Race Report –
NEF Pune Triathlon – 2nd Place in India’s First Mountain Triathlon
BIG SHOUTOUT TO The Bike Affair for lending me the Merida Big Nine. which is a superb bike.
My aims for the tri were to improve my swim time. And to understand how hard to push on a bike and still have the legs to run strong. Training was geared around this goal. I had 20 hour training weeks with 6 to 7 day a week training.
There was a lot of emphasis on bricks and very hard intervals.
Now for the race proper:
— Swim —
I broke my previous PB of a 14 min 800 meter swim to sub 13 min. The water was superb. Despite being open water, I could see the bottom of the water all the way. It was amazing and so beautiful.
— Cycle —
This is where all the mistakes started. The course was filled with very bad climbs all the way. And one part of the course had a water body to cross. I had worn road bike cleats which was a big mistake. I had to walk up certain sections in the road shoes. Which is very tough and agonizingly slow. Next time I will wear either normal shoes or get MTB shoes.
— Run —
The run was literally a trek route. Slippery rocks. some very bad drops and lots of thorny bushes. I lost my way several times. The route did not allow for a hard run as I would hit the breaks as soon as I saw something in front that I did not understand. For example, very tall grass, big rock formations, or innocent looking open fields.