At 57, this Kerala High Court judge just finished Ironman: ‘Cut down on sleep, not work’

“If you want to attain your goal, you will have to overcome and embrace the pain, and not fight it.”

As he crossed the finishing line of the Ironman 70.3 held in Goa on Sunday, Kerala High Court judge Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas remembered these words vividly.

Justice Thomas, 57, competed in the Males 55-59 age category, completing the race in eight hours, 46 minutes and 44 seconds.

The Ironman 70.3 Goa is a triathlon endurance race that involves a 1.9-km swim, a 90-km cycling ride, and a 21.1-km run.

Justice Thomas first heard of the race two years ago, when his son competed in it in Goa. “I saw him train. I can say he was my inspiration to do Ironman,” he told The Indian Express.

“I have always been interested in sports. But after becoming a judge, I lost out on the health front. Sitting 16-18 hours a day was actually taking a toll on my health,” he said. “Occasionally, we have a cricket tournament for judges. We had a shuttle tournament recently, where I was the champion in the singles and doubles category. That probably gave me a feeling that I can compete (in Ironman). And so, I thought it’s time to get back in shape,” he said.

For the judge, time management was a primary concern. “I was handling one of the heaviest jurisdictions in the court – Writ Petition Miscellaneous. Finding time for the training was difficult. I cut down on my sleep… to gain time for training,” he said. “I do not have any single backlog. Not a single case.”

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Kerala High Court judge Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas during the Ironman 70.3 in Goa on Sunday.

“I always say it’s all in the mind. We are all busy. And it’s an excuse that we can always come up with – to say we don’t have the time. But life begins when fear ends.”

Justice Thomas started training for the endurance race on April 21, a few days after his son got married. “Three days after my son’s wedding, I went for my first swim. The court was on vacation, so I thought, ‘Why not give it a try?’”

On the first day, he barely managed to swim 50 metres. But he continued to train for 3-4 weeks, swimming every alternate day.

“After the court resumed, it was tough to find the time to train. But, either late in the day or early in the morning, I would train,” he said.

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He refused invitations to social engagements to accommodate his training schedule. “I cut down on all social functions, did not attend any speeches or inaugurations… and focused solely on training. On the weekends, I devoted extra hours to running, swimming and cycling. I got one cycle for training inside the house,” he said.

Justice Thomas said the path has not been easy, given his history of injuries. “I had surgery on my knee for a meniscus tear a decade ago; I have a varicose vein. I had two meniscus tears last year, and I have not done anything about it. I have got an Achilles tendon rupture. One is wary about injuries, and one has doubts,” he said.

During training, Justice Thomas suffered a muscle tear on his calf, and doctors asked him to stop training and to rest. “I consulted another doctor, who advised knee surgery, saying it could worsen. But I always felt that the body would adapt.”

Three weeks later, Justice Thomas went on a small run and did not feel any pain. “Slowly, I learnt to manage the pain. I embraced the pain and kept telling myself that unless I overcome the pain, I will succumb to it. If you want to attain your goals, you need to overcome pain and embrace it. Don’t fight it,” he said.

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After a three-week break to recover, Justice Thomas started training again. “I went for my first swim and felt a slight niggle. The next day, I swam for the first time in the ocean for 1.8 kms in 49 minutes. So, I realised that I am on target and swimming was perhaps my strength,” he said.

However, that evening, he developed pain in his shoulder, which doctors said was a muscle tear. He was advised to rest and recover. “This was a month before the race. Slowly, I started cycling again and went for short runs. I would feel pain, but I took a rest and recovered.”

Just a week before the race, he considered withdrawing from the event. “Last week, I tried swimming for 300 metres and felt pain. I thought I would withdraw and did not know whether I would be able to compete… but then again, I kept telling myself that it is better to try it and not be able to finish, rather than not trying at all,” he said.

“I told my family if the pain comes back, I will stop swimming wherever I am, and will just float and come back. Fortunately, I did not feel the pain that day, and everything went off well,” Justice Thomas said.

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Justice Thomas said his aim was to finish the race in eight hours, 29 minutes and 59 seconds. “I overshot that by over 16 minutes. I want to do it again and better my timing. I lost time during the transitions, from swimming to cycling and cycling to running. I should have been a little wary about transitions,” he said.

“But as a first-time participant, I just wanted to complete it. I was not looking for any podium finish. I wanted to just complete it for my own satisfaction,” he said.

On how he changed his diet in preparation for the race, Justice Thomas said, “For the past year, I have been consuming only four eggs in the morning. From 97 kg, I came down to 86 kg. For lunch, I had two chapatis and chicken. I started having an early dinner, which had only protein. That has been my diet for the last six months, except for the occasional cheat day.”