Triathlon experiences in 2K_17

Having done official 10k and half marathons with good timings, I felt only running is more stressful and little boring. I don't like running at a pace of above 5, I normally try to keep my runs at a 4 something pace but I tend to get injured if I do long distance runs at a good pace. I now do short runs at 4 point something pace and do strength training and stretching. Triathlons provide a balanced endurance workout and so I am pursuing the same. I had done a sprint triathlon in IISc in 2015, and was looking at official triathlon events all over India. The most prominent triathlons organised in India and their approx. dates are:

• Goa Triathlon in February,
• Hyderabad Triathlon in October, 
• Chennai Triathlon in July and December, 
• Himalayan Rush in March 
• Mysore Tri Thonnur triathlon in September

Full Ironman triathlon consists of a 2.4-mile (3.9-kilometer) swim, a 112-mile (180-kilometer) bike ride and a 26.2-mile (42.1-kilometer) run  but is not organised in India. The highest level of triathlon in India is 3/4 Ironman organised by Hyderabad and Chennai triathlon. Also, Goa thriathlon, is the only one where we get to swim in the sea. So, I registered for the Goa triathlon in December 2016 and planned for a Goa trip with two of my friends at the same time, as we were about to graduate from IISc. We planned a 4 day trip from 9-12 February and landed in a cozy hotel near Miramar beach in Panjim. The environment in Goa was quite western with lot of Churches and cool people. The food was mostly exquisite coastal cuisine, and we did do sightseeing on a rented motorbike and a cycle.

On 11th February, I collected the Bib and the rented bike from the event venue at Bambolim Beach Resort, I left the bike there itself for the next day's event. Having practised swimming only in a swimming pool, I had to swim for the first time in the sea. The sea looked calm as it was surrounded by land mostly.  Triathlon-day was on 12th February morning, woken up early at around 4 a.m., had some nutrition like dry fruits and dark chocolates for the event. Dragged my sleepy friend to the event venue at around 6:30 a.m. I had to wear the timing tag near my ankle which measures the start time, splits and end time. I had tested the waters, it was salty and warm :). I had to swim 700 m into the sea, hand over the wrist band to the organiser in a boat, swim 100 m parallel to the coast, hand over another band to a organiser in another boat and return back to the coast; to ensure nobody cheats. Finally, the event started at 7:30 am under a cloudy sky and warm weather. There were lifeboats and markers put on the sea route to guide the swimmers. I was swimming slow and was not able to navigate in the required direction. Navigating is the difficult part while swimming in sea as there are no guided lines like in swimming pool. One advantage is that floating is relatively easy due to high density of sea water.  I was guided towards my destined boat for sometime by the guys on lifeboats, and I realised I should look up after every three strokes to avoid going in a wrong direction and getting lost. I had finally reached the first boat after around 40 minutes, and after handing over the wrist bands, ventured on the way back to the coast. I finally finished swim stage after 77 minutes, having covered much more than 1.5km due to swimming in wrong directions. Swim was quite refreshing and then I geared up for the bike ride, after taking a electral drink. I had rented a mountain bike, so I had to put more effort even though the roads were good. I had to complete 5 loops of around 8 kms. It took me 105 minutes to finish a total of 40 km. Then, I parked my bike at the transition point and started my run. It was quite humid and sunny and tiring for running after swim and bike. With some walk breaks, I finished the run in 65 minutes and finally finished my first Olympic level triathlon in 4:21:10 hours which included a 1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run. I was fully exhausted after the event but felt very good having finished the event. I then refreshed and relaxed on the beach waiting for my friends, and then enjoyed the Goa beaches. So, the event was very well organized and location was very scenic. Its a very good event for novice triathletes and get inspired from professional triathletes like Pablo Erat, the consistent winner. This is completion certificate for the Goa triathlon:

Overall, I feel triathlons are a very balanced way to keep ourselves fit and its less injury prone than only running as it requires a combination of three sports to finish it, activating different muscle groups for the three sports. I never felt any stiffness or any kind of injury after doing a triathlon, while I tend to get injured during long distance running. The reason I feel is as the first leg in the triathlon which is swimming, is easy on the body due to water viscosity, and warms the muscles enough for cycling, which is also easier on the body as compared to running. And then when we start running after swimming and biking, the muscles are warmed up enough for the run.  So, running being the last leg even though its difficult the chances of injury is less. Also triathlon is a whole body workout as compared to only running (activates whole body muscles due to three sports) and is less monotonic. 

Training for triathlon:

As I had already done a sprint level triathlon in 2015 and had a good swimming coach who also gave us very good training in gym and poolside, I mostly followed what he suggested. I regularly practised swimming timed 1000 m swim, interval swim 500x3 m, and 2km swim in the IISc swimming pool around 4 days a week. Some days I did swim 1000m followed by around 20k biking or 5km running in the campus. I followed this schedule for around 3 months, not very regularly though. Running after biking needs little practise as legs become stiff for a run after biking. Also, I had done the complete swim, bike and run couple of times two weeks before the event. I suggest you should take at least two days rest or light workout before the event so that the body is ready to endure long hours of stress on the D-day. Taking salts, water and nutrition at the transition point and in between bike and run is advisable to avoid dehydration. I feel anybody who can swim decently and run can do a triathlon. In a city like Bangalore where there is lot of traffic, biking and running can be done indoor on bike trainers and treadmill. Weekends can be used for long bike rides in the outskirts of the city.

Half Ironman:

Having finished the olympic level triathlon comfortably, I was confident to do Half Ironman, so I targeted the Hyderabad triathlon event in October 2017. As I had submitted my PhD thesis in April and joined job which is far away from IISc campus, I did not have the luxury to practice swimming regularly. There were some pools near my place but they were small for practising for triathlon. So, I joined a good gym near my place, and followed a regular workout schedule, while in the weekends, I went to the JP park swimming pool near IISc (IISc pool was closed for renovation), sometimes by cycling, so it was like 25 km biking followed by 1000 m swim and again 25 km biking back to my place. I also did around 110 km bike ride to Nandi Hills which included a 10 km run in Nandi Hills.  I did a 2 hour stadium run with IISc team, this was my first midnight run and I finished a half marathon in the same duration. I booked a good road bike for the half Ironman in Hyderabad. I reached Hyderabad on 7th October and picked up my rented bike, Montra Celtic 2. I collected the BIB and met fellow triathletes and organisers from the Lemon Tree, HiTech City. Next day was the Half Ironman beginning at the ICFAI Business school and ending at Gachibowli stadium. I reached the venue at around 7 am and the event started at 8 am. As swimming was in the pool itself, it was a  steady swim finishing 1.9k in 83 minutes. Then, I had some fruits as nutrition and started the 90k bike ride. Some stretches of road were not good but the ride was comfortable and cool. Took a small break for water and nutrition after 40k and returned back. After about 80k it started raining heavily, halted for few minutes and the continued the ride slowly due to rain and traffic in the Hitech city. Finally finished ride in around 4.5 hours, could have finished earlier if there had been no traffic or rain. Now comes the most difficult part, running after swim and bike ride. Even though it was cool and drizzling, I took around 3 hours to finish half marathon as I was exhausted due to the long swim and bike ride.

Finally finished the half ironman within the cutoff limit. The event was well organised but some parts of the bike and run routes had obstacles due to traffic. I would love to do a Ironman in a traffic free area, but its difficult in a city like Hyderabad. In that way, Goa triathlon was free of traffic as the organisers had blocked the road for the event. Hopefully, I will improve my timings and endurance and mental stamina to push more in future triathlons. I really feel preparing and participating in triathlons is an excellent way to maintain overall fitness and mental strength for anybody.