Lessons From India’s First Civil Services Officer To Complete the Ironman
At 55, I find myself increasingly drawn to people who achieve remarkable physical feats. Like sportspersons, amateur athletes, fitness enthusiasts, marathon runners or mountain climbers. So it was really enthralling to meet with 34-year-old Shreyas Hosur, who is India’s first non-uniformed Civil Services officer to complete the daunting Ironman triathlon at Hamburg, Germany.
Even if I can never hope to reach such mind-bending levels of physical endurance, I was galvanized after my talk with Shreyas, to keep up with a reasonable fitness routine. Following are some broader lessons to motivate anyone who plans to embark on new challenges:
Leverage Childhood Experiences
From an early age, Shreyas was inclined towards all kinds of sports and physical adventures. His father, Gopal Hosur, who was the Additional Commissioner of Police and who retired as the Head of the State Intelligence Bureau, was always conscious about keeping fit. He shepherded the young Shreyas, when he was just 5 or 6 years old, into swimming lessons and tennis games. Recalling those days, Shreyas says: “It entailed waking up early, getting to places. I think the idea of fitness and sports was imbibed by my subconscious.”
After he moved to Bangalore at 13, he chose to keep up with swimming and cricket. While playing cricket both at school and in college, where he captained the team, he also took to long-distance running: “Around then, I started running 10 kilometers.”
Heighten Adventures to Boost Motivation
Shreyas needed more intense conquests to channelize his energy. While at college, he opted to learn skiing at Manali. Then paragliding at Kamshet in Pune, soaring above the stunning Western Ghats. With all these pursuits, he always ensured he mastered them at certifiable levels. He reveled at deftly maneuvering his body through arresting heights and striking landscapes.
Later, after being inducted into the Civil Services, he spent many weekends in Goa, plumbing the depths of oceans. From roaming the skies as a certified paraglider, he now plunged towards sea floors as a certified scuba diver. His dives have included steep drops along perilous walls in the Mediterranean and navigating the skeletal remains of wrecked ships in the Red Sea.
Expand Your Range of Activities
Novel adventures continued to compel him. Always looking out for the next new thing, he scanned Instagram posts and TV channels for something else to master. Reading Abhinav Bindra’s book, A Shot At History, goaded Shreyas to skill himself with shooting targets, at a level well above basic proficiency. With every sport or activity, he seemed to ask himself: “Why can’t I do that?”
Somewhere along the way, he also rode horses. He trained in equestrian riding – which involves vaulting over bars – under Mariba Shetty of the Karnataka Mounted Company based in Mysore.
Settle on A Sport That You Can Pursue At an Intense Level
When he was appointed to the Railways Ministry and posted in Bangalore, he started considering triathlons. While he was already running and swimming, he felt he could easily add cycling to his repertoire. When he embarked on his first triathlon in January 2015 – involving a 1.5 km swim, 40 km cycling, 10 km run – he admits that he had very little knowledge about the intricacies. He did not own a cycle even. He rented a bike a few days before the contest, without attending to details. Unlike the pros, he didn’t own a roadster or tweaked bike, specific running shoes, or a wet suit. Yet he crossed the finish line in 3 hours and 30 minutes, awash in exhilaration.
A year later, he signed up for another Olympic-level triathlon, shaving off 20 minutes from his previous timing. Again, “there was no training, same cycle, no coach.”
Be Willing To Bounce Back from Breaks
By the end of November 2016, he was assigned to the PMO to join the cyber security team. Working fourteen-hour days at Delhi affected his workouts. In two years, his fitness levels had dropped significantly. “Since I was a bachelor, I would also eat anywhere, so I had gained a lot of weight and lost my fitness.”
In 2018, he planned to whip himself back into shape. Despite his strenuous timings, he pushed himself to awaken at 4:30 am; and squeezed in another exercise slot after 7 pm. In November 2018, he completed a third triathlon, bettering his previous performances with a timing of 2 hours and 54 minutes. He ranked among the top five or six triathletes in an event that had attracted sixty participants. He realized that his body and temperament were well-suited to triathlons.
Around then, he discovered the Half-Iron, which involved more rigorous distances than the ones he had covered earlier. The Half-Iron comprised of a 1.9 km swim, 90 cycling and a 20 km run. In January 2019, he zipped through the Half-Iron with a timing of 7 hours, placing 10th or 12th in the competition. This had been achieved with little training and barebones equipment: “I realized I have it in me to do triathlons.” A month later, he did another Half-Iron in Goa, but took 20 minutes more because of the intense heat.
Prepare For Physical Setbacks and Injuries
By now, however, he was charged by his own capacity to succeed at triathlons. He resolved to up his own game and compete at an Ironman. But beneath all his triumphs, his body had been subjected to an ongoing wear-and-tear: “Because I had done all those events without any proper training, I had burnt my body so much.”
By about September of 2019, he felt completely beaten down. For someone who had surmounted much longer distances, even smaller runs became impossible: “I couldn’t even do 500 meter runs without facing pain. I thought I’m on the wrong side of 30, I just can’t do this anymore. I had pain everywhere.” Each time he attempted to run a kilometer or so, he was stabbed by severe aches. He had resigned himself to the thought that all his glories lay in the past, and that he ought to settle into a more restful life.
Reach Out To Experts and Coaches
As fate would have it, at that point he bumped into Somya Rout, a coach and professional physiotherapist from Bangalore. Somya, who had travelled to about 20 countries in the world to train sportspersons, was familiar with setbacks and their causes. Since the pandemic had set in by then, and Somya had taken to training athletes online, he conducted a remote sessions with Shreyas. Somya assured him that he could get back to earlier levels of effort, if he added strength and conditioning exercises to his routine.
Through video sessions on WhatsApp, Shreyas started getting formally coached for the first time in his triathlon journey. With minimal home equipment – like a dining table, a few chairs – Somya guided Shreyas through various movements, flexes and weight lifts. After a few sessions, Somya asked Shreyas to start running again.
For someone who had breezily performed various feats on land and water, Shreyas was unusually hesitant. He was scared of confronting agonizing pain again. Spurred by Somya, he set out on a five kilometer run on April 12th 2020. He completed it quite easily in 31.5 minutes, and shockingly, with no trouble. After a few more sessions, he was goaded into running the same distance at a faster clip. He could, with minimal discomfort.
Set Yourself A Galvanizing Goal
Two months into the training, he determined that he could aspire for the big one: the Ironman.
“Will you help me get there?” he asked Somya.
“I need 100% commitment that you will see it through,” the trainer responded.
Their plan involved weekly strength and conditioning along with targeted running, cycling and swimming practice. Shreyas, who was also married by then, acknowledges that his wife, Divya Hosur, was a critical contributor and cheerleader in the team.
Just when everything was being carefully executed, Shreyas was struck by Covid in September 2020. That entailed a two-month break from training and practice. Each such setback resulted in muscle loss, requiring tortuous restarts.
Persist With Training Despite Commitments
Since his stint at the PMO had ended by then, he requested to be posted again in Bangalore, where he could persist with the training and preparation for the event, along with working at the Civil Services. His new assignment was with the Railways, and it’s very creditable to Shreyas that few in his professional life knew about his weekend or after-work grind.
Like potential mountain climbers or Olympic athletes, Shreyas fixed a meticulous plan and exacting timetable with an overarching goal: completing the Ironman at Hamburg in June 2022.
From March 2021, Shreyas subjected himself to a punishing regimen. Intent on completing the Ironman in a year, he set up a timetable for each week.
Recruit Cheerleaders to Tide Over Self-Doubt
As his mentor and coach, Somya helped not just with physical aspects, but also with countering mental fatigue. As did Divya, his wife, who managed her own professional life, the household and her husband’s nutrition. As Shreyas puts it: “Some days, you just give up. You are plagued by self-doubt.”
Even as he completed grueling bike trips – 70 to 80 kms – or tediously long runs, he would injure himself or feel excessively exhausted. At such times, Shreyas observes: “You need someone to say ‘You’re doing well.’”
Be Willing For Lifestyle Sacrifices
In the runup to the event, Shreyas and his wife had stopped visiting restaurants. They rarely acceded to party invites, since he needed to train on weekends as well. After his backbreaking workouts, he would often fall asleep, foregoing any kind of social life.
Research the Specific Terrain
By October/November 2021, Shreyas was determined to participate in the Hamburg Ironman, to be held on 5th June 2022. The team researched everything about the place and event – the altitude, the gradient, the temperature, weather conditions, the topography.
Because of the pandemic, obtaining the visa became an unforeseen challenge. For 20 days in the run up to the event, Shreyas was sure that he wasn’t going to make it. There was no news from the Embassy. But with just one day to go, he received his stamped passport.
Enjoy the D-Day
On the day of the event, Shreyas woke up at 3 a.m., feeling completely charged up. He told Divya: “I have a good feeling. I think today is my day.”
At the venue, the atmosphere was electric. There were about 2000 participants, with lively music and cheering crowds. “It was like a festival.”
The first leg comprised of the open water swim. The water ended up being much icier than Shreyas had braced himself for. But about five minutes into the swim, he enjoyed slicing through the cold, sweet water. It was thrilling too to make his way beneath two tunnels. Without exerting himself too much, he finished the 3.8 km swim in 1 hour, 16 minutes. This was very close to his planned completion time of 1 hour, 15 minutes.
Transiting to the bike ride took 14 minutes – again the transition time had been clocked to the tee and he executed the shift as planned.
The bike ride was a long 180 km. After about 15 kilometers, the route wound into the German countryside. “It was a cold, bright, sunny morning.” The terrain was breathtakingly gorgeous. As Shreyas points out, biking or running such long distances can often be very monotonous. It’s important to pick places that can galvanize you.
Plan for Injuries
At about 60 kilometers into the bike ride, Shreyas felt a cramp in his leg. He needed to disembark and massage his hamstring. He had planned for such injuries, and had learned how to tackle them. The pause lasted only 2 or 3 minutes. When he restarted, he eased his pace, because he could still feel the strain on his hamstring. He planned to finish in 6 hours and 30 minutes. Despite the injury, he exceeded the planned timing by just 10 minutes, finishing in 6 hours and 41 minutes.
It Pays to Slow Down
While transitioning into the run, he remembered what his coach had said: “Walk for the first 10 minutes. Make sure the muscles ease out.” Somya had warned Shreyas to resist the temptation to mimic others around him. After deliberately walking for 10 minutes, he eased into a jog and then broke into his natural running rhythm. It was his first full marathon, and that too at the fag end of a triathlon. The 42.2 km distance was broken into four 10.5 km loops. After each loop, he spotted his wife’s face, cheering him from the sidelines.
At 21 km, he was surprised by an unusually loud cheer from the crowd. Many Indians, who might have lived in and around the area, had arrived on the spot, to cheer on fellow-citizens. Someone was even carrying an Indian flag. Shreyas said their presence and boisterous rooting egged him on.
The last 10 kms were his speediest. When there was just 200 meters left, a red carpet led to the finish line. As he was entering the red carpet area, someone from the Indian crowd handed him a flag, and he carried it across the 200 metres and over the finish line. His wife captured it on video. “At the end, I felt like I was ready for more, but suddenly it was over.” The whole race had lasted for 13 hours and 23 minutes.
The next morning, he was shocked to find that the video had gone viral. As the first non-uniformed Civil Servant to complete the Ironman, even the Railways Minister had tweeted his triumph. Many other Government Officials and people from his workplace had chimed in. Newspapers picked up the story and he was featured on 30 to 40 editions.
Lessons for Others
Shreyas remarks that the final 13 hour plus triathlon was only the culmination of about 1300 hours of training. He cites the Argentine footballer, Lionel Messi, who said, “it took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success.”
Rather than straightaway aiming for such tough challenges, he suggests building up one’s fitness in incremental steps. Positive thinking also helps: “You just have to imagine doing it.”