UPDATE: I WON THE RACE!
Distance : Olympic Distance (1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run)
Time: 3:12:31
Position: First place Overall, Female
The Bergman Mysuru race took place in the city of Mysore, a 3 hour drive from the capital city of Bangalore. Mysore is known for its rich heritage and culture with Mysore palace and Mysore Pak being iconic symbols. We travelled to Mysore, a day before the race which was held on 11th February. As we arrived, we directly went to the race location and checked out the swim. I would’ve liked to skip the practice swim but I went ahead to try as there was a lot of slush, thorny plants and rocks to cross before we reach the swimmable water. My legs were sinking into the slush and it was impossible to run through it. The KRS waters were blue and beautiful and tasted fresh. It’s a bliss after swimming in salty open waters. In the evening we tried to get some bike recce before heading to the expo for bib collection and bike deposit. It was extremely hot and the roads were too narrow plus traffic to do anything beyond a 30-40minute ride. We reached the expo where briefing was held at that point. No one seemed to get a hang of the race route or loops as the route had loops inside a loop and it was on complicated side. Especially without visuals, no one seemed to understand it. We just decided to check with volunteers while racing. The event was organised very well and to the best of their abilities, considering it’s Bergman’s first race in Mysore and it was outside their state. The expo setup and swim buoys were all in place a day before the race itself. Even if the conditions were far from ideal, we knew what we were getting into. Being a Brand Ambassador for the event, the team gave me a momento and a BERGWOMAN Hoodie. The hoodie especially was extremely good. As part of the registration, everyone received a bag and t-shirt. Bergman goodies have always been extremely good quality and functional!
Pre-Race thoughts
This was my first race of the year. A C-Category race, and I was coming into it without any taper. Luckily, my menstrual cycle was over a few days before so I could race more peacefully. I had done an ITT one week before and I have another Olympic Distance race one week later. I just wanted to have a good race, hopefully win it and come back without having to take days off training. Basically I was not going to go all out. It would be a 80-90% effort based on which position I’m at.
Race Day
I was the last one to start, not intentionally but I assumed there would be some time gap between the 113 distance(similar to 70.3 distance) and the Olympic distance. Well, it turned out to be in my favour as most people had passed a distance before I started swimming. I walked carefully through the slush, didn’t want to fall and injure myself. About 180m of walking and then started the swim. The swim felt good, I didn’t push too hard and tried to swim straight. Not very good at that, dashed into the rope a couple of times while coming back but I was out of the water in like 31 minutes, and out of the slush in another 4ish minutes. I was most likely the first girl out of the water.
T1
My transition was quick but then we had to push the bike to the mount line which was about 500m away on the road. The path was hilly and similar to a trail. That was quite challenging especially with stones all over the track. Can’t run with cleats either. The time to climb the hill with the bike was recorded in the bike split and not the transition time.
Bike
I felt my bike was pretty good. I had some pre-existing fatigue from training. But the adrenaline masked it pretty well. The course was 2 loops, one inside another and 3 u-turns at either downhills or up-hills. This was challenging as I had to partially dismount and turn. Saw a couple of incidents at these points. The roads were also narrow and had traffic, dogs, cows and road humps. The traffic was controlled at some intersections but we had vehicles including buses in both directions. Another challenge were the winds, a little headwind and lots of crosswinds on many stretches. Overall, this was tough especially if you’re trying to ride fast. My bike Avg speed on this course was the lowest ever though my power numbers looked better. Running down the hill with the bike was another challenge but it had to be done to get to the transition zone. I felt pretty good on the bike, I had taken 1 gel and 80g carbs overall for the entire bike route. Took me close to 1:25minutes for the distance. The bike split was probably 1-2 kms shorter than 40kms.
T2
My transition 2 was very quick and I climbed back to the road with some ease.
Run
It was extremely hot on the run, no shade and lots of gradient. It was a tough one but I knew I could finish it. There was no other girl on the run route even after 1 lap. The laps were quite confusing but the volunteers were helpful. I wouldn’t bother laying it out here. I knew I was in the lead, so just focused on pacing it well, taking electrolytes and maintaining a stable Heart rate( was about 190-194bpm). I didn’t focus on the pace as the gradients would define it more than my efforts would. If there was a need to pace up, I thought I’d do it in the last 3-4 kms. I didn’t have the need to so just completed the race with a decent run pace. Honestly, the run felt very long. Saw many people cramping and struggling. I didn’t have any issues, just my shoes were gone, ended up with a clotted toe nail. The run route volunteers were great, some even crossed the road to pass electrolytes. I did get a lot of cheers on course and that felt great. A bus almost tried to knock me off and I had to keep asking people to move aside while running. But overall, I was just thrilled to finish the race and grab the winners trophy. The beautiful medal with the Mysore palace embedded on it was the icing on the cake.
Final Thoughts
I did experience all the challenges but I do respect the Bergman team for doing their best. It’s not easy to block village roads completely for half a day. But I do hope there’s more support to the sport and we can have more such events. Super grateful to everyone who’s supported me in my journey till now and in years to come.
A YouTube Video with a more visual representation of this race will be coming out soon. Stay tuned!
Love all
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