This episode is brought to you by www.thebikeaffair.com

If you are in search of a one-stop destination that caters to all your cycling needs, our today's sponsor, The Bike Affair, is the perfect place to check out! With over 14 years of experience, The Bike Affair has established itself as a trusted source offering honest advice and exceptional service. They are offering a special treat for the listeners of this podcast. You can enjoy a 10% discount on your first order by using the code 'BIKEYVENKY' on their website.  Visit their bike store in Hyderabad or shop online by using the link www.thebikeaffair.com  

In this episode, we talk to the first Indian to finish RAAM, Srinivas Gokulnath about his Race The Pearl experience. Race the Pearl is a RAAM qualifier race from one end of Srilanka to the other. Srini shares about the beautiful experience of racing first time in Srilanka. He digs deep into what went well and what did not go according to the plan. It is always fascinating to talk to Srini about his passion for ultra endurance cycling. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.  

About the Podcast

The working athlete podcast is a podcast with and for working athletes from all walks of life and various sports. The goal is to provide inspiration, training tips, mental hacks, time management and life-style advice through conversations with some of the best in sport, from athletes to coaches. If you think you can benefit from this, please consider subscribing so that you don't miss the weekly episodes in future.

Who is a working athlete? Someone working fulltime/part-time, entrepreneur or anyone who has to work to make ends meet and doesn't let being busy to stop him/her from pursuing an active lifestyle is a working athlete. I consider stay at home moms/dads who pursue a sport, as working athletes because homemaking is a full-time job.

If you like this, share with friends who could be interested.

For the visually inclined, a video version of the podcast can be found here: YouTube

Other Places you'll find the podcast on:

Anchor | RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google podcasts | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | Breaker 

A bit about myself:

I'm Venkat/Venkateswara Rao in my work avatar, working as a Chief Data Analyst in the IT industry in Bangalore. I'm Venky/Bikeyvenky for my friends in the cycling community.

All through my life I struggled with weight and health issues. After multiple failed attempts through the life to get fit and healthy, in 2008, I managed to lose 16kgs. My motivation was to be able to take care of my unborn son with the thought that "if I'm not able to take care of myself, how am I going to take care of my family?". When my son was 6 months old, having lost 16kgs, I picked up a bike to keep that weight off and stay fit. That became a passion and lost more weight and became better at it. I continue to train myself not just to stay fit but also race competitively in races in and outside the country. I also have been coaching a few riders to get stronger and faster at cycling since 2016.

With 'The Working Athlete Podcast', I have a bit of a selfish motive. That is, it will provide me an opportunity for me to meet and talk to many people from all walks of life across different sports to learn how they manage an active lifestyle while doing well at work. I hope to share those learnings with all of you. That way, it will help both you and me to keep learning and keep growing.

 This episode is brought to you by www.thebikeaffair.com

If you are in search of a one-stop destination that caters to all your cycling needs, our today's sponsor, The Bike Affair, is the perfect place to check out! With over 14 years of experience, The Bike Affair has established itself as a trusted source offering honest advice and exceptional service. They are offering a special treat for the listeners of this podcast. You can enjoy a 10% discount on your first order by using the code 'BIKEYVENKY' on their website.  Visit their bike store in Hyderabad or shop online by using the link www.thebikeaffair.com  

In this episode, we talk to Grinshina Karthik a.k.a Grinny. We spoke to her about her journey into ultra endurance in episode 151. Please check it out if you have not already done so. In this episode, we talk to her about her first supported ultra endurance race, Race The Pearl 24 hour race from one end of Srilanka to another. She shares her experience of racing in this beautiful country and highly recommends it for anyone who is looking for a RAAM qualifier race and an amazing experience rolled into one. It is always a pleasure chatting with Grinny with her infectious energy. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

0:00:00  Intro

0:05:40  You are a racer but you don't know it yet

0:09:40  Apprehensions about a supported race

0:13:01  Training for the race

0:15:00  Getting to the start line

0:17:30  Race experience

0:33:15  Learnings from the experience

0:37:00  Did Not Fear, DNF

0:38:00  Race The Pearl, what to expect

0:39:30  Sol Fitness Resorts

0:43:15  Other races in Srilanka from Spinner Cycling

0:45:00  What next, Race Across India etc

0:46:30  Closing

About the Podcast

The working athlete podcast is a podcast with and for working athletes from all walks of life and various sports. The goal is to provide inspiration, training tips, mental hacks, time management and life-style advice through conversations with some of the best in sport, from athletes to coaches. If you think you can benefit from this, please consider subscribing so that you don't miss the weekly episodes in future.

Who is a working athlete? Someone working fulltime/part-time, entrepreneur or anyone who has to work to make ends meet and doesn't let being busy to stop him/her from pursuing an active lifestyle is a working athlete. I consider stay at home moms/dads who pursue a sport, as working athletes because homemaking is a full-time job.

If you like this, share with friends who could be interested.

For the visually inclined, a video version of the podcast can be found here: YouTube

Other Places you'll find the podcast on:

Anchor | RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google podcasts | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | Breaker 

 This episode is brought to you by www.thebikeaffair.com

If you are in search of a one-stop destination that caters to all your cycling needs, our today's sponsor, The Bike Affair, is the perfect place to check out! With over 14 years of experience, The Bike Affair has established itself as a trusted source offering honest advice and exceptional service. They are offering a special treat for the listeners of this podcast. You can enjoy a 10% discount on your first order by using the code 'BIKEYVENKY' on their website.  Visit their bike store in Hyderabad or shop online by using the link www.thebikeaffair.com  

In this episode we talk to Nirupa Shankar, Joint director of the Brigade Group, a mother of two and an Ironman finisher. She shares about her experience of balancing life as a corporate leader, an involved mom and as a triathlete. She also shares her experience of shedding of nearly 25kilos not once but twice after child birth and getting back to fitness. She was very candid about her athletic abilities and it comes across as a refreshing and pragmatic approach to fitness. She shares practical tips based on her experience. I found quite a few of them very interesting for myself including the one about breaking up with SAMM. Who or what is SAMM you ask, listen from her directly.      

0:00:00 Intro

0:04:40 Nirupa's relationship with sport growing up

0:05:50 Taking up fitness to lose post partum weight

0:08:30 What helped her lose weight, breaking up with SAMM

0:15:10 Her lessons from post partum weight loss

0:18:00 Start of triathlon journey, first race at Thonnur

0:25:20 Croatia Olympic distance tri, Dubai 70.3 Half Ironman

0:29:00 Change of mindset, having zero expectations, not focusing on timing

0:35:15 Dealing with personal set backs and finishing full distance Ironman

0:55:15 Prioritization of work, family and sport

1:00:10 Learnings from sport that she takes to work

1:06:10 What next in terms of sport

1:08:10 Tips for working athletes

1:10:00 Closing comments   

About the Podcast

The working athlete podcast is a podcast with and for working athletes from all walks of life and various sports. The goal is to provide inspiration, training tips, mental hacks, time management and life-style advice through conversations with some of the best in sport, from athletes to coaches. If you think you can benefit from this, please consider subscribing so that you don't miss the weekly episodes in future.

Who is a working athlete? Someone working fulltime/part-time, entrepreneur or anyone who has to work to make ends meet and doesn't let being busy to stop him/her from pursuing an active lifestyle is a working athlete. I consider stay at home moms/dads who pursue a sport, as working athletes because homemaking is a full-time job.

If you like this, share with friends who could be interested.

For the visually inclined, a video version of the podcast can be found here: YouTube

Other Places you'll find the podcast on:

Anchor | RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google podcasts | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | Breaker 

This episode is brought to you by www.thebikeaffair.com

If you are in search of a one-stop destination that caters to all your cycling needs, our today's sponsor, The Bike Affair, is the perfect place to check out! With over 14 years of experience, The Bike Affair has established itself as a trusted source offering honest advice and exceptional service. They are offering a special treat for the listeners of this podcast. You can enjoy a 10% discount on your first order by using the code 'BIKEYVENKY' on their website.  Visit their bike store in Hyderabad or shop online by using the link www.thebikeaffair.com  

It has been 3 years since this podcast started and miraculously, I have managed to put out an episode every single week for the past 3 years. After 3 years, I have taken the recording out of my tiny home studio and out into a new recording space courtesy of a kind friend. With the help of another good friend, Dipankar, I was setting up the space last week. We wanted to do a test recording. What could be the topic of this test recording? Some of you know that I have done my first official Half Marathon a few weeks ago at the Bangalore Marathon on 8th October.

So, for the first episode in the new recording space, my good friend Dipankar Paul interviewed me about my running. We talked about my weightloss journey and the start of my fitness journey with running. We touch upon why I cut short my running career before what was supposed to be my first Marathon back in 2010 and why I decided to run a Half Marathon this time. We talked about all the mistakes I did back then and the new mistakes I did this time as well as the new learnings I had because of those mistakes while successfully finishing my first official Half Marathon. It was fun getting interviewed on my own podcast. I sincerely thank DP for being such a great friend and being there always when I needed him.

0:00:00 Intro

0:05:40 Initial fitness journey, Finding my WHY!

0:11:40 Introduction to running

0:21:40 Starting of cycling journey

0:26:30 Getting back to running in the US

0:38:00 Restart of running during Pandemic

0:44:00 Why running? Running away from?

0:49:20 Losing a friend and running in memory of him

0:54:10 HM Training, becoming greedy, getting injured

1:02:30 Resuming training after injury

1:05:30 Race day - first official Half Marathon

1:11:00 Learning from the half marathon experience

0:44:15 Higher education and cycling in Europe

0:52:00 Closing comments

Link to the poem: https://bvcoaching.in/2010/03/an-ode-to-the-running-soul/   

About the Podcast

The working athlete podcast is a podcast with and for working athletes from all walks of life and various sports. The goal is to provide inspiration, training tips, mental hacks, time management and life-style advice through conversations with some of the best in sport, from athletes to coaches. If you think you can benefit from this, please consider subscribing so that you don't miss the weekly episodes in future.

Who is a working athlete? Someone working fulltime/part-time, entrepreneur or anyone who has to work to make ends meet and doesn't let being busy to stop him/her from pursuing an active lifestyle is a working athlete. I consider stay at home moms/dads who pursue a sport, as working athletes because homemaking is a full-time job.

If you like this, share with friends who could be interested.

For the visually inclined, a video version of the podcast can be found here: YouTube

Other Places you'll find the podcast on:

Anchor | RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google podcasts | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | Breaker 

A bit about myself:

I'm Venkat/Venkateswara Rao in my work avatar, working as a Chief Data Analyst in the IT industry in Bangalore. I'm Venky/Bikeyvenky for my friends in the cycling community.

 This episode is brought to you by www.thebikeaffair.com

If you are in search of a one-stop destination that caters to all your cycling needs, our today's sponsor, The Bike Affair, is the perfect place to check out! With over 14 years of experience, The Bike Affair has established itself as a trusted source offering honest advice and exceptional service. They are offering a special treat for the listeners of this podcast. You can enjoy a 10% discount on your first order by using the code 'BIKEYVENKY' on their website.  Visit their bike store in Hyderabad or shop online by using the link www.thebikeaffair.com  

In this episode we talk to one of the best student athletes around, Gagan Reddy. He won multiple medals at the Nationals while pursuing his engineering degree. By the time this episode comes out he will be in Europe to pursue his Masters in cyber sercurity. He looks to complete his masters while riding and racing in Europe. He shares his learnings as a student athlete and how to successfully pursue sports while studying full time. I had the good fortune of helping him in his formative years starting from 2016 and helped him get to his first medal at the Nationals. It is great to see this young man going places. It was great to sit down and chat just days before he is about to fly off to Europe. Hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.     

0:00:00 Intro

0:05:00 Experience as a student athlete

0:09:40 Why just sport is not enough

0:12:40 Starting cycling with big goals, realizing importance of studies

0:20:30 Taking the hard path

0:26:00 Support system at home

0:29:00 Sport building character

0:36:00 Tips to manage sports and studies, Vitamin N

0:41:30 How sport can change lives

0:44:15 Higher education and cycling in Europe

0:52:10 Closing comments

About the Podcast

The working athlete podcast is a podcast with and for working athletes from all walks of life and various sports. The goal is to provide inspiration, training tips, mental hacks, time management and life-style advice through conversations with some of the best in sport, from athletes to coaches. If you think you can benefit from this, please consider subscribing so that you don't miss the weekly episodes in future.

Who is a working athlete? Someone working fulltime/part-time, entrepreneur or anyone who has to work to make ends meet and doesn't let being busy to stop him/her from pursuing an active lifestyle is a working athlete. I consider stay at home moms/dads who pursue a sport, as working athletes because homemaking is a full-time job.

If you like this, share with friends who could be interested.

For the visually inclined, a video version of the podcast can be found here: YouTube

Other Places you'll find the podcast on:

Anchor | RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google podcasts | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | Breaker

This episode is brought to you by www.thebikeaffair.com

If you are in search of a one-stop destination that caters to all your cycling needs, our today's sponsor, The Bike Affair, is the perfect place to check out! With over 14 years of experience, The Bike Affair has established itself as a trusted source offering honest advice and exceptional service. They are offering a special treat for the listeners of this podcast. You can enjoy a 10% discount on your first order by using the code 'BIKEYVENKY' on their website.  Visit their bike store in Hyderabad or shop online by using the link www.thebikeaffair.com  

In this episode National level cyclist and medalist at National games, Sreenath Lakshmikanth shares his experience of racing at the Spinneys92 race in Dubai through which he qualified for the UCI Granfondo world championships in Scottland earlier this year. He shares his experience of racing at the UCI Granfondo world championships and witnessing the world championships up close. He also shares his experience of racing in London and what were his learnings along the way. There are a lot of valuable nuggets for cyclists of all ages and experience levels in there. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.     

0:00:00 Intro

0:04:00 Spinneys92 Dubai UCI Granfondo experience

0:07:40 Limited events locally, exploring outside

0:13:20 Correct guidance at the correct time, Srilanka race experience

0:18:30 UCI Granfondo World Championships

0:23:10 Racing in London

0:35:10 UCI Granfondo finals race experience

0:50:00 Opportunities to qualify for UCI Granfondo finals

0:53:00 SL7 High Altitude camps

0:59:30 UCI World Championships, watching the Pros race

1:03:10 Putting in the work to move the needle at world stage, track vs road focus at CFI

1:08:00 Taking care of everything on their own

1:12:10 What next in the coming months

1:18:00 Closing comments

Sree's SL7 high altitude camp on Insta: instagram.com/sl7hatc

Sree's Instahandle: instagram.com/sreenathl

Sree's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@sreenathlakshmikanth956

About the Podcast

The working athlete podcast is a podcast with and for working athletes from all walks of life and various sports. The goal is to provide inspiration, training tips, mental hacks, time management and life-style advice through conversations with some of the best in sport, from athletes to coaches. If you think you can benefit from this, please consider subscribing so that you don't miss the weekly episodes in future.

Who is a working athlete? Someone working fulltime/part-time, entrepreneur or anyone who has to work to make ends meet and doesn't let being busy to stop him/her from pursuing an active lifestyle is a working athlete. I consider stay at home moms/dads who pursue a sport, as working athletes because homemaking is a full-time job.

If you like this, share with friends who could be interested.

For the visually inclined, a video version of the podcast can be found here: YouTube

Other Places you'll find the podcast on:

Anchor | RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google podcasts | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | Breaker 

This episode is brought to you by www.thebikeaffair.com

If you are in search of a one-stop destination that caters to all your cycling needs, our today's sponsor, The Bike Affair, is the perfect place to check out! With over 14 years of experience, The Bike Affair has established itself as a trusted source offering honest advice and exceptional service. They are offering a special treat for the listeners of this podcast. You can enjoy a 10% discount on your first order by using the code 'BIKEYVENKY' on their website. Visit their bike store in Hyderabad or shop online by using the link www.thebikeaffair.com

In this episode we talk to the Goa Ironman 70.3 champion of 2022 and 2023, Nihal Ahmed Baig. When we see an athlete winning all the time, it is easy to say that he or she is gifted, talented etc without much thinking on our part. In my view, what it does is diminish the kind of effort that goes on behind the scenes, and discount the kind of battles they might have fought in the process of getting to where they are. This interaction with Nihal brings forth precisely these battles he had to fight to make it to the start line and then make it across the finish line ahead of everyone else on the day.

0:00:00 Intro

0:05:00 Goa Ironman 70.3 in 2022 vs 2023 Weather and course conditions

0:08:40 Australian exit swim vs single loop swim course

0:12:20 Preparation going into the race, hernia surgery and recovery

0:22:30 Post hernia surgery recovery - the first 3 months

0:27:00 Uncertainities during the recovery process

0:31:20 Racing a Olympic Tri 4 weeks to Goa Tri

0:37:00 Key workouts/moments that gave him confidence to race

0:45:15 Balancing health and performance goals, mental fitness

0:50:15 Race week and the race day at Goa Ironman 2023, the swim

1:03:10 Cycling leg, trying to consolidate the gaps

1:12:00 Run segment, taking the lead and holding on

1:22:10 His Goa Ironman 70.3 2022 vs 2023 timings

1:26:40 The Whole Athletes, his coaching journey

1:30:00 Managing work as a professional, as a coach and athlete

1:32:00 Closing comments