Chalukya - 1200 (The Herculean 1200)

As I sit down to pen my memories of the Chalukya 1200 almost two weeks later, my memories are still as fresh as the day I returned back.

Background

The 1200K LRM event has been on my wish list for atleast the last 10 years, and I am glad that I finally made it to the finish line. Thanks to the extra hours because of the pandemic, I had been able to ratchet up 2-hour bike rides during the fall of 2020, and could maintain my cycling. My flexibility and running had taken a back seat as I was developing Achilles pain for very short runs. 

I enrolled yoga classes in March 2020, only to be interrupted by the second wave of the pandemic. I was maintaining reasonable fitness when the randonneuring season kick started in April. Flexibility had improved, thanks to being a regular at yoga. Biking took a back seat and was limited to weekend rides. I managed to put in 3-hour rides and atleast a century every month.

I signed up for the 300K (CR Patna) and 400K (Hiriyur) rides with the base training I had. Both of them were highway routes and were fairly easy. While I had decent finish times, I was still struggling to finish strong. Having already completed Avalabetta200K earlier in the year, it boiled down to the Ranebennur 600K. This again being a highway route, and the challenge was to survive 40 hours.

Preparation

With this goal, I enrolled at a nearby gym, with the goal to improve cadence, and pedal at ease with high cadence. Time, always being a priority, I would finish my yoga session by 7 am, and hop in to the gym for a quick spin session of 30 mins. With a week of cadence training, I was getting comfortable at a cadence of 80-85.

I had a few goof ups in the early stage of the 600K BRM. Lost an hour and a half because of missed directions. This would cost me dearly with the first night's sleep break curtailed to 40 minutes (from a planned two hours). Kms 300-400 were a bit of struggle as expected. Riding around mid-day was still a struggle. Once the 400km point at Chitradurga was reached, tail winds carried me all the way to Bangalore. It was a very enjoyable ride to the end-CP, and the finish was quite strong. 

1200K was a totally different ball-game. While 600K had one mid-day, we had to ride during the day for all 4 days in 1200. Thanks to the organizers, there were a good amount of zoom calls to apprise us of the chalenges for the mega ride. Both my yoga sessions and spinning sessions continued, and I was getting comfortable with high Cadence. I also managed to pull in four or five strength training sessions target core and lower body. 

Plan

Me and my supposed to be riding companion, Manas (Sahu) made detailed plans as to what needs to be done. With my focus partially on work, not a lot stuck to my head. I remembered very few things about the route: just the drop bag points and few important turns. As the event neared, I was getting the feeling that I shouldn't push hard during the initial phase, and ride at my own pace, to ensure that I last the distance.

My overall plan was to minimize the stops. I packed some food for the first day, with the sole purpose of saving time. Have a buffer of 5-6 hours before heading into the CPx drop-bag location at Gokak. With the weather looking good, I borrowed a few essentials from Rajaneesh (PBP finisher) and got set, with the bike.

As they say, man proposes, and God disposes. As I woke up on the Day 0, I heard thunders. Repacking and packaging what was already packed meant that I spent nearly 30 minutes juggling around. I headed to the start point (Kanteerava stadium), riding with nearly 8kg on my shoulders, heavier drop bag on the back, and cycling shoes with food on the front. Riding in the rain with both the bags was a fine balance. 

Day 0 - Warming up

Rain played spoilsport at the start. With most riders arriving within the final hour, organizers managed it quite well with only a ten-minute delay in the flag-off. Dropbags were tagged and collected. Brevet cards were deferred to the next control point. As for me, I switched over to aqua shoes, with the cycling shoes in the backpack. I didn't want to get my cycling shoes wet and ride in soggy socks for four days. 
Note: The aqua shoes (from Decathlon: https://www.decathlon.in/p/8330684/sports-shoes/adult-aquashoes100-dark-grey?id=8330684&type=p) came in quite handy on the wet day. I ride in these on wet days, and when it is not comfortable to ride with cycling shoes.

We quickly pedaled off to Nelamangala Highway in the rain. I was carrying a moderately heavy backpack, with the cleats poking on my back. As we neared Tumkur, sky was getting cleared and I could see the roads getting dry. I quickly stopped and changed over to cycling shoes, and got a quick bite of the PBJ sandwich. As I would get on my bike, I had the feeling. "Oh, here I am on my Ferrari". The fit and comfort were very different from that with the sandals. I reached the control point 1 (CP2 - 87km: VRL Refreshments) in no time. 

While this wasn't in my original plan, I stopped here in anticipation of the brevet card. Having stopped, tried to get a quick breakfast. The quick stop became a longish stop. I asked Manas to not wait for me. When I started from here, the plan was to stop for a late lunch. 

With pleasant weather and easy terrain, I managed to cover good distance in the next few hours. Lunch@Greenland Hotel, Hiriyur (161km) was the next stop. Had good sumptuous lunch here. The bananas I had packed for the road were completely mashed up. It was nice of Raghu to share the bananas and not waste them. 

While starting, I forgot my set of cables. Thankfully to the hotel attender, I got this back immediately. I would have been a nightmare to continue without phone and Garmin. I had a small freakish accident while starting from here. Slipped down on steps with road shoes. 

The pains went away as I started riding. The next 40kms was going be tough: upward gradient, head winds and mid-day sun. With the temperature soaring, I took a small break for a cool drink and to polish off the rest of the first PBJ sandwich. I didn't feel much of the terrain until the Chitradurga climb. The last 2km climb was really tough, and there wasn't any respite for another km after the climb. I wanted to do this climb, though we had a go-ahead to use the bypass route, having missed this in the 600. 

After the Hospet turn, stopped for a quick orange juice break at a road-side cart. It came straight from the heavens for those of us toiling under the sun. Expectedly, the talk of the town was heat at that time. Some of the riders opted to stop a the dhaba a km ahead. I exhorted myself to push ahead, finishing rest of the first PBJ I had. As it was getting hard to digest, I gave away the second to a villager who was herding sheep. He happily accepted it and I hope he relished it. Moderate rolling terrain here was challenging because of the sun. 

CP3 was at 255km, and I was hoping to collect the brevet cards. As it was very tiring, I decided to stop at a road-side stall. With hunger kicking my stomach, I had some biscuits and Jeera Fizz, and top-off with a chocolate. As I would finish, I got sight of the bunch of yelakki bananas. Quickly packed four bananas for the road and moved ahead. We were greeted by Mohan and the other BR volunteers (Kalpesh and Suresh). It was a big relief to get our brevet cards. We were doing very good on time with a buffer of nearly 3.5 hours.

On arrival, we were served wood apple juice. I was vying for buttermilk at this time, which wasn't readily available. I took my time to settle in, and when I started having veg pulao, there was a strange feeling in my stomach. Before I knew it, I threw up whatever I had in the last hour, including the chocolate. Manas has issues with cramping at Chitradurga and was slowed down. He soon arrived, along with Binoy. I took sometime to rest, and had a couple of glasses of buttermilk before I started. 

As I wasn't feeling very strong, I decided to hang on with the next outgoing group. This was a fairly large group with Tasneem, Nakul, Dhananjaya, Nitin and Srinivas. I started feeling better as we started riding, and we could step up a steady pace under the cool night sky. As we rode, Night sky was looking gorgeous with the hills at a distance. We wanted to keep the group together.

Attending to the puncture before the tunnel

Srinivas in the tunnel

The next stop was a toll-booth with the odometer reading at 300km. We reached here at 11pm. With some of the riders feeling drowsy, the short break extended to a longer one. As for my stomach, I was surviving on one banana after the other at a rate of 25km per banana. I managed to grab a couple at the toll-booth. The next planned stop was at 350km at Athithi Sarkar Dhaba.

As we were heading into Hospet, we got a quick glance of the Tungabhadra Dam. This was a magnificent sight under the star-lit sky. We were about to enter the brightly-lit tunnel and I sensed a puncture on my rear wheel. This was attended to double quick time, with Nakul and Srinivas helping me. It took us a while to find the source, but we finally found the small pin. As we were attending to the puncture, others in the group caught up, and we asked them to move ahead in the interest of time.

We crossed Hospet, hoping to catch up with the rest of the folks. They had stopped at the next toll booth. We also did for a refreshing tea (and a banana for me). As we exited the toll both, there was a deviation for Hunagund. I quickly signalled to the Nakul and Srinivas who were following at that time. Armed with directions from the toll booth, Operation Search Athithi Sarkar Dhaba began. As we were riding on a divided highway, turning back is quite dangerous, and we didnt want to miss it. Finally, we managed to locate the place.

I was starving to death by this time. We quickly settled in and ordered some food. I didnt want risk and settled for curd rice. Soon, Tasneem and Dhananjaya arrived. I took my time to settle in before the food arrived. As I started eating the curd rice, that strange feeling started in my stomach again, and I threw up for a second time. 

There were lot of theories. I was completely thrown aback, first, by sleep deprivation, and then by lack of food. I hung around for sometime not knowing what to do. Other fellow riders started to take a nap one by one. Luckily by time, I had put my lights and Garmin to charge. After sometime, I decided to go to sleep. It was quite chilly, and I was lucky to get hold of a blanket half an hour later. 

Dont know how much longer, I got some good sleep. When I woke up, there were only three of us, Pavan, Chandra and myself. All the others had left, probably hours earlier. I alerted Pavan and Chandra waking them up. Time was 4:30, which meant that I got three hours of sleep. The dhaba had run out of curd, and had some rice. I couldn't imagine to palate anything else. I tested the waters with with some plain rice mixed with pickle and it didn't cause any trouble. Slowly got ready and finished ablutions. Having a clear stomach is a great blessing to start the day with. 

Day 1: A Fresh Start

I took my time to get ready and thanked the dhaba attender. It was 5:20 when I started from here. Most of the four hour buffer that I had coming had evaporated. There were two clear instructions from Manas before I went to sleep. CP4 at 386km to be met  by 7:45am, and CP5 at 524 to be met by 4:55pm. Luckily, all my possesions were in tact. Garmin and lights were fully charged, and so was I.

36km to CP4, and two and half-hours to cover the same. Legs were fresh and the morning chill was good. As I warmed up, found a good spinning rhythm. Enjoyed the beautiful sunshine as it rose across the crimson sky to my right. 36kms went by real quick in an hour-and-a-half, and I had caught up to Manju Warrier, by this time. Mohan greeted with yogurt and some refreshments. I was unwilling to touch anything by this time. Hotel Nanda Gokula wasn't open yet. Good for me, as I pushed off after a quick chat with Mohan. 

As there was some road construction, we had to get down into the town at the next intersection. To my luck, there was a small breakfast joint serving fresh khara bath. It passed my stomach test. Two khara baths and a kesari bath later, decided to keep it safe. Packed one kesari bath for the road and started. Manju would pass me this time, and all my efforts to alert her about the breakfast werent helpful. I caught up with her later only to realize that she was surviving only on fluids. A quick call to Manas indicated that they were about three hours ahead.

Knowing that I might be the last among the group, kept up a constant pace without wasting any time. I passed by Ilkal and resisted any urge to stop. There was some confusion with the directions as we passed by Hunagund. There was a deviation towards Amingad and Aihole from here. Rajiv Bhide caught up here confirming the directions. In the ensuing confusion, I missed stopping for a tummy-fill. 

It was really refreshing to get-off the highway onto country roads. It was picturesque early in the morning with fields as far as we can see. The next 15 kms to Amingad was going tough as the tummy tank started complaining. I caught up to a policeman on bike and quickly got directions to a local restaurant in Amingad. Didn't waste any time here, adding four idlis and coffee to the starving tank. The hotel owners were very glad to host us and was making special Mandakki. In the interest of time, I moved along. There was another quick stop for a fresh lime soda at a road-side stall, before the trek to Aihole. 

The road to Aihole was done partially, and was already designed bad roads in the introductory sessions by BR. As I reached Aihole, I saw the complete group of Nakul, Dhananjaya, Nitin, Tasneem and Srinivas. They had taken a break at an hotel enroute to take bath and refresh themselves. The three-hour sleep was good enough for me. Aihole was the first of the mandatory landmark CPs designated by the organizers, and a selfie-shot here was mandatory. I took time to relish the surroundings, took some photographs and also hydrated with lemon soda. This provided much needed salts that were losing in the heat.

The next stop was Pattadakkal. There was a lady serving buttermilk in water bottles. Buttermilk serves as a good refresher, providing hydration, protein and also salts. It also balances any acidity build up in the stomach. Filled myself up with buttermilk to the brim and continued. In my interest to take pictures, I got dropped from the group. 

The third mandatory heritage CP was Badami. It was bit tricky to go through a steep incline of cobblestone pathways with people all around. Took the time to walk up under the noon-sky and diligently completed the selfie-shot. It must have taken a good half-hour walking in and walking out. 

Hunger pangs were kicking up. 

By this time, there was a big mess in my top-tube bag. There was a big competition between the hydration salts and hand sanitizer on who would dominate the proceedings. Sighted an expensive Hotel Clarke, and decided to stop here. As it was early for the lunch buffet, it was quite empty. Placed an order for curd rice, and by the time it arrived, refreshed myself and cleaned out and washed my top-tube bag. 

As I settled down to have the curd rice, that same feeling started in my stomach again. Quickly brought it and control and apologized to the hotel manager for wasting food. Left him a good tip and started along. While I was in a good position to reach CP5, heat and a hungry stomach stood in the way. I was still in the tail pack, but a few riders behind always gives good confidence.

The journey to CP5 continued on buttermilk. Along this way, I caught up to Faraz and Siddarth, and was jokingly telling them all my miseries with food. Luckily, Faraz had a pill to suppress nausea. My feeling was that nothing could do downhill from here and I readily took it. I decided to play it safe for the next couple of hours, sticking only to buttermilk. The road condition before Bagalkote slowly deteriorated, and much attention was needed on the road to carefully negotiate the potholes.  

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The last km to Bagalkote was never ending, and I reached CP 5 with 45 mins to spare. With CP6 (620km; Target 23:47 Day1) still eons away, I managed to get a good meal. I decided to play safe with Dal khichdi and lime soda, not knowing if the nausea pill had worked. Caught up with quite a few riders here. Many people had decided on quitting. Tried to plead with Shyam and Bharat who had decided to quit, but to no avail. I moved from here as time was running out. 

As I was exiting Bagalkote, I rode too close to a lady walking on the road which resulted in a small mishap. I stopped to apologize and they took it in a good stride. I felt that courtesy was required so that they will appreciate other cyclist. I stopped at two places, once for a small group of kids, and next to quickly gobble up on some  chickoo (sapodilla). Next major point was Lokapur that was 28kms away. I stopped here at the designated hotel to have a quick snack. Relished a butter dosa, lime juice and an ice cream, and walked out in 13 minutes. I realized the power of solo randonneuring with the ultra-short break.

Two kms later, we would enter what can be described in a very mild tone as hell. To start with, there was a head of rubble to block the road. Our maps directed us the correct way, and the road was filling with tennis ball sized gravel. There was a two-feet patch of paved road on the far right that could be used when there is no oncoming traffic. As we entered this road  by dusk, most of this patch needs to be covered under the dark. 

Treacherous would be an understatement to the describe the terrain we encountered for the next twenty-five kilometers, and we didn't have the luxury to ride slow. With all the focus that I could put on the roads, I negotiated the roads, one pothole by one. I was only hoping that the tires and tubes would hold good and would not result in a puncture. A couple of hours later, barely making time for the distance covered, I stopped at a sweet shop. Filled my water bottles and relished myself with Dharwad Peda and Gulab Jamun. I was hoping that this would be good before I get to CP6. 

Reaching CP6 meant two things: a bed to crash on and rest for a couple of hours, and second, with 600kms completed, the mandatory hourly speed requirement will drop down to 12kmph. When the bad roads ended, there was something else waiting for us. A long time of tractors stuffed with sugarcane occupying the roads. I didn't mind the loud music from the tractors. However, riding on one side of the road with oncoming traffic was a big challenge. Curses were flying around for the inventor of high-beam lights. All this, courtesy to a sugar factory. When all this was done, the road was much quieter. So quite that I was finding it lonely. There were a few others who were coming along. Dayalan, Karthik and Rajiv Bhide.

After a lonely couple of hours, we rode into Gokak. The sight of flashing lights from the riders ahead showing the way. I managed to reach the control with an hour to spare. After parking the bike safely, carefully relished the buffet spread. Didn't want to encounter nausea anymore. The instructions were very clear. Collected the drop bags, put lights, watch to charge, took a shower, dressed up and packed up for the next day, and crashed into bed. 

Dhananjaya sir was sleeping as I entered the room. For me, this was a replay from the Brief History of Time. He would leave by the time I wake up. We were both in diferent time zones, so to speak. It gave me some comfort that I am only an hour or two behind. As I crashed into bed, set it exactly to wake me up two hours later, at 2:20am. 

There is never a dearth of good sleep sleep after a hard day of riding. You doze off as soon as you crash. As the alarm rang, I snoozed it once just as normal. When it rang again at 2:25, I knew there wasn't any time to waste. Luckily for me, bowel movements happened as I woke up. Its a bliss for me. Exited the room at 2:45 and went downstairs. I had to come back to the room because of some confusion regarding room keys. 

Day 2 was about to start. I was ready, refreshed and replenished by supplies from the drop bag. I also got a change over of shorts and jersey. As I picked up my bike from the parking, I realized that there was a puncture. I was quite relieved that this happened at the control, and not in the middle of the road elsewhere. Quickly changed the tubes, and also got to pump up the tire with the floor pump. Energy conserved for the ride ahead. Once again, last rider to leave the control. 

As I started riding, I observed some rider have stopped for tea, and along the way, some others were resting trying to catch up on sleep. Thanks to the flashing tail lights, it is easy to recognize the riders. Knowing that I am not the last rider, gives me a little boost. 

The road climbed steadily. Lights were strong enough to guide us through the pitch dark. Road conditions still remained worse. We were riding along some remote villages. Pity that we couldn't enjoy the surroundings. The next twentyfive kilometres were through some remote villages with no food options. A quick call to Manas: He was an hour and a half ahead, and informed that there is a mandatory selfie point when we join the Pune Highway.

I was eagerly looking for riders along the route, and crossed one bunch. Someone gave a shout, and I slowed down. It was Chandra, telugu lecturer from Chittur. He is a strong rider slowed down by lack of good lights and wanted to join along. We rode together for the next 25 kms, and at one point, I asked him to go ahead, not wanting to push myself.

Day 2 - Back on the Highway

The day broke and we were treated to misty air rising from the Hidkal reservoir. With birds chiping around, dawn was mesmerizing. Hunger pangs started as the ride was nearing three hours. Soon, I reached the highway. The mandatory selfie at the junction was completed in double quick time. Stopped at the next toll booth for some tea. Enquired about directions for the next breakfast stop, and moved along. 

As we crossed the Hidkal reservoir (that I wouldn't know at the time of riding), sun came up beautifully.

I kept looking for a breakfast stop, and couldn't find any open shops. There was one open on the opposite side of the road, but didn't want to waste time. Searching for restaurants, I caught up with Anand from Chennai, who was riding a fat bike. Truly hats off for this guy. 

Reaching the highway was a big morale booster, and more importantly, we were counting down kilometers instead of up. And when I saw this mile post, I felt. "Oh yes, I am going home".

With pleasant weather, I was maintaining a good speed, despite being on empty stomach. 600-720km was expected to the toughest segment in the overall ride. There was steady climbing all the way to Belgaum. On the way, I spotted a group of riders below the highway, most likely from Belgaum on a group ride. I gave a shout, and they recognized that I was part of the 1200. These riders gave good company on the rolling terrain, and I was happy to cover ground quickly.  

With lack of breakfast options, it was pushed till Belgaum, and finally, we stopped at a local breakfast restaurant. Some of the other riders were also having breakfast and some used the opportunity to catch a quick nap. Chandra also joined for breakfast, who was riding with Vipin at this time. 

Santosh was struggling here with knee pain, and was thinking of quitting. I asked him to get to Belgaum and decide. Exiting Belgaum, there wasn't any chance one would. There was rolling terrain with long down slopes.

Talking about targets, CP7 was Sugar and Spice, Hubli @797kms with a cut-off of 3:15. All around Belgaum was rolling terrain and full of climbs.With the initial part of the day in pitch dark, ride average was just normal, and I just sufficient time to reach the next CP. I was getting as temperature soared. I was looking for a good place to rest. With the highway looking like a desert, there wasnt any around. After some time, I found a small tree and a grassy path on the edge of the highway. Though the slope was upwards of 45 degrees, a ten-minute nap much needed respite from the seat. Quickly back on the saddle, a km ahead, I found a small restaurant and noticed another rider had stopped. 

As it was nearing lunch time, and the CP still three hours away, decided to make a brief stop. I stuck to Dal Khichadi, the safe option, preceded by lime soda, and followed by an ice cream. Chandra joined along for lunch here. With the tummy fully loaded, we started for the next CP, and had a slim buffer. Immediately I noticed a puncture. With not much time around, quickly flipped the bike, and swapped the tube for the last spare I had. When we tried to inflate the tire, the nozzle wasn't coming out. I realized that this was an older tube with a short nozzle. I quickly patched the first tube, and put it back. As we were inflating the nozzle broke. With time running out (we barely had 2:45 to cover 48kms under the hot sun with heavy rolling terrain), I asked Chandra to move ahead. He went ahead very reluctantly. He had a spare tube, but needed for his emergency.

Here came along Sakthi from Chennai. From m earlier conversation with Chandra, I knew Sakthi had fixed Chandra's pedal the previous day. The conversation went:

"What, bro"?

"Puncture, and out of tubes. Do you have 700x25". He quickly checked, and said mine is 28.

"Ok, that'll do. Let's patch it"

He thought there may be an issue with pump, and used his pump to inflate. Wary of more air, I limited the pressure to 60psi.
Fifteen more minutes went in the melee.

48kms, and two-and-a-half hour to go. The upward and downward slopes were shining brightly under the hot sun. What followed was nearly superhuman. Seven of us: four riders from Chennai, Dayalan and Karthik from Hosur, and me in the very back pedaled furiously taking one hill after another. We came across some fruit shops near Hubli. Exhausted by the sun, I tried to negotiate with a fruit vendor for some apples. She was reluctant. Karthik passed on one orange that had. This tasted heaven, with all the dehydration and exhaustion. A few more kms later, we arrived at CP7 with 15 mins to spare. I havent rode this hard since the Hogenakkal-400 finish two years ago. 

Forty-eight kilometers were covered in two and a quarter hours. A big kudos to someone who set the pace at the top of the line. 

Hubli Randonneurs provided a grand welcome. They took care of our bikes, refilled water in the bottles, and provided much needed nourishment. Severely dehydrated, I must have had 7 or 8 glasses of lemon juice from the organizers. Thanks to the wonderful support here. 

Having already stopped, I decided to have lunch here. Manas and Binoy were winding up their lunch, and mentioned the service is quite slow. Santosh and Arun joined for lunch. A short nap after a plate of Dal Khichadi, we were ready to be on roads. Sun was still shining bright and we could still feel the heat.

CP8 was DVG Socials (933km; tgt: 03:08am Day 4). Having had three punctures, all in my rear tire, I was wary of  any more. Manas lent me a tube. Ahead of us was a long stretch of highway with very limited food options. It was myself, Arun and Santosh now with the Chennai and Hosur riders surfacing occasionally. While we could spin easily, winds and the cemented highway roads made rolling difficult. I was keeping an eye for any easy food options that came along. We were trying to put a paceline. Santhosh who was following me asked if I can hold a steady line. Folowing the paint made me very drowsy. It was just each one of use against the wind. 

The highway was barren, devoid of anything. Even the toll booths were very sparsely populated. Four hours in, I found a small hotel by the highway thanks to directions to local villagers. Reception was awesome, courtesy to some the earlier riders who had passed along. Service was also quick. As one of the Chennai riders passed along, I gave a shout. He wasn't interested in dinner much. Quickly wrapped up my lunch and moved from here. As the next CP also served as the drop-bag point, there wasn't a need to pack any dinner. 

Rajeev Bhide had decided to drop and was passing in a car. He quickly stopped to cheer myself and Arun. Fresh from the puncture, I queried if he was carrying a spare tire. Luckily, he had one and lent me. This must have been the loneliest part of the ride. Battling sleep deprivation and fatigue, I continued. The only respite at the end of the day was a warm and cozy bed. At one point, I decide to take a short nap, and Santosh joined along. The journey continued after a 15-min nap. My immediate goal was Ranebennur junction at 907. Having done the same stretch in the 600K brevet three weeks ago, I knew there would a boost in the morale. 

While the roads were a bit patchy in this stretch, the cool night breeze kept the energies up. Two hours later, as I located DVG socials. As the gate was shut, I was left wondering if this the correct place. Luckily for me, security opened the gates before I turned back. A few riders from Chennai joined along. We were doing comfortable on time, reaching by 12:45am. 

A long walk after parking the bike, I arrived at the hotel lobby where buffet dinner was arranged. Organizers were having a hard time allocating rooms. I was still wary of the food. Suresh, one of the organizers, quickly commented that the stomach troubles are history now. I just signaled with my crossed fingers. To be honest, I was more worried about punctures. The spare tube and tire added a margin of safety. 

The usual routine followed. Shower, dressing up and packing for the next day. It was 1:25 when I hit the bed. Alarm was set for 2 hours at 3:25. I decided to swap only the jersey and retain the shorts, as it was feeling comfortable. 

Promply woke up at the set alarm. Having already learnt from the previous day routine, got the room cleaned and handed over the keys to the volunteers. Mohan was ready to flag me off. It is quite amazing what a bundle of energy he is. "Only 270 km to go. See you at the finish". Those words were quite encourage. Both the terrain and territory was familiar. I was just hoping that there would still be tail winds to drive us home. Arun joined me along. Having reached late, he had a shorter sleep break.

Day 3: Going Home

 We started off at 4:00am. In familiar terrain, I knew of a small family-run hotel at Anagodu. Sakthi joined along the way. I gave him quick tips abou the tail winds and how to make most use of them. 

Fresh legs powered the next forty kms before I stopped for breakfast. 

Hot steaming idlis at six in the morning was refreshing. Coffee to keep us alert and awake. Arun joined ten minutes later. We both finished breakfast real quick chatting with the hotel owner.  The terrain was familiar. A short climb, and a few kms on the plateau, we reach the toll both. From here, it was rolling down all the way to Chitradurga. This was super easy. The morale kept increasing because of three factors: couting down kilometers, tail winds and familiar terrain.

I decided to take Chitradurga bypass road this time. Upadhya Ruchi, about 15kms past Chitradurga, would serve as ideal snacking point. The ride to here felt like never ending. I was happy to see Mohan and the other volunteers here, though it wasn't a scheduled stop. "Jus another 190 kms. Drive it home. Weather is good, and there are tailwinds". He left within a couple of minutes. 

I went ahead and had a good second breakfast. Kharabath, Kesari, and a couple of choco-bars. As I was winding up, Santosh joined. I couldn't find a reasonable place to rest. Both us used the dining table to rest, and used it for short 15 mins. Back on the road, the next 25kms till Hiriyur went like a breeze, as it was a gentle downslope.

CP9 (Kamat Hotel, 1085km, tgt: 15:25 Day 4) looked very acheivable. Soon, I caught up with Arun, and there was a minor incident on this stretch. A tractor driver was pestering with constant honking. He demanded money for his evening peg. Arun also had the same issue, same driver. As it was getting very hot, we stopped for a quick tender coconut break and continued along. 

As I had some confusion regarding CP9, I went past assuming it to be CCD. When I turned back, I realized how strong the tailwinds were. Service was quite slow in Kamat. After a Dal kichadi and an icecream, we lubed our chains and caught a ten-minute rest. Arun, Santosh and myself started together, after a longish break. We weren't concerned very much about time or buffer now. 115kms to go. 

With tailwinds negating the gradual inclines, we just need to hold ourselves together, to see off the heat. Though this was a familiar stretch, we were doing it for the first time during the day. Temperature cooled as the sun went down, and when I was nearing Tumkur, it started drizzling. I stopped and got into a rain jacket. While starting, I had a fall: a combination of cleating, slope and me applying the front brakes. Nothing serious, but this was enough to set me on a cautious tone.

Traffic picked up, and the ride till Kyathasandra toll, was a misery. Ajja's benne masala dosa was readily available. With three odd hours to the finish, this seemed an ideal place. Ajja was in a good mood and super chatty. Loaded myself on coffee and pocketed a RedBull as an SOS. I wanted to use it only if it was absolutely necessary.

As night fell, riding became tough with break-neck traffic. The couple of times, I stopped, cleating safely and getting back on the road was quite tough, with never-ending parade of cars and trucks. Decided to use the RedBull, just to stay alert. Tailwinds aided the long climbs till Nelamangala. "Almost there" was the feeling a Nelamangala Tol. I didn't even bother to stop and continued along. "Take the bike home...". I was praying that the bike held up without any mechanical issues. 

With the roads getting wider, bike handling was more confident, and I maintained a good pace. With the night still young, decided not to use the flyover. Roads were getting worse as we were nearing Bangalore. I was wary of puddles, or potholes hiding under the puddles. With 1170kms under the belt, I still had energy left in the tank to attack the flyovers. 

Navigation got tougher inside Bangalore, and I constantly kept checking my watch for the turns. As usual, missed both the turns on Sankey Road. With more than an hour for the cut-off, took it with a relaxed mind.  Golf course, Palace Road, Nrupathunga Road, Hudson Circle, and finally Kanteerava Stadium. Reached there by 2300hrs, with an hour to go before cut-off.

There was a good crowd built-up at Konark, and everyone cheered the arrival of one more LRM finisher. As for me, I felt like I could go on for another night. With brevet cards submitted, and clicking the mandatory finish photo, called up home and informed that I had finished. There were several other finishers who were still at Kanteerva. After exchanging lots of congratulatory notes, reality began to sink in. With all the stomach troubles, I was relieved to have finished the mammoth ride.

Somewhere on a hillock without attachments

Running has become a fad in India. In Bangalore, where I live, there are organized every weekend, which in a way is good. It also takes the pleasure away from why you started running in the first place. Runners should seriously consider which and how many races they participate in a year. Quality diminishes with quantity.

Amongst all these races, there are a few that stand out, in all aspects. Be it the course, or the crew support, or the challenge that it offers. Chennai Trekking Club has been organizing races for the last four years (I participated in the inaugural Chennai Trail Marathon in 2012), and have been doing a great job. It wouldn't be justice to this post, without mentioning Peter Van Geit. The name is enough.

I signed up for the 100K distance CTC's Jawadhu Hill Ultra when I didn't get a slot for the 24hr run at the Bangalore Stadium run. Having done the 100K distance a couple of times before, I knew the kind of training that's involved in getting a quality 100K done. Unfortunately for me, I had family and work constraints that that didn't allow me to put in the kind of training that I would have liked. 

I changed my strategy and put in more runs during the weekend. For the last 4 weeks leading to the race, I put in atleast two long runs, irrespective of the time. In one particular weekend, I put in four different training runs covering 67kms. This helped me simulate the fatigue on the legs. I another training run, I did 28kms on empty with just one water break of 300ml. Overall I would say that my training went fairly well, even though it was compromised in the last 2 weeks leading to the race.

On the eve of the race, when I evaluated myself, I was prepared to DNF if there was a risk of injury. Four of us drove together to the venue, which I should say was fairly relaxed. St.Joseph's school in Jamunmarathur doubled up as the expo centre and hotel, while the school grounds served as the venue and campgrounds. With everything taken care of volunteers, the atmosphere was friendly and devoid of any commercial stuff. 

We quickly settled into our beds (two school benches joined together), after dinner and running pep-talk with fellow runners. With the race starting at 3:00 am, I had to wake up at 1:30 am. I barely caught any sleep till 12:30. Later I figured that was the case with most of us in the room.

Being the first one to arrive at the start point, I saw the organizers were getting ready. Sameer (thank you buddy) joined me at the start before heading back to sleep. Surprisingly, there wasn't any food available at the start, and I had to start without a pre-race meal. At the start line, I quickly chatted with a few fellow runners.The course was two loops of 50K each, 25K out and back, with a deviation on the return leg. Those wanting to downgrade to a lesser distance can do so, without any penalty. Eligibile for a medal, but not for podium classification. The organizers did a good job in making the rules clear, and the race was flagged off at 3:08 sharp. 

With the whistle blowing away, I started off quickly, thanking those present at the start line. I quickly settled into the 3rd position after a couple of kms, trodding in the dark. My strategy was clear. Settle into an easy pace, without over-exerting. Save the energy for the run for the second half. That's when the real race starts. Will be happy if I do 52-53k in 6 hours. 

Running in the dark was quite an experience. I carried my cycle torch, which was very powerful. Jawadhu hills doesn't have any major wildlife, and snakes were completely out of my mind when I was running. I caught a glimpse of a few fire flies here and there. It was the most amazing dawn I've ever seen.

The first few kms were quite good. After that we seemed to climb a never-ending hill. Darkness only helped us to hide what was coming ahead. I could climb some of them, while others were walked in the interest of conserving energy. Course support was excellent during this time. There were bikers and a car who treated us royally. I got a spare torch, coconut oil for my chafing issues. Organizers were well prepared. 

With no food available at the start point, I grabbed a quick bite of chocolates, chikki and whatever available at the 1st aid station. This, somehow, didn't go quite well with my stomach. While there was nothing major, there was uneasiness in the stomach. I had to slow down to a walk for a couple of ms to let the food digest. The 25kms was completed in 2:54 (courtesy a bio-breaks). At the next aid station, the realized that the ORS drink was quite dilute, and was barely sweet. With the temperature warming up, I was looking more for the sugars, and it turned to be other way.

I slowly caught up with Arjun, who was in 5th position at this time, and we continued together, chatting away. At the 30th km, we estimated that we could reach the half-way point at 5:40. After this, I tried once more to put something into my stomach, a couple of chikki. That again gave the same uneasiness that I had earlier on the race. I slowed down to a walk and recovered after a couple of kms, 

Ater having run 40km, my race strategy was clear. Go till 75K and continue based on the lead position. With the heat and the stomach slowing me down, I reached half-way mark at 5:54. Surprisingly, all those who were ahead spent quite a bit of time at the half-way point (also same as start point). Ajay and Ramesh who had a 4K lead at 25K, just started off as I arrived at the aid station. I gave feedback to the organizers that the ORS on the course was too dilute to be effective. At the same time, I got a quick meal of curd rice. 

I just hung around the medical aid station for another 10 minutes, getting some stretches. While not planned, I took a quick nap on the chair, and dozed off for half-hour. By the time I woke up, my watch was reading 6:50. With this I was in two minds, whether to continue or call it off for the day. 

It was going to be another 7+ hours on the course, and could be 8 if the temperature soared. While, I was feeling perfectly well, my left hamstring could act up any time. For the 75km mark, I had to get 25K further away, and have to wait for a ride to return. 

While a variety of factors that played out, 

1. I wasn't psychologically prepared to run beyond 14 hours

2. I wasn't sufficienly trained for the heat. 

Having your mind fight out all those factors is part and parcel of the game, and you can't get aways from that.

As I think about it, it could be a wasted opportunity, or that the injury risk was higher. For whatever it is, I will surely comeback, even if it meant I had run through the hottest part of the day. The course and the organizers make it a unique experience that one can get.

This is certainly a world away from all of those commercial races, ones that you fly-in, stay in a star hotel, and fly-out. And by the way, I rediscovered the simple joy of running, one without any attachments: no PBs, no timings. Simply eat, drink and run.

Here's the Garmin Link:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1292863268

Filling water at the aid station. These volunteers camped on-site overnight, such is the commitment

One of the aid-stations

A view from the course

Run till your heart pops out - TCS 10K 2016

To recap my tryst with the TCS 10K. I started seriously running the event in 2012, and the performances are as follows:
2012 - 48:12 (Debut)
2013 - 42:27 (Personal Best)
2014 - 44:xx (Cramped up at 6K)
2015 - Did not run, (41:54 in Bengaluru 10K Challenge)
2016 - 40:35

In my book, the 10K training involves demanding speed work, and didn't work well with the rest of my long run training plan. I like to run a 40K distance every month. My training didn't go very well in 2014, and that resulted in a sub-par peformance for that year. I had an injury in my hip/gluteals later that year, and skipped running the event in 2015. On that note, this year's event was very much looked forward to.

Training:
I started training with the Pacemakers group from the beginning of March (I had been putting in regular miles through February). I joined a training group that was slower to my liking. (The next faster group was beyond my capacity). I managed to stay with the group finding ways to keep myself faster (like running the 2nd track for intervals). About six weeks to the race, myself, Brojen (baba) and Sameer broke away from the group, and set ourselves a slightly faster pace. On any given week, one of us would struggle, but we managed to stick together and pull it through.

Coach also put us through a very demanding phase where very few people in the overall group met coach's target or expectations. I flunked a couple of workouts during this phase, but got the critical mass to keep me together. Otherwise, the three of us were doing fairly well, when we ran as a group.

Peaking:
Three weeks to the race, I started intense build up to the race. This involved extra sessions in the gym, and swimming sessions. I have a pool 5km from my home. It worked very well for me to run to the pool, swim and run back home. On tired days, I would bike to the pool. I could feel the peaking as I was nearing the race.

Preparation:
Being our home course, we did a fair bit of training runs on the race route. We knew the race route like the back our palm, every turn, and every single bit of incline and decline. This helped me to prepare a pacing plan with accurate detail. In the week leading to the race, I was raring to go, and couldn't wait for the race day.

RaceDay:
With the plan on hand, the first stretch was run hard, half the time holding myself back. The next two kms being downhill was also run very well. As I was in the fourth km, I wanted to have the gel. (I usually have one gel, half before the start and half midway for the 10K race.). Having just missed a water stop, I slowed down to a walk to force the gel down. I was too tired by this time, and couldn't have managed the gel otherwise. For some reason, the gel was still sticky and I needed to gulp down water. Thankfully, I got a bottle of water very soon after, but had to force a walk to gulp the water down. I kept it very short this time.

Luckily for me, I had gotten through half the course by this time, and I just had to hold on to my dear self for the rest of the race. I'd remember that I slowed down atleast two times after feeling tired and looking down at HR (in that sequence). I also had a few people ahead of me to zone in on and track.

After a small uphill stretch inside Cubbon Park, that was run easy, I started the final sprint. With this stretch as long as a kilometer and a half, I had to hang on to my dear life, without pushing my elevated heart rate even higher. I was hoping for a sub-40 timing as I sighted the digital clock at the finish. I sprinted as fast I could with time slipping away. As I remember, I passed quite a few people in this sprint.

PC: Saravanakumar / RRS

Looking Back:

 Looking at the splits, the 5th km is an aberration with both the walk breaks thrown in. Adjusting for the gradual incline, I could have covered this in 4:00-4:05 which means I might have lost 20 seconds on the same.

Time lost in 5th km. 9th km was expectedly slow

However, from this point onwards, I held myself to the best pace I could. A pleasant surprise for me is that I ran the finishing sprint quite well pushing HR to 192. I usually peak at 185-186 for the toughest of intervals in training.

Very good finishing sprint, as I held back myself till the library

Given the effort put into peaking, (with all that swimming and strength training), I was feeling fine form till about Friday. I was very confident of a 39ish performance. On Saturday I had a good relaxed swimming session. However, I had to take my daughter to the pool in the evening, and there were a couple of instances that I got dunked into the water (by my lovely little daughter). I was coughing after I returned. Driving towards the race, I wasn't feeling as good as the days earlier. In the raceday euphoria, I forgot all that, and put in my best effort.

My plan was to try and sustain a 3:55 pace holding myself for the first stretch at a slower pace. While I thought I held myself, the 1st km was clocked much faster than I had anticipated. I stuck to my plan for the rest of the race, except for those walk breaks, of course.

The 2nd gel might have been unnecessary, but I had my reasons. I could have lost about 20 seconds in the whole episode. Given the raceday conditions (I didn't see anybody complaining about the heat, though it was warm), my par for the course would have been 40:15. I'd give myself another minute if I was feeling better.

I would have been much happier if I had broken 40 minutes, but that I guess will have to wait for another day. Overall, it was a great race, including the training that I put into it. More importantly, a short lean period at work allowed me to put in all that extra effort.

Did the stars line up this year?

An update on this blog is long overdue, and it is just apt to write about the run at Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon last Sunday (17th January 2016), and also look at how the training went last year.

SCMM 2015 experience
To start with, I was battling stiffness in my left ITB and hamastrings post the 12-hr stadium run in July 2014. This flared up during the Hyderabad Marathon in August. This put me into a recovery mode with minimal training. SCMM 2015 was run with the goal not to induce cramps. I teamed up with MurthyRK (MRK) and Kishore Kumar (President) to run a 5:10 pace. The strategy worked well with me reaching the top of Peddar Road feeling very fresh. I went overboard the next few kms to push myself into tired zone. However the better of cramps caught me after a sudden move at 39K. To summarize, stiffness slowed me down very much in the last few kms, however, I finished at a very respectable 3:42:10. I was very happy because of two factors: 1. Felt fresh after 35K into the race, 2. Pushed cramps to almost the end of the race.

Training in 2015
Time constraints becoming a challenge, I had to drop out of Pacemakers training. However, I continued training on my own with a little bit of deviation. Fortunately, I also found a training partner Vijay (who had done a sub 13:00 4K in his school days). Strong runner, however lacking conditioning and experience. Our training paces coincided so well that training became a pleasure.
The other aspect was that, I was training mostly empty stomach to induce fat burning. Together we had done a few 30K+ runs with 500ml of water and electrolyte between the both of us. Like me, Vijay was also facing stiffness issues and at some point of time, we had to stop training because of that. However, few months of consistent training had improved both aerobic base and fat burn capabilities to a very good degree.
I improved my timing for 10K to 41:58 on a very tough course, even though I was bogged down with cramps during the 2nd half. In Spirit of Wipro Run during September, the cramps was so bad that, I ran with pain from the 4th km. Luckily, I wasn't racing. At this time, I decided to go for treatment (active muscle release) for a longer duration with a physio.
This was a challenge as I didn't know of good physios around my place. Traveling everyday for more than a week everyday wasn't an option. I settled for a sub-optimal solution and convinced the physio about the problems by the third day. The treatment was for a whole 9 days, and every day was more painful than the previous. In the end, the treatment yielded great results, give or take a few days.
Post the treatment, running was totally different. It was like using a different set of muscle everytime I ran, akin to learning running for the first time.

Training for SCMM
Ideally I would like to train about 18 weeks for the marathon distance, and in the worst case atleast thirteen weeks. However, the physio treatment didn't allow me so much time. On top of this, most muscles had to be retrained. It was like re-learning running. Till about mid-November, my long runs were terrible, and anything in excess of 25K proved to be a challenge. I lost about of two weeks of training, courtesy, floods in Chennai and a viral infection post that.
Luckily for me, the next two long runs one for 35K and another for 40K went well, as I had planned. To top this up, I had a week long shutdown at work. I did a couple of long rides on my road bike and a few intense workouts. No work meant that I could catch up on sleep and get good recovery.
Tragedy struck again in the form of a folliculitis threatening to a full blown infection. The 1st picture shows my right leg swollen with the infection, just a week before the race.

Though the swelling subsided in a few days, I was on a weeklong antibiotic course with the last pill on morning before race day. The one last pill was promptly skipped considering the proximity to raceday. However, I completed most of my training with the exception of one long run, the week before raceday.
To summarize, I trained only about 30% of what I would have trained for a normal marathon race.

Prerace Preparations
We arrived in Mumbai the previous morning and stayed in a hotel close to the start. I kept my lunch and dinner light given that I usually have GI problems enroute. Strangely, after all that lost training and the infection, I was feeling good before the raceday. However, I was very skeptical about the outcome on raceday. I was in two minds when coach Pani sir asked me to pace a fellow Pacemaker to a 3:40 finish. Personally, I felt that I might let down given the problems I had in the last week. I didn't want to commit to something that I wasn't sure of.
With Suresh S (running HM) sharing my room, the logistical problem of bathroom was partly solved. Despite the light lunch and dinner, I had bowel movements for a record 4 times with all that pre-race anxiety.
I decided to drop all the extra weight that I would need to carry. No cap, no sunglass and not even a water bottle or changeover clothes to be deposited at the baggage counter. Thanks to that, I could get a fast entry into Azad Maidan, while my friends with bags had to wait for a few more minutes.
Still at crossroads, I carried two pairs of shoes, Nike Flyknit Racers (which have a cramped toebox and you end up with painful feet > 35K) and Vibram Fivefingers (which has less cushioning and hence more pounding on the feet). After Suresh confirmed that the Nikes are lighter, I decided to stick to them. As for carrying the gels and salt caps, I just stuck to my Kalenji waist belt minus the water bottle.

The Race
After we had finished our warm up at Azad Maidan, as we headed to the start line, the A and B corrals were already mixed up. I quickly moved through people to move to the front as much as I can. However, when I got to the start point, it was already a minute after the race had started. Starting so much behind meant that I had to wade through the crowd all along for the next 2 kms. On the positive side, this also helped me warm up slowly. Over these 2kms I would have lost a complete minute.
My strategy was to stick to the 1st 10K for 51 minutes and hit the half time mark at 1:46/1:47. I had to drop down pace if my HR hit 165. Though the minute was lost, I got to the half time mark at around 1:46:30, just as I had planned. I went past coach and gang just around the 9th km mark. They were running steadily. Given the late start, I also met several people en route. Bhasker Sharma, Sandy, Vinit Mehta, Sunil Shetty, Narayan, Sameer, Mani Iyer, Gajendra, Shivnag. This gave a good boost to my confidence.
As I was getting on the sea-link, I was running alongside Roopali Mehta, and I took the winds asking her to stay close and stay behind. I was closing on Neera by this time, and the gap was around 100m.
Both me and Roopali stuck together till the 29th km, with me asking her to move ahead if she wanted as I was stiffening up. At this time, I was feeling great with my HR still in the low 160s, and I was hitting target pace of 5:00 easily.
Just short of the 29th km, I coughed badly because of dry throat and this rippled through my left hamstring resulting in cramp. To add to that, I stopped suddenly. I walked about twenty paces, let the cramp ease up and continued ahead. A quick check on my Garmin, and the pace was 5:15. A back of mind calculation meant that I'll lose about 4 minutes in the remaining distance. By this time, Roopali was ahead by about 150m. Thankfully, this gave me a moving target, as I ran cautiously without aggravating the cramps further.
I would take another 11 km to catch up this 150m distance.
As I reached Peddar road, I was feeling great. I chugged along though the pace dropped to 5:30. As I reached the top, my HR read 168. Phew, this gave me lots of confidence, though I could still feel the cramps. I used the downhill to relax, without pacing up further.
The next thing I remember is that my feet started paining around 36K (as expected), thanks to the cramped shoes. The 39th km and 40th kms never seemed to come, with all that pain.
By this time, I was closing in on both Neera and Roopali. While Roopali had stopped on the route, I quickly gave her a shout, but she was going to take longer. As I passed Neera, I asked her to tag along. In her own style, she asked me to carry on.
The cramps would strike one more time, but I had no room to play with this time. I dropped the pace further and chugged along without stopping.
The usual drama of screaming for the way ahead and weaving through the walkers continued in the last km, till about 500m to go. From here I sprinted all the way to the finish of 3:35:36 (17 seconds better than earlier). Both Neera and Roopali ended up with gold in their respective age categories.

With Roopali Mehta (Picture courtesy: Prasad Naik)

Am I happy?
Dragging me away are ...
1. A week before the race, I wasn't sure if I would race or not, and took antibiotics for a complete week.
2. Most of my training was washed out. I did only about 30% of the required training for the marathon.  My long runs weren't on track till about a month to the race.

On the positive side,
1. My weight has been on a steady decline. During the 1st week of January I tipped 60kg on the scales. This is the least I have weighed in over two decades.
2. I had been regular to the gym, and have been building a good aerobic base.
3. Positive attitude through the race. At about 25th km, I was feeling a bit tired. I reminded myself that this is usually the toughest part of the race, and chugged along.

To look at the last four years, 2013 and 2014 were wasted opportunities with cramps ruining my race post 25km. 2015 was an extremely good finish, given that I was recovering from a serious ITB injury. While 2016 is just another year gone by, I have positives to count on.

1. The long nemesis of cramps is being dealth with (professionally).
2. My fat metabolism has improved and my body composition is getting better.
3. A perfectly executed race on the nutrition front.

Did I give a 100%?
Absolutely. As I am writing this blog (three and a half days after the finish), I can still feel the soreness on my glutes and hips. Even after five gels in the race, I felt tired on the race day and the next. And that makes me happier to have given a whole hearted effort.

The deeper you dig...

Here's my experience of the Hyderabad Marathon I finished last Sunday.

Just to set the context correctly, I had done a 12-hr run covering 95kms in Bangalore Kanteerava stadium three weeks earlier. I had also done a marathon distance at the hilly TRORT course the previous week. (I have done two 100K+ runs over the last two years). I have run the same course last year as a four and a half hour pacer. Having said that, (I expected) the challenge this time around would be to see how much I have recovered from the 12-hr run. And I haven't run anything at all in the interceding three weeks.

My plan (otherwise without the 12-hr run in the equation) was to run a competitive timing and to push for a 3:30-3:45 finish based on the feel and the conditions. When I started or planned for the run, I just couldn't predict my capacity. The plan was changed to a easy run with some of the Chennai runners (including my college buddy Manivannan Vangalur), aiming for a 4-hour finish.

I started the run slowly and did the first few kms at a 5:25 pace, allowing time for water. For the first loop around Hussain Sagar lake, I stuck with Naresh & Sridhar. At the end of the loop, I fell behind to attend a nature call. I joined the Chennai runner gang of Manivannan, Praveen Giriya and Arvind Kumar, allowing them to catch up for a few seconds. The first 10K was finished in around 55 mins.

The next 10K was a chatty run with the gang, and all of us were maintaining a good pace. As the day broke, I started to notice that my HR was unusually high for the effort being put in. (It was in the 170s, while at TRORT it was sub-150 for three-fourths the distance). Life continued on despite the higher heart rate till the 20th km.

Briefly after the 20th km marker, I felt a slight twitch on my right ankle. (This was just one aspect I was unprepared for the race. I had forgotten to pack my salt tablets). Quite thankfully, Arvind had a bunch and I borrowed one from him. The next few water stops, I was screaming for salt till I felt that it was brought under control.

Through this ordeal, the gang managed to build a lead of 200-300m. At 28th km, the dreaded Gachibowli flyover wasn't diffcult, but I took a longish walk break at the peak, not wanting to push the HR higher. This was the slowest km clocked till then. My 4-hour target had gone for a toss by now, and I mentally adjusted the target by 5 mins.

Suresh (fellow-Pacemaker) was standing near the fork-point, where the half-marathoners split, and cheered me up. After the turn, I realized that Manivannan and Arvind had slowed down, and were walking. I gave a shout to Manivannan and caught up with him. Arvind had realized that 4-hr target is dead, and was going to walk the rest of the course. I too joined them, and the next few minutes was spent chatting and maintaining a run-walk strategy.

We hit the 32nd km marker at 3:30. A quick mental calculation and I suggested to Mani, "Let us do run-walk and tartget 7:30/km, we'll still finish sub 4:30". Arvind must have been too tired by then, he joined and then dropped off. Mani too fell behind to stay with him. As I started to run, my right ITB had become very stiff, and was very difficult for me even to lift up the right leg.

The option of walking was ruled out. I was condemned to running the next ten kms as whatever pace I could manage. I have run-walked many marathons. The comfort factor is that if you get too tired, you take a little break, give rest to your running muscles, and walk. But today, that life support had been removed. Either I run to the finish or DNF.

I have run in Hyderabad for the last two years. The first year, I did a half-marathon, and it rained toward the finish. Last year, it had rained the previous day, and the temperature was cooler. The Sun God, having missed the race for the last two years, blessed AHM amply compensating for those years as well.

As I chugged on, my pace would sometimes droop to 7:30/km, the danger line for the 4:30 target. I was expecting a bit of shade after entering the Hyderabad Central University campus. But the terrain was completely parched. One of the volunteers commented that we didn't have any rains this year during the monsoons.

Each km marker I crossed, I would check against the time left for me to cover the remaining distance. The markers were about 600m off initially, but that difference was made up in the last few kms up till 41st km. The 42nd km was again off. Each of those markers, I calculated my target pace and it was a close call to the 4:30 finish.

I am accustomed to walking at aid stations to aid water intake. But today was different. I had to invent a new style of walking mimicking the running motion, not to engage the ITB muscles. Sure, the volunteers at the aid stations must have a field day just watching me.

As I reached the 41st, just at the gate for the stadium, there was a pleasant surprise. The entry gate had been switched from the farther one to the nearer one. There were runners all along the place walking in droves. Unable to raise my voice, I just kept signalling to them to give way. To my surprise, the 42nd km marker was short by atleast 400m (with the 41st km seemingly in place).

While, I wasn't able to stretch myself and sprint, I had enough juice left in me to up my cadence. I picked up a little pace, and moved faster towards the finish. A few more seconds must have passed before I realized and stopped by stop-watch. It read 4:26:15.

I tell my friends that long distance running is like a sand-pit. The deeper you dig, the deeper it becomes, and more it holds. Not even in any of those three ~100km runs, I had to dig in deeper as I had to do today. My back pushed to wall, I had to keep running with the sun beating down brutally. To my luck, this run was capped at the 42nd km.

Two marathons and a 12-hour run in the last four weeks, and I cannot ask for more. I will not, for sure. My next step is recover well, before taking on another big race.

As I had mentioned earlier, the weather was brutal today. Some of the fellow runners didn't have kind words for the organizers. But here's my honest opinion. "If you think that the weather is tough, you should be sitting indoors than running. The organizers and volunteers did their best to support the runners. Hydration support on the course was excellent, with the volunteers holding water bottles, electrolyte and other refreshments every two kms, and more often in the final kms."

Mysore Bangalore Run - The Genesis

Having finished the TCS10K in May 2013, albeit in flying colors, I was preparing for the next event. After considerable thought and deliberation I let go of the training for Hyderabad Marathon, as I couldn't afford to mix the training with ultra-distance runs. It is during this time, I was in constant touch with Shreyas for planning ultra runs though none of them materialized. Shreyas had indicated that he wanted to do an ultra distance run, preferably Bangalore to Mysore. 

My plans for the rest of the year were scuttled by a long-pending US trip, both for work and personal purposes. I decided not to register for Bhatti Lakes last minute, as I had to travel the week before that. The much anticipated Bangalore Ultra was also missed.

Having missed Ultra distance runs in 2013, it was always in the back of my mind to run an ultra distance nearing 100 miles in the coming months. However, the plans were put-off till SCMM. 

A month after SCMM, when I approached Shreyas, he had many ideas, but we couldn't conclude on how we could make the run practical.

I had known earlier that Shreyas was trying to arrange a ultra-run with Vishwanathan Jayaraman, a barefoot popularly known as the Hubli Express. When I approached him, he readily said yes, and that he could affort only a single day run, which led us to finalize on Bangalore to Mysore.

When I approached Dharmendra, he readily agreed. However, he had some constraints with the dates as he was involved in organizing many events on behalf of his group Proton Runners. The only date he had in mind, March 9th, seemed to work with all the three of us.

Kieren, is the no-problem man. As long as it didn't clash with this exams, he was ready to do any distance, any where, any time. Shreyas had some constraints with the dates, with some upcoming family events conflicting with our date. However, with the four of us opting, we had critical mass, and I decided to start planning. 

Dharmendra had another constraint that he wanted to participate in the Bangalore Unity Run which was scheduled on March 9th. So we tweaked the event around, and changed the start point to Mysore, that would enable him to attend the Unity Run.

With the date finalized, I approached Giridhar Kamath, (who is like a Eveready battery, always full of energy, and always ready), who readily agreed. He had been the backbone of the support team, committing the first support car for the whole duration of the race. Brijesh had once mentioned that he would crew me for my next Ultra, and I used this opportunity. He was the trainer-cum-coach, who kept us fit through the run with his stretches.

Sakthi joined in after I posted the event on facebook.

While Saroja wanted to join in, she wasn't sure how to. With Dileepan opting in two days before the race, that brought in new strength to the team. The second support car had been very valuable. It is like oxygen. We only notice it, when we dont have it. 

Kieren filled in his share with the two volunteers he brought in. Andrew Teron, cycled and ran through the course, and was with Kieren for the duration of his run. Joshua Fernandes, who stuck to Vishy, for a major part, and with me during the last part. Like Andrew, he also spent time on the whole course either on his feet or on his wheels.

Patrick had been planning to run a longer distance run, and joined in to fulfill his marathon for his birthday. Patrick and Shaiju started along with the Ultra runners, and completed a marathon. This was Shaiju's first marathon ever.

Dharmendra brought in Jen Chocken, who finished 42K on feet and another 8K on wheels, to complete 50K for the day.

We would have been happier if we had someone who was medically trained, either a qualified doctor, or a physiotherapist. That didn't materialize till the last minute. We decided to carry on, without any medical support.

Another year, still more to learn

The preparations for Mumbai marathon were going full steam in September, with the coach preparing us for longer and longer runs. The first setback happened in Mysore Marathon, when I was feeling stiffness in the left hamstring. This pain apparently disappeared after ten minutes of warm up. A visit to a local physio followed, and came up with nothing.

Every half-marathon has been a painful experience for me, with me having energy during the last few kms, but couldn't push, running on the brink of cramps. This year was no different. I ran two HMs, DRHM in July and Mysore Celebration HM in October. In both cases, the experience was the same. The stiffness that occured in Mysore pushed me on the backfoot for two weeks.

A long pending trip to the United States materialized. I was thrilled at first, at the opportunity of running on traffic-free roads. And I trained after arriving in US, but only for two weeks. My hectic travel schedule soon caught up. With sleep and rest taking precedence over workouts, meant that a better part of the training was missed.

As I arrived in December 1st week, I had seven weeks to go for SCMM, which was just sufficient to prepare for the distance. As I would soon find out, I had lost a considerable amount of training base. A quick discussion with the coach led to reworking the plans. I needed to boost my core strength which had always been my weakness.

The next setback came in the form of a weeklong vacation to Goa. Although I didn't miss any training, this one came in the form of good food. And with it, extra weight. At the end of the vacation, with two weeks to go the race, I was 3kg more than my preferred racing weight.

And hence the preparations began. I went on a special diet, which will be revealed after patenting it. I kept tracking my weight everyday,  doing my core workouts. Two everyday, each of twenty minutes, the core workouts, were aimed at taking me to the startline with just sufficient strength. And thus, was my preparation for the greatest organized marathon in India.

Prerace:
As luck would have it, we were spared from the massive traffic jams after arriving in Mumbai. With all the expected delays at the expo, and a late lunch, Dipankar (the Ironman) and myself checked into our room at 4pm on the previous evening. With the race next day, the next two hours were wisely spent sleeping.

With the group leaving us to catch up for dinner, we spent an hour walking to each and every Kamat restaurant in the Fort area, only to find that they had finished dinner already. We must have walked for atleast an hour. I kept reminding Dipankar that it will take only a short hard sprint to make the pre-race carb-load effective. With him declining to join for the sprint, dinner was finished in the restaurant downstairs.

Missing dinner also meant that I couldn't catch up with the rest  of the team for race planning. A short discussion with the coach left me confused. While I was confident of running a target of 3:30, his plan meant that I would have a deficit of 4 minutes into 32nd km, and it would tough to catch that up in the rest of the race.

The start:
Come morning, butterflies kept flying in my stomach. An extra visit to the toilet meant that I missed the group starting from the hotel. I was worried if the stomach would bother me again in the race like last year, when I had to hit one of the toilets on the course. All roads in Mumbai led to the marathon start at that hour.  I was pleasantly surprised to enter the subway station before we were led into Azad maidan.  I didn't miss much as I caught up with the team for the warm-up. I would manage to miss the team once again and finally catch up with them at the start line. Finally, all was well at the startline.

At the start, I had an half-hearted plan to join coach, atleast for the first ten kms. However, I tagged along  Rama(krishna), another member of our group, expecting the others to catch up. Rama is a 1st time marathoner, but a strong 10K runner. My expectation was that he would finish the target time comfortably. The first 10K was done in 48 minutes, about two minutes faster than what I was expecting. Rama would have run much faster if I had not held him and slowed him down.

I kept watching my heart rate, and never allowed it to exceed beyond 165. On uphills, it went over to 170s, but was soon brought down.

With Rama shooting off after 10kms, I caught up with Suresh Seshadhri, who was running strong, than what we have known. A brief chat followed, and he whispered that he was trying to BQ, conserving all the energy. I kept up to him and assured him that I'll lead him to the finish.

I was feeling strong headwinds as we reached the sea link. My immediate reaction was to tuck along behind somebody to escape the winds and conserve energy. With Suresh ahead, I offered to shield him from the wind and asked him to draft me. He lost patience after a while and moved ahead. I would notice later that this was the steepest stretch on the sea-link. I was tagging along with him for the next five or so kms.

As the kms passed one by one, flashback of last year's memories caught up. This was the same stretch I was running double faster last year to catch up with the rest of the team. As the 25th km passed, I was a bit happier. That's where I caught cramps first last year. I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten one of the salt pills and took them.

Suresh was running ahead of me, pushing the pace higher. I was catching up with him, not wanting to push it. And then, it occured, a sharp shoot in the left hamstring. This had been my weakness all along for this year. Knowing the routine, I walked and stretched the hamstring for a few seconds and took off. Having lost about a minute in the process, and the next kms, coming in at 5:05-5:10, I wasn't worried much. I still had a bank of a minute and a half.

I ran the next few kms, looking ahead for Suresh. I couldn't find him anywhere. He must have gone fast. As I continued along the stretch of Marine drive, the faster runners were crossing in the opposite direction. Our pack of lead runners Bobby and Brijesh passed. While Brijesh was looking ok, Bobby was dying. He has had a minor issue in the last week, and that must be taking its toll. Soon, I spotted other faster runners including Manoj.

Cramps stuck in the 32nd km again and the routine followed. And this would cost me the remaining 90 seconds. I was starting to be worried about the target now. Just then, Coach Kothandapani Sir and Neera passed me. That gave me a morale boost, and I continued along with both of them. Neera, having already pushed till then, was very tired. She was holding on to the second position in the women's category. I cheered her up and continued with them.


My agonies continued and I soon left them to go. I gathered all the energy that I had and focussed firmly on coach, who was running ahead of me, and pulled myself. Then came the dreaded Peddar road uphill. My pace dropped as I continued along. I kept telling myself, that there is a gradual slop all the way to the finish.

Apart from this dreaded uphill, Peddar road is also known for the numerous residents coming onto the streets to support the marathoners. You would see them as early as 6:15am during the starting leg of the race. In general, crowd support in Mumbai is far better and would lose only to the active running community in Chennai. There will be people at all places. But in Peddar Road, they'll be in droves.

I make it a point to cheer the kids in the Peddar road, when I pass along. I happened to encounter two kids, the first who couldn't let go of the water bottle. The second got a "Thank you, Chotu" in the hindi I knew.

Soon, I caught up with coach. By this time, Neera had gone ahead. Worried of a hamstring pull that happened last year, coach was holding himself. He was still in lead for a podium position in the Senior Veteran's category.

As the race progressed, the kms were hard to comeby. My feet were feeling cramped in the Flyknit racers, and was causing lots of discomfort. I wasn't feeling tired. However, missing to notice a few of the km markers, brought some of the morale down. As we were running the 39th km, I was running along with coach, and I had pull in my left calf once again. I had so much of strength left in me, but couldn't stretch long enough for a good stride.

Walking at a brisk pace, I stretched the left hamstring hoping that this would be for the last time in this race. Once again, with coach ahead of me, I caught up pace, and was running pulling my left leg along. The streets were flooded with the late half marathon finishers who were walking blocking the way for running. I kept screaming at the top of my voice for them to move away.

Five hundred metres to go, I was screaming at the top of my voice. Both of us were running in tandem, one behind the other.

Four hundered metres to go, I told coach to carry on, as he could sprint to the finish. I knew, if I pushed harder, I would cramp again.

Three hundred metres to go...., weaving through the sea of half-marathoners, ...

Two hundred metres to go...,

One hundred metres to go....

At last I got the courage to sprint to the finish, and ran within the limits of my cramps. I finished a couple of seconds behind coach. As I stopped my Garmin, it showed 3:35:56. This is two and a half minutes better than my last year's record.

The top runners in our group had a wonderful race, with both Brijesh (3:18) and Bobby (3:19) finishing below 3:20, and Brojen (3:29) finishing below 3:30.

Neera had finished almost a minute ahead of me. 

 As I see in my Garmin log, my heart rate was the highest at the finish.

PostRace Thoughts:
As I look back into the race, a lot of things worked well for me in the race. I tried a mix of Accel Gel and Gu Roctane, and it went down well. The salt capsules worked with the cramps limited to only the left hamstring and left calf muscles. I knew this to be a limitation.

As for the shoes, I took a big risk running in the Nike Flyknit racers. While these are lightweight, the toebox is narrow causing discomfort. I didn't have a good experience in the half marathon I ran last October.

The cramps also meant that I got enough rest periodically in the race, and wasn't tired at the finish. Much of the slowness in the second half was due to the constrained movement of legs than to tiredness.

After missing much of training this season, it was a good experience, getting myself ready for the race. Discipline in both diet and exercise helped. I did have a better base, but the machine wasn't well oiled and was ready for a breakdown. Training runs (especially long ones) didn't go very well, with me bonking on a 35K run two weeks into the race.

Considering all of that, this is a race performance to be happy with.

The goal for next year is to overcome these cramps and have a strong race of 42 kms. Till that day next year, the dreams will continue.

5K Splits: 23:55, 24:06. 23:48, 24:45, 24:19, 26:43, 27:25, 28:20, 12:35 (for 2.4K as per Garmin)