Two Hills - What thrills!!

When I started off to Sabine's Birthday 'party', I thought I would simply have to ditto the previous Nandi Ride/Run, how mistaken I was.
With the International Airport opening that 24th morning, I was ready for some ill treatment on the Highway to Nandi. Ananth and I started off a 4:45 am from Hebbal Flyover and very closely followed my earlier timings to Nandi Hills.
Madhu had promised to take us on a virgin trail provided "as long as you keep the trail details only between people who respect the sanctity and cleanliness of the outdoors."

Ananth and I took the exact 2:02 hours or so to ride to the Nandi Base camp and as usual waited agonisingly for the others in their cars to turn up.

The run up the Nandi Hill twin, BrahmaGiri (according to a foundation stone on the top) was more like a power walk for the last couple of kms. Just standing there totally exposed to the strong, crisp morning breeze was refreshing. There is a temple with a pushkarni filled with croakers on top. Sabine couldn't have asked for a better birthday celebration as she cut lots of FitKit Biscuits (like 10 of them) and passed it around the 20 odd runners!!

Ananth and I left the group and made our way back to the parked bicycles. With the usual Ghanne ka Ras break at Chikkajala we reached Hebbal in a good 2.5hrs.

Camp Gee Dee

BH3 Run No. 468

Sunita describes the camp in her blog here.

“Tucked away, next to the Banerghatta Wildlife Sanctuary, far far from the madding crowd, is a small slice of heaven called Camp GeeDee. The topography is excellent and of course the human hand has helped to add a lake or two, making it one of the most exciting place to be, especially for the nature/bird loving brigade and solitude seekers.” – Sunita Raghu

What a place this one was, I was quite unprepared for it, the intention lost in all the Hash Humor. My already battered bullet took a serious beating on the rough roads leading to the place. When my mood is exuberant, I imagine my bullet to have wings or something... I had wings for sure, borrowed from my angels who are around me these days ;)

The ride took me right around Bannerghatta forest to the camp site. Pradeep, Athreya and I were the FRBs huffing and puffing on the false trails and uphill trails. The Beer flowing, the breeze cooling our soaked bodies, the sun going down under the dense forest, the Hashers playing to the Swing low hymn - What a thrill, I say

Check these links for more on Camp Gee Dee

http://www.wildventures.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=2089

http://www.getoffurass.com/trip_geedee.htm

Photo courtesy: Sabine, Sunita Raghu and Barbara

A Sun Feast Run and Paul Tergat

If you thought Bangalore played host to another Marathon, you are in majority but wrong. It is nowhere close to a marathon distance that we ran, some 15times shorter. Only a long distance runner will tell you effort(20K) is not equal 2*effort(10K).

But as I ran up Kamaraj Road in scorching heat, I overheard a BMC worker lady telling her son, “neenu voodo marathonu”, “you too should run a marathon”.
This is what the 10K run really achieved. It got droves of people on the streets to run the 10K open or the 5.7km Majja Run. With Procam event managing, the hygiene factors were in place – sufficient water stations, medical aid, chip timings and media attention.
The running scene is fast changing in Bangalore, Nike joined with RFL to conduct running workshops to help runners train for the run.

Pre-run
Inspiration shot from Paul Tergat

Paul Tergat, the second fastest marathoner, the first man to go under 2:05 in a marathon, was in the city for the run. Thanks to RFL,a few of us got to meet Tergat in flesh and blood. I ran the distance of 15kms from home to Nike, Indranagar and got my sweaty tee autographed. He went on to answer many of our questions on running – why do you run? to what shoes you wear? to How we should train to be able to raise our running a few notches. It was fantastic – a great inspiration.
The pre-run pasta party was at Bangalore Bistro right after the Paul Tergat meet. I had managed to shoot myself in the foot setting an ambitious “40min finish” for the 10K, I had to alter it to “40s finish” to save face.

The run – A Sun Feast

The Bangalore Sunfeast Open started at 9am. I was there at Cubbon Park before 7 to see the start of the elite athletes’ category. they sped past within a few seconds. I also faintly noticed the rise in the temperature, by 9 when we gathered at the start line, it was scorching hot. And what a gathering it was… I had to use up all of my lane-changing skills to get past the crowd at the start. It was a full km before some sunlight started finding its way through the crowd.
By the time we reached Cubbon Road, it was a full 5 course Sun Feast only. With no cover for the next couple of kilometers till Ulsoor lake, I was melting away quickly. I poured water generously on my head in a desperate attempt to cool down.
I completed the first 6kms in 28mins, already 2mins behind plan. I was able to step up pace only at the 8th km mark and I was glad that I was totally out of breath by the time I crossed the finish line netting a total time of 47:54mins.

I did a la Virgin Mobile Ad (where this girl has a “Call Me” on her tee) to spice up the run. While it surely didn’t get the desired response, it sure did get a lot of laughs, comments and suggestions. More from Anita and Rajni.

But elsewhere, it looks like my prayers are finally being looked at!

Non-Stop Nandi

3:30am hit snooze button, 4am on saddle, 6am Non-stop to Nandi, 45mins frustrating wait at the Nandi base camp, long convoy of cars at last, 6:45am start, picture-postcard scenery, 26 freakin runners, spectacular cloud covered peaks, easy-first-4-tough-last-3kms, U-turn, 53kms milestone to Bangalore – some day all the way, club talk – couch surfing and wwoofing gyan from Anupam, pass bird-watchers with bazooka lens, hi-hellos to Madhu, Rekha and others from BBC who were biking up Nandi, foreign bikes – treks / Merdias have taken over the base camp, hydrate and moov, steal biscuits from Leona, on saddle for return leg at 9, sugarcane juice at Chikkajala, tender-coconut at Jakkur, home by 1130.
95kms of cycling in 4.5hours, 15kms Nandi run in 1:50 hours – ‘die’athlon?

Time-Table!
Date: 26/04/2008

Full album here

Bala's narration and fotos hyperlinked.

Anniversary Ride - Horsley Hills

Tarun Tejpal, in his Alchemy of desire, amongst many erotic scenes also finds space to discuss the ‘rat-race’ which he likens to a greased pole.

“The office is a well greased malkhamb pole, with everyone slithering up and down the shiny wooden pillar. Right at the top, as in a ship, was a crow’s nest, a comfortable cupola where one man sat. The idea, I gathered, was to get as close as you could to the cupola and the one man. What happened then I has still not figured out. Quite clearly the man was not going to pull you into the cupola. You stayed on the greased pole. But, going by the ceaseless frenzy, something did change.
Matters were not helped by the cupola man’s conduct. Every now and then he leaned out and slopped some more grease onto the pole. It had the immediate effect of sending the ones nearest to him into a panic of slipping and sliding. Boot-on-face, boot-on-face, boot-on-face. All the way down the pole the climbers went grinding boot-on-face.
Then the frantic climbing began again.
There were some very smart people slipsliding away on that pole. Their clothes were dirty, their hands stained, their faces shone with grease, but in their eyes was a fervour. Their sights were set firmly on the man in the cupola, and the more grease he slopped on the pole, the more boot-on-face he unleashed, the more they became convinced that up there – in the cupola – lay the answers to the riddles of their life and career.
Some very very smart people. Faces shining with grease. Slipsliding away. ”

My colleague and batch-mate, Ashwin’s wedding provided a break away from this greased pole and I was saddled up to Chennai on Friday, the 18th of April.
Before I leave the greased pole behind, albeit only figuratively, tell me… is philosophical musing simply an excuse for inaction or worse… incompetence?
(save the dil pe matt le for the comments section only!!)

I started at 5:45 on Saturday morning from my cousin’s house in Chennai (Porur-Guindy road) to meet the Madras Bulls’ Arul, to ride some 280kms with them to celebrate the MadBulls 6th Anniversary at Horsley Hills.

We stopped for breakfast at IOC Nandini Restaurant, near Chitoor Bypass, better than most I have seen on this highway. The MadBulls ride with far more discipline than my own club, RTMC, we rode in a staggered formation, maintaining constant pace for long stretches.

To reach Horsley Hills from Chennai, one needs to take a right off just after Palamner (196kms) and head to Madanpalli (+53kms) to Horsley Hills (+30kms). The hill itself comes from like nowhere and a short ride with 3-4hairpin bends take you to the top.

We were a large group of bullets, we had to pit stop a no. of times. After traveling some 280kms to reach the Hills, to reach a place called “Harita?” was pretty sadistic joke. Harita? in Kannada means “is it torn?”, use your imagination to figure out what body-part it refers to!! We were to stay at Harita Resorts on Horsley Hills.

I loved the place: Harita is the only resort on top of the only hill around the region. It’s not much of a hill station, but the resort makes up for the lack. There is a decent pool, play grounds, good party area and well stocked bar. There are enough cottages to accommodate last minute travel plans. There is nothing much to do there, but if that is your idea of a holiday, its just 160kms from Bangalore!

What was disappointing was that the only event that was ‘organized’ was the party. Tam item numbers provided lungi-clad sweaty guys enough motivation to gyrate like some belly dancers, some even looked choreographed!!! This song is a must hear, it captures most of the spirit. Click to hear music file Thanks Dosai.


We left Horsley hills on Sunday morning at about 9am. I rode mostly with Anil and Hosey… it was a fantastic route, that took us to Chintamani, H-cross, from where we took right to get to Devanahalli and were back home by 1130.

Now get back to the greased pole, will ya…

Anniversary '18 in a hole' Run

It was a triple Birthday flavor this April - Mine at Coonoor, BH3 turned 18 at Eagle Ridge and MadBulls celebrated 6A at Horsley Hills.

I have ripped this report straight out of the HASH Newsletter, simply because it was so well written and comprehensive. (shades of laziness?)

Report on Run No 465 - 18 in a hole run at Eagle Ridge on 12th April 2008

Hares - BFG, K3C, Kamasutra and Raw sex

BH3 has finally come of age...and to celebrate our 18th Anniversary some of our most experienced hares laid a trail with 18 checkbacks!! In true mismanagement style, the beer van crew were not aware that the run was on Saturday...but they did land up in time for a slightly delayed circle and party.

We have had many runs at this resort, but this is the first time the run went over to the other side of the NICE road...it involved one crossing of the NICE road and thankfully the hashers did not damage any cars while getting across. The trail wound its way through a mango grove, skirted many fields, ran alongside a lake, went through eucalyptus trees and along the edge of a quarry...and in the process, runners often found themselves chasing the walkers. As the sun went down and sky changed colour, we managed to get everyone home and there was no need for a rescue party.

A short wait for the beer van was filled with time to munch some snacks and get the music going. The circle started as soon as the beer van arrived.

• Hares were iced for mismanaging the run
• This was followed by Dude, who is the 4th BH3 member to complete 300 runs - he was presented a collage by BFG
• The many horrors were cooled down - great to have them here - and Nikhil even showed that he is a future Music mattress
• Ex GMs were charged for volunteering to mismanage the SAIH 2009
• Pushmush charged Kamasutra with guiding rather than misguiding the runners - a charge that got him to also cool his butt and get a special downdown
• Virgins and visitors got their customary downdowns
• Ex RA Duchess had sent a message for BH3 which was read out by BFG
• Ronja of Eagle Ridge was acknowledged for agreeing to sponsor the dinner for the run
• Shrieks was charged with annoying Ministers - and was christened 'Glorified Driver'
• BFG then staged a 3 person 18th Anniversary skit which had Future suture enjoying a twosome of K3C and Kamasutra
• Returners aphrodisiac, TFU and Dilip also got a chance to cool their butts as was OTR from Atlanta who stole someones shorts to use as headgear - we know where his brains are!!
• The 18th anniversary cake was cut by our lovable hash aunt Meera, who has been hashing for more years than any of us
• Rubher stamp and Perfect Asshole were iced for sartorial elegance
• Athreya was also acknowledged for designing the T shirt at short notice - ON ON mate
  BFG led us through the hash hymn and then the party rocked...was great to see ages from 5 to 70 plus rocking together!!
  Here's to many more years of hashing...

Fotos here courtesy Abnash.

Kra...zzy Five on Kalhatti

Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.
Eddie Cantor

I almost knew none of them when I started off on this epic tour. But by the end of four days and some 300+ kms, we had competed, laughed, laughed our guts out, disagreed, experimented, hypothesized, quarreled, sweated, Beered and ‘paddled’ up more than just the Kalhatti peak… together.
Personally, it was my maiden long ride on a bicycle, made unforgettable by these specimens (Ravi, Pocha, Gaurav, Sriram) I found enroute!
Inspiring stuff… read on…

Beware: Long slow ride produces long slow rite-up only!

Pre-Tour:
The chief had it all planned, or so we thought. The check list had on it items ranging from ‘bike’ (don’t forget that when you go for a bike ride, eh) to ‘cotton sling’ (were we expecting Mr. Goliath!!) Check the full list here.

Rekha and Donald pulled out of the trip owing to work-pressures and Madhu preferred to do the ride when things were quieter across the border.

So it left us 5 that Friday morning, the 4th April, to board the Volvo Airavata bus at 5:15 to Mysore. Ashish and I were on Firefox – Viper and Target (both borrowed) and the others were on Trek 4300. All, but mine, were 24 speed – which I noticed only when we started climbing…

Day 1:
With the bikes stowed away in the boot of the Volvo, I caught up with some more sleep. After a quick Mysore Mallige Idly breakfast break, we were off from Mysore at 8:30.

First stop was just after the Kabini river at Nanjangud. We had averaged a cool 28kmph for the distance of 21kms. We continued the good work and were at Gundlupet by 10:05 – 50kms in 90mins of riding. We passed some 20 odd Brits riding from through the western ghats on variety of Bullets (a pink bullet n all!) shepherded by Thunder Trails. And when they stopped for a break, kids flocked around these firangs begging for pencils and pens!
It was now about 3hours into our ride, and I started showing signs of inexperience. While on a long run, I would never miss my electral / salt / water intake, I totally missed it on the ride. It was a hot and humid day and I must have lost a lot of salt. My quads started to act up a bit. Sriram rode alongside me for this short stretch and exchanged my backpack with his own lighter one. It helped! But I was still looking forward for a longish break.
Our next stop was at Pugmark, a couple of kms before entering the Bandipur forest. We reached Pugmark at 1230 and rested our bums on cushioned seats (how would ye cagers know the pleasure!) We treated ourselves to fluids (salted!) and lunch till 2:00.

Rains!
We entered the Bandipur reserve forest with dark clouds threatening to open. Sriram and I did some water-proofing with plastic bags, my own windcheater and Sriram’s rain coat! We caught up with Ashish and Gaurav and we continued in pouring rains and gale. I was more worried for Ravi who had taken off on his own - lone tuskers may not fancy lone bikers!
By the time we reached Teppakadu at 2:35, Ravi had the feeling that a few seasons had passed. Apparently he had reached there during the rains and it seemed peak summer when we got there!
With only 7-10kms left to cover before we would reach Masanagudi, I began to relax. Sriram was getting into the groove with the “British-style bridge” and “listen-to-that-elephant-da-we-are-all-going-to-get-killed”.

Just as we approached Masanagudi, the forest cleared up offering an overwhelming view of the Blue Mountains. Our overnight stay was at this place called Quiet Corner at Mavanahalla, 3kms from Masanagudi.
Ravi and I left soon after to get some 2T Oil for the bike chain lubrication and some Amber fluid to lube our own joints.

Profiling Ravi the Ranjan Kumar
And sitting there in that dimly lit bar at Masanagudi, I heard Ravi’s inspiring story. A couch potato and a huge TV addict not more than 6months ago, saw his 2yr old son following him into the couch. I truly admire parents who teach their kids by example. He sold his TV, jumped out of home and in 6 months is a transformed man, leading a new life.
Since then, he bikes everyday to work, about 20kms one-way and he went on to wind the Enduro3, the triathlon race in Pune this year.
While he contrasted the two lifestyles, we argued on either side and it was not merely the Beer that made me heady that evening.
Such an inspiration, “Be the change you want the world to be.” No prizes for guessing who said that one!

We returned to Quiet Corner by ‘public’ transport – a M&M jeep, it was ‘public’ coz half of Masanagudi public seemed to be packed into the front seat alone.
That night, after dinner, Joy, a faculty at the missionary took us on a night safari. We spotted some sambar, bison (600kg of muscle, Sriram had found his match) and a lone elephant.

Day 2
Ravi, who had a room for himself, shared with us results of an overnight experiment. Good news, guys!
We lubed the chains and eased the idlys and boiled eggs in, ensuring that we gave time to even the last of the ‘early elephants’ to finish off. It’s their mating season apparently, and we didn’t want to be in a bad elephant joke, that goes “What’s got a trunk and does a doggy-doggy?”

Hatti Kalhatti
(Hatti: Kannada verb pl. meaning climb)
We were able to start the marathon climb only by 9. There was no time for warm-up and the ascent began within 15-20mins of the start. 36 hairpin bends over a distance of 20kms, climbing 1500mts in altitude. Kalhatti is one of the steepest climbs in the western ghats – 1.5kms ascent across 36hairpins.

Granny Gears to Granny Gait:
I was quickly onto granny gears 1-1, my 21 shimano gears seemed inadequate. The backpack and the heat weighed all of us down. I was able to last only 2-3 hairpin bends before I moved from granny gears to granny gait – bent almost perpendicular and struggling at the bends.

Gaurav fell behind from the start, he was troubled by a loose pedal. I didn’t see him till the very end of the climb.

It was truly fantastic, the attention we were getting. Many passing cars gave us a thumbs up, as did some workers patching up the road. We didn’t miss any of the vagina falls, bison crossing or the naked chick(en)s! And when we stopped for a break at the 19th hairpin Nagarathina Tea Stall at 11 for ‘pure salt’ biscuits, we were the cynosure of the tourists.

I left the others waiting for Gaurav, to continue my walk-jog-crawl-bike up the remaining distance. As I approached the top, I was accompanied some distance by Vincent, a sweet little girl studying 7th in a local school and then Siva who was pushing up his Hero Atlas cycle and was surprised to find me do the same to my phoren cycle.

I reached the check-post in Ooty at 12:35 and waited till the others caught up by 1:15 or so. It had taken us about 4.5 hours to navigate the distance and even Sriram admitted, “it is easily the toughest ride he had ever done, da!”

The proverbial last mile to the Lakeview restaurant was the toughest. But the inflated prices on the menu matched our inflated egos as we argued over the choice of restaurants.

We left to complete the 20 odd kms left for the day to Coonoor. We passed my personal landmark at Ooty, a wine shop on the Coonoor route, bringing back some memories. We breezed past the Lovedale valley downhill for about 15km. There was so much traffic on that route, when I was not looking ahead, I was looking behind my back.

Srinath Rajam was kind enough to offer us his house, “Anito” while we were at Coonoor. It was taking incongruity to new heights, when 5 sweaty, scantily clad guys walked into the aromatic palatial bunglow complete with trophies, exhibits, chandelier, piano and wall paintings. The bed rooms looked so inviting that Pocha immediately dozed off.

Day 2 ended with all 5 of us clinking Beer mugs at Blue Diamond Bar.

Profiling Pocha and Gaurav:
Pocha aka Ashish is this short guy with long hair, who had finished graduation from Chennai (humble even to admit it was IITM!) Pocha and I shared rooms, and we started to talk about work, entrepreneurship, and love! (ah love!) We both shared a deep sense of understanding (or the lack of it) of the fairer sex. Despite the general fatigue from the ride, we continued to chat on till well past midnight. The depth of his character surfaced when we refused to bribe the KSRTC driver on day5. The halo around his balls (read padded cycling shorts) should spread around the head too one of these days!

Gaurav was the other placid one, not being drawn into anything frivolous. He remained true to biking and I saw him relax only after we had reached Coonoor. He had vast biking experience, had biked up the highest peak of Mullanyangiri amongst others. He had miled more on his bicycle than most people would on motorbikes.

Day 3 and Birthday!

I would have sulked the whole day about a phone call that didn’t come, had it not been for Sriram. I haven’t laughed that much in a long time - best gift I could have got.
We spent a lazy Sunday morning, breakfast of idlys and egg-dosa by 11, deciding on the POA for the return journey all along. We considered and dropped options of riding to Coimbatore, catching a bus from Gudulpet, Ooty or even Coonoor.
Sriram, Pocha and I decided to visit lamb’s rock and Dolphin’s nose more so because of Sriram’s insistence.

We took a bus to Dolphin’s nose and ended up walking back nearly 5kms to Lamb’s rock, with Sriram providing non-stop entertainment. From pissing off the tea stall owner cum guide at Dolphin’s nose to missing the bus because Pocha and I were busy posing for a photo, to spotting a snake (viper!!) it was memorable.

We hitched our way back, a kind Army Major Subramanian gave us a lift.

Profiling Sriram
Aayyoo, it’s the Nilgiris Squirrel da… this is the perfect habitat for it da.
Guys, you missed it.
This is heaven for snakes.
Chee Kheek Kheek Kheek Kheek …and then wait for the ‘almost extinct’ Nilgiri squirrel to give us that ‘rare sighting’. Only while he did that, there was this loud horn blaring Maruti van that zooms by, bringing us back from National Geographic. Btw, there is no Nilgiri squirrel, it is the Malabar Squirrel!!
I told you then only da…
Hey, you guys are very slow.
Salt biscuit iddya?? I love salt biscuit… have some… Its ‘direct salt’ dude.

This non-stop banterer had biked non-stop from Mysore to Kanyakumari in 6 days early this year. I also know him to run long distances really strong, he was the youngest in the group!

Day 4
At 7, we bid farewell to Francis and ‘Anito’, piled up the bikes into a mini-carrier and reached Talakundi on the outskirts of Ooty to begin the descent at 9.
I simply loved the downhill ride – the pace is heady, the focus is sharp and a right hairpin bend appears at a distance, first the right knee would open, then the weight of the body would shift, the bike would magically tilt as it navigated the curve, the knee would close and straighten, and then the left hairpin bend comes around!

This alternate knee-dance brought us down in no time. We sped past Masanagudi, Teppakadu and Bandipur; Ravi and I clocking 67kmph on his speedometer at one point. A puncture on Ravi’s bike and Guarav’s nagging pedal problem notwithstanding, we reached PugMark outside Bandipur by 1130.

Bandipur was a lovely stretch to ride, we stuck together as a group and returned many greetings from passing cagers.

At PugMark, we met this young wildlife enthusiast who has taken a sabbatical to play guide to tourists at Jungle lodges. The world is full of insane people.

We stopped at Pathans at Gundlupet for full meals. Ravi and Gaurav had to be in Bangalore early and decided to break away from the group. Pocha and I were determined to do the full distance to Mysore. We split up and took off, leaving Sriram, Ravi and Gaurav trying to thumb down a truck or something.

But within the 10mins, we saw Ravi ride past us in flourish. Just when Pocha began to feel like Hrithik of Lakshya, where he manages to motivate his team mates into going after the goal… enters the mallu truck driver who offered to drop them wonlee till Maisore, wokay.

Sriram, Pocha and I continued on good scenic roads to reach Nanjangud by 4 and Mysore by 5.

High-o-high
About 10kms before Nanjangud, a motorbike draws up alongside and the rider apprises me about my speed and my team mates. Dairy Chandru from Nanjangud, stuck with me alongside, discussing the un-seasonal rains, the changing lifestyles of Bangalore, Yugadi festival, his own ‘Hero Atlas’ long rides, his sons education. He ended up inviting me over to his place at Nanjangud. See, I am likable!

The ride finished off with our own Rang-De fight with the Volvo Airavata Bus driver as we refused to pay a bribe for unloading our bikes!
Many thanks to Navdeep who was so very willing to lend me his bike, this wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for you. Thanks!!
Photos Galore here.

Full No-Moon Run

Bangalore has been experiencing unseasonal rains for the whole of last month, much like the runs raining from Shewag’s bat – unpredictable and pleasant. The Full-Moon Half marathon was also bang in the middle of a long Good-Friday weekend.
The only preparation I had done for this one was to quit doing any exercise for the whole of last week. It did feel good to wake up as late as 830 every morning, barring the one morning when I joined Saurabh, my new running mate on a 13km jog on Wednesday.
The run was to start at twilight from a private farm on Kanakpura road, NH209. About 10kms from Metro (Kagalipura?), there is a gate that leads into a long and winding up a hillock to the guest house on top offering a decent view of the topography of the place. A beautiful place to own – some 45acres of coconut grooves + the hillock to house the resting place – perfect I say!
Saurabh and I were the last of reach there and we missed the flagging off. We caught up with the others quickly.

The trail:
It wasn’t really a trail, mostly very undulating winding road passing through a village and opening into this beautiful Vaderahalli lake and then into some wilderness behind the lake. The pit stops were sufficiently stocked with watermelons and oranges.
I finished the first loop in 53mins, but with no moon to light up the road, it was quite a challenge to do negative split timing. I had to butter-foot the last couple of kms and finished an impressive 5th overall, just behind Athreya, Ashok, Hari and Saurabh.

The worse was yet to come… we were deprived of the much-needed chilled, bubbly nourishment (read B E E R) at the end of the run. “We didn’t tell you to run that fast”, was the explanation.
Got back home – high and dry by midnight.

The photos, courtesy Abnash can be found here.

Pretty decent site this http://www.panoramio.com/

The 'Y' Marathon

Pre-Read:
The 'S' Marathon
The 'O' Marathon
The 'R' Marathon
Record 'R' Marathon
The 'Y' Marathon

The 'Y' Marathon:

Quick Update:
I ran the final Y Marathon distance of 21.2 kms in 2:03mins.

Split timings:
10.5kms in 1:05hours
21.2kms in 2:03hours

BPM Stats:
Average: 147 BPM
Maximum: 168 BPM

Current mood: Humming “Naa hai yeh paana, Naa khona hi heh” from Tum Se Hi!!

The Epilogue
Superman lasts only so long as the endorphins do, and then the pain takes over. By day four, my knees had taken a beating. I had shin splints, knee and ankle hurt, this is not something I am proud of!
I wanted to endure the last one all alone, the perpetual question “WHY” had to be answered. I started very late, 0635 in the morning, completely missing the refreshing sunrise and the almost full moon.
Every step I took for the first couple of kms seemed to take the pain around esp. around my knees to a higher plane altogether, like every little step I had taken in the last 4 months. As I jogged (limped should be the apt verb) down BEL Road, I was asking myself this very question “Why I do it or why I cannot not-do it”
Why I do it or why I cannot not-do it
Because, when you are an optimist or insane, you view every challenge as an opportunity. You know it may be impossible but you see a tiny window, a glimmer of hope. For me, all I have do, is to close my eyes and drift for a few seconds to see that window of hope, of opportunity.
But when every hope, every opportunity turns into a challenge, a struggle, you sense the small window beginning to close. The thought of what-if-nots grips you, you frantically try to take charge, to gain control of the uncontrollable, in vain.
And what do I do, I run. Clench your fist and punch slowly into a wall, doesn’t hurt, right. Now do it a hundred times, a thousand, a million perhaps, and it would hurt, it would hurt like hell, I can tell you that. I did that with my legs through the last 5 days. I guess I run towards that small window, to the life I can see through it. Today, I run, I run to redeem.

At the end of it all, I’m not sure what the feeling is like – a tear in the corner of my eye, a smirk on my lips. “Tum Se Hi” runs on in the background…

The Record 'R' Marathon

Pre-Read:
The 'S' Marathon
The 'O' Marathon
The 'R' Marathon

“Come on, Manoj, 20mins more and we are done”. This, after we had run 16kms at nearly 12kmph pace, in 1:16mins and when I was nearly dead. I lengthened my stride a wee bit. I glance at my watch, 1:33hours, Doc looked over his shoulder, “Just 2kms to go, a few more minutes.” I curse under my breath, “Easy for you to say”; the legs seemed to be flying though. The last km was somehow the longest, must have been the effect of adding the 200mts to make it to 21.2kms. “200mts to go”, he declared.
There was no tape to break, no line to cross, no gigantic clock on display… in the fields somewhere near Hoskote, Alain, Doc and I exchanged low-fives. What a fantastic run, it had been. I clocked my personal best timing, a half marathon in 1:40mins!!

At 4:30 this morning, when I looked myself in the mirror at my unshaven face, I was tired, 2 more hours of sleep seemed very very inviting, I was almost craving for it. The legs, though, seemed less stiff after the 5hours of sleep I had managed. Doc and I were running with Alain, who is a fantastic runner and had kept pace with Doc for most of the Ultra Marathon.
I reached Spring Meadows at Whitefield at 0530 and we started off in the dark armed with headlamps. It did slow us down a bit for the first 5-6kms.

At the finish, the feeling was simply amazing. Superman returns, resurrected!

Split timings:
10kms in 50mins
12.6kms in 1 hour
21.2kms in 1:40hours
25kms in 1:59hours
26kms in 2:05hours

BPM Stats:
Average: 167 Beats per min
Maximum: 227 BPM (something wrong I guess, can’t imagine this!)

Myths buried:
Taper? The run comes after 3 half marathons in the last 3 days – 66kms in 72hours!
Rest before the run? 5 hours of sleep was all I could manage the night before.
Carb-loading? Zilch, dinner was 3 chapatis with dal.

The only thing that mattered were the ‘extra nuts’ I was running with – Rajat and Alian, Thanks so much!!

Current mood: Someone remind me why I started running this series please!

The 'R' Marathon

Pre-read:
The 'S' Marathon
The 'O' Marathon

The 'R' Marathon

If it was introspection and the ensuing feeling of ‘oh’ with the ‘O’ marathon, it was R for Rajat Chauhan all over the third half marathon of the series. We looked like we were jogging around circles in Cubbon Park this morning. We were running through the Cubbon Flora and a whole lot of the-larger-connotation-of-life, ethics and moral fibers, love life and otherwise (mine and Docs respectively!) jobs, yada yada yada…

Time stamp: 0610, 25 February 2008
Distance: 22.5kms
Half Marathon time: 1:51mins
Average BPM: 168
How I feel: Stiff… very stiff and sore around the knee. May live through the next two runs. It hurts, but am I glad it is only around the knee!!
Current Mood: Runners High

The 'O' Marathon

Pre-read:

The 'S' Marathon
The 'O' Marathon
oh [ō] interjection
1. used to express strong emotion: used to express a strong emotional reaction to something, for example, surprise, shock, pain, or extreme pleasure •

In my case, the ‘O’ marathon was more of a reaction to a realization of what had gone wrong. It happened somewhere between the ‘S’ and the ‘O’ half marathons.
I ran with Runner’s For Life along the Airport Perimeter and followed it up with a plain (plane!) Dosa at Krishna Café at Kormangala.

Time stamp: 0635, 24 February 2008
Distance: 24kms
Half Marathon time: 1:55mins
How I feel: The pain has not really surfaced. More importantly, the remorse has already abated!
Current Mood: Introspection

The 'S' Marathon

The Genesis

“Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.”
When I quote this, I am only partly referring to this half marathon series.

Let me take you through the thought process. I have a problem and I figure I can’t live with that problem for long. So, I need to solve it. (Are you still with me?) If I were to find a solution, I need to get to the root cause. Now that is another problem. Can’t live with that one either. So, I need to solve this one too. (Are you the same you, who was with me then?) As you can see, I was getting nowhere close to the solution. Then I decided to work it Bottom-Up, most solutions are simple. Seek Absolution.

I am quite capable of all that thinking myself, but some credit should also go to Robert Harris’ book Pompeii for this one, he took me through 300pages of stuff like this.

Ok, the serious stuff, I figured I had to feel sorry and in the process try and get to the what-went-wrong part. When you are long distance runner, all you got to do (can do?) to fix some aberrations and find answers is simply “run”.

In this Sorry Series, I am going to attempt to run 5 half marathons in 5 days, hoping to feel a lot of remorse, not just the pain.

The ‘S’ Marathon

(pls. click on the image above to make some sense of it)
Unfortunately for me, the time between the thought process and the start of the 5 day ordeal was only enough for one dinner and a good night sleep. I woke up this morning ready to take it straight on.

I ran a distance of 20.8kms from my home near Hebbal taking the route of the last year’s Bangalore half marathon to Kanteerava Stadium and back. The mind was however, jogging down some memories. I covered the distance in 1:54mins at a average beats per minute (BPM) of 165 and a maximum of 202!!

Did I get the answers? “No”. Do I feel the remorse / pain? “Yes”.
I have not been in the running groove for the last month or so, trying to kid myself that this is the recovery phase. Just warming a new pair of Adidas Supernova as well, but I guess I will survive!

Coming up on the morrow – The ‘O’ Marathon… Do come back!

Mumbai Marathon – how "I ran well in Jan"

But the Mumbai Marathon was sabotaged even before it began. Three marathons in 3 months, with the 78km Ultra marathon just completed. There was hardly any time for sore muscles to heal, the submicroscopic damages had to wait. The 4-hour noon-run at Nandi hills with Nischal and Athreya did more harm than good.
Work threatened to play spoilt sport as well. With days to go before I would leave to Mumbai, there was unprecedented work-load, even as I went into the carb-binge mode. With two days to go, a reject from a job offer, sent me spiraling down into a depression. I had very little time to regroup myself.

Karmic Healing
I stayed in Mumbai at my Brother-in-Law’s apartment in Andheri, cooking rice and boiling my potatoes – the Australian Open took my mind off the more persistent problems.
On Friday evening, I was treated to some yummy pasta dinner at Rajesh’s place. We then went across to another friends place and then met this girl called Anandita – a creative writer, she looks straight out of a Opera musical. I’m never the one who’s a fan of Karmic healing, Reiki and the likes. But, man, she was good, working on my Aura, and in no time, she got to telling me all the things that were bothering me. She advised me to be confident, be patient and relax. It helped a bit.
What helped more was a mail that found its way into my inbox “… all the very best. I am sure you will do great”.

The Marathon eve was spent in driving some 2 hours from Andheri to Nariman Point to collect my Bib No. 1362. Also got to do a bit of recce of the run route, my first time at Mumbai and I wanted all the information I could get. At the Pasta Party at Moshe’s, we packed ourselves with loads of carbs and the all-important RFL camaraderie.

Race Day
It was a number story all along - 30 refreshment stalls along the route, serving over 5.6 lakh biscuits, 5834 dozen bananas, 35000 apples, 75 volunteers specifically assigned to distribute refreshments among runners, 89000 liters of water, 12 medical stations, 10 ambulances, 250 doctors on duty, 500 policemen, 1200 security guards, 2500 volunteers and 3 helicopters used for telecast.

Major Satish, who was accompanying “his boys” from the Services, had stayed over at our place. (his boys eventually won the top 7 places in the Indian Men category!!) With all the approach roads to Azad Maidan blocked, taking a train was the practical choice for transport. But it meant that I had to be up full 3hours before the marathon was to begin at 7:45am.

I reached CST just as the pack of half marathoners were starting to pour onto the roads. This is one sight that I always miss out on my marathons, when you run the full marathon you can never be around when the celebrity runs begins.

I had just enough time to do the pre-marathon ritual:
Change into the Ultra tee and dri-fit shorts
Fasten the laces with just the right tightness, neither too loose nor too tight
Pick up goggles, cap and sweatband
Wear sunscreen generously
Pull out Vaseline and use on crotch, underarms (when you do this avoid eye-contact with passers-by)
Untie the laces and retie them with just the right tightness, neither too loose nor too tight
Stuff the pockets with Gel and Endurolyte capsules
Take the sipper out
Pin the Bib to the tee
Buckle up the Heart Rate Monitor around the chest, check the watch unit
Pull up the socks, check the laces, undo them, retie them with just the right tightness, neither too loose nor too tight (seriously, I never get them right)
Reminds you of Halal, eh?

At the holding area, there were lots of familiar RFL faces, most of us were in the Bangalore Ultra tees. I had planned to run with Girish and Nischal. I was using Nitin’s Garmin Forerunner for time-keeping and had set a 5:35-5:45 min/km pace. Girish was nowhere to be seen and Dharam stuck with us from the very beginning. Both D and Nischal had at least one sub-4 finish before this one. I knew I just had to keep pace with them.

With the run starting as late as 7:40, the sun was up soon even as we reached Marine Drive. We passed through Chowpatty, Mahalaxmi temple, Haji Ali and Siddhivinayak temple, consistently hitting the 5:40min/km pace. We took a short walk break at the 24km mark, when I passed Shivaji park I had begun using muscle relaxants to ease cramps.

We had more than the usual share of cheering from the bystanders and I was pretty excited about it, till Nischal reminded me that I was responding to some of the “Way to go, Superwoman” cheers as well. I desisted from any more waving till I was running alone.

The three of us kept the average speed close to 10kmph till the 32km mark. At the exclusive for HASHers water stop, I was looking for more muscle relaxants. As we neared the Peddar Road flyover, Nischal kept the pace going while Dharam and I fell behind. As I walked up the flyover, I conversed with a Doctor someone who was carrying some breakfast home to his family. It was his normal Sunday morning routine to walk 3kms to the restaurant and back. It was nowhere close to a normal Sunday morning for me, though.

The pace was slaking by now and with 3kms to go I was down to walking pace. Shyam, who I had first met during the Bangalore International Marathon, joined me with some 2kms to go and we egged each other on to the finish.
As I approached Azad Maidan, I pulled out the last reserve of energee left, Athreya who had finished his own in under 4 hours helped me pace my last few hundred meters. I crossed the finish line in 4:29:52 hours.

It was also the first time I raised money for charity for a NGO Dream-a-Dream. Many thanks to Sarosh, Raaji, Rishi, Shamji, Adarsh, Sriram, Amit, Keerti, Meena, Malay, Chetak, Ashwin, Shweta, Sod, Satsang and Naveen. I will try to keep you posted on more activities of the NGO.

Thanks also to Nitin who lent his Garmin Forerunner 305, while it helped 3 of us keep to the 5:40min/km, the graphs showed more detail than ever required for the post-race analysis. I was so overawed, I simply stared at the graphs no end, darn, it even showed me how fast my pulse raced even when I stopped for a leak!! Check out this and more here.
A few days later Nitin shared with me how we had won a contest to upload the Mumbai marathon profile on MotionBased. The blog can be read here.

This one is very very special, “I ran well in Jan” will remain in the mind forever ;)

Run-Way Run

Guess what, in a couple of months time, when the Bangalore International Airport gets operational, there would be a few RFLers who can boast of having been atop the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) tower and having spread our hands and attempted to take off from the run way!
Thanks to Marcel, the COO of BIAL, a HASHer and a strong runner himself, we got the clearance to run at the Airport.

As always, I bulleted down to Devanahalli, which is like 30kms from Hebbal. But on that winter morning, the fog was thick, reducing visibility to a few feet and soaking the leather jacket. There was no traffic around to do my famous tail-light principle and I had to keep the speed real low. The saving grace was the markers on the road which were the only indication that the road was curving or otherwise. Boy, I loved the short, 0-visibility ride.
Also meant I got some exclusive pics of the ATC with the sunrise in the backdrop. Check out the colors on this one!
The run started at 7am or so. With Mumbai marathon just round the corner, no one was planning very long ones. I had myself planned to do a short 10km run. Marcel gave the clearance to taxi slowly onto the run-way. The fog and sun battled on the runway as we ran up and down, 8kms back to the Helipad. The Nandi Hills offers a fantastic backdrop to the terminal.
We then climbed up 13 floors to the top of cuckoo’s nest – the Air Traffic Controller tower. From up there, it was as if the entire airport was spread out in front of us on a 360º map.
Marcel Hungerbuhler, the COO himself, took around the terminal pointing to the departure and arrival gates, the aero bridges, the baggage carousels, the retail spaces – most of them well on target to meet the 31st March deadline. I was particularly impressed with the jalousie-like roof of the terminal. The terminal will handle 9million fliers, up from the 4.5 million which was estimated when the project kicked-off. The overruns seem to have been handled well by BIAL. We were also privy to the future plans including a second airstrip and another terminal taking the traffic up to 30million by 2010. That would mean a good million look-a-like, chiki-eyed, Chinese airhostess clones... woopsa!

At the end of the run, I was presented with the plaque which said, “This plaque is presented to the individual who ran for the longest duration at the First Bangalore Ultra Marathon.” I had surely hoped for a better audience while I received this one ;)
Monica rode back with me making sure my Bullet had enough G-force to remain grounded!
Coming up Mumbai Marathon and another runway run…
Photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/manoj.bhat/BIAL

Much better technicalities on Suresh Blog

Anita Boras reports here - her take on completion.

From the Press, featured on Bangalore Mirror, here

Stalking Shimoga

How close you are to someone is not a function of distance…
…and if you really think there is distance, put a bullet right through it!

In a spur of a moment decision, I decided to do just that. I will refrain from revealing what transcribed on the Friday evening that snowballed into taking the decision – we can think it as an Euphoria from a good morning run, even better interview and a sooper prank.

So, on 22nd morning I fuelled up, paid a quick visit to MTech, more to ease my guilt of not servicing my bullet for 5000kms now. At 1pm, I was off, on the highway headed towards Tumkur and Tiptur towards Shimoga.

Riding Alone?
Technically, yes, I had more than one person’s share of emotions, thoughts and enthu to make up for it. Riding alone comes with a lot of positives – you are your own boss, one less pair of sore buttocks to worry about and hey, you can fantasize about the n-no. of possibilities of filling the pillion seat (the grapes are sour, eh).

The ride

Day 1 – Bridging Gaps, real and virtual
Reached Shimoga in about 5hours after negotiating some 300kms of road, to the nearest (only!) internet café. Pillion rider or not, I still had to make some plans for the following 2 days. I stayed over at Shyla aunty’s place at Shimoga and her tenant helped me finalize a tight plan for the next 3 days covering a lot including Yana.

Day 2 – Of a stubborn Goddess and Kaptivating Kodachadri
I finished my 12km jog in the morning, yes, Mumbai marathon is just around the corner. The plan was to cover Kollur and Kodachadri and head back to Shimoga for the night. I only managed to reach Kollur only by noon. Long Qs for darshan and lunch ensured that I was way off my plan. It’s only about 30kms from Kollur to Kodachadri.

"Good things come slow - especially in distance running." Bill Dellinger

Even as I navigated thru the worst stretch of road to Kodachadri, I had a premonition of what was in store. The last 3kms is the killer. The steep uphill dirt/rocky track was uneven, slippery and very tricky to ride. Most people trek or take jeeps that ferry people to the Inspection Bunglow and Bhatta’s place on top. No second thoughts, if I endured an Ultra last week, it was the turn of my bullet now. I reached the top at 430ish. The view of the hills was so enchanting, I simply had to change my plans for the night. The IB was already full of trekkers. I parked my stuff with a group of trekkers, changed into my running shoes and headed off to the top to catch the sunset, doing my spread-thy-wings on the edge of a cliff!

Running shoes, an extra pair of socks, sunscreen, goggles were the contents of my tank bag. My leather jacket was the only protection against the howling breeze. Luck surely favors the brave, I met a long lost friend Sharath and his cousins who were carrying extra sheets.

Mythology has it that, goddess Mookambika killed Mookasura in tearing fury here. The goddess was so fierce that Shankaracharya meditated at Kodachadri, invoked and pacified the goddess. Though the goddess now-a-days are less furious, winning them over is no less penance. (ask me how I know!)

Day 3 – One moves the soul, the other stops the heart!

Day 3 was when it all rose in a crescendo. It started at 5AM on top of the gusty Kodachadri. I trekked up alone in the twilight to catch the first rays of the sun. A group of trekkers who had camped overnight were stirring at a distance. I perched on the edge of a cliff to watch the spectacle. The night was cold and cloudless; I identified the moon, the North star, the Ursa Major and minor, while I thought of a lot other celestial bodies. (tooo much no!). The sun took it time coming up. But thanks to the 360° panorama, I was witness to the battle of light and darkness. No words can explain it – the intensity and spread of the orange and blue takes over from the shades of black. What bliss, but it took its time, alright!

After breakfast at Bhatta’s place and bone-breaking ride we headed towards Singandoor. It was Sharath who suggested I visit Singandoor temple and ride to Sagar. We bathed in waist-deep rivulet, something I hadn’t done in a long time now.
The deity at Singandoor, Chowdeshwari is believed to be very powerful by the locals, I passed in my own chota ‘list’ at the temple.

The Launch

The Sharawati backwaters separate Singandoor from Sagar, but everyone makes way for a Bullet. The Dept of Ports runs a Launch to ferry people, bikes, cars, vans and buses across the river. It was yet another first time for me, the 20min ride was fantastic – the ride only costing 1Re per head and 5Rs for the Bullet! Those denominations don’t seem to exist in Bangalore no more.

At Sagar, I was reunited with the net, I had important mails to reply to. I made a quick pit stop at a Bullet Mechanic for some chain tightening. The ‘pro’ quickly rattled off a series of repairs that were due and remarked how I had managed to ride all the Bangalore on this one. That is the beauty that my bullet is! Its almost a compliment when someone says that, like someone said I was looking fresh after having run 6hrs on the Ultra day!

Next quick visit was to Honnemaralu (Honnu = pearl, maralu = sand) near Sagar. Honnemaralu is a camping site, a nature camp, located on the banks of Sharawati backwaters. I went on a short row-boat ride, while the boatman Ganesh explained the purpose and concept of the NGO that runs the place. It offers boating, camping, swimming and trekking facilities, perfect for a 3days holiday. I promised myself I would be back there sometime soon.

Promise or no promise, I was surely back at the internet café at Sagar soon enough. All the praying seemed to have worked, I was almost riding-in-the-air on my way back to Shimoga, that’s how you ride when you are on cloud 9!

The day had begun with the sunrise-treat to the eyes, the day ended with a treat to the ears – if it was the soul that was touched in the morning; it was the turn of the heart in the evening! What a day, I say!

Day 4 – Curtains!

As I rode back, singing along the song Anisutide from Mungaru malé, one thing was certain, what I had seen, experienced and left behind was a lot of unfinished business. Shimoga will have to be stalked yet again, albeit better planned and less hurriedly…

Ride Plan
Day1: Bangalore/1300 – Tumkur – Tiptur – Arsikere – Tarikere – Bhadravati – Shimoga/1800 (300kms)
Day2: Shimoga/0900 – Ayanur – Hosanagara – Nagara – Kollur/1215 (120km)
Kollur/1430 – Nagodi - Nittur - Kodachadri/1630 (40kms)
Day3: Kodachadri/0830 – Sigandur/1200 (70kms) - - - Sagar/1600(30kms) – Tagupa (50kms) – Honnemaralu/1700 (8kms) – Sagar - Shimoga

What I missed:
Sagar – Varadapeeta Moola(1km) – Keladi (8km) – Ikkeri (4kms) – Jog (40kms) – SahasraLinga/Marikamba temple – Siddapura – Sirsi/Sonde (50kms) – Yana (40kms)

Selected fotos at here/c1441307.html

Bangalore Ultra Marathon 2007

78kms, 12:07hours, 151BPM average heart rate, 10liters of water, 3 PowerGels, 7 Endurolyte capsules. 2 PBJ sandwiches, 2 biscuits, 0.5 liters of Gatorade, Iodex and Moov.

Photo credit: Ravi Kaklasaria

I have run a long race - starting from the post-surgery rehab last October, the dip-stick test at the Midnight marathon, to packing 60-89kms a week for the last 6months, I have run it long, long and hard.

The Bangalore Ultra was really not a run, it was a collective dream of a dozen lunatics who fantasized brining Ultra marathon running to India. More than 100 ordinary men, with slightly less degree of lunacy, decide to live that dream for months.
This is no melodrama, in fact it is far from it. Every other week, we went to RFL to take our weekly dosage of pain for months in row. There was wonderful camaraderie as we followed each other’s progress or otherwise.

Carb-Loading

In the week running up to the D-day, there was fear, apprehension, excitement and anxiety churning up a weird concoction in the tummy. It was like I was taking an important exam, but only in this case, all I could do was eat well and rest while I waited.
On Thursday morning, I was the first one to collect my Bib and T-shirt. I was the last one who had registered to run the 78kms distance. Bib No. 017.
At the rooftop pasta party at Bangalore Bistro, we added a tinge of humor to an already heady mix of emotions, while we stuffed ourselves with cartloads of pasta.
My mom cooks potatoes and sweet potatoes, cuts down on chapattis during the week leading up to the marathon, this time I switched to boiled rice (or brown rice) which is higher on nutritional value.

Sleep came in bursts the previous night. I remember having woken up thrice, at times, even alarmed that I would wake up late and miss the run.
I was riding my faithful silver bullet to the venue with Sudhir. I didn’t care much about how I would ride back. If I were in shape to finish, I figured I would be in shape to ride back home. I refused to think about what would happen otherwise.

I started at 4:30AM, picked up Sudhir and was at the venue at 5:30. The race started precisely at 6, flagged off by Nisha Millet. She was such a sport, I saw her run her two loops as well. Flagged off by the runner for the runners!

The Strategy
How to use some gray matter while running

Start slooooow
I have always liked to take a sprinting start to avoid the elbowing and generally like to lock into a good pace early. But this time I vowed that I would not do less than 1:40hours on each loop of 13kms.
This was impossible even at my slowest pace, I would have to start walking right from the beginning. I also promised to stick to a low heart rate – less than 140BPM for at least one loop and keep it very low for the first 4 loops. I let everyone pass, resisting the huge temptation to lock into a faster pace. I just put my head down and told myself, “I haven’t started running, my race will start only after 4 loops (52kms).”

And when in doubt, follow your heart

I stuck to my HeartRateMonitor reading, when it goes up above the target for the loop, regardless of the time, or gradient or cheering pretty Manipal medicos, I walked. Whenever the svelte Nischal passed me, I factored in a few missed beats as well.
I stuck with it keeping the BPM below 150 for the third loop and about 155 for the fourth. But by then, there were other things that needed my attention.

Treat Yourself!

After 4 hours of running, the clouds cleared up, I had to pull out my goggles and sunscreen. I told myself, the next 4 hours would be tough. 1 liter of water per half-loop of 6.5km, about 1 PowerGel every loop after the first, 1 Endurolyte capsule for every 1-1.5hours of running (so much math, that I need a secretary to run with me next time around). For now, I had to make do with what was around.

Running mates

I have mixed experiences with running mates, but this time I had no luxury of choice… laggards can’t be choosers. Someone passed me around then and asked me, “which loop?” I had no clue. All I knew was I had 7more hours to run. I ran the second loop with Sanjeev and Jai…
… then I caught up with Sudhir.
Woah, it will take a while to explain this giant of a guy. Let’s save time and check him out here. We both were doing similar pace and we decided to keep it going as long as we could.
I had to hard sell the Ultra to Lingu (an outstanding salesman at IBM himself) on Friday. The half marathoner was pushing it all the way to 52kms. I met him on this penultimate loop. Sudhir, Lingu and I set the pace together for a long part of that laborious afternoon. Lingu finished his 4 loops in 7:xx hours.

As we neared the end, Sudhir continued to keep me company… A lot of what transcribed is quite hazy, but sample this!

Me: “But it may get dark by the time we finish”
Him: “that is not a problem, I have a torch”
Me thinks: He carries a torch in his pocket for all of those 12hours!

Me: “Hey, can’t take your pic man, the battery has run out.”
Him: “No problem, I always carry extra batteries”
Me thinks: I didn’t even bother carrying an towel, too heavy!

Me: “Guess I am cramping up, let’s walk till the next aid station.”
Him: “No problem, I have Moov with me, let me know if you need painkillers.”
Me thinks: Damn you, there goes my excuse.

Me: “13kms is still 13kms.. am going to take it easy”
Him: “I feel I can take off, I think I will”
Me thinks: Must have packed some of that in his pocket too

Whether it was painkillers, camera, mobile phone, cash, torch, determination or girt, the pocket seemed to have a never-ending supply!

Just Keep ‘Moov’ing

The guys at the aid stations were fantastic. It is not so much the front runners who need the aid, it is the once who struggle at the end. And RFL really understood that well. After about 2pm, there must have been about a dozen ‘lunatics’ left on the trail. It was then, I began to notice the mobile help. The volunteers were on bikes carrying muscle relaxant sprays to help ease cramps. I always had generous helpings every time they passed. On the last lap, at aid station 3, they ran out of sprays. I tried Moov, it worked well too. The ointment mixed beautifully with the red mud and sweat around my legs to form a heavenly shade of red. I seemed to work. But if it was the right calf now that needed attention, the next moment it was the left quad, then it was the left hamstring, then the left here, then down there, up here too… ‘moov’ing simply wouldn’t end at all!

Hugs and Misses

2:05hours left to 6PM, last lap 13kms left, our previous one was 2:15 or so. It was a tough ask. I held Sudhir back on the onward loop, 6.5kms to go in about 1 hour. As we approached the aid station 4, the Iron man, Doc and Kirean passed us, we were not the only ones on the trail, yippee (I couldn’t exclaim too, I would risk a cramp). Sudhir was itching to go by now, and decided to leave me fight out the last few kms alone. I held back, the last thing I wanted was a cramp. When it comes, it comes hard… ask me how I know! I didn’t want to blog this story again. I was only about 2-3mins behind Sudhir thou. I passed doc even as he was quitting the race at the AS3 after his 100.4km run. Wow!
15mins to go to the finish 2kms away. On any day I would take 6mins to cover that distance if I pushed.
For a brief moment, the thought of finishing in 12 hours titillated me, my legs responded with a warning pull. I limped back to the ground reality. I said I would walk but not do anything foolish that would make me quit or finish any less strong.

Nobody roots for Goliath

Wrong!! With one km to go, I heard an uproar in a distance, I looked at my watch 11:59, Sudhir had made it. I looked ahead, I saw the 1km mark.

As I walked back to ONV, there was one man who walked towards me at a distance… A1, the man himself. I don’t think I cried, but I would have come very close to crying while we hugged. I felt like the last guy to be placed on campus, the whole campus waits for the moment and the party begins.
I entered ONV relishing the applause and soaking in the moment. It was H U G E…

Hall of Fame

I earned the title of "Longest Survivor on the Trail" and made it to the Ultra Hall of Fame

The morning after

I waited for about an hour at ONV, mostly walking on my feet before I put my sore bum on the bullet saddle. I rode back home feeling nothing at all…
I woke up the next morning with a stiff fanny, and lower back… gone by noon. It was Monday as usual.

It took a while for me actually realize what I had done. At the post-run party at Koshy’s Mahesh remarked, “It was all about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. 200 people stretching themselves.. imagine what it would do to the society at large.. all our limits are only in the mind…”

20 days of training left for the Mumbai Marathon 2008, is a sub-four marathon the boundary in my mind…
For now, Superman has to go… Up Up and Away!

BH3 presents The Bike Hash 2007

Bike hash 079
Originally uploaded by Manojbhat

FAQs
What is BH3?
It’s a lot of things, but definitely not Borane. All the Hash dope is on my post on my first Hash shot here.

What is the Bike Hash?
Nothing different actually. The site is serene, the hashers insane, the beverage chilled and the circle is round. On the bike hash, however, you get your bums on the saddle and pedal away into the countryside.

How do you hare the Bike Hash?
Jugy, Sunil and I hared this one. Hares recce the area and lay the trail with chalk powder complete with false trails. This was the third one that I have hared, the first two were with Abnash. We started at Eagle Ridge on saturday morning riding on the Bullet. With Google Earth and Gramin GPS to guide us we ran into lotsa dead-ends, many roads ran straight into a pond or lake. We marked a 7-8km shorter route for the walkers. We got back early on Sunday morning to mark the longer route. For two hours, Jugy and I sweat it out trying to find a loop for the long riders. We managed a good one finally not before we checked out more villages and puzzled village folk.

When, where, how, why, who, which, what-the, whatever
The Xmas Hash Bash was on 37 Crescent on Saturday and the Bike Hash wouldn’t start till the hangover had subdued. The bikes were sponsored by TI Cycles who brought in 50 new Hercules and BSA bikes. There were a few bright Trek cycles too that stole the limelight. All traces of the cyclonic rain of the previous week had totally disappeared. The sun was at its blazing best when we started at 11 or so. It turned out to be a 19km route at the longest and many fellow runners from RFL got all the heat training for the upcoming Ultra.
Back at the circle at Eagle Ridge, future sutures did the RA honors, Jugy was fired, Sunil was made new GM, the new mis-management (me included) was announced, yada yada yada…
(gosh, am so bored today)

There is a much better version blogged by Nischal. Read it here.
Photus:
Hash Bash http://www.flickr.com/photos/abnash/sets/72157603434852334/
Bike Hash http://www.flickr.com/photos/abnash/sets/72157603434828092/
Bike Hash http://www.flickr.com/photos/manojbhat/sets/72157603431531769/
That’s it for now…

Paapa Vinasam run at Tirumala

My childhood pal, Vijay married Kalpana in Tirumala on 28th Nov. There was no way I could have missed the wedding and the opportunity to ride the good roads to Tirumala. I added a cherry on top – a 16km run on Tirumala to Papavinasam.



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Head out on Old Madras Road via Kolar, bear left at Chitoor, the bypass is potholed and very avoidable. I reached Tirupati at 6 in the evening, after 4hours of riding. There’s a through security check before you begin the 20-24km ascent of Tirumala hill. It was pitch dark when I started the climb. The well-lit, well-marked, one-way curvy section, is a treat to any biker. The brightly lit tilak, padma and chakra of the Lord visible almost right through the uphill ride plus the steady traffic on road ensures that the throttle is on leash.

I walked into the wedding ceremony - leathers, boots, helmet and tank bag in tow. The vara pooja and reception was held on Tuesday. I stayed with Vijay and Centhil in one of the guest houses at Tirumala.

The next morning, I pulled out my dri-fit tee, shorts and running shoes. I stated off towards Papavinasam about 8km from Tirumala. It is a very scenic ghat route that cuts across lush vegetation, offering multiple view points of the Tirumala hills.
Upon ‘wiking’ I find, Tirupati has seven hills representing the seven heads of a huge serpent.

The fist thoughts that come to mind when you think of Tirupati is the endless queues, the melee at the temple complex. The only pleasant thought is that of the laddoo you ‘earn’ after the darshan. The temple failed to touch my spiritual side on my previous two visits.

But this time, as I jogged through the hills, I saw why Tirumala invoked so much spirituality. The rocky hills all around, the dense vegetation, the lakes and streams – so divine that you connect with your inner self.
There is God in those hills, guys, so next time you plan one of those TTD darshans spare a couple of hours to explore the beauty that really is Tirumala.

I would have missed all of this if it were not for the running. After having run about 5kms I spotted a dam at a distance off the road. There was a path taking to that one, the gates to the dam were locked, but there was a gap to squeeze through. The view was simply out of the world – there were all possible hues of green, reflecting off still water of the reservoir- all packed in one picture perfect postcard.

Papavinasam – is the place where you are supposed to wash off all your sins. And like most tourist-thronged places, it was disappointing. Water flows down some pipes and devotees take bath underneath, if any, one could pick up a few sins there…
I let the water wash off my hair. The sins of the head, I washed off… the sins of the heart are only meant to scar.
I ran off-road on the way back to check out a very beautiful lake, fantastic stuff really.

I got back to Vijay wedding feeling so refreshed. The wedding itself was grand, almost to a point where it got bigger than the bride and the groom! I hit the highway immediately after lunch.

The ride down the hill was also great – the challenging curves and the view of the hills for all of the 20odd kms ride.
At 6, the weekday evening traffic chaos at KR Puram brought me straight back to the ground with a thud.

Kavery Trail Marathon

17th Nov, Saturday

20:30 “We wanted to do it ourselves because there must be a thick layer of Peanut Butter and Jam, others outside make it too dry.” On that cold night at Fort View, Shagun and her boys were packing a rare ingredient into the PBJ sandwiches for the run the next day – energy and enthusiasm.

21:00 Bopanna and A2 come back after marking the track with some 20kgs of chalk powder. The biting cold, a pitch dark 11km trail and lack of warm clothing had stretched the marking to 4.5hours of hard work. They have made sure that every km is not merely marked but also displayed laminated signage with quotes to pep the runners. But they barely have enough time to get their blood flowing back into their veins here.
In the meantime, in Bangalore, there are innumerable things to be taken care of – from how to handle baggage to answering parking queries to arranging for snacks and Runners world copies to coordinating the 5 buses that were to leave at 4am in the morning – A1, Atul and team have their hands full.

21:30 Bopanna reviews the emergency medical procedures with the Sanjeevini Ambulance and the paramedic - the specializations at the nearest hospitals at Mysore and Srirangapatana, the routes to be taken and preparedness on basic first aid.
Shagun team has just finished off packing those PBJ sandwiches into 3 air-tight boxes, neatly labeled indicating which aid-stations they should be used at. 30 loaves of bread and 8kgs of peanut butter and jam!!
The supplies van was stacked to capacity – everything from 600 bottles of water and 500 bananas to ice boxes to garbage bags. When you organize an outstation run, even printouts and toilet paper rolls have to be thought out in advance.

21:45 Everyone around seem to have forgotten one important thing – Dinner. My own 120km ride from Bangalore had left me starving. Even as we loaded some carbs – rice and potatoes, A2 is busy on the phone, patiently giving directions to a runner on how to get to MG Road to Cubbon Park! The guy got it somewhat, on the third attempt and then he went through it all over again. Well, not everyone is gifted…
Over dinner Bops was still double-checking all the minute details with the rest of his team. A2 and I finished off dinner with boiled sweet potato that my mom had lovingly packed for me.

22:30 As I headed out to my own room at a nearby lodge, Bopanna was giving a final thumbs-up to the lunch menu for the following day. The rest of the team was to wake up at 4am so that they could be at the run site by 5.
These guys had started running at the Kauvery Marathon long before the whistle was blown. Fabulous job RFL!

18th Nov, Sunday – Race Day!
When you don’t pay attention to the details, the Kauvery Trail Marathon can very easily turn into a disastrous Kauvery Trial Marathon, as it did for me. Read on…

06:45 I ride the 1km from my lodge to the run site. The first bus carrying the full marathoners is already at the start. The air was crisp, the sun was up and mist rose from the surface of Kauvery – it was a dream start. The second bus arrived a little later even as we joked, chatted and strategized.

It was an important race for me, my third full marathon, and the first one that I had religiously trained for. I had set out not only wanting to finish but impress, should have known better to keep vain pride zipped up at the baggage counter.

07:30 Even as I dodged past the crowd at the start, the sweet smell of sugarcane fields filled up my lungs. I was raring. I was anxious about my knee bruise. Yes, in what could have ruined my race altogether, I had skidded off my bullet at Marathalli trying to avoid a speeding cyclist just 3 days before the race. The bruise on my knee was just beginning to get the shade of pink. I was lucky to be running this one. But it felt great that morning and never once thought about it again. I would have greater problems to worry about.

08:20 I crossed the first U-turn, 10kms in 50mins!! I was way too fast than what I had planned to do. The idea was to run at 6min kilometers for as long as I could, I was doing 5min kms at that point. I would have to slow down. I threw quick answers to puzzled farmers who wanted to know what it was all about.

09:20 I reached the end of first lap in 1:49hours, my best for a half marathon. The group of half-marathoners, yet to start their own race, were all applause. I refused electral at the water station and asked for plain water to consume with a powerbar Gel that I was carrying. I was making my first mistakes, the lack of electrolyte intake would eventually become the nemeses of my race in the last 10kms.

10:00 I crossed the 26km mark in 2.5hours. I was now doing exactly 6mins per km, timing every marking that I passed. I was pleased with the effort so far and looked forward to a 4:15 hours finish. I passed the 9.5km water station (30km) in under 3hours.

10:30 There was a slight nagging cramp developing in the right calf muscle. I crossed the U-turn a second time, happy that I will not have to do it again. The front runners from the half-marathon, Hari and Pradeep passed me here and egged me on. I thought of stretching a bit to ease the cramp, as I raised the calf, I cramped so badly, I landed palm first on to the ground and screamed in pain. I had forgotten my bruised palm and it had its way of grabbing attention. From there on, it was struggle.

I passed some infectious motivation to A1, “Pain is temporary; Quitting is permanent” as we crossed. Was I telling this to myself or to A1?

12:17 The finish. The next couple of hours were the longest hours I have ever run and the worst. As I passed the ruins of the temple on the trail, the whole pack of 10km runners came into view. This was really the fun crowd - runners in bright colors, flashy caps, in ecstatic, boisterous mood. Should have been in a better shape when those pretty little things passed by ;)
In the next 4kms, my inflated ego took the beating, even as some stronger legs continued to pass by. This is the toughest part of a marathon, the mind gives up and there is a strong negative emotion. This time, the reserves came in the form of Jani and Raj, who were running the 10km. The walking and chatting helped shift the pain from the cramped calf, but it is vain pride that weighs you down heaviest in those final kilometers.

In his book, “Every Second Counts”, Lance Armstrong says “The experience of suffering is like the experience of exploring, of finding something unexpected and revelatory. When you find the outermost thresholds of pain, or fear, or uncertainty, what you experience afterward is an expansive feeling, a widening of capabilities.” True, I agree, but hey, I would rather do that “revelatory exploration” alone, it hurts real bad in the head when you are lying down, squirming in pain and yet trying to put on a placid face.

Thanks to Jani and Raj who stuck on with the cramping me till the very end… thanks so much.
And as if to complete the task of destroying my vanity, with the finish line in sight, Navin who passed me gave a congratulatory pat on my posterior and how difficult it was to take it, I had to limp to stifle the cramp. The natural Kauvery canal Jacuzzi at the finish helped massage sore joints and reinvigorated me for the rest of the afternoon.

I registered a finish in 4:47hours easily surpassing my personal best of 5:35 in last year’s Bangalore Marathon.
The winner was clearly the team at Runners For Life - over 3000 man-kms were covered in all by the 140runners, a fabulous performance in tiring conditions!!!

The Postmortem:
It took less than 2hours for the calf muscles to ease that cramp and 3-4 days for my bruised ego to recover somewhat. Suggestions and analyses flowed thick and fast over lunch at Fort view and on the mailer group for a few days after. I did my own reading too (more here) and reaffirmed that it was the lack of salt / electrolyte intake to blame for the faux pas. See, it wasn’t me!

Afterword:
Slowing down is probably good, it does help you to pick up some friends for the longer race of life.

(Applause Applause… come on, that’s mine… no plagiarism on that one, honest...)