Tuesday, October 22, 2013
disEASES made EASY: Sore Throat aka Pharyngitis
disEASES made EASY: Sore Throat aka Pharyngitis: Have you had a scratchy throat? A pain in the front of your neck? Does swallowing even a swig of your throat cause you to squeal? If th...
T is for Triathlon, T is for Torture
Ran my first ever triathlon of my life today. I can say it was fun. Very fun. And i learnt a lot.
The most important thing I probably learnt is that to win a tri you need to finish one tri first. You can never win your first tri no matter what. Even if you are an excellent swimmer cyclist and runner.
My best 2 km swim is probably a sub 30 min. This is mostly because I have a 25 second best 50 m freestyle.
And if i really squeezed my butt cheeks I could do a 3 hour 90 km cycle despite my hell hole of starting model road bike.
And i could run a 21 km in 1 hour 30 mins if i really really wanted to.
But to do it all together is a total different thing.
------------------------------
Lets cut the crap talk and get to the nitty gritty.
So race day starts. Its 6 am. I get registered and move over to the pool. There I dive in and swim a bit of warm up. The water is warm. Its not cold and I am happy.
I am in lane 4 with Richard McDowell, the triathlete prodigy in our lesser Hyderabad. I almost cower at the sight of his towering frame. He starts with " are we looping or straighting" or something like that.
I reply : i am sorry whats that mean??
Turns out looping is going one lane coming down the other. he asks what i am a swimmer or a runner or a cyclist. I guess I am a better swimmer n runner. So i say that.
And he asks time i am trying. I say 5.45 hrs for the tri and less than 38 fr the swim. He says I will beat him in the swim. I really doubt that I think to myself.
----------------------------
6.16 am
The swim starts, and I test the pace a bit. I think I was in the lead. I looked left, I looked right. I didnt see anyone. So I start to burst out some speed. I have loads of speed. I have been swimming since I was 5. Within 4 laps I have gained a lap on Richard. I am happy. Even if I lose I at least beat the best there is in one part.
The 38th lap summing the 1.9 km I burst the speed and do a 35 second finish. I am pretty sure I am first but much later I find out I am 2nd. I lose to Srinivas from the Police Academy. Anyway I am still elated and happy. I run to the bike and start changing.
I find that you should dry your feet before you cycle. If not it itches like mad later on. Few mistakes, changing and putting on a singlet and shorts takes time. Its better to buy a trisuit if you are actually serious about triathlons.
------------------------------
6.54 am
Am on the cycle. I tried to maintain an average of about 30. My cyclocom was gone so I had to use my heart rate monitor to assess the effort. I felt I wasnt pushing too hard. My pulse hovered between 135 and 145. I was doing uphills at 25 roughly and downs at 35 for an average of about 30 kmph.
After crossing IBS, I saw srinivas who had beaten me at the swimming part. I realised he was from the Police Academy and I really wanted to beat him. So I shot past him like a mad man. I wanted him to realise that you really can touch me. And I think he got the point.
At that point I was in 2nd place. I loved the feeling I thought I can win this!! I hit the service road and somewhere on the way I saw Sunil Menon. He came up beside me and said all the best dont give up. That drove me on. I attacked him over and over again. Its been a long time since I attacked someone. We kept exchanging leads till the end of service road.
I wanted to keep chasing him down but I had to stop to fill gatorade. The cycling stage ended with sunil roughly 10 mins ahead.
----------------------------------------
10.30 am
started the running part. Being just 10 minutes behind, I felt I can take 2nd and being way ahead of 4th I was happy. I ran from gachibowli to service road and back to service road end in about 1 hour 20 mins
Then the real problem started. I cramped so bad that I couldnt walk. I had to sit down. And the cramp was so bad I couldnt even walk anymore. After about a 5 minute massage I got up. I had to win.
I started to run and then I cramped within 1 minute. Then I checked my GPS I had 4.9 km to go. And I thought I have a 40 minutes lead. If I even walk till the end I will be able to get through at 3rd. I started walking but I cramped 4 more times and I had to lie for a while.
I then took off my shoes and walked. At 3 km to go, I was overtaken by Dr Anand. That was the point. A lot of people kept coming. About 7 of them told me to stop. I knew one thing I can never do. That is to give up.
So I struggled holding anything for support to just move. I wanted to finish so badly, I even thought i will handstand walk to the end if my legs gave up. I kept walking and then Dhirwant and Prateek came up to me. I met Dhirwant the day before and Prateek I met in the dry run. Dhirwant ran ahead and me and Prateek decided to walk till the end. At the end we made a pact to sprint.
So the sprint ensued and just moving my legs a bit faster made them cramp. I think Prateek was in the same boat and we both struggled. Thankfully I won the sprint and I was happy to finish. Everyone was cheering and that was that.
-----------------------
Final time 7 hours 30 mins or so.
I am happy I went all out. I know something about myself now. I can win till the end of the swimming and cycling if I just get a better cycle. If I had gone slow and steady, I doubt I can ever improve.
I remember the words of coach Chris Carmichael. To race fast, you need to train fast. I only wish I improve by my next Tri and really blow my mind.
Sayonara then..
The most important thing I probably learnt is that to win a tri you need to finish one tri first. You can never win your first tri no matter what. Even if you are an excellent swimmer cyclist and runner.
My best 2 km swim is probably a sub 30 min. This is mostly because I have a 25 second best 50 m freestyle.
And if i really squeezed my butt cheeks I could do a 3 hour 90 km cycle despite my hell hole of starting model road bike.
And i could run a 21 km in 1 hour 30 mins if i really really wanted to.
But to do it all together is a total different thing.
------------------------------
Lets cut the crap talk and get to the nitty gritty.
So race day starts. Its 6 am. I get registered and move over to the pool. There I dive in and swim a bit of warm up. The water is warm. Its not cold and I am happy.
I am in lane 4 with Richard McDowell, the triathlete prodigy in our lesser Hyderabad. I almost cower at the sight of his towering frame. He starts with " are we looping or straighting" or something like that.
I reply : i am sorry whats that mean??
Turns out looping is going one lane coming down the other. he asks what i am a swimmer or a runner or a cyclist. I guess I am a better swimmer n runner. So i say that.
And he asks time i am trying. I say 5.45 hrs for the tri and less than 38 fr the swim. He says I will beat him in the swim. I really doubt that I think to myself.
----------------------------
6.16 am
The swim starts, and I test the pace a bit. I think I was in the lead. I looked left, I looked right. I didnt see anyone. So I start to burst out some speed. I have loads of speed. I have been swimming since I was 5. Within 4 laps I have gained a lap on Richard. I am happy. Even if I lose I at least beat the best there is in one part.
The 38th lap summing the 1.9 km I burst the speed and do a 35 second finish. I am pretty sure I am first but much later I find out I am 2nd. I lose to Srinivas from the Police Academy. Anyway I am still elated and happy. I run to the bike and start changing.
I find that you should dry your feet before you cycle. If not it itches like mad later on. Few mistakes, changing and putting on a singlet and shorts takes time. Its better to buy a trisuit if you are actually serious about triathlons.
------------------------------
6.54 am
Am on the cycle. I tried to maintain an average of about 30. My cyclocom was gone so I had to use my heart rate monitor to assess the effort. I felt I wasnt pushing too hard. My pulse hovered between 135 and 145. I was doing uphills at 25 roughly and downs at 35 for an average of about 30 kmph.
After crossing IBS, I saw srinivas who had beaten me at the swimming part. I realised he was from the Police Academy and I really wanted to beat him. So I shot past him like a mad man. I wanted him to realise that you really can touch me. And I think he got the point.
At that point I was in 2nd place. I loved the feeling I thought I can win this!! I hit the service road and somewhere on the way I saw Sunil Menon. He came up beside me and said all the best dont give up. That drove me on. I attacked him over and over again. Its been a long time since I attacked someone. We kept exchanging leads till the end of service road.
I wanted to keep chasing him down but I had to stop to fill gatorade. The cycling stage ended with sunil roughly 10 mins ahead.
----------------------------------------
10.30 am
started the running part. Being just 10 minutes behind, I felt I can take 2nd and being way ahead of 4th I was happy. I ran from gachibowli to service road and back to service road end in about 1 hour 20 mins
Then the real problem started. I cramped so bad that I couldnt walk. I had to sit down. And the cramp was so bad I couldnt even walk anymore. After about a 5 minute massage I got up. I had to win.
I started to run and then I cramped within 1 minute. Then I checked my GPS I had 4.9 km to go. And I thought I have a 40 minutes lead. If I even walk till the end I will be able to get through at 3rd. I started walking but I cramped 4 more times and I had to lie for a while.
I then took off my shoes and walked. At 3 km to go, I was overtaken by Dr Anand. That was the point. A lot of people kept coming. About 7 of them told me to stop. I knew one thing I can never do. That is to give up.
So I struggled holding anything for support to just move. I wanted to finish so badly, I even thought i will handstand walk to the end if my legs gave up. I kept walking and then Dhirwant and Prateek came up to me. I met Dhirwant the day before and Prateek I met in the dry run. Dhirwant ran ahead and me and Prateek decided to walk till the end. At the end we made a pact to sprint.
So the sprint ensued and just moving my legs a bit faster made them cramp. I think Prateek was in the same boat and we both struggled. Thankfully I won the sprint and I was happy to finish. Everyone was cheering and that was that.
-----------------------
Final time 7 hours 30 mins or so.
I am happy I went all out. I know something about myself now. I can win till the end of the swimming and cycling if I just get a better cycle. If I had gone slow and steady, I doubt I can ever improve.
I remember the words of coach Chris Carmichael. To race fast, you need to train fast. I only wish I improve by my next Tri and really blow my mind.
Sayonara then..
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