Harshvardhan is a 25-years-old climber from Vasai near Mumbai. He signed up for IRONMAN 70.3 Goa for November 2020, hoping to do a triathlon for a different experience Post Everest expansion.
Ironman Triathlon is a succession of far off triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), in which an open water swim, riding a bicycle, and marathon run in that order.
He was just going to train as a climber and runner, lend a friend’s bike for a few days and finish the IRONMAN program if things went well. As the Everest campaign was called off on 15 March due to the announcement of travel restrictions, they decided to focus on the triathlon more seriously and they signed up for the race on the first day when registrations were opened on 24 March 2020, Then the lockdown occurred. Like many other good citizens, he did not step outside his home for 70 days. He exercises at home by skipping the ropes and doing core exercises.
After a few weeks in lockdown, he suffered mental health issues during lockdown and was so inactive for at least 50 days that he carried the heaviest weight in his lifetime during May – June 2020. As the lockdown eased, he slowly resumed running. He also locates an indoor bike trainer since the cycling segment is the longest distance at any triathlon event. He just got a second bike from someone in Kolkata and donated it partially by riding on a smart trainer and took a rest from his elder brother by taking a loan. By August, he planned to race IRONMAN Goa 70.3, which was canceled in the coming weeks. He decided to continue training as a triathlon before switching to the Big Mountain Training Plan for Everest, which he carried out from last autumn to the March to March campaign.
In September, one of his friends and Everest expedition donor offered to train him in his indoor pool for Harshvardhan’s future events. Joshi sent his coach his 100-meter swim video and his form was pathetic but Harshvardhan always worked and was happy to fall further. With planned recovery, he began training several times each day. Harshvardhan used to get up early in the morning, complete his race or bike, sometimes do power sessions, eat food, eat food, work for 8 hours in front of the computer and swim a few kilometers alone every evening. He used to ride the pool at his friend’s place. His friends and followers on social media used to think that Harsh only rides bikes and swims in his life, but he was also studying and working extensively.
Joshi says that one good thing is that all endurance sports have very similar training science (aerobic basis) and most of the activities in training complement each other. So during one of his training sessions just a few days ago, he imagined that if he could manage to squeeze into a self-organized, solo race that would begin the weekend before switching to his mountaineering training plan The week begins. He quickly drew up a plan with various lakes, some options for possible routes, and started checking distances, elevation graphs online.
10 days later, on the day of the race, Harshvardhan still believes that organizing the race and logistics was more difficult than its race. Their GPS tracked activities are available at Strava & Garmin. During the 21.1 km run leg, he says his heart was pounded by the scorching sun in October when the temperature went up to 41 °. He completed 1.9 kilograms of open water swimming, 90 kilograms of cycling and 21.1 kilograms of marathon solo, and 7 hours 53 minutes.
With this small feat, Harshvardhan wants to reach as many people as possible, so that he can inspire them. By doing nothing to struggle with mental health will not make him happy and can be inspired after reading this millennial experience of becoming an IRONMAN during the lockdown.
