It has been one heck of a year! By far the most turbulent of years I’ve had as a triathlete. In February this year I had a phenomenal race at the Surf City Half Marathon but unfortunately things went downhill after this race 😦
In June I took part in Ironman Boulder and had my first DNF despite being in the best shape of my life. But this is part of training/racing and it is part of triathlon. I was disappointed but I was able to pick myself up again and set my eyes on a new goal. I originally wanted to race at Ironman Florida but it sold out by the time I came round to signing up. I scouted around for another race and found Ironman Los Cabos as an alternative.
For those who don’t know, Los Cabos is located at the southern most tip of Baja California in Mexico. It was a beautiful place with pristine beaches and very warm weather! 
After my dismal performance at Ironman Boulder, I got back into training and was looking forward to finishing the year with a solid performance at Los Cabos. Unfortunately at the end of August, I was met with a car crash 😦 I was riding my bike one morning when a car pulled out in front of me and I went straight into it – OUCH! Luckily I had no broken bones but had severe bruising on my wrist, hip and ankle. You can read more about the details of my accident in this blog.
I was in grief because I had to go back to square one. I couldn’t get back into training until late September when I got the go-ahead from my physio who was treating my injuries.
I could only train at very low intensity and at low volume to not worsen my injuries. But at the same time, I needed a goal to keep myself focused on completing the exercises prescribed by my physio and to be held accountable!
My intention was very clear and I had two specific goals for this race:
1. Get to the finish line
2. To not aggravate my injuries (if in doubt, stop!)
I didn’t care about my finishing time or position. I just wanted to go through the motions and get a feel of how my body is reacting and recuperating.
As a result, I had a phenomenal race! I set two new PBs in the process too! My fastest swim of 58 mins and my slowest ever Ironman 😉
Am I disappointed? Absolutely not!! Considering that I could barely walk two months ago and I only had about 6 weeks of low intensity training, I couldn’t be more grateful of the achievement!
There were many times in the past few months where I felt like “retiring” because I wasn’t able to push my body as hard as I used to. Every time I took my bike outdoors I would freak out. Every time I swam my wrist would hurt. Every time I ran my ankle would swell up.
Overcoming the emotional conundrum was the hardest part! But I’m glad I went through the process as it has taught me that setbacks should be seen as opportunities to revise your goals, strategy and execution plan.
Thanks to Sib for putting up with my emotional nonsense when I kept saying “I quit”. You took those words and made me say “I won’t quit”! Not quitting during training and not quitting during the race. Thanks for walking 15km with me during the race when my ankle was giving up on me. If you hadn’t been there I would have definitely called it a day halfway through the run.
And thanks to Topo Athletic, Rocket Science Sports, nuun hydration, Stryd and Cervélo for the support this year! I look forward to what 2018 has to offer!
Akhil Viz 