PB at TCS World 10k 2012

Quick Stats

Category U40
Overall Rank 64
Category Rank 38
Gender Rank 62
Split@4 Km 00:16:21 at an Avg Speed of 14.68 Kmph
Split@5 Km 00:22:55 at an Avg Speed of 13.09 Kmph
Split@7 Km 00:31:56 at an Avg Speed of 13.15 Kmph
Split@8 Km 00:36:53 at an Avg Speed of 13.01 Kmph
Net time    00:42:51 at an Avg Speed of 14.Kmph

Race Report
I wasn’t sure I wanted to register for this edition of the TCS World 10k this year. The registration was up to Rs. 700 (inflation catches up with running?), last year’s race had me stuck in traffic (of slower runners) and had handed me a 47-min 10k.

But Ujjivan, where Shreya works, was running for Parinaam foundation – both Shreya and I registered through Parinaam. Read all about Parinaam on their website here.


Registration and Pre-race
Procam has now set the benchmark for any running event in India – the registrations, the collection of goody bag, timing chip, facilities on the run - have become something of a given now. I tried the gait analysis at the Nike store at the Expo and that didn’t throw up any surprises, either; a small over-pronation on the right leg, but not something that needs stability / control shoes.
The only glitch was that I had provided a race timing certificate that would get me into the ‘B’ (under 1h:15m) corral, but I was slotted with corral C (above 1h:15m finishers)

Flash back, June 5^th – TCS World 10k 2011

In the last year’s edition, I was in the middle of no particular training schedule. Shreya and I had both registered for the Open 10k. I waited near Tiffany’s circle for the elite athletes to pass and then made my way to the holding area. I ended up being caught in the middle of large crowds of runners at the start. So much so, that even after crossing the timing mat at the start line, I was unable to run. It had taken me plenty of shoving, dodging, running-through-ing -  3m:20s for the first 500m and 5m:30s for the first km! It was only after 2km, when I was on Cubbon road that the crowds began to thin.


It wasn’t a great race - I had 5k splits of 23:28 and 24:06 and finished in 47m:34s. Shreya picked up Plantar Fasciitis injury during the run that nags her to this day.

Fast Forward Sunday, 27^th May 29, 2012

I knew I had to be in the front of the pack this year. I arrived at the stadium gates as soon as it opened at 6:30AM and entered the pen/corral for the A category runners. The security at the gate was only instructed to look for the “pass” (bib) and not the corral mentioned on the bib. After I sneaked in, I found a corner and hid myself. I didn’t leave the front position for next 1.5hours – no toilet breaks, no warming up. And so, when the gate opened and we were ushered to the track at 8AM, I was right behind the wall of bouncers!

Once in the front and with running buddies (Athreya, A2, D, Pani, Siddesh, Sampath), the challenge was to hold back on pace and not get carried away. While running up on Kasturba road, I kept the pace down to 4:20/km. D passed me on MG Road, but I maintained a steady gap with him all through Cubbon Road, at the end of which I managed to get past him.

At 3k when a pro-looking female athlete passed me, I latched on to her pace for the next 3kms after which she took off.

Just did some research on Google and found out that the “pro-looking athlete” was Disna Malkanthi, a Srilankan athlete who has HM timing of 1:27 and FM timing of 3:17.

At the U-turn point (4k), I must have had a lead of about 30s over Pani & gang. I kept pushing pace to make sure I stay ahead of Pani, who was targeting a sub-44min finish.

All along I heard people on the course shout “Go D, great going D, etc” referring to the now famous consultant-turned-coach, Dharam or D. I knew he was breathing down my neck.

I normally calculate percentages to see how much is left while running my marathons. In a 10k, the math is simple and refreshing, when you start to struggle, you only have 30% to go, unlike a marathon where you may have 60%!

I also knew the last 2-3k was a mild downhill (if you think it is otherwise, don’t tell me. Its best I don’t know) and I could therefore keep pace. The pic below was taken when I passed Shantanu with about a km to go.

I shouted out to him then and almost immediately felt a side stitch. I made a mental note to keep my mouth shut and not try anything fancy for the last 1k.

It was Damian who gave me the wings I needed for the final sprint. He had walked down the course a few hundred meters after he had finished (in 36mins), stood there and yelled “Just round the corner”. I understood and sprinted to the finish line, which stood hidden right after a turn into the stadium. Some other runners thought there was more after the turn and were deprived of the sprint finish.

I finished where I should have, in the company of runners that I admire. The PB finish time of 42m:51s was incidental. It was a PB for a 10k, that came after 3years – the last one (44:11) was at Spirit of Wipro Run in Oct 2009.

I ran a comparison chart of the km splits of last year and this. There are 2 obvious reasons (given that the course was unchanged) why there was a near 5min difference between this year’s and last.

I have circled the reasons in the above graph

1. The crowded start – very obvious (The first bar could very well be the petrol prices of last year’s and this, that obvious)
2. Almost all other km splits showed an average 23s improvement/km – An entire year’s worth of training… 

A Polish Weekend

This is a dated post, going back to end-July 2011, the weekend just before the CAM ride. My work place was Huta Katowice at Dąbrowa Górnicza, the biggest steel producing plant in Poland. I was put up at Katowice, a neatly laid out city in southern Poland.

Running in Katowice

Some quick enquiries at Hotel Angelo reception and some more Google maps browsing later, I had sorted out a route for an early morning run. The weather was perfect, the sun-rise at 5AM or so and Katowice is a safe city. My question if it was safe to run, was met by a rather surprised look at the counter and I was assured. I carried some cash and my mobile phone for insurance.

So here I was, half way round the globe from home, glancing past signboards in foreign language, a map in hand, doing what I do best – Run.

The 10km loop took me past the Silesia City Center mall with its antique tower and locomotive exhibits from its mining past, and past a Saint Barbara’s Chapel. A few hundred meters to the right was entrance to what looked like a massive park (it claims to be the biggest park in Europe). There was no a soul in this picturesque park, complete with floral statues, a Zoo, ponds, fountains and my favorite – the naked lady statue.

I ran this Silesian loop on every chance I had – twice!

Krakow bike tour

Early on Saturday morning, I coaxed my colleagues into catching the 7am bus from Katowice to Krakow. I had made enquiries and spoken to a guide of a ‘cool tour company’ and had tentatively confirmed for the 10am bike tour. I had to scramble around to find the main square from where the bus dropped us. I had a map, but with markings in Polish, I ran around all directions before setting off towards the square. Eventually, when I found the office in Grodzka! the tour had just begun. I ran into the store and got myself a bike (a steel bike, with some basic components), filled out the mandatory forms and paid up. I joined the group, just as it made it’s way to the Main Market Square. The group itself was multi-national – Americans, to English, ppl from South East Asia and some Polish too!

It was a chill morning with mild drizzle at times. The English-speaking guide kept us informed and in good humor, with the typical accent and a naughty smile. The Market square was bustling with activity, restaurants & pubs were filling up, tourists were everywhere, the massive but elegant horse drawn carriages or electric carts. We rode along clobbered roads past the Old University quarter to the remnants of the Old Town walls and the Krakow Main gate. I was told here that Krakow was the historical capital of Poland. The knowledgeable ones in the group tested the guide with many questions on the history of the place. We then rode towards the Wawel Castle. I was surprised to find Amitabh Bachchan’s handprint etched in the walkway alongside other greats like MJ. We rode along the Vistula river, crossed over and rested at a waterfront restaurant over coffee.

The ride then took up past the Jewish Ghetto area to the Oscar Schindler’s factory. The factory that was once dishing out Enamel dishes was taken over by Oscar Schindler during WWII.  He started to save the Krakow Jews by employing them, by paying bribes and contacts and making a significant financial loss. A major part of the movie was shot at this site, where a museum preserves some of the machinery and products from the factory.

The ride lasted about 4hours and we had covered close to 15kms!

I made friends with a svelte marathoner from UK and her friend and an Englishman from Singapore and a brother-sister couple from Germany, who was a professional wine taster. After the ride, I settled down with my new friends in the Market square for some Paulaner Weiβbier. I took the last bus out of Krakow to Katowice after a memorable Saturday.

Oświęcim / Auschwitz

Sunday was kept aside for a visit to Auschwitz, my (by now frequent) query at the reception led me to believe the bus to be taken was across the street. By now I have found a way to ask for directions – I carry a paper and pen and write down (say Oświęcim) and point to it. If the onlooker understands what I am saying, he draws the directions on the paper. All this to beat the language barrier.

But on this occasion, I was astounded. I was (as usual) scrambling to find the bus stop for this bus and making futile efforts with my paper+pen method. It had begun to drizzle and I zipped up my jacket. I zeroed in on a elderly bearded man to ask for directions to the bus stop. He looked up at me, tried to explain in Polish, figured I didn’t understand a thing. Then, in a stroke of remarkable gesture, he beckoned me to follow him. Shielding against the heavy drizzle with his umbrella, he walked briskly, about a km to the bus station, checked the exact stop with the helpdesk and walked me all the way to the bus stop. I am not sure if it was my intended destination (Oświęcim) that evoked such reaction.

I took the bus, then walked about a km to the Museum, bought the entry ticket and another ticket for the English guide. Little did I know, what I was to see would scar my memory forever.

The Katowice in your pocket guide gives a grim description of the site, it is available on its website here. Excerpts from the pocketbook “The Auschwitz Museum and tour present one of the most horrific acts in human history with a level of tact, passion, poignancy and professionalism that is so profound, it almost makes as lasting an impression as the site itself. Without being heavy-handed, the history of the site is presented in all of its contexts and guests are perhaps spared from fully surrendering to their emotions only by the sheer relentlessness of the information. No matter how much you think you know on the subject, the perspective gained by visiting is incomparable. Whether or not you choose to go to Auschwitz is up to you to decide. However it should be understood that Auschwitz is not a site of Jewish concern, Polish concern, German concern, gypsy concern, historical concern... It is a site of human concern. As such, we believe everyone should visit.”

A poker faced lady was the guide for my group. We plugged in ear-pieces and tuned into Channel 9 as we walked around various blocks where Jews were kept, now converted into Museum displays.

Most of the tour that was given to us by a lady was conducted in silence. There was nothing to say. Everything was before us to imagine and access what would have transpired there. Even though there are hundreds of visitors in several different groups that move about, not a sound is heard from anyone. No one speaks, and no one exclaims. A motley crowd of tourists simply walk about from one locale to another as though in a stupor.

I will resort to shameless plagiarism here, for what I saw on Amitabh’s blog was very nearly what I would have described myself. You can read all of Amitabh’s experience of Auschwitz on his blog here.

And within the halls where dormitories existed of the prisoners or those that were about to be gas chambered are now kept some of the remains of those that were exterminated. Here hundreds of suitcases. The owners wrote their names and date of birth on the boxes as dictated by the Commandant of the camps. Notice the prominence of Jewish names and dates of birth. Some of them a few years old - children! Women were the first to be exterminated. But because they refused to go without their children, they too went into the gas chambers!”

“The entrance gate with those words on it which I think said ‘through labor will you gain’ … a decoy to mislead all those that were being brought here to be exterminated. They were given to understand that they were being brought here to do labor. The fit and healthy were indeed put to such task, the ill and weak were gassed. Ironically, the fit and healthy were used to pick up the dead and either bury them in mass graves or assist in incinerating them. The barracks were actually not especially built for concentration camps. They had housed Polish soldiers during the war. When the Germans invaded, they removed the soldiers and made this into what later came to be known as extermination camps. They got them free of cost ! Many that were brought her never entered the barracks ever. They were taken straight from the trains that came in bearing them and marched into the gas chambers, stripped of all clothing naked in front of their families and strangers it was the humiliation and embarrassment of the moment. They were told that they were being subjected to a process of disinfection to make sure no disease was being carried in, but in fact were brutally killed.”

“Tons of human hair of the prisoners kept in a glass enclosure from the shavings of all those that came to the camp. The hair was used to make clothing material by the Nazi’s ..”

“….. at the far end, the house of the Commandant of the camp. Not more than 50 feet in front of the gas chamber … living there quite normally in his domesticity, with his wife and 5 children. Did they not ever feel the horrific atrocity that was being enacted in front of them every day - in front of their house - with women and children ! What did these people do to exist in such circumstances. What were they made of. Surely they were not humans !! But this particular Commandant was caught after the loss of Germany and tried and found guilty and hung in front of the gas chamber as you see now ~ on the gallows below!”

I visited Auschwitz II as well to view the train that brought the Jews to the dreaded camps. The feeling was heavy when I left the camp. Although one full year has passed since I visited Auschwitz, the memory is fresh and no less depressing.

Last day at Katowice – Tour de Pologne

The cherry on top was the Tour de Pologne. I was to leave Poland on Tuesday and there was a sudden spike in activity on Monday, 1^st August at my Hotel Angelo. The tour of Poland was passing Katowice on Tuesday and the bikers were staying at Angelo!

The taxi back from work had to take a detour to avoid the massive pile up and I had to take a tram to get near the hotel vicinity. I stood by the barricaded road and watched the bikers zooming past. They had to do 8 loops with about 15mins for each loop for this last leg in Katowice. To get to watch the Pro-bikers first hand was awesome. I bought a “Tour de Pologne” tee shirt as a memento.

In all, it was Perfect Polish Week…

Cluj Napoca Marathon report

Photo courtesy – Ozana Muresan

In ideal running conditions, I ran a 3:58:25 marathon at Cluj Napoca last month. More important than the timing was the fact that I finished strong and did not suffer anytime during the race.

So, what went right here?

Time to burst some myths

1.      If you thought race selection is important; Well, I had absolutely no idea I would be in some East European city in April. Hence I had no say in race selection.

2.      If then, training is important – Well, after a forgettable Auroville marathon experience (guess why there is no race report yet?), I have only been “Base Building”, running a max of 16k on my weekend long runs at Easy pace.

3.      And of course, you have to be deep pink in health, right? Wrong again – I was recovering from a terrible cough and cold, as a result of some high pitch singing at my Brother-in-law’s wedding. Neither the 5-hour layover between flights at Munich nor the pathetic train journey from Timisoara to Cluj, helped the cold, sniff.

4.      It must have been the mind then – a positive frame of mind, filled with optimism. Let’s not even get started on how miserable my business meetings were during run up to the race day.

So, if you were looking for a short-cut to marathon success, you won’t find it here.

But despite all the circus, I find myself at the starting line of the Maratonul International Cluj 2012. I guess I would never be as proud for having made it to a marathon start line. For one, it was the first time I was able to participate in a marathon while on a business trip, a first race in a sparingly-English speaking country. Arguably the first Indian to run the Cluj Marathon!

I fantasized about the idea of participating in this one since March when a business trip was being planned and Google threw this one up. But fearing evil forces (read “client”), I kept this to myself. When the trip seemed more likely than not, I booked myself on an Inter-Regional train from Timisoara to Cluj.

I will skip the gory details of the lousy train journey and fast forward straight to race report.

Registration: Saturday, 21 April '12

Although I was at the Arena (a massive stadium opened in 2011) even before the organizers arrived, the registration was smooth. The race director did not speak English, but I got plenty of help from the University students. T-shirt, running bib and some fancy samples with Romanian instructions. I gorged down loads of vegetarian pasta and made some friends with the race volunteers (if you guys are reading this, please connect with me on FB).

I spent the rest of the day walking around Cluj – down from the Arena along the Napoca street to the Union (Unirii) Square. A typical European square with Gothic styled buildings, a massive Cathedral and a statue of King Matthias Rex. Seated on a massive stallion, with his head held high reflected a certain arrogance and command over his soldiers around him. It was a treat sitting in one of those benches and just admiring the structure. There was plenty happening in the square to keep me occupied too. My 4 hour walk took me to Avram Square, the Opera – I was ticking off touristy places from a map I was carrying. Matthias Rex would inspire me every single time (of 8 times) that I passed it, the next day.

Race day: Sunday, 22 April '12

The race started at a very civilized hour – 9:15am. Despite the cold and mild fever the previous week, I was relaxed at the start line. With the bigger challenge of “getting to start line” behind me, I was now looking forward to enjoy the run. The pacing strategy was crucial –I had planned to stay in sight of a sub-4 finish and keep a steady 5:30min/km pace.

The course was a 5km and back (almost), repeated 4 times. It was refreshing because it went right through that tourist map, passing all the major squares (and some incessant honking by impatient traffic). It was a flat course, with water stops every 3kms and brilliant cool weather. I alternated between water and energy drink and held the pace around 5:30min/km till 30km, keeping the focus on the 5k lap time. All the 5k laps till the 30k mark were between 26m:30s to 27m:40s. The half marathon had come and gone in 1h:53m.

The End Game

After I had run into the stadium a third time, I knew I was entering the most crucial part of the race – the last 10k. In the past, at Auroville this year, I had taken 1h:20m for the last 10k and 1h:30m at Mumbai in 2011. There were niggles, I was slowing down a bit, but made that extra effort to keep pace.

I only began working backwards from the finish time when I had run 3h:40m. I was running near the stadium, 39k in the bag, with a 1.5k and back to the stadium for the finish. The math was titillating – 3k @ 6min/k pace would get me to finish under 4-hour. I decided not to stop even for water, fortunately my calf gave me trouble only once and a mild massage was enough to carry me through.

Shouts of “Bravo, Bravo” greeted me into the stadium as I made my way towards the finish line with the clock reading – 3h:58m:25s.

Pace Comparison between Auroville Marathon '12 and Cluj Marathon '12

Remember the hare and tortoise story

Hare: Auroville Marathon finish time: 4:02:37

Tortoise: Cluj Marathon finish time: 3:58:25

Moral of the story – Slow and steady wins the race

Post race

The results put up on the results board, slotted me at Rank #55 in about 257 participants, a third sub-4 finish for me. I walked 2km to my hotel, where sleep did not come easy. The evening was spent walking ~5k of undulating trails in the botanical garden, before I caught the lousy train back. Only, on the return trip the train seemed less irksome, thanks to the Cluj Marathon Finishers Medal!

Put your Heart into that Run...

...and you will be surprised with the results, as I discovered on 5th Nov, 2011 - my second wedding anniversary.

For more details visit - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/126475977

Shades of Turquoise at Havelock

4th – 8th Dec 2011

Life was a riot of colors for a few weeks before this trip – there was the Greenness of health amidst the Gray of confusion and ambivalence; the Orange fun and the Olive drab at work splashed across in various shades. The canvas of life was a riot of colors.

This 5-day vacation infused so much of Turquoise; it soothed the emotions, recharged and invigorated us, true to what the color really symbolizes. (Source: Color Psychology)

In a crazy way there was everything going wrong till days before the vacation. My work load increase, Kingfisher’s cash flow problems, Shreya’s acidity were wrecking havoc. On the day of our departure from Bangalore, the weather added to our growing list of woes and we had fog delay our departure and hence miss our connecting flight from Chennai!

The picture cleared somewhat and we were booked on the first flight (a 4am one!) from Chennai for the following day. My hotel in Andaman was kind enough to book us tickets on the Makruzz catamaran to Havelock. In effect we lost one night in Port Blair but luckily our Havelock plans were not disturbed.

Day 1 – Preparing the Palette at Symphony Palms

We made it to the 8am cruise from Port Blair to Havelock Jetty in the high speed catamaran, caged inside our A/c ‘Royal’ seats. Royalty is not allowed on the deck to experience the spray and will be subject to ample swaying inside the boat.

Havelock is a quaint little island with only 2 roads – Jetty to Beach #7 (Radhanagar Beach) and Jetty to Beach #3/5 (Kalapattar Beach), the similarity to South Goa is inescapable. Our resort – Symphony palms, was on beach #5. Barefoot Scuba was a stone’s throw from the resort and it was easy to book ourselves on the first boat to South Button and Tamarind camp for the next morning. The package included the 1.5hour boat ride to South Button, lunch at Tamarind camp 30mins from South Button and snorkeling at South Button and Tamarind Camp. We were both first time snorkelers and we evidently excited.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the resort, in the cozy room and lazing on the beach, looking forward for the dash of Turquoise.

Day 2 - Sun, Skin, Sand, Snorkel & Surprise

Penned down my lovely guest writer and wife – Shreya
5th December 2011, it was my 26th birthday and I was very excited about the snorkeling trip to South Button. We gathered at the Barefoot Diving Resort at 7 am and were asked to fill couple of forms stating that no one is to be held responsible if we do not return. 15 of us were registered that day and I was the only one who did not know swimming. We got into the boat and traveled for couple of hours to reach South Button. We got into our snorkeling gear (masks, life jacket and life buoy for me and life jacket & fins for Manoj) and jumped into the sea. I had imagined how a sea life would be, but nothing can beat watching them for real in the sea. The first few minutes was an experience by itself and it was indeed a different world out there. The different types of fishes and corals with different colors were a feast to the eyes. They were zooming past us from all directions and I just could not get enough watching them. One and half hours of complete discovery and I wished I could swim.

We boarded the ship and were off to Tamarind Camp for another snorkeling adventure. Our instructor somehow felt that I could manage on my own in the sea. This time he made me wear a pair of fins and let me all alone to snorkel. Manoj and I were on our own expedition and this time it was better than the first. After an hour and fifteen minutes we went to the shore for lunch. As I was moving to the shack, my co-snorkelers started singing Happy Birthday and to my surprise there was a cake coming from behind the shack. Got to know later that Manoj had arranged all of this the day before and the Barefoot guys were more than happy to work this out. After lunch and cake cutting, we were taken back to our resort with pleasant memories and lots of colors to rejoice.

Day 3 – Mixed bag
My day began with a barefoot run 10k run on the white sands on the un-spoilt unbroken Havelock beach. It was a bit of an obstacle race in someplace, but my best beach run to date.

After having seen the best that Havelock had to offer, it was time to explore the extremes. The plan was to catch the last Government ferry from the jetty to Port Blair. We reached the ticket counter near the Jetty on a rental Hero Honda Splendor at quarter to 9, after having checked out. The counter was straight out of that Indian Tourism ad, where this travel agent is spitting all over the place. Only in this case, there was also an irate government clerk issuing tickets who for some reason refused to hand over tickets quoting ‘system problem’. It took us a forgettable 2 hours to get ourselves booked on the 4PM ferry.

The next stop was the highly acclaimed Radhanagar beach (or its nondescript alias, Beach #7) arguably the best beach in Asia. It was the farthest point on the island, all of 14k ride from the jetty. I don’t know about being the best, it sure was beautiful – pristine white sands, shallow clam waters, arching shoreline. As we strolled along to find ourselves some shade to dig into our books (Shreya, Time traveler’s wife and me, The girl with the dragon tattoo) we came across some fine sand art! Tiny little crabs would dig a little hole and then make little balls made out of sand all around - super cool sand art.
The return trip on the government ferry was way better than the Makruzz. The “Royal cabin A/c” was replaced by strong winds and salty spray on the deck of the ferry. We checked into the Hotel and after waiting like forever to be server dinner, we crashed for the night.

Day 4 – Best of Port Blair
We were to visit the best snorkeling site in Port Blair – Jolly Buoy. To get there, first we took a rickshaw to the bus station and then a State Transport (ST) bus to go some 40km to Wandoor. The contrast between this and the South Button trip were already surfacing. First, there were 3 boats, each carrying some 75 tourists each. The 45min boat ride had some great visuals of the Andaman Archipelago, islands strewn around carelessly, each with own distinctive vegetation. When the boat finally anchored close to the beach of the island, a glass bottom boat was used to ferry us to the island, in turns. This was also as an opportunity by the ‘guides’ to market the coral reefs.

Snorkeling was a huge difference. The ‘guides’ slide-in a life buoy and help you into a coral-infested snorkeling mask. Lo and behold, he then drags you around, while mercilessly stepping on the corals! The only credit that I could give is that he points out to each fish / coral and calls out its name. Shreya’s guide also got her out of her buoy and helped her skin dive to the floor of the sea! We fell for the “if you pay us more, we can show you more” line and ended up paying 300 bucks each for an extra 10mins!

The Jolly Buoy trip left us with just enough time to catch a rickety bus back to the city. We bought tickets to the much acclaimed ‘sound n light’ show at the Andaman Jail. We were more entertained by the audience than the show itself. Just as the show was warming up, at the slightest hint of rain, the audience (inspired by the Vir Savarkar story being narrated) marched towards the enclosure at the back. It was a sound and light 4-D show for us. Mercifully, the crowd, did not cry “Inquilab zindabad”, there was every other flavor of a freedom movement.

Day 5 – Turquoise in a box?

With just a few hours left of our trip, after a heavy breakfast, Shreya and I shopped around Sagarika emporium. We bought some beautiful coral jewelry in various pleasing hues of blue, green and red. We packed up and brought back much more than just bright colorful corals, we brought back a canvas full of colorful memories…

Addendum

Some of the corals and fishes we spotted:

Fresh water Jelly, Giant Moray (peeping out of a rock), Lion fish, Parrot fish, Giant clam, crown of thorns starfish (big purple one with many tentacles), sea star (cute one that we held in South button), Indian cushion sea star (held in Jolly buoy), Blue sea star (in Jolly Buoy), boring clam, brain coral, Tube coral (with the Nemo-like clown fish), Bubble anemone (with Clown fish), Blue green damsel, Angelfish, schools of powder blue surgeon fish, striped surgeonfish (orange one with stripes), Anemone fish

Location of the snorkeling sites captured by GPS, the satellite images looks unreal. Click on Satellite on the map:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/133508748 - Tamarind Camp

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/133508753 - South Button

Coasting on East Coast Road again

One of the motivations to be keep myself fit is that it provides multiple opportunities to be alive to all those places I travel. In yet another cases, a chance chat with Dr. Subash at a Chennai hospital and before long I knew his biking pace and he my PR on a marathon! A few text messages later, I was frantically looking for a bike to join Doc & his friend, Nav on their Sunday morning ride to Mahabalipuram.

Thanks to Venkat, who put me on to Suresh who owns the Cycle mart near Kodambakkam. Suresh was kind enough to lend me a Bianchi Camaleonte Uno Sport Hybrid bike for the ride. All that was required now to get on saddle up, at 4AM on 13th Nov, Sunday.

The plan was to begin riding from Thiruvanmiyur, Nav’s place at 5AM. Doc offered to give me a ride from his place to Nav’s place.

We started a little late at quarter past 5, hit the highway soon and fell into a steady 26kmph on ECR. We hit into some cycling traffic from Reaxion, an organized ride on ECR. Doc was on a BSA kruze and Nav was on a GTR, road bikes both.

We stopped to munch on our snack bars just after passing the bridge across the river Vettar, having covered the first 20k in about 50mins. The next break was a quick one too, at the U-turn point at Mahabs. The road is flat and we stuck to the left shoulder of the road and pace-lined each other right through.

It was on these breaks that I was told (and nonchalantly) that my co-riders were erstwhile, part of the state pro-rowing team! That explained the brisk pace we were pushing.

Nav reminded us to keep focus and average 25kmph for the return leg. We did just that for the last leg, finishing the 82km distance in about 3h:17m, just as the sun was casting these shadows down!

Well, it was not close to an Ultra effort (I was missing the Bangalore ultra this year), but was a truly refreshing experience. This continues my thirst with the lovely ECR, following the relay run to Pondy. Details of the ride here.

Spirit of Wipro Half Marathon 2011 - Race report

Within 2 weeks of testing waters at Mysore Celebration Half Marathon, I ran the Spirit of Wipro (SoW) Half marathon. I had been training for the SoW 10k, but Wipro decided to host a Half Marathon for the first time and the response was encouraging. There were 125 registrations in all, and arguably 115 at the start line.

Over the years Wipro has been adding to this event and making it bigger. Last year had a coach help employees train for the run, this was the first time Wipro was taking at stab at the Half marathon distance. There was a medical test – Blood, ECG and Peak Flow test. I scored 85% of predicted values on the Spirometry Flow-Volume test (anyone knows how to interpret these results?)

I knew the course till half way mark, having run this race the last 3 years and finishing on the podium in the previous 2 editions. I did a recce of the other half of the route. It is a out-and-back course, starting on Sarjapur road, Karmalaram, Gear School, Varthur road. The course was nearly flat with a 1-2% gradients in the first couple of kms and similar gradients in the 12-18kms.

This run was also special because my sister Madhu and nephews – Rishabh and Aryan were also taking part in the 4k run.

The run was flagged off by Anurag Beher who then jumped off the podium to join the runners (that’s the first time I have seen that happen). I was soon in the lead making my way into the fog headed out on Sarjapur road. It was after 5k that I was challenged first – 2 guys (Dilip, the eventual winner & another, a 20 year old) just strolled past me, or so it seemed. They were in the zone – matching strides and running in rhythm, effortlessly. I was myself beginning to warm-up and was able to hold the 4:30 pace.

My plan was to hold on to 4:30 min/km pace till the U-turn point and then to slow down slightly to keep the next 10k in 4:53 min/km pace. This would take me to my Personal best and I would finish under 1h:39m. I was on target till the U-turn point. By this time, Dilip was way ahead and building the lead and the young man had stopped – I was in second position now.

With about 3k to go, I ran into the 10k lead pack and with 2k to go, the entire populace of the 4k runners crowded the road. There was no stepping up the pace, I was barely able to stick to a sub-5 pace. I passed the boys – Rishabh and Aryan.

I finished in 1h:39m:06s to claim the second spot. Dilip finished 3mins ahead in 1:36 and Sanjeev came in 3rd in 1:42
The post-race event was not as great as last year’s, the drum jam of Roberto was cut before it reached its crescendo and Vasundhara Das’s performance was uninspiring.

I took the opportunity to show the kids around the campus and my workplace, overall it was fun.
In the end, this was how the pacing chart compared against the actual:

I now have 3 Half marathons close to 1h:40m
 The Midnight Half Marathon in Dec 2010 in 1:38:58
 The Mysore Celebration Half Marathon in Oct 2011 in 1:40:28 and

 The Spirit of Wipro Half Marathon in Oct 2011 in 1:39:06

(Analysis inspired by sportsscientist.com)

The comparison chart for the 5k splits is an interesting chart – the Mysore HM is the closest I have come to a negative split. Clearly, the last 5k needs to be worked upon. Let me know what you think.

Mysore Celebration Half Marathon

In keeping with my goal of training to run faster this year, I have forced myself out of the regular marathon circuit. An opportunity like this one for a Half marathon, I grabbed with both hands. While most marathons now have the basic hygiene (registrations, timing chips and support), they rate low on fresh courses/routes and providing value for money.

This inaugural Mysore Celebration half marathon as a part of the Dasara celebrations coming at a registration of 700 bucks, took care of both.


I am having mixed results with the speed training, the mile repeats are stuck between 4min/km to 4:18mins/km pace and there is no significant improvement in the 400 – 1200m repeats either. I am sure like most things, this will take time coming.
But, completely agreeing with Amit Seth, that the interval training is like falling in love with each bit in isolation and hoping that the parts will add up to a beautiful whole.


Pre-race and Mysore Dasara
In a sudden turn of events, Shreya and I decided on Friday evening, to visit her aunt in Mysore for the weekend. And as luck would have it, Mysore was hosting its inaugural half marathon as a part of the Dasara celebrations. Some worming through websites and a few phone calls later, I knew I had a small window to register on Saturday. So, that’s how I turned up on 2nd October, Sunday in front of Mysore Palace with Neera, Bhasker and other running buddies from BHUKMP for the half marathon.

Registrations
The registration for the race was well handled. The t-shirt was smart and “life is calling” did a very good job of handling the last minute registration too. I only took about 15mins from filling forms to picking up the goody bag.


The Start
6:45AM in front of the Mysore Palace was the perfect location. What was not perfect was the flag-off. The runners were asked to get into the pen from 6:15 and were restless by 6:45. The chief guests were minister Ramdass and actress Nivedita, who arrive about 15mins late, then there is a speech by the minister while the runners were ignored. When the speech was done, the minister and his team of touts and guards had to do a mock run for the press. When we finally thought the drama was done with, there was still the climax – with the press & photographers’ blocking one side of the start area and the politician’s gang on the other, a nonchalant puppy was spotted at the start and the actress had to rush and pick up the puppy, much to the delight of the waiting press. They had their breaking news!


It finally got underway at 7:10 or so, the elites scampering for their 3 feet of space. Bhasker, Neera, Nitin, Siddesha, Ravi and Richard were at the starting line, having driven from Bangalore that morning.


The race
The rest of the race made up for the goof-up at the start. It was a good course through Devaraj Urs road, Hunsur road and then into the Kukkarahalli lake and Manasagangotri. Traffic was managed well, with cops and volunteers and intersection keeping the somewhat-more-patient-Mysore traffic out of the runners’ way.

I started well and was keeping under 4:40 min/km pace with the elite women athletes, running along Devraj Urs road with the sun beating on our necks. But I lost tempo in a couple of kms and had to slow down. The 1-2% gradients of Hunsur road also kept my pace under check – I was struggling. After the first 5k or so, I managed to regain my rhythm. When I looked up my pace again, I incorrectly read 13k in 1:06, which was way off my target. I held on through the lake bund trail and then the elevation loss in the last 5k helped keep the pace. When I heard a volunteer say I had 500m to go, I looked at my watch, which, to my surprise read 1h:37m. I sprinted to the finish line to clock 1h:40m:16s


I had reasonably good splits. My 5k splits were 23:06, 23:38, 24:39 and 24:52. Timingplanet that did the timing for the race recorded the 7k splits at 30:22, 35:26 and 34:28. I came in 23rd overall and 19th in the men’s category. Almost all of my RFL pals came in at 1:43, with Neera bagging the 5th position in the women's category.


Shreya and I rode back on the bullet with her brother and cousin on another bike putting the ghosts of Coorg to rest. Confidence was restored on the bike and the biker…

Photo courtesy - Bala

Coorg to Coast Ride – Cycling and More

When Shreya and I signed up for the CAM ride, we knew the cycling part. When the weekend was over we knew that “more” meant incessant rains, insane descents, falls, water falls, hills, rubber, awesome roads, aweful roads and lots more.

Cycling and more (CAM) organizes rides in the Malnad area and manage transport of bikes, food, accommodation & support. All you need to do is saddle up and ride. It was a full bus load of cycling enthusiasts boarding the bus from Bangalore to Bhagamandala in Madikeri on Friday night. The plan was to start the ride on 6th Saturday morning and ride about 100kms on day 1. Then to rest at Kasargod for the night and ride another 50kms on day 2 to Jalsoor, Sulya and then board the bus back to Bangalore on Sunday.

I was suitably warned by Vikrath & SriHarsha from CAM that the first section of the road, well, is not road really. I decided to push ahead with my road bike for this trip. I did read the instructions and changed my brake pads, thankfully.

Day 1: 6th Aug 2011 Bhagamandala to Kasargod

There was one constant throughout the ride – that was rain, heavy drizzle to downpour. So while you read the ride report, unless otherwise mentioned, it was raining!

The bikes were un-loaded from the Cantor at the KSTDC guest house in Bhagamandala, while we had breakfast and geared up for the ride. Yes, it was raining steadily. The initial couple of kms was an uphill – about 100mts in 5kms. The downhills and patchy roads began as we entered the Talakaveri wild life sanctuary. The route was brilliant, water falls, dense forests and rains of course. But I couldn’t take my eyes off the road or relax those fingers off the brakes, one moment.

I thought of this ride as an answer to “God, I need a break”. But, He had other plans and said, “Take two brakes – front and back & hold on to it like you hold on to your dear life.”

Shreya was doing well till she pulled the brakes and noticed they were not responding! So skkidd she went, into a pile of bamboo shoots and thorns. Luckily she walked away with no serious bruises or broken bones. Vikrant, in the support car, helped fix her a new pair of brake pads and she was on her way. It was laudable that she continued to ride despite the fall till the lunch break.

For me, it was how long I could push without a puncture. And sure enough, after 28kms, just as I was taking off after a photo break, I noticed the flat. I had a spare tube, found a reasonably dry spot under a massive tree and began the routine of fixing the puncture. It took me about 15-20mins to fix the tube, by which time, my veins had 3 punctures! Those wormy leaches had hunted down my warm blood and I was bleeding profusely from my feet.

Since I wore those ‘Hawai chappals’ for the ride, I was easily able to spot the bright pink, as the oozing blood mixed with the rain drops. The punctures fixed, the leaches taken care of, I resumed the ride from behind the pack, with the sweep cantor breathing down my neck.

Lunch was near the Udayapuram turn, after we had done about 55kms. Shreya decided to ride in the Cantor for the rest of the day. After a short lunch break, I decided to up the pace and attack the hills. The first one was a 200m climb in 4kms and then the hills began rolling and the roads much better. I averaged 20kmph for the 28k distance till Bekal fort via Kanhangad. Shreya soon reached there and we spent some quality time in walking around the fort. In case you forgot, it was still raining!

Photo courtesy: Srinidhi

The ride from Bekal fort to Kasargod (our overnight halt) was on patchy, scaled roads and right along the coastline. I reached Speedway Inn with 97kms done for the day. After parking the bikes safely, it took us nearly an hour before we could park ourselves in the rooms. Dinner was at a modest Udupi hotel and the room served as a drier to salvage whatever we could from the wet monsoon day ride.

My lower back was sore or what!

Day 2: 7th Aug 2011 Kasargod to Jalsoor

We started from Speedway Inn at 7:45AM, the plan was to ride East towards Jalsoor, Sulya. I started out ahead of most of the MTBs and stayed up in front right through on fantastic roads right up to the breakfast point after Cherkala. After the Uppit-Kesaribath breakfast I managed to keep good pace, again on fantastic roads. Today I had done away with my raincoat and was enjoying the light drizzle.

Photo courtesy: Ganesh

Somewhere after the Adhoor temple, on that empty speedy road, amidst the din of the crickets, I was suddenly aware of forceful companion riding alongside. When the canopy cleared, I almost fell off the bike when I first saw her. The Payaswini river was flowing alongside in its full glory, the recent monsoons having filled her wide course to the seams.

With about 4kms to Jalsoor, I rode past the suspension bridge across the river. I reached Jalsoor right behind the Cantor to the applause of the ‘cheerleaders’ riding in the Cantor. I had averaged 22kmph for this superb stretch of 32kms, which was the best of the entire tour.

I had a quick bath by an open well and got into dry clothes. While we waited for the others to trickle in and the bikes to be loaded into the Cantor, I got a big lesson in Customer Service from the tea-stall owner Venkatarama Bhat. In the middle of this little rubber growing town, this barista had more wisdom than many managers in large corporations back in the city. Well, that is a story for another day perhaps.

We were treated to lunch and Gudbud at Sulya. The return trip was sprinkled with movies, bakras, mafia and wild jokes. It was past the mid-night hour when we crashed for the night at home – High & Dry!!!

Photo courtesy: Venkat

The Garmin log of my ride (for all the dirty details) visit the activity log here

Year 1 - Trip Summary Report

The Great Wall of Mumbai – The marathon report 2011

It was to be third time lucky for me at the Mumbai marathon…

I have family in Mumbai now with my sis moving there last year - Rest, Pasta, positive feeling taken care of. I had trained less and rested more since my last marathon at Singapore – a technique that had produced good results at Auroville in 2009. I had the perfect pacing partner in Dharam, an experienced campaigner, who knew the course like the back of his tanned sweaty palm. The weather Gods were behaving themselves – Mumbai was 8 deg cooler than usual. The organizers, Procam had paid heed – the race start was advanced to 6:15AM and there were 2 water stations in the previously arid Sea-link…
So, I must have run a flawless marathon, right?

But as Coach JoeEnglish puts it in his “The (non-)Mythical Flawless Marathon”, “It isn’t that marathons don’t go well all of the time. They do. But for a marathon to go flawlessly is a rare happening. When the weather is perfect and the course is great and the people are awesome. And when the pacing is done just right and the nutrition works and the hydration is spot on. And and and. . . when it all works, it is an almost mythical experience.”

On this occasion, I was deprived of this mythical experience. After having run the first 30k in 2h:38m averaging 11.5kmph, I had to take nearly 8 massage breaks to ease cramps in the last 12k. A distance that would normally taken 60mins, took me well over 100mins to cover. I finished with my shoulders drooping, my head hung low.

My 5k splits give the full picture:

Shreya had a great story. The run-up to the race day was not the best for her too. She had severe stomach pains on the evening before the race. She had more than made up her mind to get into an ambulance after the 10k mark. I was prepared to hear the worse when I received her call first thing post-race. That, she was sitting someplace near the exit / toilets and refused to talk about the race over phone, made me fear a dreaded DNF against her name.

… but Voila!!! She completed her half marathon in just under 3hours. Oh, and how she enjoyed it. She made friends with a couple, who were brisk walking their way through every km mark. And while she jogged along (& sometimes danced to the live bands playing), she obliged many Samaritans & kids who were offering chocolates, cool drinks, chikkies to the runners. One cute kid with outstretched palms into the blazing sun pleaded, “Just take one candy Aunty, Please, it’s good for health.”

There were plenty of positives as far as the marathon itself was concerned. What Procam missed in execution they made up with intent at least. There seemed to be more water stations this time round. I saw a volunteer also hand over sponges (that it was dry was another story). There was a water spray zone, but was rendered ineffective by Mumbai’s heat.
I am proud of my running friends from RFL. All (yes, every single one of them), had a fantastic race, if not a Personal Best. Sunil, Anjana, Bhasker easily beat my expectations, Dharam, Nitin, Rishi, Amrita, Meher, Shantanu, Jaggi, Nari, Vasu, Chandra… the list is endless.

Quoting again from JoeEnglish:
There is a problem with all of this in that running the perfect marathon includes both internal and external components. The runner can put together an absolutely perfect training program and then show up to a 100 degree broiler and have their hopes dashed before they begin. But that’s why the occurrence of a nearly flawless marathon is even so much more rare. Because all of the stars really do have to align to produce one. The external factors, such as weather and crowds and jet-lag and the theft of your running shoes the night before the race, all of have to themselves work out — and all of this is in addition to you executing the race properly.
As for me, the Great Wall of Mumbai still remains to be conquered; will someone get those stars to line up, please...