#mmmm and self styled Triathlon.

I did my first triathlon last Sunday and it was a lot of fun. Since it was self style and personalised one, there was only one participant! India does not have any Triathalons (not even 70.3 ones), so you have do your own thing to train for one.

I got up at 3.30am in the morning and took a 4.15am start for my bike ride. It was a 27/28km bike ride from home to NCPA, Nariman point. It took me about 1hr 20mins, which is not bad given the road conditions. I parked my bike at a secure place in Churchgate, just in time for the 6am start from NCPA for the Mumbai monsoon mini marathon (#mmmm). This #mmmm was organised by local congress party politicians & workers, to protest against terrorism & to support peace. To my horror the planned (not publicised) start time turned out to be 7am and the final start time was close to 7.30am.

But the spirit was very good and the turnout was lot higher than what I had expected it to be, so things improved as soon as the run started (since it was a very short run of 5k, the delay did not really make much of a difference). I finished the distance in about 25minutes and then headed by to Churchgate for my swim. So I ended up doing about 8k or so that day (3k on my return to Churchgate)

I had originally planned a 1k swim as I was hoping that the mini marathon would be somewhere around 12km or so (which turned out to be just 5k). So I decided to make up for the distance by doubling my swim, to 2kms.

After that I had some yummy breakfast and then the bike ride back home (another 28km). With that I completed a 55km bike ride, 8km run and 2km swim. The only thing I need to really improve upon is the run for my next triathlon, need to take that to atleast 20km, and that will take be very close to the 70.3 Triathlon or half Ironman or Olympic Triathlon.

This triathlon has given my confidence a big boost and Ironman no longer looks so difficult. I was also inspired by a friend who recently completed his first Ironman (he did it in a little over 13hrs, a super effort indeed). Do catch his blog www.bedders.blogspot.com for more ...

August 9, Mumbai monsoon mini marathon POA

I am planning to participate in the South Bombay mini marathon this Sunday. It starts at 6am in the morning, and given the fact that its about 30km from my house. I plan to cycle to my start point. To make this possible I will have to start from my house at 4.30am, so that I have enough time to make it (esp. given that I will have to use street lights to guide me). And if all goes well I hope to do a 1km swim after the run. This will help me create my own little triathlon. And yes after the whole thing is over, I will also have to cycle back home (another additional 30km).

All of this means I will be doing about 60km of cycling, about 12-15km of running (the exact distance is not known) & about 1km of swimming (if I am feeling really good, I might extend this to 2k). I will have to carry good amount of food & sports drink to replenish my salts (as the biggest hurdle I will face is not fatigue but cramps during to loss of salts). I will have to be careful about parking for cycle plus I will need to find a place to deposit my helmet at 6am in the morning (or actually run with it, carry it inside my hydration backpack)

I will be taking the next couple of days easy, plan to take tomorrow off to catch up with some friends who are in town, load up on carbs and keep myself well hydrated.

Cycling to work..

I have finally got down to cycling on a regular basis. And the best way to make this happen is to cycle to work, once a week. Anything over weekend will be a bonus.

Last Friday was the first day I cycled to work and today is the second day I will be doing the same. Just need to keep it up for the next few weekly before it becomes a habit. Cycling to work means I am able to put in about 25km of cycling a trip (both ways combined), this includes some twilight/night cycling while going back.

Cycling to work is quite effortless compared to running to work, which (running) is quite an effort when I do it twice a week. I am now getting used to cycling in traffic and once I get comfortable I can easily increase it to twice a week.

With this new addition I am able to do about 25km of cycling in addition to about 50km of running a week. Now my next goal is to improve my running mileage, need to take it from the 50km level to 80km level. Hope to do the 60km with 13k, 13k, 15k & 20k splits as the next step 70km with 13k, 13k, 20k, 25k levels.

Mini Monsoon Marathon, August 9, 2009, Mumbai

Bombay is hosting a Pre-Independence day “Mini Monsoon Marathon” this Sunday, 9th August 2009, at 6.00am (Its really early & am very doubtful about the turnout given that most of Bombay stays in the suburbs!!).

Cause - A run for peace, to combat terrorism and build a united peaceful city.
Start point - Opposite the NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai.
Entry fee - Free
Event organised/Supported by Annie Shekhar (MOS, Maharashtra Govt.)and Milind Deora MP from South Bombay

Other arrangements - They will have stalls all along with way serving drinking water.

Route - Not sure about the exact distance, but the route is as follows -
Start - opposite NCPA Nariman Point, Mumbai
Netaji Subhaschandra Bose Road towards Chowpatty
Takes a U-turn near JD Road
Proceed towards Netaji Subhashchandra Bose Road again
Takes a left at Veer Nariman Road, near Soona Mahal Building
Take a right from Eros Theatre towards Maharshi Karve Road
Take a left from Madam Cama Road
Go on to Shyamaprasad Mukharjee Chowk
Take a left towards “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk
Go towards the Gateway
Take a right from the Taj Mahal Hotel
Go on to Ramchandani Mar
Take a right from Radio Club
Proceed towards Azmi Road
Take a left at S.B.S. Road towards Sasoon Dock
Take a left from Indumati Sakhrikar Marg
Ends - Shantabai Sathe Chowk.