It’s a great pleasure to share
with you all about a recent change in my life. In December 2015 Multifitsponsored me to
do the Ironman Zurich in July 2016. Since then I have wholly devoted myself to
training for this beast of a race. For those who don’t know what Ironman is ,
it’s a race consisting of 3 sports swimming , cycling and running. The full
Ironman (140.6) requires an athlete to swim 3.8 kms then cycle 180.2 kms and
lastly run a full marathon which is of 42.2 kms. All this under 16 hours of
time limit, to achieve the coveted title of Ironman.
With the support of Multifit and
Cymour I have embarked upon this journey not only to complete this gruesome
race which will test my endurance but also to achieve a competitive timing. I
have been sharing my training pictures and videos online. But that is only 10%
of what I am actually doing. The triathlon training has changed my life. I am
in the fittest shape I have ever been. Each day is harder than yesterday. Everyday, I feel like
quitting but that is when I get over it and keep pushing on. Thanks to my crew,
coach, sponsors and supporters I have developed myself into a weapon.
Last week I took part in the Bhor
Triathlon just to test myself. The longest distance offered was the Olympic
distances (1.5 km Swim, 40 km Cycle, 10 km Run). Check out the following race
report.
Bhor Triathlon
The reason to do the race was
just to get myself ready for the bigger and more brutal Ironman. To simulate
that I went in tired and exhausted into the race. I had a hard build up of
training before the Bhor triathlon. Right upto the day before the race I was still
doing running and swim intervals. However I was still confident of doing well.
All Packed and Prepped
Getting Ready for the Race
I camped out near the race venue
on the night before the race. The race start was in a small village of Mhakoshi near Bhor. It rained throughout the night. Thankfully the
tents kept us dry. I had the awesome Nikhita Nath for company and help me
prepare for the race. After a good nights sleep I was feeling great for the
race. A light breakfast and I was ready for the 1.5 km swimming. The organizers
(Zenith Sports Initiative) had a pretty neat and efficient setup. The Olympic
Cat triathletes were the first ones to get flagged off.
The beautiful location of the race!!
First out of water
I dived straight in and started
with a fast freestyle pace to get away from the crowd and soon managed to put
quiet a distance from them. The swim was is a small lake with good clean water.
The swim had 4 loops of 375 mts. I had recced the loop the day before so I knew
what to expect. I kept a comfortable pace never exerting too much which was
enough to get myself the first person out of the water. I could sense my
triceps were tired from swimming drills from last week, which did not allow me
to function at my optimum. I later got to know that I took about 44 minutes to
finish 1.5 km of swim. Usually I would do it in 30 minutes.
The cycling route was winding and rolling through the amazing countryside
After the swim I headed straight
for my bike. The bike was a hybrid which was given to me by Aniket Mahashabde
of Cymour. The hybrid served me well on the immediate slippery and muddy uphill
section to get to the road. Thanks to the organizers who provided me with a
pilot vehicle who was ahead of me the whole time clearing traffic and showing
way. The cycling terrain was all rolling with pothole ridden roads and
sometimes no roads at all. It was good to have the Cymour crew and Niki cheer
me as they chased me in their car. I took about 1 Hr 30 mins to finish the 40
kms of cycling and managed to gain a considerable lead on my competitors. Then
off I went for my run which was supposed to be only 10 kms but ended up doing
16 kms.
Trail Run
Greatful to Sushil and Prashant Tidke who paced me on my last lap
Always a relief to cross the finish line
Getting my bearings
The running route was supposed to
be a loop of 2.5 kms x 4, but it actually turned out to be 3.2 kms. I started off
with a comfortable running pace, slowly increasing my pace as I went further
into the laps. By this time the weather had turned from a cool overcast to a
hot, humid and sunny. By the 3 rd lap I still had a lead of over 2 laps over
the guy behind me. After a cool 13 km run to finish first I was joined by
Sushil and Prashant where we did one more victory lap and still finishing
first. Although I would be lieing if I said I had an easy race. I was competing
against myself never getting comfortable and pushing myself through the pain. I
was glad to finish and lie down.
That is all you need after a hard race
Crossing the Finish Line
It was an honour to receive the
winner’s trophy from Prashant Tidke, a long time friend who has been inspiring
me since I took up the sport. I was overwhelmed by all the strangers coming up to me and said I was inspiring them.
They all cheered and clapped for me. All in all it was a great race, very well
organized, a beautiful backdrop of the sahyadris and the perfect rainy
atmosphere of the monsoons to top it all. I would recommend the race for
beginner triathletes, a great way to get your first tri experience.
Receiving the Trophy from Parag Ghuge, Pravin Patil and Prashant Tidke (From left)
As the hours passed the terrain started to roll up and down , the winds kicked in and the sun got back to its unforgiving self. I was getting cranky and really mad at my crew. There I was, at the start of the race thinking that I would finish it within 24 hours. Boy!! Was I wrong or what? Now it was more a question of survival. I was so exhausted that each pedal stroke took a lot of effort. It was here that I started to think of quitting but I just couldn't accept that. So I had to dig deep inside to muster the courage and will to keep up a brutal 30 kmph average speed........
Another Ultra race under the
belt! After 2 Deccan Cliffhangers and a RAAM crew experience, I thought I had seen it all. But the Desert 500 remarkably proved to be otherwise. I walked (hobbled) away
with a lot to learn. Here’s a brief and exciting summary of the race!
The Desert 500
This race is organized by Delhi’s
Velo Sportive group and has been conducted for 2 years now. My good friend Divya Tate recently joined their
team I was looking forward to a well organised race. The race had different categories of 50km,
100km, 250km, 500km and 684 km. The last one was advertised as a challenge and
a qualifier for Race Across America (RAAM). With my eye on RAAM my priority was
to do the longest distance on offer and also to bag my 3 rd RAAM qualification.
The race was based in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. A very picturesque desert city. As
the name suggests the race route was through the scorching Thar desert of
Rajasthan. This was one challenge I was looking forward to conquering as racing in this heat
would simulate the RAAM conditions found in Colorado and Arizona.
The Race
This race required me to have a crew
to supply me with everything I need in the race. One of my sponsor and good
friend Aniket Mahashabde of Cymour volunteered to be my crew chief and
mechanic. Saniya Patil and Monish Deshmukh had both crewed for me in my DCs had
returned to support me once more and one new addition was the energetic youngster Arham Shaikh. All 4 between them o now have 10 crewing/racing experiences. I without doubt
can say that these guys are one of the most experienced crew in the country and
I was lucky that they had my back.
Team Chai Before We left for Rajasthan. From Left - Aniket, Saniya, Chai, Monish and Arham
Aniket had lent me his SUV for
the race which was what I needed to carry my race gear all the way from Pune to
Jodhpur. Aniket joined us in Jodhpur directly while the rest of us had a pretty
amazing road trip. Especially north Gujarat and Rajasthan!! The roads were
great and the countryside near the Aravallis was breath taking. We arrived in
Jodhpur by evening and were settled in a comfortable Youth Hostel.
The Race Venue
A day before the race me and
Arham assembled the bikes and got them ready to ride. We both headed out
towards the race start point, to check the bikes and spin the legs to take out
the travel stiffness. On the way back to the hostel I had an unfortunate crash.
24 hours before the race. I was distracted by my phone and did not notice a
stone right in the middle of the main street.
Fortunately I was on my back up bike which did not sustain any damage.
However my left calf and hand and thumb had bruises. I rode back home. They dint
seem as major injuries. Although the bruises hurt a bit I was concerned about
my thumb which had swollen up and had difficulty moving it. I could still hold
my bike handle properly so there was no question of dropping out of the race.
Me and Arham going for the Test Run
At the Race Venue, just before I crashed. (Atleast I got the pose in)
Race Day –
After an uneasy night I woke up
to a buzzing morning. My team were on top of the things, organizing food and
logistics for the race. I even got a breakfast in bed. I chose to ride to the
venue as I needed to check on my thumb. Bad news – I could barely use my left
hand for anything other than holding onto the bike. Breaking and changing gears
was painful. I knew it was going to be one painful race. I was one of the last
riders to show up. Saniya had already reached ahead of me and done the
formalities. Realizing I was the last to be flagged off with still 15 minutes
in had, I went off for a warm up spin. I only realized they started the race
when I saw Mayank Tripathi zooming off. I thought he was just warming up too
but then came his crew car. So I sped back to reach just before Sumit Patil who
was just ahead of me was getting flagged off. My poor crew were frantically looking
for me. Well not a perfect start but no
harm done, all I had missed was a photo-shoot with my fellow competitors.
At the Start Line
Arham Giving me a TT style start
The race started at 10 am when
the sun was just getting warmed up and it was already 32®C. The max was
predicted to go all the way upto 40®C and a minimum right down to a freezing 6®C.
With my usual steady but brisk pace I head out into the desert. Soon catching
up with Jagdish Italiya and Sumit Patil, both strong and proven riders. About 2
hours into the ride I realized I couldn't even use my left hand to receive my
drinks and food from crew. Arham was risking his neck as he stood in middle of
the road for the handover from my right side. Even though they were few and far
between the bumps on the road hurt my thumb and I started taking my left hand
off the handle every time I went over one. This one time I almost fell as I did
not slow down enough. This reduced my average speed by a few decimals. Despite
the issues I thought I was going pretty well and to the plan. The plan was to
finish the race within 24 hours.
I had decided to try out a new
strategy. Stopping after every 90 minutes to stretch my legs out. This actually
kept me fresh on the bike and keep my speed up. The crew were brilliant in
giving out the massages. As the day went on it got hotter and hotter. I usually
do not have a problem with heat and can sustain it but the desert was getting
very formidable. It threw heavy winds at me which kept changing directions. And
these winds were hot as if coming right out of the owen. My crew were
constantly on their toes trying to keep me hydrated and cool. I got water
sprays almost every 5 minutes. I later learnt that my back was covered in the
white salt deposits from the dried sweat. I was gulping almost a litre of water
every hour along with gels and electrolytes. Around 3 pm the heat was getting
to me. I was getting cranky and frustrated. By that time I had overtaken all
the competition except for Rajnikant Yadav a naval athlete. Due to the heat and
wind my average speed dropped and I panicked a bit, I put in more effort trying
to stay at 30kmph without realizing that it was taking a big toll on me. An
hour of this super effort drained a lot out of me and I had to stop and take a
nap at around 5 pm. I only needed a 5 minute nap and I was back refreshed on
the bike.
Passing Jagdish Italiya
It went on and on and on.
Arham Spraying Water on my back
Then started the chase for
Rajnikant. From 5 pm in the evening I
was on his tail trying to catch him. Every turn I took I expected to see his
crew car. As night fell every car I saw in the distance I thought it was him. I
got into a mad obsession to catch him. That drove me into deep frustration as
the kilometres kept piling up and still no chance of him. I was surprised as I
did not think he would manage to hold me off for so long. Mind you I was going
pretty fast and he still evaded me. The last time I had seen him in Deccan
Cliffhanger in 2014 he couldn’t finish the race in time. This time he
definitely surprised me. I had completely under estimated him.
The hours passed and so did the
miles. The night in the desert started to get really cold. A complete contrast
to the day. Thankfully the cycling was keeping me warm and I dint really feel
any chill at first. As the turn around point came close at around 500 kms, my miserable
mood started to get better as Rajni still hadn't passed me. I finally caught
up to him right at the turn around point. It gave me a huge boost. I finally
settled down mentally knowing that I can get my lead now. Wasting no time we
turned around and in about 15 minutes I had come up to him. He was looking
good, going off the saddle and hammering even after 500 odd kms. He was
literally hammering away like a guy on a
final sprint. He even taunted me with some snide remarks. ** ( After clarification he had just said "Aja aja aja" - means come on in hindi. I took that as an insult when it was not intended to be. He was just encouraging me I got to know later) That did not provoke
me at all and I still kept my calm as I pushed on with my steady pace. I
steadily overtook him. But he did not let me go away easily. We kept passing each
other for 5-6 times until I finally managed to shake him off with a calm and
steady pace never pushing too much. I had put on a good 20 minutes lead on him.
That’s when the cold of the night got to me. It was almost nearing dawn. The
coldest part of the day. I have no idea what temperature it was but even the
constant pedalling could not keep me warm. I put my jacket which only helped
for while. The cold was lulling me to sleep. Couldn’t stay up, so I took
another 5 minute nap. An uneasy but a much needed rest. Afraid that Rajni would
pass me I awoke with a start in 5 and was back on the bike. This period was one
of the toughest times I had. I was sleepy , I was tired and I was concerned
that Rajni could pass me any time. Its true what they say – “it’s the darkest
hour before the dawn”. Barely hanging on the bike I finally made it to dawn.
Once the sun was up it started to get warmer and the sleep went away. I started
to feel better and better. Also there wasn’t any sign of Rajni on my tail. Now
however another problem arised. It was around 10 am. I had to do about 120 kms
in 4 hours!! That meant I had to ride with an average of 30 kmph to just finish
within the cut off time which was at 2 pm. Now if you ask me on a normal day I
would say 120 in 4 hours is pretty darn tough even when you’re fresh but
imagine you've already ridden almost non stop for 22 hours ; done 550 kms and
now they tell you to go at 30 kmph. At first I was pretty confident as I felt
good and mostly the terrain was flat. But I was wrong …
The Night Rider
As the hours passed the terrain started to roll up and down , the winds kicked in, the sun got back to its unforgiving self. I was getting cranky and really mad at my crew. Here I was thinking at the start of the race that I would finish it within 24 hours. Boy!! Was I wrong or what? It was a question of survival. I was so exhausted and each pedal stroke took a lot of effort. It was here I started to think of quitting but I just couldn't accept that. With that I had to dig deep inside me to keep up a brutal 30 kmph average speed.
It
was getting harder and harder as the day got hotter and the terrain wasn't
exactly flat. Soon it was down to 90kms in 3 hours then 62kms in 2 hours. During these last few hours I had become immensely focussed and with that came
extra-ordinary performance. My body surprised me. I dint know I had it in me to
dole out the 30 odd kmph speed. But I was doing it, It was hard and it was
painful. The fear of reaching too late was enough to push me to the extremes of
my limits. Limits I dint know I had. In the last hour I had to cycle another 30
kms. The enormity of that effort was causing a great strain, more
emotionally or mentally rather than physical. I even passed and overtook some
of the 500 km / 250 km category racers. Somewhere in that flurry I got a giant
bee sting right on my chest. As if I needed any more pain. But in those few hours,
everything had become blurry and all I could see was the finish line. Pedal
Pedal Pedal. The crew kept feeding and hydrating me, I have no memory of that.
Saniya even had a fall as one of the hand-outs went wrong.
Grumpy Chai
The last half an hour I had 15
kms to go. I was pushing and averaging between 32-35 kmph trying to finish
before time to keep some cushion. Teeth clenched, heart pounding , legs pumping
, lungs exploding I went up the short climb which dint feel so short and
zigzagged through trucks and cars as I reached the final few kilometres. As I
took the turn off the highway to get to the finish line which was about 2 kms I
only had 5 minutes left on the clock. It was here my crew tells me that they
had lied to me and that I actually have 30 more minutes to go to the deadline.
I was so angry at them but I knew they had pushed me to my limits to get me
across on time. I even yelled at the media vehicle that started filming as I
approached the finish. Songs blaring, people cheering, cameras rolling I
crossed the line with 20 minutes to save.
To come out of that state of
utter focus and pushing myself to the brink I was overwhelmed by all the
emotions that came flooding out. The relief, exhaustion, happiness, frustration
and anger all at once. I could not contain it. Thanks for my crew who helped me
bury my (awfully dirty) face in some towels and shoulders. I was saved from too
much embarrassment. I did manage to
cycle further from the finish line to the venue to collect my medal and pose
for the pictures. The crew soon whisked me away to the hotel where I just
passed out on the floor without even bothering to clean up. I had officially finished
first and completed the Desert 500 race – 700 kms in 27 hours 40 minutes.
Later I came to know that Rajni
had managed to finish half an hour after me, about 10 minutes after the cut
off. He was still later announced as an official finisher owing to the fact
that we had to cycle close to 700 kms rather than the announced 684 kms. A
tremendous effort from him and his crew.
To conclude I would like to say
that this was by far the most difficult undertaking of my entire life. Never
before I had pushed myself to the brinks of a mental breakdown. I came out of
it surprised that my body could actually handle these extreme conditions. It
was actually my own mind that was limiting the body to function at its most potential.
With that in mind I have started to train myself for my ultimate dream Race
Across America (Target – 2017) and the Zurich Ironman (July 2016).
Winning the D 500 was worth more than that Voucher and Medal
On the Stage with crew and fellow riders
Lastly even though I train myself
to make the weapon I am, all this wouldn't have been possible without my crew –
Saniya, Arham, Monish and Aniket. They all performed beyond expectations to
keep me safe and to push me to my limits. The man behind all this who’s
responsible to making me a cycling machine Michael Lehnig, my coach. Also a big
thanks to my sponsors – Multifit and Cymour who have believed in me and
supported me in my crazy endeavours. Also my family and countless other folks
who have supported me, cheered me on – I can’t thank you all enough.
