The Thonnur Triathlon Extravaganza 2013

However, the Aquafina bottle was not the best idea. Around the 5k mark, it popped out of my bottle holder. I had still not had a sip of water, so decided it maybe best to stop, collect it, have a sip of water and then continue. And so I did. The villagers were all around so I waved out and said hello to them. Cute kids around were screaming out, “hi akka!”, good times!

I jumped back and continued on and realised a kilometer later that my seat post was slipping. I had been facing this issue for a while but had been under the impression that it had been fixed. How wrong was I? Over the next 35 kilometers I would be making 3 more stops only to adjust the seat post.

I laughed a demented laugh in my head – what a disaster! as I continued, I saw the first competitor from the Duathlon hurtling back on his bicycle. Not too far behind and looking very much like a mean cycling machine out to kill was Sri Ram. I was pleasantly surprised to see him doing so well in his event that for a moment my miseries seemed to dissolve into thin air. But, just for a moment. Then, it was back to reality.

I was near the 10k mark and that’s when I observed an annoying creak in the chain. This creak was to be my best friend for the next 30 kilometers. Hallelujah!

The human spirit is beautiful, once it accepts the circumstances, it adjusts to bear with the torture especially when it is for a specified period of time. Suddenly, your patience levels shoot up and resistance levels become minimal to reduce friction and become efficient.

As I pedaled my way in what seemed something like super slow motion bollywood style running or even the close ups on the saas bahu serials on star plus, there were sprinkled moments of pure joy when I saw my friends hurtling back and making me proud – Geeta, Alina, Henna, Dharma, Madhurjya, Nagaraj, Prajwal, Ajit, Ankush – felt real good to see guys rocking the biking leg of the event.

And so I carried on. Shortly, I had reached the 20 kilometer mark, took a U-turn, spoke to the marshals, adjusted seat post, gulped some enerzal and continued on my way. Not far ahead, I saw Suma (2nd place) riding her road bike with ease. I knew my lead was gone right here. Within the next 2 kilometers, she had caught up with me. As she passed by, she encouraged me and kept going. I am a fighter. I fight!

So, I surged up some power from within and started pushing myself. I even came close to her, passed her once but then she powered up and off she went. I tried keeping up but it was a lost cause. I could feel my seat post slipping again and knew there was another stop coming up. “Its meant to be a dry run, just have fun.”