It took place on Sunday, April 9 2017. I was in my office the previous day and it was 3.45PM. Suddenly, I remembered that the registration of the triathlon was from 3-4PM at Hosdon's Bay company. I was in a dilemma whether I would be able to complete it or not as I was not 100% fit. Then I decided: fuck it-I will do it. Went to the shop and got my registration done. Had a good night sleep and went to the Corec the following day. After getting all the markings done and getting the tracker, I went to the Acquatic center.
A length of 50m looks small but when I warmed up it was not so small. After the warm up, my head was spinning. Earlier at IITK, I only swam in the deep and its length was 35m. The highest distance I have covered was 1km, so I was pretty confident that I would make it. So around 9.45AM, my turn came and I jumped down the swimming pool. The start was not so good and I was struggling to keep my body straight with all the spectators around me. The surprising thing that I found that it was not a small triathlon. People from all around Indiana and even Illionis came to participate and everyone looked professional. After completing the first 50m (at reasonably fast pace), came the next 50m and it was the most terrifying 50m I have ever done.
Not having done enough rest after the first 50m, I started to come back almost immediately and after the first 3-4 strokes, I felt that I was not able to make it. It was a test of endurance!! Breathing almost every 2 stroke and feeling at loss of breath at times, I somehow managed to reach the end. And took adequate rest before proceeding further. This time I swam slowly as I swim normally and it was easy this time. At this I saw a girl swimming backwards as it is more relaxing. I swam the 4th lap pretty comfortably. Took a rest for some time and then started to swim backwards for the starting of the 5th lap. After some distance, I switched to freestyle and completed the fifth. I adopted the same strategy for the last 50m and I was out of the swimming in 12 minutes.
Now came the cycling part. I put one some clothes with my camelback on me. It is a little bit too big for the bottle support on the cycle as it kept on getting out. I had to run to the purple line with the cycle and then begin cycling. I think cycling was the easy part, maybe that's because I was not trying to compete with other people who were overrtaking me all the time and had obviously better cycles. It was a bit difficult to get on the slopes at times but I kept on cycling. Previously, the highest cycling that I have done is 80km in a day, so I was pretty sure that I could do it. Fortunately, the wind was blowing perpendicular to me otherwise it would had been a nightmare to bike. While returning, a volunteer stopped me and told me give him his tracker as I was not wearing a helmet. After thinking a while, I said take it. Anyway I was not getting a good rank or anything. I just wanted to finish it. There was a small bridge overhead me at one time and the road was not in a perfect condition there. As I went through it, my camelback mounted off and its cap broke. But nevermind, I picked it up and went on to complete the 2nd leg of the trialthon.
Now came the running part. As I had no water with me, I first drank 2 cups of water and ate a banana and then went on to run. It was not running, rather slow jogging. But the people in front of me were also at the same speed, so I felt at least I am competing :P. Earlier, when I did 5km was for the adventure club and I remember my first 5k which was treacherous. I managed to complete in 42min as far as I remember. But subsequently, the next year, we had to do 10km and then the first 5k was fine but the next 5k was torcherous. But my time went on improving and it was about 60-65min for 10k. Now, I was jogging around the intramural fields, to Armstrong, to the Engineering fountain and back, to MSEE and towards the Co-rec and then a last detour and then the finish. The running part was not that hard (although I did not run swiftly) and I completed without stopping.
At the finish line, I met one couple who congratulated me on completing it and gave me advice on how to train for triathlon in the future. He said that he was the one who was cheering me up in that 2nd lap of 50m in swimming. As I sat near my cycle, a woman came to congratulate me.
It was one heaven of a experience and would love to do it again, although not in the near future. The whole race took me somewhere between 1hr 55min to 2hr. It was a test of true endurance. Now I feel that to complete the triathlon sprint is not difficult but to continuously improve your time is very hard. It was one of the best experiences ever and a feeling of self satisfaction.
A length of 50m looks small but when I warmed up it was not so small. After the warm up, my head was spinning. Earlier at IITK, I only swam in the deep and its length was 35m. The highest distance I have covered was 1km, so I was pretty confident that I would make it. So around 9.45AM, my turn came and I jumped down the swimming pool. The start was not so good and I was struggling to keep my body straight with all the spectators around me. The surprising thing that I found that it was not a small triathlon. People from all around Indiana and even Illionis came to participate and everyone looked professional. After completing the first 50m (at reasonably fast pace), came the next 50m and it was the most terrifying 50m I have ever done.
Not having done enough rest after the first 50m, I started to come back almost immediately and after the first 3-4 strokes, I felt that I was not able to make it. It was a test of endurance!! Breathing almost every 2 stroke and feeling at loss of breath at times, I somehow managed to reach the end. And took adequate rest before proceeding further. This time I swam slowly as I swim normally and it was easy this time. At this I saw a girl swimming backwards as it is more relaxing. I swam the 4th lap pretty comfortably. Took a rest for some time and then started to swim backwards for the starting of the 5th lap. After some distance, I switched to freestyle and completed the fifth. I adopted the same strategy for the last 50m and I was out of the swimming in 12 minutes.
Now came the cycling part. I put one some clothes with my camelback on me. It is a little bit too big for the bottle support on the cycle as it kept on getting out. I had to run to the purple line with the cycle and then begin cycling. I think cycling was the easy part, maybe that's because I was not trying to compete with other people who were overrtaking me all the time and had obviously better cycles. It was a bit difficult to get on the slopes at times but I kept on cycling. Previously, the highest cycling that I have done is 80km in a day, so I was pretty sure that I could do it. Fortunately, the wind was blowing perpendicular to me otherwise it would had been a nightmare to bike. While returning, a volunteer stopped me and told me give him his tracker as I was not wearing a helmet. After thinking a while, I said take it. Anyway I was not getting a good rank or anything. I just wanted to finish it. There was a small bridge overhead me at one time and the road was not in a perfect condition there. As I went through it, my camelback mounted off and its cap broke. But nevermind, I picked it up and went on to complete the 2nd leg of the trialthon.
Now came the running part. As I had no water with me, I first drank 2 cups of water and ate a banana and then went on to run. It was not running, rather slow jogging. But the people in front of me were also at the same speed, so I felt at least I am competing :P. Earlier, when I did 5km was for the adventure club and I remember my first 5k which was treacherous. I managed to complete in 42min as far as I remember. But subsequently, the next year, we had to do 10km and then the first 5k was fine but the next 5k was torcherous. But my time went on improving and it was about 60-65min for 10k. Now, I was jogging around the intramural fields, to Armstrong, to the Engineering fountain and back, to MSEE and towards the Co-rec and then a last detour and then the finish. The running part was not that hard (although I did not run swiftly) and I completed without stopping.
At the finish line, I met one couple who congratulated me on completing it and gave me advice on how to train for triathlon in the future. He said that he was the one who was cheering me up in that 2nd lap of 50m in swimming. As I sat near my cycle, a woman came to congratulate me.
It was one heaven of a experience and would love to do it again, although not in the near future. The whole race took me somewhere between 1hr 55min to 2hr. It was a test of true endurance. Now I feel that to complete the triathlon sprint is not difficult but to continuously improve your time is very hard. It was one of the best experiences ever and a feeling of self satisfaction.
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| Before the start of race |
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| After finishing the triathlon |
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