Nerissa Usero celebrates after finishing fifth in the 2015 Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines to qualify for the 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Australia.

By Mikhil Bhat/Doha

When someone wants to lose excess body weight, what do they do? They ease themselves into a gym or a cycling or a walking or a swimming or a dieting routine. Some are determined enough to achieve their goals, being consistent at their routines, while many fall by the way.
Nerissa Usero jumped straight into the sweaty, physically-tiring, emotionally-draining world of endurance racing. She prepared herself for taming triathlons.
In 2012, 5 feet 1 inch tall Usero found herself breathless after having run just 100 metres. “I was already dying. I was that unfit. I was 75kgs, which is a lot for someone my height,” Usero says. “I did not want to grow old like this. It was a challenge for me.”
Three years later, she has qualified for the 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Championship, which will be held in Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. Her fifth place finish in the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines sent her through to the world event. It was the second time that she was participating in the Philippine event.
Ironman 70.3, also called the Half Ironman, comprises 1.2-mile (1.9 km) swim, a 56-mile (90 km) bike ride, and a 13.1-mile (21.1 km) run for a total distance of 70.3 miles (113km).
Her road to Sunshine Coast is as heartening as it is inspirational.
Usero, who currently works at the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), began with running along with her husband Pedro, who had keen interest in mountain climbing, boxing and skydiving.
Friends suggested taking up triathlon. And so, Usero, who could not swim (“I was like a stone; put me into the water and I would sink,” she says), learnt swimming and added cycling to her regimen. One thing led to another and she was running in races around the region.
“My husband influenced me a lot. He got me into this. He helped me… he was very supportive in exploring my abilities. He was my number one influencer,” 37-year-old Usero says.
“I thought to myself that I needed to dedicate myself to one goal. The first steps were not easy. You have to start slowly, and with the right training, guidance and knowledge, you will achieve your goals. Setting a target is very important. You can’t just keep running. If you start running now, you have to make sure that by next month, you run a longer distance. You sort of see your progress as time goes by,” says Usero, who has been a Qatar resident for the last eight years and hails from the province of Pampanga in Philippines.
“We started together in triathlons,” says Pedro, who works for Qatar Petroleum. “She has grown a lot. I was the one who initiated her into the sport, but now, three years later, she is the one giving me tips.”
In December 2013, Usero made it to her first-ever podium in a triathlon at the Al Khor Community Open Triathlon.
“At first, I thought, ‘Is this for real?’ I was competing with people who were taller and leaner than I was. I was a newbie back then but then I realised that it is something I would love to keep doing,” Usero says.
Since then, her results include a win in this year’s 10K Ooredoo Marathon in the women’s open category, fifth place in the International Triathlon Union event in Abu Dhabi, 12th in her category (female, 35-39 years) in Challenge Bahrain and second-place podium finish in the overall Olympic distance women’s category at The Pearl-Qatar Triathlon. In her first Ironman 70.3 event, which was in Philippines in 2014, she finished 29th.
“For me, I want to do better than I did the last time. I want to improve, may not be a drastic improvement, but if you see improvement, that is an accomplishment,” Usero says.
Her husband, who also competes in triathlons, is more focused on fitness than results. “Here in Qatar, it is work-home-work. And in between, there are other things that you can get into which are not necessarily healthy. Then there is eating, with no activities,” 43-year-old Pedro says.
“It is not just passion for the sport, but we also see the benefits of being involved in a sport. It is two things combined. Our routines have changed. We have incorporated training schedules into our daily lives. We follow proper diet now, we are careful of what we are eating. Earlier there were night-outs on the weekends, but that has changed because we have to train in the morning.
“Qatar has some really good facilities to stay fit. We use Aspire for running and swimming, while we bike on the Ceremonial Road over the weekends. We use a couple of other clubs for swimming, shelling out our money for training. Unfortunately, we don’t have any sponsors yet.”
What’s the toughest part of running an Ironman?
“Training is the toughest part. We train for three sporting disciplines and that too for 70.3 distances. Plus you have to incorporate strength training. And we have our full-time jobs. Time management is the challenge. On the race day, we treat it just as a normal day. You have already prepared yourself for that day. Preparation is crucial,” Usero says.
What was the reaction of her parents when they first saw her post the physical transformation and her new-found love in triathlons?
“My mum was actually worried about my safety. You are jumping into the water, you are riding a bike, so she had those concerns. But she was quite amazed with what I am doing. I had never explored these abilities in me when I was younger and single. My friends are amazed and happy and surprised that I am able to achieve these things. They have seen me earlier and they see me now, they are quite amazed at my transformation. They are eyewitnesses of the change in me. I have also become an inspiration of sorts for them… If I have done, then so can anyone else as long as they can put in enough efforts,” she says.