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The triathlon journey

Ever since I started cycling about 15 years ago (yes I was a late bloomer – started late in the bicycling department) triathlon was never far from my mind. As I started picking up speed on the bike, so did thoughts of participating in a triathlon. After all, I could swim (the breaststroke) and hey, anyone can run can’t they?

The fact that I was still on the meatier side of heavy and could not run 2.4km to save my life didn’t dim my aspirations to try triathlon. What did happen was procrastination and the constant coming up with excuses for not signing up for the next one. When I finally got into NUS (National University of Singapore) which used to host an annual sprint triathlon, the procrastination continued and I was never ‘ready’ to participate and never bothered to get myself ready to do so. The fact that I had a mountain bike was an additional reason for not going. ‘I’d be too slow’ and other excuses reigned.

Cue my time in the UK where I had no bike and had no choice but to run to keep fit. Did my first 10K willingly and came in around 1:08. Quite good by my standards and the race-participation bug bit me. Upon my return, wanted to do a quarter marathon at the Standard Chartered Marathon but it just so happened that they scrapped that distance that year.

2004 was the year I decided to buckle down and train. And train I did, for a whole month before attempting my first even multi-sport event – the TAS (Triathlon Association of Singapore) Aquathlon Challenge. The 750m swim and 5K run was quite a challenge, especially the run and it showed as it took me all of 52 minutes to complete that. My first adventure race followed and that led me straight to the goal of goals for me – the OSIM sprint Triathlon (750m swim/ 20K bike/ 5K run). Breast stroking, mountain bike riding and shuffling me took 1:42 to complete that one – well within my goal of 2 hours and even though I had to drag my aching body home that afternoon, was quite elated at completing my first triathlon. I was a triathlete. Well, at least the T-shirt said so.

The next two years were middling years as far as triathlon and I were concerned – completed my first Olympic distance (1.5K/40K/10K) race at the OSIM Singapore Triathlon in 2005 (still on the trusty mountain bike) and decided that enough was enough and bought a road bike. Lack of enthusiasm for training and a host of other distractions caused me to stagnate at that level and even did the Olympic distance Triathlon in 2006 on the road bike almost 3 minutes slower than in 2005. But the important thing was that I kept going.

Cue 2007 – an interesting year by all standards. Decided in March that I needed a challenge and in a moment of utter stupidity, signed up for the Singapore Ironman 70.3. The 70.3 is the total distance in miles and this distance, commonly known as a Half-ironman, is more than double the longest tri I’ve ever done. 1.8K in the sea, followed by 90K on the bike and a 21.1K half marathon stood between you and the finishing line. Not pretty but seeing that I paid the exorbitant entry fees, was committed to training for it. The training wasn’t too pretty either but still managed somehow. 2^nd September came and with butterflies and a host of other creepy crawlies in the stomach, managed to float, roll and almost crawl to the finish line. 6 hours and 44 minutes after I plunged into the sea at East Coast Park, I crossed the finish line. Completed the longest race of my Triathlon ‘career’ and told myself never to do anything that silly again.

Boy was I wrong. December 2007 marked the end of my triathlon season for the year and this time, I went with a bang. My first overseas triathlon – the Laguna Phuket Triathlon. More on this below but suffice to say it was a great race.

2008 is going to be a year out of triathlon – not quite sure how many triathletes there are in India (am sure that there are many) but might be a bit hard to get the gear together just to race once or twice over here. When one looks back at the four years of triathloning and multi-sport racing that took me as far as Thailand and Hong Kong, I can only look back with a bit of satisfaction and a big dose of thankfulness for being able to do this.

Triathlon (and multi-sport) has helped to shape how I see life and how I meet challenges. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever have thought that I’d complete a half-marathon let alone a half-ironman distance triathlon. Pushing towards seemingly impossible (well not quite impossible but fairly difficult) has helped show me that there are loads that one can do, as long as one wants to. Sounds a tad trite but true. The fat kid from secondary school who couldn’t complete his 2.4km run in less than 15 minutes gets fit and does triathlons. No fairy tales or anything of that sort – just getting oneself off one’s proverbial behind and doing something. That’s what happened in 2004 and perhaps that’s why I’m here in India right now. Getting off that behind and doing something.

Who knows what the future holds but one thing I do know, these triathlon experiences will continue to stay with me and will continue to be a part of how I see both exercise and things around me. Will keep on tri-ing, as long as I can and as long as I’m able. God willing.

Apt that I use this: my ‘magnum opus’ of my triathlon journey.