Slightly Nauseous

I guess that's the only way to describe what I am feeling right now as the enormity of what I have signed up for is sinking in more and more. I have 250 days before I may or may not be standing on Miramar beach, Goa in my swimwear for the first ever Ironman 70.3 race in India. 

If by some minor miracle I do make the starting gun, just breaking down the 3 leg event right now is making me more than slightly nauseous. 

An 80 minute cut-off time for the 1.9 K swim, a 5 1/2 hour cut-off for the 90 K bike ride and assuming I somehow finish both of these under the cut-offs, I'll then have to set a blistering pace (for me) in the half-marathon which is the final leg to finish under the overall cut-off time of 8 hrs 30 minutes. 

Perspective: my best ever half-marathon time has been 2hrs 3 minutes set a decade ago. Admittedly, this was in the muggy humidity of the Mumbai Marathon. And it was my first ever competitive race when I had no sense of pacing, splits, GPS, Gatorade, nothing. But still. To do this thing, I'll need to match my half-marathon personal best or better it. Paradoxically, the prospect of putting in a personal best half-marathon is actually a calming influence. With 7 months of decent training, I'm confident of putting in a sub-2 hour 21K run. But after the swim and bike? All bets are off. 

There's literally no time to lose now and the clock is ticking. I hope my nausea abates enough for me to make the starting gun. 

Oh, and why am I doing this? My younger self would quote an inspirational quote from an inspirational human being...Scott Jurek, Roger Bannister, Steffi Graf maybe or Viv Richards. The honest answer is really what Murakami said...rainy day sneakers. There's no angst here that I need to let out nor some glorious finish that will help me become a better human being. I don't intend to post how I meld my triathlon lifestyle with a demanding day job and how the two may have some symbiotic relationship. My cynicism and world-weary outlook are self-evident. Honestly, I just think it's fun. Shane Warne whom I idolized growing up and still do said something to the effect of "There's still a big kid inside me who likes to have fun. Maybe I need to grow up and maybe I don't..."

That doesn't mean the inspirational quotes won't follow! Endorphins drive the cynicism away quite well. 

250 days to go.