No human is limited - It’s True!
As Eliud Kipchoge, stated and broke the sub 2 marathon limit of the human kind, I have achieved a goal which was impossible for me, extremely happy to share with you all the same. I extend my achievement along with a few other friends from Zoho.
About the event:
An Ironman 70.3 (IM 70.3), also known as a Half Ironman, is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). The “70.3” refers to the total distance in miles (113.0 km) covered in the race, consisting of a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) swim, a 56-mile (90 km) bike ride, and a 13.1-mile (21.1 km) run, which are half the distance of those segments in an Ironman Triathlon. The Ironman 70.3 series culminates each year with a World Championship competition, for which competitors qualify during the 70.3 series in the 12 months prior to the championship race. The time needed by an athlete to complete a 70.3 distance event varies from race to race and can be influenced by external factors. These factors include the terrain and the total elevation gained and lost on the course, weather conditions, and course conditions. Finish times range from sub-four-hour completion times by elite level athletes to the imposed race cut off, which is commonly 8 hours and 30 minutes after the start time. Ref: Wiki.
Intro:
Myself, and friends had registered for IM 70.3 Goa long back as early birds when it was just opened for the registration. And kick started the training for the same ASAP from the date of Registration.
70.3 Goa:
Pre-race days: We had reached three days earlier to get used to the location and do training in the race terrain. The practice swims, & test rides were satisfactory to an extent, got hope that it was doable and with favorable weather it would be an awesome event! Rest of the day was used for chilling around the race expo and for loading Goan food :D We had to rack our cycle the day before the race and arranged all the necessary stuffs in the order of usage. Then are two transitions and the sorting of accessories was important. Things were set and all good to go for the race day!
I must mention one more friend of mine from Zoho volunteered in the wonderful event as Race Referee! That’s a cool role btw :D @Shreyaas Viishvak V. He helped a lot by providing a lots of tips and quick clarifications whenever required! Thanks a ton bro :)
Race day:
It was my debut event, the day started as early as 3:45 AM, with a coffee and routine tasks. I was ready by 4:30 AM. Reached the race venue by 5 AM, waited for a while and met a few amazing triathletes before the opening of transition. The transition zone was open from 5:30 AM — 7:30 AM to access and set everything ready, filling air, arranging the gels and nutrition required etc…
We had placed ourselves in the swim venue according to our swim capability, the fast swimmers first, and so on. The flag-off happened exactly by 7:30 AM and it was a 2 lap swim with 950 mtrs each. Post swim, we had to run to transition zone and suit / equip with cycle accessories and get the wheels rolling. Everyone was on fire, it’s a damn race! Obviously the timing matters, the timing includes even the transitions!
Cycling leg was started and the weather was awesome, it was a full on mode, just enjoyed the cycling phase, it was pretty fun filled course, good road section, tail winds, head winds, climbs… Wow! The road filled with superb triathletes, amateurs, volunteers and spectators was awesome! And met all my friends in the route and it was good to watch them giving their best.
Finally in 1+3 hrs, the swim and cycling was done and again into transition zone, to change and start gliding in the beautiful run course along the way to Raj Bhavan in Dona Paula from Miramar. There were splendid, cheerful & helpful volunteers in all the aid stations and all along the way during swim, cycle & run! They were real motivators for each & every single participant. All good till 15kms, I was really amazed by my performance, but hit a wall post 15kms, when I realized that I won’t be able to complete the race in sub 6 hrs. Was mentally down and started walking for a while. Then I realized it was a race against myself, its truly You vs You! That spirit kicked in and started pushing and it doesn’t matter if sub 6 is lost, but still the best time matters! Finally with a Personal Best time of 6hrs 16 mins 49 secs, I completed my first IM 70.3 race! Truly an amazing feel! As a bonus for the debut performance I was qualified for the world championship happening in the New Zealand in 2020.
Vinay and Ajay too finished it in style with an amazing time of 6:55:05 & 7:11:46. Kudos to them! And we celebrated the same with some good food along with other triathletes from our TCB team under the same coach.
How it all started?
A few years back, when I found myself doing nothing other than work it was pretty boring! I thought swim, run and cycle skills can open a gateway to new activities. Started doing CTC Triathlons and runs in the city, it was long gap of almost 15yrs, after which I started running! That was an awesome feeling! Was keeping myself busy even during the weekends and was fun! Later started cycling in 2018 along with the WCCG, it was a game changer. I had wonderful partners from WCCG Tambaram, I have to mention a buddy here! Nikhilesh Raaja, my partner in WCCG from the beginning and Vinay with whom SR series was completed along with SR Raja Anna and which was gateway for registering the IM 70.3, happening Goa! A race which is known as one of the toughest endurance race. Whats fun in life without challenge ;) Since it’s tough and I never dreamt of completing the same, made me to enroll to a coach to train for the race. With the help of Ajay and Vinay, I did the same and we all were ore kuttayil vilundha mattaigal!
We started training together and it was very boring, and I was lazy too! Primarily being the lazy part, because of which the consistency in the training was extremely bad during the initial few months! But was still managing to do at least a 3–5 hrs of training per week. Later some seriousness kicked and realized it’s really tough to do without consistency and discipline! Started ensuring at least 8–9 hrs of training closer towards the final month to the race day. Vinay was doing really good in swim and cycle and Ajay had faced an injury and was recovering and trying to do good in all the disciplines. All of us had fear and at the same time, were ready to face it!
Sadly Bharadhan Ganapathy couldn’t make it to the race day because of Typhoid. But for sure he will rock it with double force in the next race! All the best to you bro.
*** — — —The End — — — ***
It’s not a miracle to finish a race, it’s truly the training effort, the consistency and the discipline we follow! Along with proper nutrition it will show mesmerizing results! Which I didn’t do though ;)
So I can say this, each and everyone one of you can do any thing you dream for! Go out and grab it! This was thought as an impossible dream for me, but now I have achieved! You too can!!!
A little motivational video, this can really do the push for some of you out there! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdaSAQiNtfA This is the video of one of the toughest triathlon known as Norseman! A far away goal! Hope to do one day!
About Me:
Subramanian, 30, Software Engineer in Zoho Corporation.
Cycling was part of many people during their childhood, so was mine, and got resurrected through WCCG(We are Chennai cyclists) 2 yrs back and running too via HDOR ( Hundred days of Running). Later the interest for performance endurance sport grew and started training under Raghul since last 8 months.
Training for a performance endurance sport is very challenging. Training plays a vital role in revealing the true potential, and one thing I can say out of my experience is the best performance in race will be the toughest training one has exerted!
Less training or none can impact the race and can even lead to injury very easily. Nutrition and sleep plays vital role for training to bring out the best in you. A proper measured intake of protein, carbs and fat is must to deliver good performance. Sound sleep of 6–8 hrs is mandatory, I am a late sleeper and used to get only 4–5 hrs of sleep which used to impact my training badly! I highly recommend to stay disciplined to perfom well.
The biggest difficulty in training is finding the balance, being a software engineer my mindset on life was busy and hard to fit in training. But later when I signed up for Ironman 70.3 Goa, I was able to incorporate training into my lifestyle, but was very hard initially and to train at the same time of the day. I used to skip training on busy days, later I realized the cost of that and started training even if it’s late night or whenever I get time! I believe all that matters is the commitment that one makes to oneself to achieve the goal.
Endurance sports makes us feel humble and shows us that, the real completion is the race against oneself! We strive harder, harder and harder and that even gives us the feel that we have a lot of gas still left!