My first triathlon

After contemplating the idea of being iron man for 1 week I finally decided that I should participate in CTC half iron competition. I arrived in Chennai on Saturday morning with one day buffer to the event. It was pleasant morning; I got my Fomas road king out of the bus and started riding from Koymbed station to Velacheri swimming complex. I did a recon lap of the cycling area just in case so that I don’t get lost. The Chennai heat was known for being troublesome, At 8 in morning it was already burning me down. I finally reached the running track and decided to help the organisers. It was fun to see some old faces and made friends with new ones. Later I headed to IIT campus to meet my host for the night Ajey. This guy started cycling 3 years back and great cyclist. He is crazy enough to do Chennai to Bangalore (350km and 1k altitude gain) as first long distance cycle. 

Me and Ajey went for a small cycling trip, had mega biryani and decided to call it a day. I was so excited for tomorrow’s event that I couldn’t sleep. Another reason was; there were mosquitoes that were bigger than butterflies which nearly drained all my blood. After sleeping for nearly 1hr I got up at 4.30 in morning and finished my usual chores. Finished couple of Chikki and bananas and started off to Velacheri pool. The sun was barely up and there were over 50 athletes out near the pool eagerly waiting to get started. I realised that for my category there were total of 15 participants. I was happy because I expected 25 participants and I was thinking I should not come over 20. I already finished my goal of being under 20th position without even starting the event. Before we all started the struggle I was talking to other half iron participants and some were capable of swimming 2km in under 45 mins. Which was nearly 30 mins quicker than me. That was a bit scary at first then realised they were all jolly folks. At that time Vallabh ortho our amazing physio started his warm regime. I was tired at the end warm up (never happened before). Later we all got into the pool and slowly started the long race. Rudra who was captain of water polo team went like rocket in the pool. I even tried to draft him but he was plainly too fast. At 1.2km something went wrong with my left calf muscles and it cramped. In my entire life I had cramps twice, first time in ocean sprint swimming with friends and now here. That was my OH SHIT! Moment. I thought I would quit without even finishing the first leg of the race. That would be pathetic so I decided I won’t use legs to paddle, Just hands. Using hands alone was a bit more tiring but it worked. I got out of pool and i was surprised that I finished 1.9km swim in 47 mins. That was my personal record and I was in 3rd position. I was happy with my time and did a quick change and started my bike ride. 

Me swimming

Bike was my strong point so I was telling myself I should be faster than others in this. To fix my cramped calf muscles I drank 1.5 liters of electrolytes in under 20 mins of cycling. That changed everything like magic. Now I was fast catching up on the other two guys who were ahead of me. I had read in many blogs that cycling is like buffet on wheels, and I should eat as much as possible on bike to help while running. I followed that advice and started eating like cow. Within 15 km I caught up with raghul. He had a big knobbly MTB, no wonder I caught him so early. Just one more guy up ahead of me. I was hoping that I can catch him in cycling before half way because I was bad at running. But the heat was killing me, Everytime I bent my head down it was a waterfalls from my helmet. I remember rahul dravid playing cricket and he was doing that. With all the water out of my system I had to refill it. Thanks to so many volunteers on road (in the heat) they gave me a quick refill. I rode at avg of 30kmph and The volunteers on the bike caught up with me and offered bananas and water which felt like heaven. Finally just after mahabs turn I saw a lone cyclist pumping away. Got him finally. Rudra also had an MTB, I was shocked. With an MTB he had such a huge lead, OMG he is good. I thought I should slow down a bit and started to cycle along with him. In an MTB he was doing avg of 25kmph after 50kms of cycling. I was thinking he must be zrazy to have this kind of endurance. We both talked for about 1hr. He gave me electrolyte which saved my life. I had the filled up two 600ml water bottle with 360 cal glucose. Out of which I had finished 750 ml, but to finish the rest it was impossible. My stomach had stopped working. Both of us tried to eat a banana, but both of us were unable to swallow it. It was miserable, at one point I felt like throwing up on the bike. Somehow my stomach managed it and did not give in. We were nearly 30km from end point I decided I should keep my original pace. I said bye to rudra and started my 30kmph avg. 20Km to go, rakesh in his car came next to me. He provided chocolates water from his car. It was like tour de france style. I felt really good when he came. I had run out of water and he was like god send. Last 10km were even faster and I did 35km average. Finally i saw the cycle to run transition point. Phew I had done 100km cycling in 3:20. Not bad after the swim. 

Me eating something and cycling

The gruelling part of the race, running, started. Since I was already low on water, I made a big mistake of gulping quarter litre of water just before I started running. Big mistake! My legs were already like jelly now the stomach became bouncy like water balloon. Jogged for 300mts, and waaaaak. Everything came out. I threw up all the water and banana. It was kind of relieving that everything came out but still felt uneasy. I ran another 100mts once more everything came out. The third time cleared everything from my stomach. I was happy at that time because nothing was left inside so no more vomiting. Now the real race started, started running at my regular pace. 2km(2laps) down I saw Rudra coming in for the run. I was happy I had 2km lead over him. But 4km down, feeling of diarrhea started. Another Oh SHIT! Moment. Thanks to organisers, there was a handy toilet nearby. I lost about 5 mins in the toilet, so Rudra was now 1km (1lap) behind me. I started my regular pace again and finished 10 km without stooping. At 13km fatigue started to kick in. 14th km was hell, I started to walk. I had to walk and run alternatively. Rudra over took me after couple of laps. I felt pathetic and lost steam thinking I will be coming second (damn!). With some effort I ran the rest of the distance at lower pace. Every time I finished a lap the volunteers and other athletes would cheer, it gave a huge boost. That stretch where there were lot of cheering I would run faster. And rest of the lap it would be gruelling slow pace. It was like sling shot for 100 mts. 4km to go, the sun was at its full fury (1 o’clock). Suddenly I could barely run, only walk. I thought I bonked (hit the wall). But after half a lap realised that it was because of the sun. I poured 2 mugs of water down my head and then back to normal. Phew that was a bit scary. Two more laps to go, completely tired I was walking. Sucharita came next to me and said I will jog next to you for motivation. It was really helpful, and lifted my spirits. She asked me to run faster, but I said I am coming second anyway so let me finish a bit slower. She shouted back at me, noooooo you are still leading. You have 2km lead so run. I was like whaaaaa????. Apparently he had rested for 2 laps and I missed that. I was super happy and started sprinting. Woot full steam ahead. The next 2km was like dream. I could see the finish line and all of them waiting for me. I was feeling super happy. The cheering was mind blowing. At the end for a nice finishing picture I leapt in the air. Yaay I finished. 

Me jumping with excitement

I finished the entire event in 6:33 hours. That was awesome timing for me. I was hoping for less than 8 hour finish. But I came in way earlier. I finished swim in 47mins, cycling in 3:20 and run in 2:24. So a total of 6 hours 30 mins. Yaay! 

vallab and rakesh lift me high in the sky :)

This would not have been possible without so many people. I would like to thank Akshay for all the training he did with me. I remember him saying your head still got to go underwater to be more streamlined. Man, all the effort paid off. Thanks to ajey for starting cycling and motivating me to do my first long ride to Mysore, and for hosting me even tho me being a pain in the ass. Thanks to Sucharita for all the cheering and time keeping and motivating. Thanks to many other organizer Vani, shumon, prabakar, rakesh and many others I don’t remember the names. Thanks to all of all your help.

Tag: chennai, bangalore, CTC, chennai trekking club, triathlon, half iron man, akash, cycling, road bike, fomas