Ironman!!! Triathlon!!!
These are the two words that were prodding me from the last couple of years. Thanks to social media, a lot of interesting feed on this kept pushing me, tempting me to attempt something on these lines.
As usual, me being me, convinced a couple of friends to attempt this. Basically’ this’ means: one swims, then cycles and then runs for a particular designated distance all in the same event on the same day to call oneself a TRI athlete.
Since there was no ‘learning ‘of these faculties, I was under the impression that it is easily manageable, but I was definitely in for a surprise as I progressed into this sport further on. I actually had to ‘Unlearn’ to get the finer nuances of all the three faculties in the right direction!!
DON’T BE AFRAID OF TRYING SOMETHING NEW.IT MIGHT BE THE BEST THING YOU EVER DO!!!
Unknown
A Half Ironman or a 70.3 Triathlon, consists of a 1.9 Km open water swim followed by a 90.0 Km cycle ride and ends with a 21.0 Km run, with ‘transitions’ in between to change/ hydrate etc.All this to be done under 8.30 hours. Confused with the numbers since they don’t add up, eh??? Here’s a clarification:
70.3 is actually the total distance in miles, since this is a sport measured in miles all over the world now (US domination?) So technically a Half Ironman or popularly known as 70.3 comprises of 1.2 Mile open water swim followed by a 56-mile Cycling Distance and ends with a 13.1-mile run. (Go ahead, do the math!!)
“When your legs scream ‘stop’ and your lungs are bursting, that’s when it starts. That’s the hurt locker. Winners love it in there.
Chris McCormack
Well, first things first: A little rewind into the story:
We signed up for a Olympic distance Triathlon in Oct 2022. This was to test waters (Pun Unintended!!), to test if we could pull off these three faculties one after the other. An Olympic distance Triathlon is 1.5 Km open water swim + 45 Kms cycling + 10 kms of running. This is an official Olympic event which now has blown up into something as crazy as Ultraman events (with added distances for each sport)!!!
This Olympic Distance Triathlon Event was in Kolhapur, organized by the Kolhapur Sports Club and we managed to pull it off. I would strongly suggest that whoever wants to attempt a 70.3 tri, should attempt an Olympic distance Triathlon first to get a fair idea of the whole process.
Well, so having completed the Olympic distance gave us not only the confidence of attempting a 70.3 but also bragging rights!!!And so a few of us signed up for the Bergman Tri at Dimbhe dam that was to be held in Oct 2023. The Olympic distance was a trial event, done without any prior formal training. Just that we were actively cycling, running and relatively fit, we could pull this off. But we realized that to complete a 70.3 within the cut off time would require a proper training program. So, things were put in order, a trainer started giving us training programs and we kept following them till the race day. Unfortunately, it was not to happen. Some political issues cropped up at the location on the race day and the entire event was cancelled shattering the dreams of many athletes who were ready to tick off their first 70.3, just like us!!This was a big blow, mentally… months of intense training practice went out just like that…. But that made us even more determined and finally myself along with Dhananjay and Kedar decided to take the IRONMAN plunge.
Goa Ironman 70.3… The only location in India which offers this brand medal, which is currently the topmost brand in Triathlons. Plus, the attraction of having an after party for celebration in Goa…. (we had already assumed that we will complete the 70.3 Goa Ironman) we signed up for it. Along the way came Siddharth Deshpande who too joined us wholeheartedly in this mad attempt!!! Sadly, Kedar had to go to Brussels for official work and he had to miss the Goa Ironman eventually. So, it was upto to the three of us to get ready for this challenge.
Dhananjay assumed the role of our mentor as well as a co participant .Not just that, he was our unofficial ‘Coach’; guiding us all along the training schedule from Feb 2024 till the race day (27th Oct 2024). Along the process, we were accompanied by Shalaka (the missus), Dr.Niranjan, Rohit and Mandar as our fellow training members. They started joining us for all our training schedules mainly to motivate us and also get their fitness in order. So, it was a Win-Win situation for everyone.
THE TRAINING BEGINS_ GOA 70.3 IM
What follows now, is my experience of the buildup, training schedules and readiness to tackle my first ever Half IM . The actual experience of 27th October 2024 shall follow this blog as Part 2!!
So here goes:
OPEN WATER SWIMMING: FACULTY 01 (DISTANCE 1900 mtrs)
The first faculty in any Triathlon is a Swim. Usually, it is an Open Water swim meaning, the 1.9 Km swim has to be done in a lake or an Ocean. A dam backwater safe zone is also a popular Open water swim location. Goa offered us a chance to swim in the Arabian sea at the Miramar Beach.
Naturally, we being in Pune, regular ‘sea swim’ practice is practically impossible. Also, practice or training sessions are recommended in local pools and a couple of simulation swims to get a feel of open water is generally followed as a standard practice, by all triathletes. We were not going to do anything different. So, we enrolled ourselves to do a few practice laps, swim drills at the Balewadi Pool (it is an Olympic size pool of 50.0 mtrs lap length). I must mention here that in addition to the laps that we swam, Instagram reels and videos taught us some technique corrections!!! We kept sharing some interesting drill, technical videos ,with each other, that were Triathlon training specific and tried to incorporate them in our swim routines.
Most of first timer triathletes are quite skeptical about the Swim on Race Day, for various reasons, viz: lack of access of practicing regularly in open water, not being used to swimming long distances, temperature and conditions of open water, mental anxiety, etc. Hence putting in hours of swims at the Pool just makes one comfortable with swimming for a longer duration. In addition to this, open water sessions are essential to minimize the fear and the anxiety.
For the open water sessions, safety becomes the utmost priority. Anyone training for Open Water needs to use Buoys or floating devices as a safety measure when you enter open waters. Preferably train for such sessions in a group of 3 to 4 like-minded swimmers so you watch out for one another. Dam Backwaters or Lakes, where there are known safe zones (the locals know these spots generally) are ideal sessions to practice. Kasarsai Dam Open water Swimming is one of the most popular open water swim locations for many Punekars. We did a couple of those sessions. Since the coast is not too far from Pune, we also did a simulation Sea swim in Konkan closer to the race day. Off course, this too was after talking to the locals and taking help from them as a safety measure. The Sea swim experience really helped us all. The sea was choppy and finding yourself swimming in the vast ocean makes you question your TRIATHLON KEEDA!!! But literally a case of ‘NOW THAT YOU HAVE JUMPED IN THE WATER, SWIM IT OUT TO THE SHORE happened and the confidence boosted by a little margin!!!
Gradually we saw considerable improvement in our Swim technique and speed. The confidence slowly kept building as we approached the D day.
CYCLING: FACULTY 02 (DISTANCE 90.0 KMS )
The second faculty in any Triathlon is usually the Bike Leg. For a ‘Half Ironman’ or a 70.3 Triathlon, the Bike leg involves 90kms of cycling. This actually is the trickiest Leg of the Tri. You have come out of a swim thinking that half of the work is done and a Half marathon lies ahead after the Cycling. SO it’s a very tactful approach that one needs to have for the Cycling bit. Try to recover after the swim, try to pace well that you can save the allotted time as much as possible so that there is additional time during the run and at the same time keep your self energetic for 21 km run which is the last leg of the Tri.
As far as I am concerned, I like to believe that my strongest section is the Bike section. Out of all the three legs, I have clocked maximum distance on the bike in all these years.
Most of the triathletes prefer doing their practice sessions for cycling on an Indoor Trainer for obvious reasons like performance improvement, safety and convenience. However, most of us preferred a combination of Indoor and Outdoor Rides as part of the training program. The indoor rides were for the reasons already mentioned and the outdoor rides were to be prepared for road conditions, heat training, traffic awareness, reflexes etc.
Being a Punekar offers great outdoor training rides since we can get out of the city within a radius of 10 kms… Also, the terrains are predominantly rolling so its quite similar to what we could expect in Goa (the actual route in Goa was a lot tougher than what we had imagined!!) so these sessions definitely helped us.
Our favorite training route was Chandani Chowk or CC as its popularly known to Dehu Road or further upto Kamshet and back. Basically, the Old Pune Mumbai route.
Generally, these rides were planned on Sundays so we could pass/ meet up/ catch up a lot of fellow riders from the fraternity thus making all the training rides a pleasurable experience.
Once we were used to these ‘Sunday long Rides’ we added a small run post the ride. (ranging from 7 to 10 kms) These sessions are called Brick sessions. This was another aspect that I learnt when I started training for a Tri. Combining two different endurance activities one after the other is not an easy ball game at all. IT again starts questioning your decision of signing up for triathlon!!! ( I guess this fear of self-doubt is what one needs to overcome and you focus on your training to prove something to yourself and only to yourself!!! )
I must admit here that Indoor trainer rides definitely improve the statics. However to understand these metrics, one has to have an Indoor trainer ( it’s a device on which you mount you cycle and it simulates road cycling) and additional devices like a HRM ( heart rate monitor to track your heart rate zones), Cadence meter, power meter , a Garmin watch ( or any other triathlon watch) which transmit metrics ,which in turn help to track your progress. Probably for all this you need some technical person who understands, translates and guides you on your training process. Like I have already mentioned, Dhananjay was the one who did all this for us in addition to his own training.
Once you sign up for such events, start training schedules and slowly see the progress, it encourages you more and strengthens your self-belief. I was happy to see self-improvement in my cycling journey. My sincere advice to everyone who loves cycling: Sign up for some event, get into training and see a buildup in your capability. Also, my love for Leisure cycling or cycle tours has not diminished a bit. In fact, it has made me appreciate Cycling as a sport even more!!!
RUNNING: FACULTY 03 (DISTANCE 21.0 KMS )
Running.. The most dreaded leg of the Triathlon for me. Inspite of having done a few half Marathons (21.0 kms run) and a couple of Full Marathons (42.0 kms run), the run in a triathlon was the most demanding for me since it is to be done after the swim and the cycle ride. Staying focused to complete a 21 kms run after a tiring swim and a decently paced cycle ride, the run, for me, was always a mental and a physical challenge.
As mentioned before, there is a cut off for each faculty and then there is an overall cutoff of 8.5 hours for the Half IM. The time that you save in the individual categories gets added up to the last category. Hence, I had made up my mind to save some time in the swim and the cycle so that I have some additional time left to complete the run.
For all newbies who want to try their first Triathlons, you must understand that your HR i.e Heart Rate zones must be known to you. The training is majorly based on HR zones and not on Speed or Distance to start with. This ensures that your build up your Endurance slowly and gradually so that you can sustain this ordeal of one of the world’s toughest sports. Zone2 or Zone 3 are the ideal training zones which help you to ease into Z4 / Z5 later if required. Also, the HR zones enable your coach/ trainer to monitor the progress more effectively and increase the training load accordingly.
As afore mentioned, we did not have a ‘Coach’ but Dhananjay was the one who monitored all these parameters and set up some schedules for us. We could see the improvements in our runs as we trained seriously. It was a combination of Sprints, Slow Long runs, Hill repeats etc just to build up endurance as we approached the main event. These sessions also ensured training in different HR zones as mentioned.
It is recommended to do some of your training runs in the later part pf the morning since the actual run always starts post 10.30/ 11.00 am atleast after the swim and the bike. Unfortunately, we did not train well for this particular aspect due to daily schedule restrictions, traffic and convenience!!!
Like the Brick sessions for Cycling + running, some weekends were also reserved for brick sessions for swim + run as well. One really needs to sign up for a triathlon event, just to experience this aspect of a multisport. The muscles used are different, your psyche is different, your HR zones vary and keeping all this in mind all you need to do is FOCUS!!!
For someone who love running as a sport it becomes easier to do their best time for the triathlon and give their best shot but for someone like me, it becomes the most difficult leg of the Tri. So mentally and physically, both, the running schedules always seemed to be the most frightening!!! Every training completed always felt like a small achievement and it boosted the morale as the main event approached closer.
MISCELLEANEOUS 1: FACULTY 04 (TRANSITIONS)
An integral part of any multisport like Duathlons or Triathlons are the Transitions. Basically, it means the time and the switch over between two faculties. So logically, there are 2 transitions in a Triathlon: 1. When you come out of the water, quickly dry yourself, get out of your swim wear like the cap and goggles, wear your cycling gear like the helmet, shoes and glasses, pick your cycle from the parking spot and head out for the cycling session. Now, you must be wondering how does one cycle in the wet swimwear??? Hence all triathletes wear something called a trisuit. It’s an apparel that suits for swimming, cycling and you can run in the same attire. It is quick drying and designed for cycling and running too.
2.When you finish you cycling part, you come back, park your cycle back in the designated spot, change from your cycling shoes to running shoes (if you prefer to wear same shoes for both the events you may save some time) keep your helmet, wear a cap etc. and start running.
Now there is an additional but extremely important thing that you got to do during a transition and that is reload your nutrition or have a quick banana, energy gel, nutrition bar etc.
So ideally when you start practicing the 3 legs of a triathlon, practicing transitions become equally important. This you can do in your brick sessions. For beginners or first timers like me, transitions become a relief / rest break but watching or seeing pro triathletes do their transitions is a learning experience. They see to it that minimum time is spent in these change overs, since time spent at transitions are also included in the overall timing and cut off timings. So technically the sooner you transit out of these zones, the better!!!
MISCELLEANEOUS 2: FACULTY 05 (NUTRITION and HYDRATION)
One needs to understand the importance of good Nutrition and proper Hydration. This is not only during the training period but also during the actual event. Hence the strategies differ slightly. For example, you are on the go all the time for 7/8 hours in a triathlon… you need instant energy to sustain this demanding sport. Hence you might opt for energy gels on the actual event and opt for solid foods during your training schedules. However, the basics of proper hydration nutrition remain more or less the same. During the event, you tend to sweat a lot, hence salt tabs, electrolyte intake is crucial which you may not necessarily take during training sessions. Protein intake, good fats and carbs are essential during training period to build up strength and endurance but o nthe race day you need instant energy so sugars become important on the event day.
All these nuances are important to understand and actually ‘train’ for the same. So, getting used to having energy gels, eating energy bars on the go, sipping water or electrolytes even if you are not thirsty, making a habit of staying hydrated all the time etc becomes a part of your training schedule.
MISCELLEANEOUS 3: FACULTY 06 (STRENGTH TRAINING, YOGA, STRETCHING)
It’s imperative to incorporate a few Strength training (gym) sessions in your training schedules which we managed to squeeze in as well. Muscle building becomes important for these sports. The sport demands so much from you that your body needs to be in top shape to be able to pull this off. In addition to the training, you have your daily routines, family life, work schedules. Muscle strength will enable the body to take all this hectic lifestyle.
Along with it, we also incorporated a small yoga or a stitching session once or twice a week, not only for flexibility of the body, but also mental stability. It sounds very cliché that Yoga helps body balance along with mind space but it’s absolutely true. Mental peace during such intense lifestyle keeps one sane!!!
MISCELLEANEOUS 4: FACULTY 07 (EQUIPMENT)
A triathlon needs Swimwear + Cycle and cycling apparel + Running wear. That’s the most basic and obvious. But ancillary equipment will enhance your performance for sure. We too learnt about it when we actually got into this madness of participating in a triathlon!!!
Like I have already mentioned, investing in a good trisuit always benefits because the same is used as your basic attire for all the 3 sports. You swim in that, cycle in that and run in that without any discomfort.
SWIMMING: a good swimming goggle is extremely essential so that you can sight in and out of water thus enabling you to go I nthe correct direction while swimming. Open water swimming as is, is tough and then because of the expanse reference points are less. So, a swim goggle of a good quality is required. Always wear a swim cap. However, all the triathlons have a mandate of wearing the event cap as it becomes easier and safer to spot all participants in the water.
CYCLING: Definitely a good cycle with a decent gear set and a drop-down handle works best for a Triathlon. Helmet is mandatory so one should have a good helmet. Cycling shoes, goggles are obviously as per personal preference. Cleated shoes definitely help and give you a better timing, but novices can attempt their first time on basic equipment, like us. Having two water bottle carriers on the cycle will help. One bottle can have plain water and the other can have electrolyte. We practiced sipping on both in our practice rides as well.
In addition to the above, an Indoor cycling trainer is definitely a good investment. This is different than the stationary bikes that you see in gyms. An indoor trainer helps your training massively (already mentioned in the earlier cycling part)
RUNNING: Good running shoes are a must buy. By the time you will actually reach the running part, your legs have taken a major load. So comfortable running shoes are a must. A cap is recommended because the sun is up and at its best by the time the running leg starts.
A good triathlon watch like a Garmin or Apple or Coros is essential to monitor your training along with a Heart rate monitor.
With all of the above you are ready to ‘dive ‘head on in the amazing journey of becoming a TRIATHLETE!!! Probably the event day may have a different story. it may have happy ending or sometimes not, but the journey is definitely worth it. Also try to find like minded (or should I say idiotic) buddies who will get into this process along with you to give this madness a shot!!! Training together ensures that there is always motivation and encouragement.
Take your family into confidence. Convince them that you want to try this ‘TRI’ . Once they understand and see your passion towards this, they will support you. Believe me, a lot of sacrifices are needed too, just in the training schedules. Sleep times change, food habits change, socializing takes a hit. If the family manages all this, then half of the battle is won!!!
Take it from me(I am no expert, but this is my honest opinion) the training is fun when you finally complete the event. Just keep at it and it will definitely yield the results!!!
“Some sessions are stars and some sessions are stones, but in the end they are all rocks and we build upon them.”
Chrissie Wellington
So, Go ahead..
Sign up for that Trathlon that you are thinking about and start training!!! The journey is as much fun as the destination is!!!!
Be First to Comment