The Thonnur Triathlon Extravaganza 2013

As we drove through, about 20 kilometers into our drive, we saw two cyclists ripping away on their road bikes while shining like disco balls at a pumping night club in the dark of the night. We realised that these were two of our beloved and inspiring athletes, mean cyclist and man of few words, Rajani Kant and five time Ironman finisher Dipanker Paul, who had decided to ride in from Bangalore through the night to come and cheer the triathletes.

This pumped all of us up and from a quiet, demure and sleepy ride, we turned back into the noisy monsters that we usually are screaming and shouting and cheering the two cyclists on. I think we even gave them a bit of a scare and did contribute to a minute or two of increased heart rate.

As we reached closer to the venue, the sun was rising and the landscape was turning into an absolute stunner – empty road with a lake on one side and flat green field on one side. For me, this was the moment that made all the stress of the last few weeks well worth the effort. I had a good feeling.

We drove through the village and the last few kilometers to the venue. As we were climbing up the final few kilometers, there was just one thought on everyone’s mind – the cycling and run route back was going to be killing, with the last 500 meters of each leg being a killer climb.

We were at the venue by 6.30am and unanimously decided that 7.30am would be a good start time for the event. Those people that know me, are aware of just how much of a stickler for time I am. But sometimes, you just have to be flexible and make notes about where things are not going according to plan so that these issues can be addressed on the next run.

All the athletes went onto get ready for their events. From now, until the end of the event each person was on their own.

My event was the Olympic Triathlon. This included a 1.5 kilometer swim, followed by a 40 kilometer bike ride and a final 10 kilometer run. For me, this was a double first – first time open water swim and off course first time attempt at a triathlon. I did not really have any expectations from myself nor did I put any pressure for a specific time. I just wanted this to be a dry run for confidence, fun and good times – like I mentioned earlier, a party of sorts for an athlete maybe?

I went to the transition area, got into swimming gear and got my change ready for the next two legs. Then, I went and was standing in queue behind Ankush for my bib number. As we were standing there, I looked around and saw the athletes in their tri-suits, looking mean and ready to burn the route. I was intimidated.