RunAddicts- Local Heroes: Inspiration series [Profile 2: Sravan Kumar]

The first word that comes to my mind when I think about Sravan is his Dedication. I was fortunate to experience his growth story over the years. The soft spoken, hardworking and a good family man are some of his traits. Although we could spend less time together with our families, it has been very memorable moments. I cannot wait any further to begin the interview!! Nevertheless, who likes to wait at the start line?

Get Set Go!!!

Sravan, Welcome to RunAddicts- our Local Heroes: Inspiration series. Congrats on being selected as a Local hero for our RunAddicts Inspiration series. I hope this conversation of ours will inspire a lot of people to pursue their goals with more dedication, discipline, and devotion.

Sai: Can you briefly introduce yourself?

Sravan: We are a family of 5 that includes my mother, wife and 2 kids. I am part of IT leadership team at Keysight technologies. Since recent few years, Triathlons keep me engaged mostly outside my work hours.

Sai: I want to know more about your kids. I am sure your kids are pretty much influenced by you. Recently your daughter won a triathlon event. Can you share their sports interests?

Sravan: My daughter, Prerana is 14 years old. She is into Skating, Running, Cycling & Swimming. She recently participated and won the sprint distance triathlon.

My son, Abhiram is 8 years old. He enjoys Cycling and Badminton. He does Skating for fun.

 Sai: Did the fitness bug bite you early in your life? When was the breakpoint?

Sravan: Brought up in a small town Bidar, I was fairly active as a child but not into fitness though. Despite active childhood, I am  still known as Motu in my childhood circles 🙂 My second innings with play started with swimming in 2008. I took up running to keep up the fitness gained from swimming during US winters.

Sai: That’s interesting! How did you pick up running and which events have you participated?

Sravan: Started running on treadmills in 2009. Mostly alternated swimming and treadmill running depending on season till 2016. My rendezvous with road running started only after I moved to RR nagar surroundings in 2016 in the inspirational company of RunAddicts on the double road. I have participated in several Marathons, HM,10k, half iron triathlons and 2 full Ironman Triathlons.

Sai: When did you first hear about Ironman? What made you take it up?

Sravan: I first heard about Triathlons in the mid of 2016. Got to know about IM in the mid of 2017 when I was signing up for my first Triathlon event in Chennai. I was sort of jack of 3 trades and hence decided to take a plunge. After my first experience of Olympic Tri around Turahalli and double road in the company and support of RunAddicts gang, fell in love with Triathlons especially the Olympic and Half Iron distances.

[Note: In case if you are pondering over Triathlon, it is a combination of Swimming, Cycling and Running.

Ironman: It is a triathlon consisting of 3.9km Swimming, 180.2km Cycling, 42.2km Running. Wondering how many days would it take? All the 3 disciplines are to be completed within a total time of 16 hours and there are individual discipline cut off times too!!]

Sai: What is your current Ironman timing? And your goal? I hope you wouldn’t mind sharing to the RunAddicts audience 😊

Sravan: 14.5 hours. Targeting 11 to 12 hours range. Hope this happens 😇

       

Sai: Let me get back to running now. What are your 10K, HM and FM personal best timings?

Sravan: 10k – 00:43:32 Mins, HM – 1:40:05, FM – 3:46:41.

Sai: How do you train for an event; can you share a few insights?

Sravan: My training till mid 2019 was predominantly MAF (Maximum Aerobic Fitness) training. Currently, I am training under a coach for Triathlons and my typical training week ranges from 10 to 12 hours across Swim, Bike, Run. This includes a good share of intensity training too. Some of the events I participate in serve as preparation for Tri Events.

[For further reading about MAF- https://philmaffetone.com/180-formula/]

Sai: Which is your most memorable running event and what makes it so special about it?

Sravan: TMM is my favourite, given the energy it generates.

Sai: How do you balance fitness, work, and personal life?

Sravan: Try to plan my Fitness activities for each day and my work calendar is blocked to accommodate the same. Weekends are full blackouts from work that help spend time with family too. As part of my kids’ fitness journeys, I get to spend some more time during weeks with kids and spouse.

Sai: Few words about RunAddicts?

Sravan: Very energizing group driven only by passion to run and serve a social cause. I am really respectful of the endeavours of RunAddicts towards influencing fitness in RR Nagar surroundings as well as their share of contributions towards social cause.

Sai: Any specific running goals?

Sravan: I have been shying away from Ultras due to my Tri Goals. Would love to do an ultra-once my Tri pursuits are over.

Sai: What is your favourite running quote?

Sravan: Nothing specific. But I firmly believe that Humans are born to run that totally contradicts recent Human pursuits for Luxury and Sedentary lifestyle.

Sai: What is your advice for beginners?

Sravan: Start Slow, Enjoy the Sport, treat it like a meditation on legs, avoid chasing numbers and you are sure to have a blissful experience.

Thank you, Sravan, I am really blown away by your training regime. I personally learnt a lot interacting with you and had a good time. On behalf of all the RunAddicts, I wish you good luck for your dreams.