Coming back here to share a race/training report 
Mostly internal notes i made for myself post the race.
It was possibly the hardest race i have did in a longest time. The struggle and pain was real.
Was i totally prepared for this? No.
Training
I started the training late for the race. Had roughly put in 4 weeks of work. Looking back, it was not enough. Was coming off a marathon in August and dint have the right fitness to take on another training block in short period.
The four week of training mostly had mileage of 65-70k/week.
One workout and one long run as quality session/ week.
With limited training on the legs and the paces i was hitting in the workout, i was hoping for a Sub 1:30hr finish in the HM race. That means around 4:15/k pace. This looked doable.
Race
My team was- Nithin (swimming), Vishnu (cycling) and me running.
On race day, woke up at 5am. Not the most ideal sleep the previous night.
Did some dynamic stretches inside the room and met Nithin around 6:30am and we walked together to the swim start point. Seeing the participants warming up for the swim finally got the race excitement raised
Stayed back at the beach with Seema all throughout waiting for Nithin to finish his swim.
Saw him passing the tag to Vishnu and cheered for his start.
Came back to hotel right after, had a light breakfast. Kept it simple- bread/peanut butter/banana & coffee.
Was tracking Vishnu all throughout on the app. That was a useful tool.
Around 10:30am, met Anil & Rishabh. All of us were doing the running part and walked towards the transition area. Nithin & Seema joined us.
Did a 3k warm up. Was already feeling the heat 
The waiting at the transition area was chaotic. First the heat and then just being static made the body very relaxed. Never had this kind of a start in a race before.
When Vishnu came, quickly got the tag and sprinted to get out to the road.
The first three km’s were on target around 4:15- 4:17/k. But immediately after that holding the pace felt like a challenge. Heart rate started peaking up. The heat and humidity was just not helping a bit. From 4th- 8th km dropped the pace to 4:40-4:50/k.
The running route was 3.5k one side and repeat down. 7k loop x 3 times.
The last 500m of the first loop had steep incline. First time i ran without stopping. Subsequent loops, i’d to walk and jog.
By the second loop, i realised this isn’t conditions i can give a race effort. It was becoming extremely challenging to just be on the course and the suffering was getting onto me mentally.
Had to walk/jog multiple times. Put a tone of ice water on myself. Perhaps the most wet i’ve been in my lifetime
Honestly ,had multiple instances where the mind and body just wanted to stop and give up.
But the thought of the other two boys were waiting for me at the finish line kept me on the feet. Had to get to the line for them else they would also not qualify as finishers
The third loop which was the last one was the most dreaded. Pace was just not on my mind anymore. The only goal i’d was to overtake everyone in front of me
Reaching the finish line felt like a miracle.
Spotted Nithin and Vishnu 100m before the finish. Felt very nice to see them in full cheering mode.
We held each others hand and sprinted together to the finish line. That was a special moment.
Finished 1 hr 45 mins.
If i’d to do this event again, things i’ll change:
- Do some heat training. Run under the sun.
- Get some hill/incline runs.
- Pace grade the course for more realistic time target. Often training at flat course/ideal weather conditions misleads to understand the fitness level.
Endurance training is learning to get bored while hurting 
Coming back to this thread was always fun. Thanks everyone for making the weekend special.
Thanks to Seema for the nice dinner and special thanks @vishnus for doing all the coordination for logistics and travel