushed me hard for what I am today, I bow down to you, thank you!
And I successfully earned my medal and my tag "Half Ironman"
P.S: There's something I didn't mention here. The last three months I focussed on building up a stable routine of waking up on time, no skipping of meals and sleeping on time. And of course, gave more importance to swimming, then running (since Wipro HM was supposed to have taken place earlier) and few cycling sprints in the last two weeks.
Behind the screen goes 2400Km of Cycling, 410 Km of Running and 15Km of Swimming this year! This gave me really good confidence to go for the Half Ironman! Let's see how the journey goes further!
