Endurance and exhilaration

TRIATHLON or climbing? It could not be both. Given the time and financial constraints, any economics student would know one should pick the preferred choice and ditch the alternative. As I sat on the ledge of the first floor of the university sports complex where I had a vantage point of the rock wall, I mulled over the options.

I chose to swim, bike and run, and began hitting the roads on long-run days to build stamina. Marathon races further consolidated the endurance base. Multiple cross-country races, middle-distance events and painful interval sessions helped with speed. I applied the same training approach to distance cycling which was my weakest of the three triathlon disciplines.

When it came to race day, I tended to emerge from the open waters in the middle of a competitive pack -- always a decent performance as I came from a competitive swimming background. But despite pumping the wheels up to 140psi, I would fall behind in most of the cycling stages. Naturally, I was always glad to transition to strong run finishes.