This was by far,the most difficult race to have ever been held because of the weather conditions. The race started at 7am, when the temperatures were already at 25 degrees Celsius, with 94% relative humidity. The swim was in the South China Sea and we had favourable conditions including low-tide. The water was murky and the buoys to mark the course went down as the wind picked up so, we had no idea where we were going. We had two laps on the swim and I was simply following the people ahead of me. The first lap was all right but I was way left of where I should have been and swam a bit long. The second lap was a disaster. By this time the buoys had totally fallen down and I swam even longer. I exited the water in 94 minutes. My previous best swim was in 80 minutes but, I was not unhappy. The swim was not very well marked and there is no point in losing hope at the end of a swim in the Ironman.

The bike course was very scenic and went through a lot of rice fields. The temperature was climbing steadily as was the wind. I was very happy to be cycling and biked hard to make up for lost time on the swim. I felt like I was in India, in Chennai actually because of the heat and humidity. The temperatures rose from 30deg to 34deg steadily during the bike ride. I was burning and my left foot, in my pedals was heating up and felt as if I was sticking it into a fire, straight. The course wound through some Chinese villages and all the children there were cheering for us. It was so amazing! Everytime I saw these kids, I would pick up and go faster. The crowd support was amazing. I finished my bike ride in 6 hours 41 minutes. Including 10 minutes of transitions (transitions are where you put on your bike clothes after the swim and put on your run clothes after the bike) I was out on the run. My previous best bike was 7:12 and I improved by more than half an hour on the bike.

Onto the run, I was pretty dehydrated and almost delirious. The temperature was now a steady 35 degrees and I had to pour ice on my head all the way. From the very first kilometer on the run, I suffered. It was not very different from running through a sauna, after having biked for 6:41 in a sauna. People were starting to walk because it was so difficult to run. I told myself that while I may not run fast, I would keep running slowly to get to the finish line. I ran down 25 women and more than 130 men but I had a very hard time on the run. I threw up twice because I could not keep down any food. It was pretty horrific weather. I could only take my sun glasses off at 6:15pm. They had been on my face for nearly 10 hours. My skin is burnt to a very dark red and I broke both my toenails again but, the finish was sweet. I was 4th in my age-group. 29th overall including the professionals. I was 19th on the run including the pros, on a day when I really had a difficult run.

I finished 35 minutes behind the last professional athlete, outran one professional woman and man, and I am very thrilled have this race result.

Well, well, well. Its the day before the race here in Haikou, China. I am pretty thrilled to be here and pre-race nervousness is usual. I have been ruminating on the goings on in my life and my path here. For the firs two to two and a half years, I did all my training from India. I participated in two races every year, one half-ironman and one ironman. There were several reasons I did this. One was of course, financial constraints. I work very hard and no one gets anything for free. Second was of course, preparing the mind to do the incredible work one has got to do in sport. When we look at our runners, I dont think we pay them enough respect. I remember standing around at the Mumbai marathon post-race and listening to a tonne of people speculate if Abhishek Bacchan was going to be there, whether Rahul Bose was going to hand out awards etc. I think these two men are very good looking and worth the speculation however, I dont think too many people in that crowd knew the run course record or the Indian runners who had posted some amazing times there, for the conditions they train in.

I understand their training. I understand what it means to wake up at 3am to get in a bike ride. I understand what it means to be a woman in India, trying to accomplish something this difficult. I am very happy to have these amazing marathoners to look upto, they are one of my several sources of inspiration.

After consistently placing with the top amateurs at run races, I decided that this was the year to step up and train and race more consistently. My season of races in Nov was very successful. I came home and trained a bit after that. My races from Feb-March were also successful. After a very brief training camp Im attempting my second Ironman in less than 6 weeks.

Im PSYCHED. I love the challenge of this distance. I am still learning and I have a very long way to go but, I have worked hard in the last few months and I will give it my best on race-day. The first and foremost challenge in an Ironman is finishing. No one can take that for granted! I am a perfectionist and so, I always worry about if I couldve done more, trained more, etc. etc. But, I constantly remind myself that I have two jobs to do and come race day, the past and the future dont really matter.

I hope my hard-work and self-belief pays off tomorrow.

BRING IT!!

I remember watching a movie when I was younger called "Khoon Bhari Maang" , with Rekha and Kabir Bedi... Everytime I am super-relaxed and happy with my life, my clients (very rare happening) and optimistic in general, I have some super-funny thoughts. They are funny to me, anyway. I think blogs and facebook and other such nonsense are a one-way PA system. Everyone gets to read it and has to digest it :) So, here goes:

I was thinking that Indian triathletes should make a movie called "Grease bhari Aankh". I think this would star the bureaucrats, the babes from Bollywood and the bikers. Music HAS to be composed by A R Tere-Naam, direction by Money Rathnam and lead heroine would be yours truly. It would be a story about poise, international intrigue and the boring day-to-day chore of making the most of our time.

Many people have written me in the recent months and asked me to inspire them. First of all, thanks for your emails! I really do feel very happy to be inspiring even one person in my life however, I just want to share my thoughts on inspiration and what it really is all about.

I say that I dont have heroes because of their mortality. People are people, you know? We all have highs, lows, challenges, insecurities, disappointments, euphoria etc. etc. to deal with. Some people just deal with them in a way that makes us think "thats cool! Id like to be like that!" and that is what inspiration is. Its not the people per se but their choices or actions. However, the bottom-line is that inspiration comes from within us. Not without us :)

This is a big big big thing to understand and its taken me two decades and then some! So, what I have to say is, to everyone who has been writing me and asking about sport and running and such things, just go out and DO IT!! Start small.. run 10 minutes, walk 20 minutes at first, 2-3 times a week. Then keep building. If you are tired, rest. When you feel good, go again! Thats it really.. there are no complicated secrets to sport. If you are attempting a long-distance event, remember that consistency and GRADUAL PROGRESSION are the keys. No one can build Rome overnight. Trust me, I have tried :) Using Lego blocks :)

So, to all my awesome buddies with Grease Bhari Aankhs, dont give up. Keep trying. If people are annoying, dont deal with them. MOVE ON. Focus on yourself.

I will put up a picture on my collection, which to me symbolizes the word ENDAVOUR. As long as you know that work ain't glamorous, you will be surprised how far you can go with a little honest effort. Keep on pluggin!