In Pics: Ironman Tallin 2022: Kedar Ravangave shares his experience of the most difficult one-day sporting events
By Lokmat English Desk | Published: August 17, 2022 12:13 PM2022-08-17T12:13:51+5:302022-08-17T12:27:18+5:30
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IRONMAN Tallinn's big event is a part of the midsummer triathlon festival in the capital of Estonia. The competition courses run around the historic Old Town of Tallinn and through the wonderful nature of Harju Country. One of the participants Kedar Ravangave shared his experience about the event which he described as magical and demanding.
Kedar Ravangave is all smiles during the cycling event of Ironman Tallin 2022
Describing his experience, Kedar said, "Triathlons are demanding and managing that with other work priorities needed upskilling on multiple fronts. I had put a lot of running miles under my belt but swimming and cycling were completely new sports for me. I had about 7-8 months to work on it. Thanks to covid most pools were closed and group cycling events were far and few. Being in Aurangabad didn’t make it easier either. With no infra or coaches I knew I was getting into the woods without much of an experience or support. "
Continuing further he said, "I had one guiding torch Mr. Nitin Ghorpade three times Ironman himself. If not for him this journey would have been even tougher. Given office hours, my training used to be mostly early morning starting about 4:30am and at times even before that. There were days when I woke up at 3:00am and burnt a few thousand calories before I got into my office meetings at 8:00am. Doing this for 6 days a week for over 56weeks in a row wasn't easy, days when I just didn't feel like waking up given sore muscles or just general fatigue."
Speaking about the big day, Kedar says, This was my first ever commercial race, I hadnt participated in any commercial marathons or triathlons I always found them artificial and it took the joy out of running for me. Ironman with a distance of 3.8km swim, 180km cycling and 42.2km run requires on ground support and nutrition aid. Something I couldn’t do away with unlike a run, swim or cycling in isolation. So the race day was like entering a new college and being with the seniors who are native to the euphoric environment. I knew I would feel out of place something I had to deal with, apart from the weather, nutrition and race course challenges that would unfold. The race day started early, 4:00am we were up and out. Afterall we needed to carb load take a dump and down a few electrolytes before our swim at 6:00am.
The weather was bad, thunderstorms yellow alert strong winds made the lake water choppy leading to zero visibility in a course that had multiple turns and direction changes. I completed the swim course 15min more than my planned time but 1Hr before the cut off time. Cycle 180 Km: The cycle track was beautiful and relatively flat but then the challenge with flat tracks are headwinds 😊 and to add to the excitement it rained for the first 3 hrs making it even more challenging. Nonetheless the excitement and adrenaline got us going. I completed this distance in about 6:40min odd about 30min over my planned target but still 2 Hrs before the cut off. Run 42.2Km: The run was the toughest for me I could barely walk let alone clocking a 6 pace. I was certain I would complete Ironman well ahead of the cut off but strong finish is what I was gunning for.
The first 21Km were smooth and great pace, it’s the next 10Km that were the toughest with runners knee returning after 2 years almost 😊. ( A gift I got from my KY2 summit expedition). So I was limping for the second last lap and somehow completed that lap. The last lap however was magic and the excitement to finish a living goal just took over. I was smiling throughout my run. I couldn’t believe I was finishing such a tough challenge I couldn’t stop crying and I was weeping though my last lap. All the memories sacrifice by family me flashed by and I couldn’t help but cry out aloud while the world watched over. I am no doubt blessed to have a family that supports my madness, sacrifices their personal preferences for my goals.