My first Ironman Race

Why Ironman Challenge?

I had been running regularly since 2014 and had done a couple of half, full and ultra marathons and I had belief in my endurance. Testing your limits is the biggest challenge one can do in life. I first heard  about the Ironman race in 2016 when it was nowhere in my mind that I would do it ever. Ironman race includes 3.86km open water swim, 180km bike and 42.2km run all to be done within cut off time of 17 hours.

I was a slow swimmer and I couldn't even think of doing  the 3.86km sea swim. At some point of time, I decided I will go for  it and started focusing on swimming. In 2017 October, I completed the Hyderabad Half Ironman race in 8 hours which boosted the confidence level in swim. My office colleague, Rahul Sekhar was a great source of inspiration. He always encouraged me to do the Ironman and finally registered for Ironman Kalmar, Sweden.

Why Kalmar, Sweden?

I came to read the race reports of various Ironman races and picked Kalmar due to its beautiful course and weather conditions. Also, it was ranked the best race for the previous year especially for the bike and run leg. I had almost five months to train and the race was on August 17, 2019.

Training days...

I formulated my own training plan considering my  perswork schedules. Long rides/runs were planned on weekends. Monday was the rest day. Weekdays were engaged with 10-15km runs or 50-60km rides or 1-2.5km swims. Another challenge was the open water swim. Kalmar swim was in the Baltic sea. In Trivandrum, Kovalam was the best place for sea swim and could do four sea swims during the period. Swimming was not at all my comfort sport. I learned swimming in 2009 with the help of my college friend, Ramesh who was then in the Indian Army. It was the basic breast stroke he taught me then.  Later in 2010, while I was working in the BSNL at Kannur, I could do a couple of swims in the nearby temple pond. In 2013-14 period, at LNCPE pool, I learned the freestyle swimming. With the bike, I could do long rides above 100km only twice maybe since I was lazy on it. Brick runs were also part of the schedule. It's actually long rides followed by short run one after the other. 

My main running partners were Viswanath Harikumar and Anish. Viswanath supported me for the long runs and Anish for the weekday normal runs. I now feel I didn't spend much time with the bike. Sarath was my co-rider for most of the rides. I express my sincere thanks to Ranjith, Soles of Kollam for teaching me the basics of bike mechanics and for joining me for the longest training ride of 120km.

To Sweden...

Me and my friend Raghav from Bangalore reached Stockholm on Aug 12 at around 6pm. Immediately we bought a local SIM card and rang my friend Sivaprasad who is settled in Stockholm. Boarded a train and reached his place Solna and was glad to meet him at the station, after 12 years. Went to his home, kept the bike bag and after half and hour, went to our hotel at Bromma.

The next day, Aug 13, we went to Tyretsa National park. The main intention was to keep cool and calm before the race on 17th. Had some short hiking through the forest and had good food.

The best thing I could see in Stockholm was the people cycling and running by the road side. I could see separate tracks for cycling and running and heard that most people commute to work, even my friend Siva and his wife.

On 14th, we got a bus to Gamlastan, the old Stockholm city. One day was not enough to explore the place. Churches, museums, street food, bars and what not. I didn't compromise on the diet. Tried reindeer meat for the first time. It was really an unforgettable experience for both of us.

On 14th night, we took the bus to Kalmar which was almost six hours from Stockholm. Reached Kalmar on 15th morning by 4.30am. Our stay was at Öland, an island 12km from Kalmar town. Took a bus and got down at Farjestadan. Again we had to walk another 3km to our hotel. The bike bag was almost 23kg with the bike and accessories. We had a tough time carrying it along with our backpacks which would be around 10kg. Reached the place by 7am. But the reception was closed and it would be open by 8am only. We waited there until  ca man came at 7.55am. We checked in and got fresh. I was curious to know the condition of my bike after transportation. Did a quick assembly of the bike, had video calls with a mechanic in Trivandrum and my friend Ranjith. After the assembly, thought of going for a short ride. Was excited and rode through the nearby country side and was back after a 10km ride. To my surprise, I found the back tyre punctured. Was really shocked to see that since it's the first time I got a flat tyre. Rang up my cycling buddies and finally decided to replace the tyres and tubes at the Ironman Expo, the next day ie 16th.

On 16th morning got the bike and run bags ready and went to the expo with the bike. Got the bike perfect after changing both tyres and tubes. I also asked the mechanic to do a quick checkup of the bike as well. I was shocked and actually worried on seeing the bill. My god, it was 2500 SEK, that's almost Rs 18000. The service charge was almost Rs 10,000. That was the first Scandinavian surprise. Then got the bike checked in at the transition area T1 and placed the bags at the assigned places. Then thought of having a trial swim at the baltic which was nearby. Got there and had a 500m swim with wetsuit. Water temperature was around 16°C and felt confident for the race. Went back to room and had some carbs loading with pastas, chicken balls and vegetables. Slept by 9pm. By God's grace, I got an easy sleep soon.

Race day, Aug 17, 2019

Woke up at 3.30am. Had two bananas and some sweet potatoes. Since the first bus from our place to Kalmar was at 6am, we had booked a cab, the previous day. Cab reached on time at 4.30am. And it was an S class Mercedes. It was the first time I was travelling in a Mercedes and that too to the race venue. Reached the start point by 5am. I rang up my family members and close friends and was all set for the big one. Race start time was 7am.

Ironman Race

SWIM:

I changed to swim gear and came to the start point by 6.30am. Raghav went to the gallery and he wished me good luck. I went to the 1hr:45min group. Had some good warm-up. By 7.15am, we were asked to move to the swim start and started the 3.86km swim. The crowd support was amazing. I was very comfortable and finished the swim in 1hr 44min which is my personal best time.

BIKE :

Walked to the transition area T1 and changed to bike gear and started the ride. Had a slow start and later gained momentum. But during the course, head winds were very strong and I found it tough to ride as if the bike was not moving easily. The first 70km was slower than what I had expected. Average speed was almost 26kmph. The beautiful Swedish countryside was a great motivation in spite of the headwinds. People gathered outside their houses and cheered the riders, calling out  their names. It was a different experience altogether. At 82km, I felt pain on my right thighs similar to cramps. I got down from the bike had some stretching and it became normal and continued the ride. Again headwinds were the major challenge and I rode stronger. Finally finished the bike leg in 7hr 30min which was almost one hour more than what I expected. Well it all depends on the race day.

RUN :

Started the run slow. My target was a steady run. It was a three loop course through the Kalmar town which was filled with lot of energy with the amazing crowd. Atbrun start, I met Raghav. He cheered me and took a short video. Then I moved on and finished the first loop in almost 1hr40mins. Then I ran at the steady pace of around 6:40 throughout. The hydration support was great with bananas, salted cucumber, potato chips, gels, energy drink, red bull, cola and water. I made use of all hydration stations for both ride and run.

As I entered the last loop which was the final road to Ironman, I was so excited md was stronger than the first two loops. As the finish line was nearing, crowd support was getting stronger. Don't know whether it was my feeling alone. There I could see the last 200m till the finish line. Was all prepared to finish strong. Ran through the wonderful crowd and reached the finish line hearing "Rahul...YOU ARE AN IRONMAN"....That was the moment I was waiting for months...I finished in 14hr 18min 34sec.

Thanks to each and everyone who supported me and helped me achieve this.

And I would strongly recommend Kalmar for a heavenly Ironman experience.