The dress rehearsal where I forgot some of the costume.
Dress rehearsals are useful. They help you iron out last-minute issues, discover what you have forgotten and, occasionally, confirm that the one thing you were worried about is indeed worth worrying about.
With triathlons becoming increasingly popular, we now have several smaller races that are perfect for trying things, making mistakes and sorting them out before the big event. My attempt at the BMF 47.5 was exactly that: a mock triathlon in the lead-up to Goa.
The slightly odd 47.5 km distance sits somewhere between an Olympic triathlon and a 70.3. Long enough to expose the cracks, but hopefully short enough not to fall completely through them.
Contents
- The swim: where the plan went for a swim
- The bike: back to familiar territory
- The run: return of the Goa memories
- One place away, and strangely happy about it
- Race setup
- Race files and results
The swim: where the plan went for a swim
A lake swim may sound easier than swimming in the Arabian Sea. This one wasn't.
The lake sits between hillocks, and the heavy wind seemed to have found the perfect funnel straight onto the water. The result was a consistent chop moving from right to left.
BMF is a beautifully organised, community-style race, with sensible relaxations that encourage newcomers to participate. Toe floats and wetsuits are allowed. Pondi's logic, however, was that using a toe float would not help me develop the confidence required to survive a sea swim two months later.
Unfortunately, that logic made complete sense. So I didn't use one.
We had a practice swim the previous evening. I was so well prepared that I hadn't even brought swimming trunks. I used my tri suit and then spent the night hoping it would dry before the race. Nothing builds pre-race confidence like checking a damp tri suit every half-hour.
The swim was what really messed up my race.
There may not have been a toe float, but there was a rope marking the course. That rope became my siren song. At the slightest discomfort, it was far too tempting to stop and hold it. I never found any rhythm, and the entire 1,500 metres became a struggle.
I normally breathe every three strokes, alternating sides, although I am still predominantly a right-side breather. With the chop coming from the right and a little panic joining the party, I abandoned everything I had practised. Instead of breathing every three strokes, I began breathing every two, straight into the chop. This led to swallowing water, which led to more panic, which led to more stops. A wonderfully efficient downward spiral.
The course involved swimming back and forth along a 375-metre section. In hindsight, I should have focused only on getting through the first 375 metres calmly and finding a rhythm. Instead, the rhythm never arrived and the panic refused to leave.
Finishing the swim was a huge relief. Reaching T1 and seeing rows of empty bicycle racks was less uplifting. Apparently, nearly everyone else had already left.
The bike: back to familiar territory
The bike is my strongest leg, and I knew I had to resist the temptation to make up the entire swim deficit in the first few kilometres.
It was a beautiful course. When I realised I was nearly 20 minutes behind Pondi, I settled down and kept chugging along.
In another fine example of race preparation, I had forgotten that I had unpaired my heart-rate monitor from the bike computer. I also hadn't managed to get a power meter back onto my race bike. So I was pacing entirely by feel and speed.
Two weeks earlier, I had conducted a workshop explaining why this was not an ideal way to pace a race.
Still, it worked reasonably well. I had a fair idea of my effort and was probably about five percent below my ideal power target, which was actually perfect for this race.
Nutrition on the bike consisted of Unived Elite drink mix and gels. I was slightly below my planned intake, and the final lap was slower, but I still felt reasonably good.
I was also involved in a private bike race with Aman Singh. We kept overtaking each other throughout the course. I am not sure whether this helped our pacing, but it certainly kept us entertained.
The run: return of the Goa memories
As I got off the bike, I felt a dull tightness around my hip. This immediately brought back memories of Goa last year, where nausea had ruined the run.
I tried not to write a sequel in my head and focused on the present. I took T2 very slowly to give myself time to settle.
Then I started the run and realised I had forgotten my soft flask.
I had already crossed the first timing mat, but decided to turn around and collect it. It probably cost me a minute or so, but I felt it was worth it. At this stage, I had already donated plenty of time to the race. One more minute was hardly going to upset the accounts department.
Thankfully, after the first kilometre, I began to feel okay. I settled into a steady rhythm and gradually increased the effort.
The advantage of being so far behind after the swim was that I had plenty of people to chase. The overtaking that began on the bike continued through the run. I couldn't catch everyone I wanted to, but I thought I had managed a negative split.
The timing showed that it was more of a steady run followed by a surge over the final few kilometres. I'll still take it.
One place away, and strangely happy about it
There was no podium. I missed it by one position.
Oddly, I was quite happy about that. Given my preparation and the way I executed the swim, I didn't really deserve a podium. Missing it narrowly was probably the right result: close enough to be encouraging, but not close enough to let me ignore everything that went wrong.
And that was the whole purpose of this race.
The dress rehearsal did its job. I now know that I need to spend considerably more time swimming, improve my race nutrition, make a few tweaks to the bike position and change the chainrings. I may also move to an armband heart-rate monitor, ideally one that is actually paired with the computer.
A few new workouts have already entered the playbook after BMF.
I have started doing laps breathing only to the left every two strokes. The idea is to make left-side breathing feel natural enough that I don't insist on breathing straight into the chop the next time the water is uncooperative.
I also need to add more brick sessions with a harder bike leg spent properly in the TT position. Feeling comfortable there on a normal ride is one thing. Holding the position at race effort and then trying to run afterwards is where the truth tends to emerge.
And then there is the final addition, pushed strongly by my swim coach, Mr Ayush Yadav: laps breathing every five strokes.
I really hate those.
I understand why they are useful, and I am sure Ayush is right. But I will need a damn good day, and possibly an unusually generous supply of courage, to voluntarily begin that painful workout.
There are two months left to test, adjust, suffer through five-stroke breathing and refine everything before Goa.
A huge shout-out to the organisers for putting together such a warm, well-run triathlon in a beautiful location. BMF may feel like a small and cosy community event, but don't mistake that for a lack of competition. Plenty of top athletes turn up, and the fight for the podium is very real.
Highly recommended, especially if you need a dress rehearsal that is willing to point out every line you haven't learnt.
Race setup
For those who ask the other important post-race question, "What were you using?", here was my setup:
| Trisuit | Zone3 sleeveless trisuit |
| Swim goggles | SWANS ASCENDER photochromic |
| Bike | Basso Diamante SV fitted with aero bars, Shimano 105 Di2 shifting from both the standard road levers and the bar ends, and 60mm carbon wheels |
| Running shoes | Anta C202 7 carbon-plated |
| Nutrition | Unived Elite Drink Mix and Elite Gel 180 |
The equipment did its job. The athlete remains a work in progress.
Race files and results
For those who enjoy the numbers, or would like to verify just how long I spent in that lake, here are the details:
If you are preparing for your first triathlon and would like to talk through kit, pacing or nutrition, come and find me at our Kondapur store.
