Ironman Santa Rosa – The Journey

I am writing this post with mixed feelings and conflicting emotions. While I am excited that I got to hear those sweet words – “Sravan Kumar, you are now an Ironman from India” as I crossed the red carpet (or was it black 😊), I am equally regretful that things really didn’t work out as planned in the event. I will stick to similar pitch as my last write up and will try to focus more on the journey rather than the destination itself, starting from Full Iron Distance at Chennai on Dec 17, 2017 all the way to Ironman Santa Rosa Finish line @Old Courthouse Square, Santa Rosa, CA on May 12, 2018. For those interested in my Journey to Chennai Full Iron distance, it is available @https://sravanimsr.blogspot.com/2018/08/chennai-ironman-triathlon-journey.html

After basking in the ecstasy of having completed Full Iron Distance for about 4 to 5 weeks, I started preparations for Santa Rosa in the middle of January 2018 with intent to improve my swim and run legs. The goal was to try for a 2 min/100m pace in swimming and master bilateral breathing, 4 Hours Marathon Run and a consistent 28 to 30 KMPH over 180 Ks in biking. Though the results may not reflect the numbers stated above, I was very satisfied with my training given that I had reached my training goals with Bike and Run. On swim front, I had improved my balance, had mastered bilateral breathing and had improved my swim technique though there was no major change in pace. One other major change I did as part of the preparation was my diet. The training might not have benefited Santa Rosa event directly but the run up to IMSR has made me a better swimmer, rider and a runner.  I have deliberated more on each of these areas in the sections that follow.

Run

I resumed my run training in the middle of January during our Runaddicts visit to Mr. Sudhir’s Coffee Estate @Kyanahalli near Sakleshpur with 3 days of hill running in MAF zone. The plan was to continue with MAF training all the way till IMSR given the benefits I saw in Chennai and I stuck to it. Goal was to hit 5:15/5:25 pace at MAF HR for 10k distance and build endurance to run 30 to 35K at sub 6 pace @MAF HR. As I continued patiently with MAF, I was finally able to hit 5:25 pace @MAF HR in the month of March’18 for 10K. It was a cloud9 moment for me. In US weather conditions in March’18, I could hit 5:15/5:20 pace over 20K distance @MAF HR. I stuck with MAF training for next couple of weeks till mid of April gradually increasing the distance to 25 KM and ended my run training with a sub 6 pace 34K and 30K @MAF HR on 2 consecutive weekends in the mid of April. Given the terrain around my home, the training had a good mix of Hills, Flats and slopes during each of my runs. It was a satisfactory finish to the run training. Icing on the cake was that the only nutrition I used in training runs was water and dates with no pre-run nutrition as such.  MAF does help in a big way in building aerobic capacity and I would recommend this to all amateur athletes who are on endurance journey.

Bike

My bike training for Chennai Event was satisfactory and the need of the hour was to just maintain the momentum and build distance @ 30 KMPH and that was exactly what I did. I changed my wheels to sturdier wheels (Mavic Ksyrium Alloy wheels). The speed gain from the wheels were marginal to negligible. Continued with 3 days a week bike regimen comprising of a day of hill repeats, a day of long ride (80 to 100 k) and a day of mixed terrain short ride. The intent was again to continue in MAF HR zone to not impact MAF run training. Concluded my training towards the end of 3^rd week of April with long rides of 130 KMs @30 KMPH and 140 KMs@28 KMPH over two consecutive weekends. Again, the training was overall satisfactory. I had put enough miles and I was feeling better on rides than ever before.

Swim

I started off with lofty training plans for Swim. Had 3 goals to achieve – Improve pace to 2 min/100m, Improve Balance and Technique and Master the bilateral breathing. I started off with “Total Immersion” concepts by Terry Laughlin in January to improve my balance and continued with the same till mid of Feb. Started bilateral breathing training in Feb all the way till end of March while beating my butt to increase the pace too. By end of March, my balance and technique had improved. I had become good at bilateral breathing and I could sustain my original 2:25 to 2:30 pace for 3.5 to 4 KMs. But, 2 min/100 min pace continued to be an elusive dream 😊. Though I had underachieved, I still had done a considerable progress in swimming. Come April, it was start of nervous moments for me as I started realizing that I would be swimming in 12-14 degree waters while most of the tri events were conducted in 18-degree waters. I scrambled around for cold water swim tips, sought help of Recreational Triathlete buddies and finally the conclusion was that it was going to be tough. I had couple of significant milestones to achieve on the swim front in perceptibly short April month – get used to wearing and peeling off wet suit, get used to wet suit swim and adaption to cold waters.  My first attempt at robing wet suit took me 45 minutes and my limbs were in pain by the time I robed and disrobed the wet suit. Improved my robing time to 5 minutes after 3 attempts and some improvisation with the help of tri-suit, arm sleeves, leg stockings and plastic cover for palms/feet. Wet suit swim was an equally big challenge and it took me about 5 to 6 swims of 45 minutes to get adjusted to it. Finally, the goliath – Temperature was a tough nut to crack. I started cold water baths in April using 3 to 4 Ice blocks each day. I probably might have bathed with Sub 10-degree waters for almost 3 weeks as part of this adaption effort. Believe I had put enough efforts to overcome these challenges and it was time to stay confident given that I had done everything that a mortal in a tropical country can do for adapting to cold waters 😊.   

Diet Changes

I was doing 12 to 16 hours of workouts each week inclusive of strength exercises. Given that the workouts were intensive, I thought I should perhaps try out the diet that my grandpa/grandma ate with some changes. Decided to stop consumption of wheat completely and switched over to rice given that my ancestry belonged to rice belt. My diet plan from Jan to May changed as below –

• Breakfast (Before 8 AM within 30 minutes of workout) - A heavy south Indian Breakfast comprising of Idli/Dosa/Poha/Upma etc. with 2 chutneys (one being mint) and ground nut powder on the side plus a bowl full of one type of pulses (channa/Moong/groundnut/Rajma etc.)
• Morning Snack – Dry Fruits and Nuts comprising of Raisins, Walnuts, Pistas, /Almonds/Anjeer/Dates
• Pre-Lunch – Salad comprising of Carrots/Beets/Spinach/Cucumber
• Lunch (before 1 PM) – Rice, Green Leaf Dal or Regular Dal, One cooked veg curry,one cup of boiled pulses (Channa/Moong/groundnut/Rajma etc.) and Curd
• Late Noon Snack – Some fruit
• Dinner (between 5.30 PM and 6:30 PM) - Rice, Green leaf or regular dal, One or two cooked vegetable curries and pulses if left over from afternoon.

Other diet changes included stopping sugar consumption in Tea/Coffee/Milk etc. Over the weekends when I did long workouts, added pickle to my lunch with an intent to replenish the salts.

Overall, the diet plan worked out great and my body was fresh than I had ever felt. I must also mention that the above diet plan was a 3^rd grade torture for my wife Bhavani and my mother given the efforts they had to put to feed me. Overall, I was sure that I was doing something right 😊.

Run up to the Event

I exercised a black out period from 17^th Dec 2017 to 12^th May 2018 in terms of events. The only event I participated in was Auroville run given that it was noncompetitive run and it was my dream to do it at least once. Started my taper on 23^rd April and did a gradual Taper all the way till the event week. Overall, I was feeling very confident given the preparation that I had put in. Landed in US on May 07^th.  First trial ride after fitting the bicycle on 07^th went great. I was fortunate enough to get home food for Dinner – Thanks to my friend Shiv and Maitri – his wife. But was deprived of the same for Breakfast and Lunch given that I also had to be in office for business purpose. I believe I committed a grave stupid mistake on my second trial ride on 10^th May where I took a course with elevation gain over 20 KMs and tried to hit 30+. By the time I finished the ride, my quads were sore. Checked in at the Ironman village on Friday – 11^th May. Completed the formalities, checked in my transition bags and bike and then went over to the lake to attempt a trial swim with wet suit. Water was pretty cold @14 degrees at 3 PM. Swam about a KM and I had my encounter with my second incident (Quad screw up being first). While peeling off the wet suit, I ended up with severe cramp in my right calf. Not sure if it was due to cold water swim or incorrect position during peeling or salt deficient diet. But, I had lost my right calf. I just wanted to keep it a hush hush affair thereafter as I was sure that Bhavani-my wife as well as my friends – Shivu and Sunil, who were with me would get overly worried. Tried to stretch my quads and calves hoping that things would fall in place by next morning. The feeling of ending up being Karna stripped off his knowledge on the battlefield was getting over me. Tried not to commit any more mistakes. Finished my dinner before 6 PM and dozed off at 7 PM.

The Event – 12^th May 2018

Got up at 3 AM, had two peanut butter sandwiches and Oatmeal Raisin bar, did some stretches, foam rolling and took a shuttle to Lake/T1 with my friends – Shivu and Sunil. Quads and right calf were still sore and I had an insecure feeling around where I would stall. It was time for plan change. To hell with finish times, it was time to just focus on finishing and make it count. The scare of returning back empty handed from my first IM event continued to linger through my head. Kept my calm, tried to be extremely patient and slow. Completed a round of bike check and T1 check, replenished my bike nutrition and then got into the wet suit. The ambiance was electrifying at the venue. Swim started with a rolling start at dot scheduled time of 6.40 AM starting with lineup of Sub 1-hour swimmers going up all the way to 2 hours plus swimmers. I lined up in 1 hour 30 minutes queue.  At a time, 5 swimmers entered the water followed by a 5 second pause and then the next 5 would enter. The swim management was extremely impressive and I probably bumped just once or twice into someone else during the swim. Despite 1500 participants in the water, such minimal collision was impressive. Must commend the sincerity and diligence of participants too for having lined up as per their capabilities. Swim segment went as per the plan and I was out of the water in 1 hour and 32 minutes. I ended up with my PB for 3.8 KMs and I am sure I must have done at least 4.2 KMs given that it was open water swim. Thanks for volunteer’s assistance, wet suit peeling was fast and I hiked up to T1 from lake. Had a quick bite of a sandwich followed by sun guard coat and then into my cycling shoes.

The bike segment started with a steep descent followed by a rolling terrain. Though there was a bit of soreness in Quads and right calf, I was doing fine and I could clock 31 KMPH for first 30 KMS. My quads were feeling strong but started feeling cramps in right calf and I knew it was time to be precautionary.  The terrain was hilly with some crazy climbs and headwinds. But, the calf had to be protected. Decided to just deploy the quads for the rest of the ride. Average continued to drop and by the time I was at 130^th KM, I was at Avg. of 27 KMPH and my quads had started to yield. Took a pause, did stretches and then resumed. With last 20 KMs to go, I started experiencing feeling cramps in one leg muscle after another cyclically– Quads, hams, Calves etc. Tried working around the sore muscles by trying different positions on bike, stretches on bike etc. Stayed calm while reassuring myself that I just had 20 more to go. By the time I was 5 KMs from finish, things improved and Hurray I made it to T2 in one piece. Although, the ride was not as pleasing physically as I was expecting it to be, I was glad that I made it to T2 on a positive note. Local support for cycling leg was tremendous. It was encouraging to see Bands, Music, Bells, Cheers at every difficult biking segment and hats off to Sonoma residents for their support.

I spent about 13 minutes in T2 getting into my running gear and I was feeling strong and positive. Started with the run and I was glad initially that I was hitting a 5:20 pace. I could sustain the pace for almost 10 KMs and I guess I started witnessing the aftereffects of bike leg. Felt a mild pain in the right knee just above my calf and it was time again to re-calibrate. Decided to slow down and decided in favor of repeats of 400m run followed by 200m walk. Continued this process all the way till the 39^th KM. The pain didn’t subside but I was glad that it didn’t worsen too. Given that I was hitting very close to my Chennai finish times, I wanted to end the race with at least a symbolic improvement. I decided to run the last two KMs so that I get to finish with some symbolic improvement over Chennai and lo and behold, I was an Ironman in 14:59:39 – a 21 second improvement over Chennai despite all the adversities 😊. I was elated that I had traversed a journey that day from DNS in the morning to an Ironman towards the end of the day. I was happy that I had made the day count despite the odds stacked against me. I was glad at having realized what a human body can achieve despite adversities. My friends Shivu and Sunil cheered me all along every time I came out of the trail woods. The last KM to finish line had extraordinary cheering from Santa Rosans and I got countless hi-fives in the last KM from the cheering residents as I surged towards the finish line. I am sure to cherish this experience for my lifetime.

Road Ahead

I believe it is time to sit back, relax, recover and cherish the splendid experience I went through. The 14 months road to IMSR was indeed fruitful and there is no denying the fact that I have come a long way in terms of my athletic capabilities. I look forward to improving on the current capabilities and hope to have an even more enriching experience somewhere later in 2019 when I am ready for the same. Right now, it is high time that I give quality time to Bhavani, my Mom, My Kids and my friends while maintaining the fitness for my next adventure.

Thanks to Bhavani, My Mother Sudha and my kids Prerana and Abhiram for bearing with me over this 14 months Journey. Thanks to all my Runaddicts Friends, Recreational Triathlete friends, Running Jack and Jill Friends for continued inspiration. Thanks to Shyam and Rohit for biking along with me during few of my final training rides. Thanks to Akshay, Shivu, Manjunath and Anirban for their support at times when I needed it the most.  Thanks to Biju – Cycling Boutique for all his help with my bike. Thanks to Shivu, Maitri and Sunil for hospitality and support in US and Last but not the least, thanks to BK for being supportive of these quests.