So here you go guys, the race brief for the IM, I will keep it short because – it was largely free on un-wanted drama and secondly I don’t want to bore you to death.
Prologue:
On Tuesday week before I went for a 10k run. Right from the first step I could feel sharp pain in my right bum. I ignored it for a while as I thought it would go away with heaps of stretching but it didn’t and I eventually ended up in the massage camp the evening before the race. The physio thr said that it was really bad and he wouldn’t do much as he doesn’t want to aggravate it. He did whatever and made it almost worse. Then I went to a (hot) chiropractor who did lots of manipulation on my back and I left very very hopeful to run the marathon the next day.
I slept fairly well. In fact I was very calm by my standards the day before and prior to the start. I guess training does that to you. I was confident and not scared of the distance. Just nervous
The swim:
We entered the water and I was at the back with the slow swimmers. Immediately my heart rate monitor stuffed up and I was left with no signal from the HRM. I went in the “Screw it” mode and stopped worrying about it.
After some confusion with the starting gun, we took off and it was a bit of a chaos at the start. Nothing too dramatic though. I swam over/around few people at the start but around 300m in we were well separated to concentrate on our own thing. I was drifting a bit far from the buoys and at one point could stand up on the shore as well. But I quickly went back again and tried to move more and more towards the buoys. It was messy around the turn around buoys but again nothing too bad. At the final stretch towards the end I swam quite well near the buoys.
I was ecstatic with 1:18. I thought I will be close to 1:25 but honestly I was thrilled with this time. I quickly made out to get on the bike
The Bike:
Once out on the bike – the Speedo won’t work. I was very annoyed – cost me a bit of time and wouldn’t start. I decided to go ahead without worrying about it but eventually got off and set it up right. The first 30k was a breeze. After the first turnaround, my back was killing me (Chiro!!!) and I was more out of the aero position. I think I still managed around 30k/hr for first 60k. But by this my head was not right at all. I was also thinking of quitting and it is too hard etc. Naturally that’s when the spoke broke.
The noise from the spoke brought me back to senses. I lost my cadence sensor as well and couldn’t figure out how to fix the spoke. The Shimano guy helped me and twisted the spoke around another one, and off I went again. The next 60k was slow and the sun was getting hotter and hotter with winds picking up as well.
On the third lap – things started to turn downhill. I started to cramp in my adductor muscles of both legs. That’s when I noticed the amount of salt on my tri suit. I tried stretching on the bike but the cramps would return. I stopped and stretched when they grew really bad and eventually completed the bike in 6:54 something.
The Run:
Off the bike – I had a quick transition until I realized I have forgotten my race belt and number and I had to go back which cost me heaps of time. I started off well I the run and the first flat section was easy and faster. I passed the finisher chute and ran half of the hills. I stopped mid way through the hills to conserve the energy but it was probably the biggest mistake of the day. I started to run/walk/run the hill which cost me heaps of time. I was also walking the aid station which was probably not a good idea as well.
I avoided all gels as I tend to get acidity from them. I relied on rockmelons and vegemite (!!!) to keep me going along with water and Gatorade for the first 2 laps. In the second lap my head was drifting again and I could not focus. I don’t remember much of second lap except that it was slow and seemed never ending. Only at the start of third lap when I started having cola I could focus back again. Caffeine did the job, but the cramps returned. I was stopping to ease the calf cramps which were taking out huge chunks of time. Third lap was particularly slow and 13hours were gone without much of a fight from me. I don’t feel too good about it now as I should have pushed myself more but I took conservative approach to make sure that I finish the race.
I blasted the finishing chute, running the last 2 k solidly (which further made me feel sick that I didn’t pushed hard enough on the run). I was shouting on my own so couldn’t hear a thing from the announcer. The finish chute is a blur as well as I don’t remember seeing anyone finishing around me but the photos tell otherwise. I was pretty exhausted and was quickly taken to the tents for massage etc.
The cheering squad:
The boys were FANTASTIC. Out there for so long, its amazing how much you look forward to see someone you know from the crowd for a brief 2 sec boost and how far it can take you. On the third lap of the bike I was pretty much done for the day, but the boys brought me back in the race. During the run, Clem or Luke will run with me for a while or Carl would just let me know that the aid station is just round the corner to take the mind off the exhaustion. Paul, Umar Stevie, Scott were brilliant in pep talks. It is pretty fair to say that without the huge support I would have probably finished in a lot longer time if finished at all.
Just a bit of advice:
If you want to learn something please:
Learn to PEE on the bike- it’s a lot harder than you think and the disgust factor is not easy to get around.
Learn to PEE while running – cost me good 10 mins as I went FOUR times to the loo.
Moment of the Week:
Meeting Craig Alexander in person and shaking his hand.
Moment of the day:
There is a little hill on the bike which they call the heart break hill. Nothing big or too steep, it is just not something you look forward to at 55k, 115k or 175k into the bike. On the last lap of the bike, both my legs were cramping bad. After I stopped and stretched to get over the hills, the cramps came back just before the big hill and they were real bad this time around. I decided not to stop and decided not to walk the hill either. I went for it with all I had (and with a lot of “come on”) and before I knew I was at the top. That’s when I knew that I will be an Ironman by the end of the day.
I’ve failed miserably in keeping it short – please bear with me.
Regards
Arpit Srivastava
Prologue:
On Tuesday week before I went for a 10k run. Right from the first step I could feel sharp pain in my right bum. I ignored it for a while as I thought it would go away with heaps of stretching but it didn’t and I eventually ended up in the massage camp the evening before the race. The physio thr said that it was really bad and he wouldn’t do much as he doesn’t want to aggravate it. He did whatever and made it almost worse. Then I went to a (hot) chiropractor who did lots of manipulation on my back and I left very very hopeful to run the marathon the next day.
I slept fairly well. In fact I was very calm by my standards the day before and prior to the start. I guess training does that to you. I was confident and not scared of the distance. Just nervous
The swim:
We entered the water and I was at the back with the slow swimmers. Immediately my heart rate monitor stuffed up and I was left with no signal from the HRM. I went in the “Screw it” mode and stopped worrying about it.
After some confusion with the starting gun, we took off and it was a bit of a chaos at the start. Nothing too dramatic though. I swam over/around few people at the start but around 300m in we were well separated to concentrate on our own thing. I was drifting a bit far from the buoys and at one point could stand up on the shore as well. But I quickly went back again and tried to move more and more towards the buoys. It was messy around the turn around buoys but again nothing too bad. At the final stretch towards the end I swam quite well near the buoys.
I was ecstatic with 1:18. I thought I will be close to 1:25 but honestly I was thrilled with this time. I quickly made out to get on the bike
The Bike:
Once out on the bike – the Speedo won’t work. I was very annoyed – cost me a bit of time and wouldn’t start. I decided to go ahead without worrying about it but eventually got off and set it up right. The first 30k was a breeze. After the first turnaround, my back was killing me (Chiro!!!) and I was more out of the aero position. I think I still managed around 30k/hr for first 60k. But by this my head was not right at all. I was also thinking of quitting and it is too hard etc. Naturally that’s when the spoke broke.
The noise from the spoke brought me back to senses. I lost my cadence sensor as well and couldn’t figure out how to fix the spoke. The Shimano guy helped me and twisted the spoke around another one, and off I went again. The next 60k was slow and the sun was getting hotter and hotter with winds picking up as well.
On the third lap – things started to turn downhill. I started to cramp in my adductor muscles of both legs. That’s when I noticed the amount of salt on my tri suit. I tried stretching on the bike but the cramps would return. I stopped and stretched when they grew really bad and eventually completed the bike in 6:54 something.
The Run:
Off the bike – I had a quick transition until I realized I have forgotten my race belt and number and I had to go back which cost me heaps of time. I started off well I the run and the first flat section was easy and faster. I passed the finisher chute and ran half of the hills. I stopped mid way through the hills to conserve the energy but it was probably the biggest mistake of the day. I started to run/walk/run the hill which cost me heaps of time. I was also walking the aid station which was probably not a good idea as well.
I avoided all gels as I tend to get acidity from them. I relied on rockmelons and vegemite (!!!) to keep me going along with water and Gatorade for the first 2 laps. In the second lap my head was drifting again and I could not focus. I don’t remember much of second lap except that it was slow and seemed never ending. Only at the start of third lap when I started having cola I could focus back again. Caffeine did the job, but the cramps returned. I was stopping to ease the calf cramps which were taking out huge chunks of time. Third lap was particularly slow and 13hours were gone without much of a fight from me. I don’t feel too good about it now as I should have pushed myself more but I took conservative approach to make sure that I finish the race.
I blasted the finishing chute, running the last 2 k solidly (which further made me feel sick that I didn’t pushed hard enough on the run). I was shouting on my own so couldn’t hear a thing from the announcer. The finish chute is a blur as well as I don’t remember seeing anyone finishing around me but the photos tell otherwise. I was pretty exhausted and was quickly taken to the tents for massage etc.
The cheering squad:
The boys were FANTASTIC. Out there for so long, its amazing how much you look forward to see someone you know from the crowd for a brief 2 sec boost and how far it can take you. On the third lap of the bike I was pretty much done for the day, but the boys brought me back in the race. During the run, Clem or Luke will run with me for a while or Carl would just let me know that the aid station is just round the corner to take the mind off the exhaustion. Paul, Umar Stevie, Scott were brilliant in pep talks. It is pretty fair to say that without the huge support I would have probably finished in a lot longer time if finished at all.
Just a bit of advice:
If you want to learn something please:
Learn to PEE on the bike- it’s a lot harder than you think and the disgust factor is not easy to get around.
Learn to PEE while running – cost me good 10 mins as I went FOUR times to the loo.
Moment of the Week:
Meeting Craig Alexander in person and shaking his hand.
Moment of the day:
There is a little hill on the bike which they call the heart break hill. Nothing big or too steep, it is just not something you look forward to at 55k, 115k or 175k into the bike. On the last lap of the bike, both my legs were cramping bad. After I stopped and stretched to get over the hills, the cramps came back just before the big hill and they were real bad this time around. I decided not to stop and decided not to walk the hill either. I went for it with all I had (and with a lot of “come on”) and before I knew I was at the top. That’s when I knew that I will be an Ironman by the end of the day.
I’ve failed miserably in keeping it short – please bear with me.
Regards
Arpit Srivastava
