Time: 3:17:52
Date: 18/02/2024
Position : 4th Overall
The Mangalore Triathlon was held in the coastline of Karnataka that’s known to be hot and humid. The triathlon was part of a beach festival and it was the 2nd time they were hosting this. This was my 2nd triathlon event this year and the last one over the last weekend. It was another C race(not a main race) and i was on my training block. No taper and holding onto fatigue from strength and regular sessions. Racing mainly to gather some race and competitive experience. We landed in Mangalore a day before the race. It was too hot in the day to do a route recce. We did a small ride to the venue in the evening from our hotel which was located on the race course. The bib collection was pretty quick but the briefing was delayed for more 2.5 hours stretching into the night (around 8pm). Once it started, it felt unnecessarily elongated. Instead of giving a complete brief and taking up the questions, the organising were answering questions after every line. So we left after hearing a segment of the briefing, hoping to figure it out in the race itself. The bike racking was extremely haphazard. We saw 3 bikes fall in front of us and they were moving the bike to the actual transition spot overnight. We decided to take our bikes back to our hotel and get them back in the morning. That was a tough call, considering we didn’t have our cars there and we had to ride back at night. I rode until the highway and chose to hop onto an auto once I got there. With time, I’ve probably gone from a spontaneous crazy mindset to a more safety conscious one.
My race preparations were similar to my previous weekend’s race in Mysore. Both these races were extremely hot but Mangalore being a coastal city, is also humid. The swim was a triangular course in the Arabian Sea with 2 orange pyramid buoys as turn points. We started the swim in waves of 25 people each based on BIB Numbers. This made it a bit challenging as it encompasses people of different swim abilities and paces. I started in the second wave. It was extremely hard to sight buoys due to their small size coupled with swimming over waves. The first buoy was lightly visible when I was over the wave. The second buoy was not visible until we swam closer to it. My swim was good in terms of stroke and pace. I took some breastroke breaks to figure if I’m in the right direction. Usually I just sight every 4-6 strokes. I made it back to the beach in about 33minutes (1684m). My swim was pretty efficient. The huge swim volume on training had started making a difference. Not yet in terms of pace but in terms of energy dissipation and efficiency.
T1
The run from the beach was over the sand for about 200m and then over a ramp followed by a tiny - rocky surface. The bike racking was not numbered and I did find it a bit of a struggle to spot it. Running on the rocky surface was not pleasurable either. I wore my cleats and ran onto the road in about 3-4 minutes T1 time.
Bike
The bike course started on the road between the river and the ocean. The cemented road was very bumpy for a road bike. So much that I stopped my bike to check if I had a puncture. Lost a minute there. They had direction boards but it was pretty confusing. Once I missed a road and had to stop and reroute to the right one. These were all small compared to the upcoming nightmares. I’m not used to climbing firstly, the last time I climbed was Nandi Hills 4 years ago. Just once. This climb was decent as I had some power to take on the steep inclines. But the roads were terrible in most parts. There was one where a massive pothole was at a downhill. I thought it was game over then. Not sure how I got through that both ways. It was intimidating. The climb felt better than the descent to be honest. My hands were still wet and I was not able to break efficiently. I stopped at the U-turn point and rubbed my hands to a Volunteer’s t-shirt. He agreed nonchalantly with a smile. But it didn’t dry completely. I chose to engage my back breaks completely and ride. Safety greater than speed at this point. It’s easier if you’re a slow rider but if you are competitive and you aren’t trained to handle such terrains, it can get risky.
One wrong move could change everything.
I got off the hill only to combat another madness. The city roads of Mangalore. Again something I’m not used to, riding mostly on airport roads in Bangalore with traffic that moves in a single direction and no cross roads. This city road had everything. From buses rashly overtaking and breaking in front of you to pickup passengers, to 2 and 3-wheelers floating in all directions, to a lot of vehicles pumping in from cross roads, to red signals and jams. The volunteers did help on the onwards route, but the return had none guiding traffic. I’ve had a minimum of 3 nearly miss incidents and I stopped at 3 jams with no space to move. Lost a lot of time and this led to an overshoot in my bike time. I was not prepared for that either. I was low on water, salt and carbs. Probably why I was zoned out for more than an hour post race.
The race aid stations were barely of any help. Warm/hot water on course and no system to provide them efficiently. The last 15km’s(of a 40km route) on the bike course didn’t have any aid station. My entire mental energy was invested in navigation the climbs and traffic that my nutrition and hydration took a toll. I’m usually very protocolled with nutrition but this time my mind had no time to focus on it. I just finished the bottle of water + carbs + 1 gel I had carried. I was just relieved when I entered the cemented road.
T2
I spent sometime on the transition again, this time with someone else holding my bike infuriating me. I went back to tell him to let my bike go and had to re-rack my bike again. We had to do a 400m run on sand to get to the road. Well, that really worked up my ankles(I’m hyper mobile and stability is a big concern).
Run
I then entered the run leg hoping to get some water + salts on course. Well, surprise surprise. There was barely anything available. I grabbed a bottle from a volunteer at 1.5km.
The first 3kms on the road I was just trying to generate some form with my ankles not supporting after that sand run.
After that settled, the worse part started. My midfoot was burning. I used my training shoes for this race as my racing shoes’s life was over in the last race. In some shoes, the insoles absorb the heat. This was one of them which I didn’t know until this experience. I’ve always used it for easy and long runs. And woah, it was like running on fire. I had no choice but to bring down my pace completely. I was running my slowest 10k pace ever. The temperatures were hot + humid (30degrees) and some bouts of shade.
Electro? Well, there were 1-2 stalls with water bottles and little to no electrolytes. My efforts were high but instead of running with hydration/nutrition, it was more about who had better grit to sustain this. Thankfully it was Olympic distance. At this point, I was 4th and there were some thoughts to catch up to the front. On a normal case, I should’ve been able to catch up. My run form picked up after a few kms but not as much as it could have. Any higher pace and the combination of the conditions, my body would’ve given up. It was a bad day, I had to accept it and learn from it. My body stopped accepting fluids or carbs after a point. A similar experience as in Goa. The last 500m run on the beach was probably the worst, I just ran with adrenaline to get done with this. Insane heat with no shade. Desert feels. And it was more than 10km’s.
Even after getting done, the ocean was the only resort. The whole place was so hot, no shade until a long walk into the festival area. Someone empathise with the athletes? I crossed the finish line about 5 minutes after the 2nd and 3rd place finishers at 3:17:52.
Post race thoughts
I’m still happy with what I could do considering this was just another training race. It was more to gain racing experience and learn from mistakes to make sure I don’t make them on my A races. This race came with so many lessons and more so with a feeling of gratitude towards just getting back safe. There’s no glory in tragedy to champion stories. I’d prefer staying safe and slowing down. Especially after a previous incident, I know how precious it is. It is disappointing that I couldn’t make it to the podium. But these are the moments that help define bigger races and stages in the future. I’m looking forward to execute my learning’s and it’s GAME ON!
Comments