TCS 10K 2016 - a race that was more than a race

To begin with, my TCS 2013 race report is here if you are interested.

Great things are achieved by doing the small things right, they say. And this is one of the seasons which has been most satisfactory for me as I feel that I was very successful in paying attention to detail and tying many of the loose ends and thus improve my running one crunch at a time, one step at a time.

The season started with the crazy dream that Jyothi and me have of doing the Mumbai Full in January 2017. Many would think how can two 3-hour half marathoners even dream of such a thing and achieving such an impossible task. Are they not biting too much than they can chew. But there is a beautiful Kannada song by Dr. G. S. Shivrudrappa sung by C. Ashwath in his sweet melodious haunting voice and in his inimitable way.

|| Kaanada kadalige hambaliside mana, Kaanabalene ondu dina, Kadalanu koodaballane ondu dina ||

It is a beautiful song and if you have not heard it till now, please listen to it immediately https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz9GZd7yfWo

While there are many meanings and interpretations to the song the most literal translation would be as follows: A river is longing to merge with the unseen ocean, its final destination. The river has heard a lot about the sea/ocean and wonders where it is and longs to see it and merge with it. As the river passes through the twists and curves of the mountains and the plains, it is filled with doubts and uncertainty, whether it will ever be able to see the ocean and merge with it and become one with it . But nevertheless it marches on its journey and continues to fulfill it’s destiny. This song finds a lot of resonance with me as I embark upon this beautiful marathon journey with my friends alongside me and RH behind me.

The seed of this dream of running the Mumbai Marathon was sown a couple of years ago when Santhosh used to introduce the Ananya Rabbits and other youngsters (by age) of RH like Ankush etc, that they are the only RH-ers doing distances more than their age. Each time I would think that the only way I would be able to run a distance more than my age would be if I do a Marathon.

Last year would have been ideal to do a Marathon and fulfill my dream of typing in my age lesser than the distance when I fill the registration form. But due to various reasons I could not do it. And therefore this year would be the last chance that I have as I would be turning 42 this year and when I fill the form I can fill age and distance as equal. So 42 @ 42 was my new motto. 

When a group of us, Dilshad, Mukund, Rama, Jyothi and me spoke to Santhosh and Srini V and our respective coaches about this they were all most appreciative of our plans and gave a clear go ahead and green signal. Of course there were many things that we had to do in the coming months and work really hard to ensure that we finished strong, which we were all ready to do. We have been working really hard since then. Srini V’s positive response and complete faith in us boosted our confidence.

Marathon Photos is charging Rs.1600 for all 

my race pics in all formats. I refuse to spend 

more money than I have already spent

With all this in the background, this season became the base building season for the SCMM for us. I did a lot of things right this season. I stuck to the RH schedule and followed it to the ‘t’. I did not miss a single run or workout. My attendance is above 95% (I think). I changed my yoga class and joined Vidya (a former Rh-er) and she corrected many of my poses and the way I was doing them which reduced my lower back ache and neck+shoulder+elbow+wrist pain. I ate right, tried to maintain good sleeping patterns, rested well, did strengthening at home too at least once a week apart from RH strengthening on Sundays.

After the nutrition talk, I took Chandra’s advise of how important it is to take protein immediately after the workout or within ½ hr for recovery and repair of muscles very seriously. Added to that Kavitha gave me the same talk at our BG BF at MTR, which strengthened my resolve to create my own protein powder as I do not like the ones available in the market and am a very strong exponent of homemade food stuff. My family has this wonderful recipe of making ‘Ragi Hurittu’ or sprouted finger millet powder. We add about 5 different grains and 12 different peas, pulses and beans to ragi along with dry fruits, soak and sprout them, dry them, dry roast them, all separately mind you! and finally mix them together and create the powder. I call it ‘my secret weapon to PBs’, ‘The magic potion’ which helped me power my way through the Bengaluru roads and achieve my PBs in every training run that I ran this season. Even Getafix and Snape are both very happy with my secret potion J J J.

All the attention to teeny weeny details that I paid helped me get stronger and I was running quite easily in all the areas where I used to struggle before. The ups and the elevations that I used to dread became easy and I was able to run faster and farther than before. This paid high dividends to me and I was able to do the distances in lesser time. I enjoyed the heat training and got a PB in pipeline 16k run. Enjoyed the run in Stone hill and got a PB there too. Enjoyed the Bylakere run where Jyothi and me did an easy run but had an enjoyable time talking nineteen to a dozen. Had a fantastic and strong run in Decathlon too and stuck gold with my 10K and 14k timings again!

For me the target run is just a clog in the wheel of training and running as a lifetime habit. The TCS run was a walk in the park compared to all the training runs that we has done through the summer in the heat. The start was a bit crowded and we had to walk the first 300 mts, from the start point up to the gate, where there is a slight elevation and this was expected. The RH support crew was astounding and really loud. I looked out for the RH support at each point that Santhosh had mentioned in the mail and crossed over each time to high five them, a few seconds lost be damned!. They called out my name each time which gave me such an adrenaline rush which would take me to the next pit stop easily. RH rocked on that day. No other group had these many supporters. But the last 300 mts, from the left turn that we take from Cubbon Park at Hudson Circle, to the finish point, was so crowded that I could not sprint even though I had a lot of strength left in me to sprint. This was most disappointing. I could only run slowly and especially the last 100 mts was so crowded, with all the runners finishing at the same time, that I had to walk those last 100 mts and past the finish mat. Note to self: try to become a sub 70 or sub 65 finisher by next year so that you finish earlier with lesser people and may have a chance to sprint the last 100 mts JJ.

The icing on the cake that day was my daughter doing the Majja run in support of an NGO called VAANI and it was her first fund raising effort. It was wonderful to see her run and finish so well.

Those who have seen me 4 years ago will remember that I could not even run 50 mts. RH and its coaches and physios have made me achieve so much in the last 4 years. Running has brought about so many changes in so many other spheres of my life. If you pay attention to one aspect of life, giving time to yourself and your own growth, the discipline and dedication that it brings about in you improves you in many other spheres of life also. 

In conclusion, despite sounding like the slides of Santhosh’s intro session all I can say to all the newbies is (1) Stick to the schedule (2) Maintain 100% attendance (3) Do all the things that is told  in teh intro session, by respective BG coaches, physios, in FAQs and RH website diligently including the ones mentioned in the looong emails J (4) have faith in the process (5) success will soon follow.

Happy Running and Happy Staying Fit!!!

Cheers to all!!!!!

AUROVILLE MARATHON : February 10, 2013

Distance: 10 km

Time : 1hr : 24mins : 53 secs

It all comes down to that moment in time when it  it does not matter who you are, what you have done or where you have come from or where you are going. You are just in the purity of the moment and just being there. It comes down to experiencing that joy, which I feel is the best form of gratitude and appreciation, at just being there for no rhyme or reason.

On Sunday it was all down to that for me. The training period was so full of ups and downs that the run day was actually quite, calm, relaxed, blissful and  peaceful and quite an anti climax  as compared to all the drama and happenings in the past three months.

I has started the season with a severe pain in my knees and right shin. For several weeks during my training period, I ran with the pain and came back to pain at home. The coaches and the physios (thank and bless both of them) helped me with exercises and tips on how to manage the pain.

We had a set back in my family due to my husband's aunt's demise. After that  I had to rush to Mysore due to my father's hospitalisation and subsequently had to stay back after his unfortunate demise. I missed many training sessions and runs during this period.  But getting back into training helped me to regain focus and also to come back on track. It helped me to not get swept off by emotions but gain some semblance of normalcy over myself. It helped me cope with everything that was going on around me.

I came back to Bangalore and started training and amazingly most of my pain in the knee just vanished. I was feeling better and running stronger with almost no pain at all. It was no short of a miracle and in the famous words of Paulo Coelho it was as if the whole universe was conspiring to help me to run. I felt very positive and said the same to Santhosh and he just shook my hands. I felt on top of this world.

On Thursday, two days before we were supposed to leave for Pondi, I came down with a severe bout of food poisoning caused by the late night dinner the previous night at my favorite north Indian restaurant. All the paneer thikhas masala and roti subjis came out both ways in full watery style again and again. But somehow, I was confident that this will pass and I will be fit the next day. I remembered Samantha Fox's old song "Nothings gonna stop me now".

It was a herculean task to organise a road trip for 100 absolutely insane runners and two very brave hearts took up this daunting task courageously and accomplished it with clock work precision and absolute finesse. The trip to Pondicherry itself was one big party. The bus ride was full of singing, dancing, laughter and enjoyment. After we landed at Pondicherry, we did a little bit of sight seing after lunch and then set out to have the pre race night pasta dinner. It was very tasty and we returned back and crashed early to be up and awake early the next day. 

On the race day, when the whole world was fast asleep, it was a glorious sight to see 100 odd very excited people at 4.30 in the morning very chatty and chirpy.  We all went to the Marathon starting area where the full marathoners had already started running. The half marathoners started their run to loud sheering. We had a wonderful warm up session with music and it was great to shake our hands and legs to 'I gotta feeling, tonight's gonna be a good night'. We were joined by Chief himself which filled us all with a sense of well being and a warm feeling.  

The run was just normal and just like any other training day. I did not actually do or feel anything extraordinary or new. The trail was beautiful and the weather was cloudy and a bit humid. I met a few runners from Bangalore whom I had met on the Bangalore Ultra run and we caught up with each other and exchanged tit bits about our training and other sundry topics. We drank a lot of water and electrolyte and ate a few chikkis. I finished strong and did my personal best time of 1 hr and 24 mins 53 secs. 

I immediately joined Padma who was cheering the runners and started yelling, screaming and shouting and cheering all the runners. We were joined by more runners and we formed a cheering squad and danced to the drum beats. We continued cheering for the next two hours non stop and shouted ourselves hoarse. We cheered almost all the RH runners except Karthik and Sharath. We had to go to have our breakfast as we were told the buses might leave. The return journey in the bus to Bangalore was even more riotous with a lot of games, leg pulling and friendly banter. 

What running has helped me achieve is that sense of freedom being on the trail and running as best as I can or as best as I want to on that given day. That sense of letting myself go and that feeling of lightness that comes with it is what I have discovered. I finally feel that I have arrived and that I have found something. I never knew that I was looking for this or that I was in need of this till I realised that this is what I always wanted to do but did not know about it. So running for me has begun to go way deeper. 

So here's to many many more years of running and improving every day and taking great joy and pleasure in each small victory and each new discovery. here's to many many more moments of euphoria and delirium and pure vivacity and pure bliss.

Week 9 - Jan 14 to Jan 20

By this Monday, it was a week since the demise of my father and due to the passage of time it was easier to cope. Since we were crowded around with relatives and well wishers who were more than willing to share the burden with us, offer us encouragement and advice on how to proceed with the ceremonies and what needed to be done, it became that much more easier. Those who had already made the journey gave us solid comfort and were a great source of support and strength. It was a very refining and enriching experience to see that we mattered to so many people and that so many people really cared. I will be forever indebted and thankful to each and everyone and this period of my life will be deeply entrenched into the recesses of my memories. 

My sister and I continued to run together this week also. We did a 30 minute run on both Tuesday and Wednesday at the Jayalakshmipuram Park followed by the stretches and foot drills. This week I had severe pain in my knees, especially the left knee and also my foot. Both the days, I ran less and walked more and felt very tired. I do not know whether it was due to the mental state I was in or whether the fatigue was real. But I did keep up the stretches and the drills. Maybe I was experiencing more pain due to the fact that I was not icing my legs.

That week's Saturday run was planned to be the longest run of the season of 12 km. I missed running that run as I got deterred by the pain in my legs. But on Sunday I thought that I must not give up now. I have come this far into the training and I have run in the past two weeks through the most difficult periods. I must not stop now. Keeping aside all gloomy thoughts I just wore my running shoes and set out to run with my sister. We ran around the Lake 'Kukkanahalli Kere'. Its about 0.6 km from our house to the lake and its a   4 km route around the lake. So we covered 5.6 km that day. We sprinted the last 400 mts for good measure  and walked back home to gulp some yummy tender coconut 

and do our stretches, foot drills and Yoga. 

Week 10 - Jan 21 to Jan 27

By this week all the ceremonies were over. My sister left to the US. I could not run on Tuesday and Wednesday as I had some official work to complete for my mother's pension. I got back to Bangalore on Thursday. It felt good to be back to routine and normal life. I was all set to get back to running and was eagerly waiting for the Saturday run.

Santosh had formed buddy groups at the beginning of the training season  of runners with similar goals to finish strong. Eighteen of us who were put together called our Buddy Group 'Awesome Finishers'. During the past weeks we had all planned to get a T shirt made for our group. Mandhar took the lead to find a Printer, Bipra gave a cool design to the T shirt and the entire group chose a beautiful blue colour. The T shirt was delivered on Saturday.

The Saturday run was planned by the Ananya kids in aid of the children of Snehadaan Children's Home called 'Run Along Friend'. We had to run 6 km. It was a very chilly and foggy typically Bangalore winter morning and I felt exhilarated to be back. The Ananya kids had done a great job in organising the run and we had a very good run. After the run there was some music going on and a few of the boys were dancing beautifully. I joined them along with Rashmi and others and we went wild dancing with the boys. It felt really good to dance with young boys after a long time. As it was the Republic day, we had flag hoisting after the run and a wonderful cultural program by the children. The children had arranged breakfast for us and we distributed our buddy group T shirts decided to wear it the next day and show off in front of the whole community. 

The Sunday run was at IIMB and our entire buddy group turned up with our T shirts. We were the envy of the whole community and everyone admired our t shirt. We all felt really awesome and unique and special. We had a short warm up and form exercises. After which we did a 3 km run. I had a little difficulty in running and walked half the distance. I was among the last few to finish to great cheering and clapping from the entire group. It felt really nice and to be back and running and I felt that I am ready to run the distance of 10km. It does not matter if I have to walk or crawl, but I can do it. 

Week 7 - Dec 31 to Jan 6

Week 7 started normally like all new weeks. Monday or the rest day was the December 31st and we had a blast of a New year party to ring in the new year. After a night of partying, dancing and making merry, the next day morning, I did not do the Tuesday short run as I had a very valid excuse :) that I had partied hard last night, it was the New Year and blah blah blah, bluh, bluh, bluh. But added to all this, I had developed severe pain in my legs due to dancing and wanted to rest and added to that, after many days the hubby adn the kids were at home on a holiday and wanted to spend a lazy holiday with them at home.

The Wednesday quality workout (killer workout!) was the 400 mts strides. We are divided into groups according to our running pace and we all run as a group for 400 mts, wait for the last person to catch up, give that person 100 counts to catch her breath and then all run again at the fastest speed possible. So the person who reaches the group last, which is always invariably me :(, always gets to rest the least.  Our coaches really pushed us a lot and we all gave it our best shot and ran our hearts out. We had to do 8 laps. After the 7th lap our group was the last and we all started chatting and lost count of time. Santosh came in search of us and we ran like kindergarten kids who have been caught red handed and running away from their teachers. It was the most hilarious moment and we all laughed our heads off. Santosh really pushed me to run the last lap and not give up and start walking. But for his urging and encouragement, I am sure I would not have run the last lap but would have walked it through. 

I developed severe pain in my knee and shins after the run and iced my leg after coming home. I did the exercises given by the physios all through the day in the office.

My exercise week was cut short by the hospitalization of my father on Thursday. I had to rush to Mysore to be with my mother and father. He needed to be given blood and I got hundreds of calls from the running community and friends all over the globe through my message on facebook. It was overwhelming to see so many people responding and reaching to me. So many strangers came to give blood, to drop donors at the blood bank etc. An auto driver heard me speaking to people over the phone explaining my need and soliciting blood of AB+ and he organised for two of his rickshaw driver friends who had that blood group type to come and donate blood. 

Week 8 - Jan 7 to Jan 13

But alas! none of the efforts could save my father and he passed away on Monday, 7th January. It was a very sensitive moment for our family and all our friends and relatives reached out to us and helped us in many ways which enabled us to get the immediate formalities done and also helped us to get over our grief. Our house was filled with people from morning to night and not once did we feel that we were alone. Not once did we have a moment to feel helpless or hopeless.

On Tuesday I felt that at this time it was important for me to focus. Focus on the positives that I have in my life. I have many reasons to smile. I have many reasons to be thankful for. No matter how sad I am or how dejected I am, every opportunity to live, persevere and succeed are within my reach. I cannot let the darkness that threatens to engulf me to overpower me as I have to be strong for my sisters and my mother. Just when these thoughts were going on in my head, Santhosh called me and as I was talking to him I decided then and there that I will start running. maybe I will not be able to run or maybe I will tire out. But, I will just put on my running shoes and track pants and just go out to the park. Thankfully for me, maybe the whole universe was conspiring to ensure that I do not miss my runs for too long, I had worn my running shoes to come to Mysore as my feet were paining a lot and wearing my running shoes made the pain bearable and less. 

Since I had my running shoes and the blessings of Santosh, I went out to the Jayalakshmipuram park on Wednesday and ran for 30 minutes. My feet were aching a lot and there was some clicking sounds in my knees. I was tiring out too much and added to all this my phone did not have good songs and I had to switch to FM radio. I am not much of a music listener during my runs as I like all the noise around me and like to listen to the natural sounds going on rather than blocking it all out with loud music playing in my ears. So it was a first for me to run with music.  But it felt good to at least get out of the house and do something normal and routine again.

On Saturday, we were scheduled to run 7 km as a group.  My sister, who had come down from US and who is a half marathoner ran with me. She had tried to migrate to Vibram and had injured her calf and was on a long lay over and recovering. Despite all that she is in good form. We both decided to run around the beautiful lake called 'Kukkanahalli Kere' outside the Mysore University campus. The serene lake is home to many migratory birds during the months of September to December. So we did not get to see many birds of the feathered kind except for a few cranes. We also missed the sun rise by a few minutes as we had started late. But we were able to do the 7 km and my sister whose pace is faster than mine ran at my pace and gave me company throughout. Wee came back home and did the stretches and foot drills. She taught me a few yoga poses of the Bikram Yoga school which she practices regularly. Our one year old nephew gave us comic relief by crawling under us and climbing over us and giving us much needed cheer, joy and laughter by just being cute and cuddly.

On Sunday, we both ran at the Jayalakshmipuram park. It was a short recovery run of 30 mins and we came back home to  complete our stretches and foot drills. 

It was a week of great learning where I learnt that there there is nothing more to be done after all that is done. We have to just move on and move forward. Once we decide to do what needs to be done, the rest is just doing it. It is all in the mine, really! They say Kaya, Vaacha, Manasa has to be aligned. I say, let eh Manasa alignment happen, Kaaya and Vaacha are just corollaries that simply follow.   

Auroville Marathon Training Program : Week 6

December 24 - December 30, 2012

Up to the 5th week of our training for the Auroville 10 km run, I was suffering with severe pains in my knees. Especially the left knee was very painfully. The stiffness of my knees was so severe that I could not squat on the floor with the knees folded. I could only run very slowly with a few walk breaks in between. Also, the knees stiffen and tighten and it used to be difficult to climb stairs and generally walk.

I have come to believe that we are always able to run come what may. Irrespective of how we feel both physically and mentally, once we start running, we are able to run and finish the distance, no matter what. Its only later that the recovery is hard. The pains start to surface and the muscles stiffen and tighten. 

But, this week has turned out to be the miracle week! I must have done some things right. I followed the icing advice given by the coaches and the physios, used the foam roller, though only sparingly which has helped. Especially, icing the knees or the injured areas after the run for about three to four times a day on the rest days is the best possible solution for all aches and injuries. 

Consequently, I was able to run with a lot more ease this week and also the pains in my knees have all but disappeared. My knees are still stiff and I still am not able to completely fold my knees to do the cooling yoga posture or sit with folded knees. But it is much better than what it was for the past 5 weeks.

The week began with the arrival of Santosh's mail. I did the Tuesday run in a park close to our house along with Meena and her kids. Little Sirish who is 10 yrs old and Tanvi who is 13 yrs old. It was great fun to run with them and then to do the stretches and the drills amidst their continuous chattering and ribbing each other.  I hope that we can form this into a group this and do our Tuesday runs and Friday yoga on a regular basis as a group. It will be fun and also it will help us to be regular and not miss a single aession.

The Wednesday running was in Cubbon park and me and my daughter went thirty minutes early and completed our run and stretches ahead of the group and left so that she could catch the bus to her college.

Bangalore is a city with salubrious climate throughout the year. The weather is perfect for us to run any distance and we never get tired, dehydrated or suffer from a heat stroke or sun stroke ever, But on the flip side, since we are so used to running in this beautiful weather, Bangaloreans who run in other hotter cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai or Delhi occasionally suffer due to the heat. Since we are all preparing for the Auroville marathon in Pondicherry which is again situated by the sea side and is a very hot town our coach Santosh had planned to train give us some 'heat-training' and had planned the Saturday to start at 7:00 am.

We al hoped that the sun would come out by 7 am at the very least and we would get some much needed 'run out in the sun'. But much to Santosh's dismay and to our amusement, Saturday remained a fully cloudy day with even a little bit of light drizzle towards the afternoon and the evening. The run took place on a beautiful and quite road off Kanakpura road. It was an eight km stretch and has a few inclines which are not very steep and are fairly gentle slopes. The run was very exhilarating with a lot of chatter and friendly banter among our girl gang. The stretch is a bit lonely and there are a few rowdy elements who pass comments and tease the girls. So, we were very thankful to Santosh for going up and down the road on his scooter to keep a watchful eye on us and to look out for our safety and well being. After the run, our buddy group went for a hot breakfast to Adigas.

The Sunday recovery run was in Cubbon park. We did the warm up and the form drills. After that we did a short run of 4 km. We had the core training session and it was a very tough and strenuous session. As our coach Chandra wanted it to be intense, she gave us just 10 sec break between two exercise and due to my earlier sedentary avatar, none of my muscles are strong and hence they cried and screamed on being awakened after such a long slumber.

There are many things that keeps me going in this runner's group like the camaraderie, the friendships and the buddies and community feeling. Looking forward to the next week and more fun and enjoyment.

Auroville Marathon Training : Week 5

December 17 to December 23

Sambandh Run
@ Mallehswaram
on December 16

After being in training and running long distances (by my standards) like 7 km and 8 km and with good pace and longer strides than what I have been used to so far, I had started developing pain in my left knee by the second week itself. The pain was so severe that I could not climb stairs and even to this day I cannot bend my knees. I can no longer sit in the Indian lotus position. Also, after the long run on Saturday and the recovery run on Sunday, when I go to the office on Monday, sitting at my desk  for a prolonged period of time used to stiffen my body in that posture with the legs feeling like two blocks of lead.

I spoke to our coaches and physios about this and they gave me a set of exercises that I can do even when I am sitting at my desk in the office and also advised me to ice my knees 3 to 4 times on the days of the run. I have been following their advice regularly and the icing really helps. It helps to reduce the stiffness of the knees and the recovery is hastened. The stretches that we are advised to do after the run and the foot drills also help in the recovery process and I have noticed that the days that I skip these are the days when the stiffness is more and the days that I follow the routine are the days when I feel much more relaxed and agile.

Apsara and Tanvi
@ Sambandh Run

On the flip side, I have started noticing that my lungs have started working better. I might have left more than 50% of my lungs unused during my couch potato days. But now I am beginning to realise that slowly the lungs are opening up and their efficiency is increasing. The other improvement that I have noticed is that my muscles might be getting strengthened as I am able to run longer distances before I have to slow down and walk a bit to catch my breath and give my muscles a short rest. Running also leaves a tremendous impact psychologically. The mind feels refreshed and the heart feels a sense of having done something. I suppose that this sense of well being felt is known as the Runner’s High. In the end I suppose it is different strokes for different folks. Each individual’s experiences are different.

The week 5 again began with the arrival of Santosh’s mail. It was very exciting to see what he had lined up for us for Saturday and Sunday.  Monday was the day of rest and I completed my Tuesday short run of 30 mins around the storm water drain. The Tuesday runs have become very important to improve my endurance and stamina as it is followed by the Intense Wednesday workout which develops our strength.

Sambandh Run to create
awareness of the needs of
children with special needs

On Wednesday, my daughter and I reached Cubbon park at 5.30 and did our warm up runs. The rest of the folks started arriving early as there was a 10 minute session of Pranaayaam that was scheduled before the run. But we two were not able to attend the pranaayaam as we had to finish our runs and she had to catch a bus to her college by 6.45. Coach Srini hwlped us to do our drills and after the drills we both completed our 8 laps of strides and stretches and left.

The Wednesdays are very tough as I have to go to the office after the run. I developed severe pain in the knee. I did continuous icing and also did the foot drills at home. The pain was most when I climbed stairs and even on Thursday the stiffness of the thighs and the knees continued. Despite continuous icing, it was only on Friday that the pain in the knee reduced but did not disappear completely.

Saturday was the long run. This week it happened at Decathlon, Sarjapur Road. This time we had to run 10Km. It was a different route that we had to take. The weather was perfect. Chilly Bangalore winter morning with thick fog.   The temperature was 12.5 deg C when we started from home. I usually start running with a jacket and a cap to protect myself from the chill as I have low tolerance for chill and winds and catch a cold very easily. After I am nicely warmed up, I remove my jacket and tie it around my waist. But as we were running in the open with no houses, buildings or trees to act as screens and shelter us against the cold breeze. After I was warmed up and removed my jacket, I regretted each time I ran through open space.

The trail was very soft mud with patches of tarred roads and the run was easy. My had a slight niggling pain in my knee and the right shin. There were a few ups where the running was tough and I had to walk. I completed the distance in 92 mins which is consistent with my time trail of 9.13 mins / km. I was in enormous pain after I came home. My knees hurt a lot and I iced my knees twice. I tried to massage my legs using the foam roller, but it was very difficult and painful. I could not continue the foam roller exercise.

IIMB on a cold foggy morning.
Pic courtesy Apsara Ashok

On Sunday, we had the run at IIMB. It was a short run for the recovery after the long run. We started with a short warm up and then did the foot drills. The morning was chills and there was a mist. Since the foot drills are in the open football field, it was all the more cold. But we had a lot of fun dong the drills as there are some comics among our midst who make each and everything that we do fun. After that we continued with our run of 3 kms. It was fun to run along side coach Ajay and we chatted about my school and the work that we do. We had core training where coach Chandra and coach Srini V. made us do specific exercises to strengthen our glute muscles. Finally we had a cool down session with pranayam and a couple of yoga asanas.

It was one more week of fun and frolick at training Its so much fun to run with friends that I find it least difficult to wake up at unearthly hours. Sharing a cup of tea with friends is also the most calming experience that there is on earth. The mindless babbling that I subjugate all my friends to and the continues blabbering during the car rides and finally sharing of my experiences with anyone who listens to me and who have been patiently reading through my blogs, all this support that I have been getting by family, friends and colleagues had really made this an enriching experience and a very enjoyable journey where the goal finally does not matter at all.

Auroville Marathon Training Program : Week 2

November 26 to December 2

This was the most fulfilling week and a week of great learning for me. The week began with the arrival of Santosh's mail on Monday morning. As soon as I got the mail, I read through it and saw that the run for Sunday was scheduled to be a charity run which we will be running in aid of the children who are affected by HIV aids, of the Sneha Care Home. The run was a training cum fund raising event for these children. Earlier the previous Sunday, Santosh had asked me if I can get the children of JGRV school (www.jgrvidyalaya.weebly.com) to run in this event and I had told him yes, as I am a 'yes person' and say yes without thinking about the why, how, where, when etc.

 I spoke to our P E master and he asked the children of the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Std if they wanted to run. I had 25 children in mind and we got an overwhelming 44 children who gave their names. I sent the list to Santosh and appealed to my friends in the Runner's High community if they would support the children's registrations. Within hours of my mail, all the 44 children got sponsorships and Santosh magnanimously offered to pay for the transportation. We even got a runner who offered to buy the children breakfast. 

All this was too good to be true and I realised Paulo Coelho's famous quote that if you really desire something,  the whole world conspires to help you. In this case I had just wished that the JGRV school children get an opportunity to run along with the Runner's High community and the Ananya children and the entire Runner's High community joined hands and made it happen!

The first day of the week, Monday is a rest day and the next day, Tuesday is the short run of 25 minutes on our own. I usually drop my younger daughter at her bus stop and run around the storm water drain. After my second loop, I meet Rashmi and her cute daughter Ruthu and we spend time chatting as I do my stretches. 

I had planned the Wednesday session with Santosh such that me and my elder daughter go to Cubbon early and we start our warm up at 5.30 am itself. Coach George was there as ever marking the routes for the runners. We started our warm up and he guided us through the drills. After the drills, I was able to do my Time Trial that I had missed the previous Wednesday and I did the 3.2 km in 30min19sec. I dropped my daughter to the Shivajinagar bus stand from where she catches the bus to her college and came home. 

The Saturday run was at Cubbon Park and we had to run a distance of 7.5 km. I was quite satisfied with the way I ran and I was slowly able to run longer and longer distances without having to stop and walk. Even though my pace is still slow and I am usually the last person running once the whole pack runs ahead, personally I was getting better. My strides were longer, my lungs were supporting me more and not threatening to burst and I was running at a steady pace for longer distances and the walk breaks that i require are also shorter and I am able to catch my breath and recover faster than earlier. These are all personal mile stones that I crossed which gave me confidence. All the fellow runners from the Runner's High community who had committed themselves to supporting the JGRV school children's participation in the next day's run, true to their word, handed over the amounts that they had committed themselves to. 

The Sunday was the most memorable day. Anupama and Subhashini joined the JGRV bus along with Anupama's daughter and my daughters. We drove to Decathlon, Sarjapur, with a bus load of highly energetic children who were very excited by this outing, amidst loud singing and chattering. Just before we reached Decathlon, we instructed the children to stick together and run together and not leave the pack. That advice turned out to be the wrong advice as there were prizes to be won at the end of the 5 km run which I did not know about. If we had allowed our JGRV children to run to their potential, who knows, they might have run a few trophies. Lesson learnt. 

Once we arriver at Decathlon, the place was buzzing with activity and energy. The registrations were completed with quick efficiency as the organisers had organised several counters and we were all given our bibs. The race set off after a short oath taking ceremony by all the participants in support of HIV affected children. 

The runners set off nice and strong. Santosh had asked the Ananya kids to guide our JGRV kids. I though that it was a very nice gesture on the part of the Ananya kids. If they had decided to run at their pace, they would have all won the trophies, but instead they decided to support the JGRV kids which was a highly commendable gesture. We were guided through the traffic by traffic wardens and pretty soon we had passed the main roads and were running through village lanes. We passed by many small and quaint temples through the route and arrived at the first aid station that was manned by the Sneha Care Home kids with great efficiency looking bright in their green uniforms. They greeted us in a very friendly way and were smart in distributing the water glasses. Santosh came riding on his cycle to check on the progress.

We later ran through the Shining Star School to loud cheering by the children who had lined up on either sides of the road and were cheering all the runners. We then ran through Sneha Care Home and even here there were children lined up on both sides of the route with glasses of water in their hands. Their continuous cheering infused fresh energy into my legs.

We had to run the last part with some amount of heat and sun and the route had a slight gradient. After the previous day's 7 km run I had developed a slight pain in my left knee and the heat was making each and every step difficult. As we reached the main road, we were again greeted by volunteers and traffic wardens who cheered us along and helped us to finish with flourish.

Our JGRV kids had run very fast and had reached the destination quite a while ago and even they cheered me as I entered Decathlon. They were all thrilled to receive certificates from the organisers. As we started our way back to Kalyan Nagar in the bus, they all expressed their desire to run again and they wanted to know if they will have more opportunities like this in the future. Finally, they were treated to a sumptuous and yummylicious breakfast of hot hot Poori Saagu and searing Masala Dosa (thanks to the donor who does not want to be named) at Srinidhi Upachaar and they ate like little princes and princesses which they deserved and had earned it as a right as they had all run in aid of other children.

Auroville Marathon Training Program - Intro session

November 18

We completed the Bangalore Ultra on November 11. We provided the feedback about our training program. We also wrote some stories and read all the stories written by the running community about the training program, the Ultra run itself, what worked for them, what did not work for them, what memories will remain etched in their hearts and the inspiration.

The week was a week of relaxation and also of basking in the shining glory of having completed our task and having achieved our goals. The most significant feeling was that it is not some reflected glory but its your own achievement that has been earned through one's own sweat and blood. Ok.. ok.. I know that I am being a bit over dramatic but that was the feelign that prevailed throughout the week.

The intro session for the Auroville training program was scheduled for the coming Sunday, November 18. My neighbour and our driver who ferries us to and from each training session apart from training himself for the half marathon, had left for Japan to learn to speak more Japanese than moshi moshi and sayonara.:). Of course not, he has gone on work. But that sounds boring. Going to Japan to learn to speak Japanese sounds more interesting :)

I was the driver for the next two weeks. I packed my car with Rashmi, my friend Meena and her children adn my two daughters and we all went to Cubbon park. As we had arrived a few minutes early, there were only a few coaches and a half a dozen odd people. But as the seconds were passing by more and more people kept pouring in and phew! I will not be exaggerating if I say that there were more than two hundred people who had registered. And I will not be wrong if I say that at least half the faces were new faces.

The session was full of humour, friendly bantering and congratulating each other on the Ultra run. Subhashini was the star among the women for having come first in the 10K run in her category. Santosh then started with a brief introduction about Runner's High and a short overview of the Auroville marathon training program and how the entire program will be spread and how the sessions will be each week. Even though I had heard it before, it certainly felt new and like I was hearing it for the first time.

The highlight of the session was the novel method adopted by Santosh to introduce the coaches. He introduced the first coach and then he made each of them introduce the next coach. This added an element of freshness and also gave us an opportunity to hear all of them as we usually do not get to hear all of them speaking but only get to know the coaches whom we interact with directly.

Santosh asked the newcomers to run two rounds around the Queen's park. The pain in my left shin and left knee that I had developed during my Ultra run had reduced considerably to the extent of having disappeared. Even though I did not have to run, I ran the two rounds to check if the pain would return back. It did return back with such a short run. We have two guardian angels and miracle workers in the Runner's High community. If Santosh forms the foundation and the coaches are the pillars then these two form the roof or the protective umbrella like cover to the community. They are the physios or the physiotherapists. They patiently hear each and every runner's complaints and give a set of dos and donts and exercises. If followed carefully and diligently, the pains disappear and we emerge stronger. That is how it worked with me also and by next week I was as good as new.

Armed with new confidence and a general sense of well being I was eagerly looking forward to beginning the new training season and a new chapter.

The Week After the Bangalore Ultra

November 12 - November 17

During the week after the Bangalore Ultra run,  I was on an absolute high after having soaked in the feeling of having achieved something that I would not even have dreamed about seven weeks ago. If someone had come and told me on October 24th that I would be participating in a 12.5 marathon run, I would have rolled on the ground and laughed. In fact I had even made fun of Pani, Rashmi and Anupama during their preparations for the KTM.

But, here I was, having joined the same bandwagon lock stock and barrel, I had come to realise what it was that kept them going and what motivated them to wake up at unearthly hours and go to unheard of places and run crazy distances. It was the high that you experience and the sense of achievement that you feel, as though you are right on top of the world and there since you have done this, there is nothing that you cannot do if you set your heart towards it.

We received a mail from head coach Santosh asking us to share our stories about our run and the general training program. That started an avalanche of stories written by the runners each of which was a beautiful read by itself. Stories of perseverance and endurance by some and sheer grit and determination by some. Stories of sheer enjoyment by some and of lessons learnt and personal milestones achieved. Each story, written from the heart touched a chord and have all stayed with me and have become a source of inspiration. Each story was also a piece of literature in itself to be preserved and categorized among the classics. I am sure that at any point in time if I feel low, I need to just go back them and they will provide me with the impetus to move on.

We also received a feedback form asking us to give our feedback. I felt that this was a really not needed because, hey! come on! after the adrenaline in the blood stream due to the 12.5 run and the rush in the head, what feedback can we give? Of course it was all good. But these folks are really serious about receiving their feedbacks and the form has also been designed very meticulously with each and every aspect of the training sessions covered with specific queries which we had to answer and rate. I filled it immediately and sent it even though there was a reminder after a couple of days to the entire group asking for those who did not send it to send it immediately. I told you, its not taken lightly ... these guys are serious about it :)

It was a no-brainer really whether I would register for the next season of training. I was just waiting for the mail from Santosh inviting us to the next training session for the Auroville marathon, I registered immediately. My daughter had got inspired by my run at the Bangalore Ultra and she also wanted to register. Because of her college there were some schedule issues and logistics issues. Once I chatted about it with Santosh, he was quite supportive and welcomed her into the program and also gave very simple solutions on how to go about overcoming the challenges. I also invited my friend to register and she not only registered herself, but her children also joined along.

So here I am.... on my way to another season of glorious running, Yes, finally I feel that I am runner !!!!

Process Runner : Week 6

Oct 29 - Nov 5, 2012

After the mock run on Sunday, I was completely exhausted and it took me a whole day of just lying on the bed to recover and to be able to go to the office the next Monday. Santosh's mail arrived in the afternoon listing out the program for the week and contained some interesting articles and trivia.

I did my Tuesday tempo run alone in the morning. I had to run for 25 minutes and I did three lops around the storm water drain. I had to do 4 strides of 100m each. Just as I completed two, I bumped into a friend and had to rush back home as it was getting late to go to the office.

Our Wednesday run was at Cubbon Park and we had the delayed relays scheduled for us. Santosh and Chandra were the coaches for the day. The runners of RH attend the Wednesday training sessions at any one of the three venues Cubbon park, Agara and Jaynagar to reduce the distance they need to travel as it is a working day. Santosh divides his times between  the three venues. All the coaches put in a lot of effort to not only train the new comers like me but they also keep track of the progress of the different levels that each runner is in however accomplished or seasoned they are. They keep changing the patterns to suit the needs and requirements of each one of us depending on our levels of fitness.

On Wednesday as I got up at 4 am to got ready, it was raining heavily. Anu called me asking if I was coming and then Rashmi messaged me saying that we will go for the run even though it is raining.

The delayed run is another killer Wedneday work out that not only takes us directly to hell, but also deep fries us and throws us into boiling water :) !. It was drizzling, but, that does not stop this group from running. On the contrary, they all love running in the rain.

Again we are divided into groups according to our paces and the first runner of each group sets out. The second runner starts after 10 seconds and tries to catch up with the first runner. The third runner next and so on and so forth. I started well as I was the first runner. We had to do eight loops of 200 mts each. We stop at the first 100 mt point and wait for al the runners to join us which gives us about 15 seconds of rest and then we start again. After about 2 rounds I started panting and needed more time to recover. Finally Santosh asked our group to stop after 7 rounds and I was actually disappointed that he did not allow us to do the last. I felt like a school girl whom the teacher had scolded and  given the tougher job to the other student. :)

The Saturday run was again at Cubbon park. We had to run 8 kms and do two loops of 4 km each around the park. Cubbon park is the most beautiful location for a run. We Bangaloreans are blessed with beautiful weather throughout the year that is most conducive for running. Many runners often share their experiences of running in hotter cities like Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.

The sun rays streaming through the trees was a sight to behold as we were running. The dogs in the park are used to the runners and more importantly, the runners are used to the dogs. We get to see parrots, mynahs, pigeons and other birds through the running course. I was happy that I ran without stopping for a long distance before starting to walk. I maintained a steady pace and kept up a good time. I must run longer distances before starting to walk because the first course is always the easiest. Once you stop and start walking, then it becomes more and more difficult to run even 100 mts  or even more than 10 paces.

Te, Sunday run at IIMB was very beautiful. We had to run a  distance of 4 km and then we had the core training session. We started with a quick warm up of 1.2 km and then we did the form exercises. After that was the 4 km run. I started with Seema and Shuba. But Seema raced ahead and me and Shuba continued at a steady pace with a few paces of walk thrown in between to catch our breaths. Shuba is on a come back from an injury and she suffers from knee pain. When we were at the 3 km mark, we saw a crowd around fellow runner Padma who had felt giddy due to sudden low sugar and thank fully has sat down by the road side. Rashmi and others ran to the aid station to get her water and coach Santosh came running with chikkis (very tasty and crispy Indian sweet made out of peanuts and jaggery (tradiitonal unrefined whole cane sugar)). He advised us to continue running as he realised that we had all crowded which was not very helpful. So we all continued our last 1 km and completed our run on high spirits.

We then had a session of core strengthening exercises with Chandra. They help us to improve the strength of our core muscles, prevent injury and improve our running stability and efficiency. So strengthnin our core is the sure way to become fitter and faster.

As it was the last Sunday of training before the Bangalore Ultra Marathon, Santosh had planned a small award giving ceremony. It was a moment to recognise all the newcomers who had put in a lot of effort, shown great commitment and  improved significantly during the six weeks of training. I was pleasantly surprised and very happy to get recognised for my regularity in using the runner's log and through this I hope all runner's will realise the benefit of the runner's log created by Vinay and Santosh.  

Rashmi had got coffee for everyone and I had prepared Tea. Santosh and coach Sourav (who is also a professor at IIMB) had also organised tea and coffee for everyone. So we ended the days with a hot cup of coffee and a steaming hot cup of tea. I could see a lot of energy and enthusiasm around and felt that happiness is the greatest form of gratitude and I also knew that I would store the memory of this day not in my mind or head but deep down in my heart.

Next Sunday .... November 11, the D-day, the day that I have been training for the last 7 weeks, the Bangalore Ultra Run - 12.5K http://www.bangaloreultra.com/

Process Runner : Week 5

Oct 22 - Oct 28:

A lot of people ask me why I joined this running program. My only reason for joining is to be able to inspire my daughters to take up the healthy way of living. I wanted to motivate them by doing it and showing it and practising what I preach.

By now, after four weeks of being a part of Runner;s High, I had also become used to planning my life around the runs. I didnt want to miss a single run. The week was the week of the Navrathri festival and I had to go to Mysore to visit my father and grand mother at Mysore as both were not well. I set out to Mysore after the Sunday run at  Cubbon park. I drove down with my daughters.

 The weekly mail of Santosh arrived on Sunday afternoon detailing the weekly program. That Tuesday, as I was in Mysore I did not run in the morning as I had to drive back in the afternoon so that I do not miss the Wednesday run. The Wednesday run was at Cubbon park and it was the group fartlek. In this  runners who are of similar paces form groups and do fast sprints for a distance of 4 km . The group does a fast stretch  for 2 minutes and then stop till the last runner joins. The last runner is given just 30 seconds of rest and then the group starts again. If I though the last weeks Train workout was a killer then this was a killer that takes you directly to hell. I struggled to keep up with my group and the runners kept encouraging me all the time and kept egging me on to not give up.

We are supposed to do a short 25 minute cycling or yoga every Friday. But the past four weeks, I have not been doing the Friday workout. I hope that when the next training program starts I'll be able to be regulat with the Friday workout also tha way I have been regular with the Tuesday workout.

That Saturday was a rest day as we had a mock run on Sunday at Kingston County Annexe which is the venue for the Bangalore Ultra Marathon for which we have all been training since the past four weeks. The mock run was organised by the Runner's for Life group who are also the organisers of the Bangalore Ultra Marathon and the Kaveri Trail marathon every year. This year they had organised the Mysore marathon on the very same day as our mock run. Because of this the only runners who turned up for the mock run were from the Runner's High group and we were a good hundred strong team. As the organisers had forgotten to get the marking powder, we had about a 45 minute period when the organisers themselves were doubtful whether the run will actually take place or not as they did not want to risk runner's getting lost as the trails were not marked. But they managed to place volunteers at important points and the run commenced at 7 am.

It was a beautiful trail with a few puddles that we had to avoid and a few stretches with rocks. But all in all it was beautiful as we were running through a forest. To find this place with dense trees just about 12 kms from our house was really a surprise. It would make a very good cycling route also as the approach roads are in excellent condition.

The run itself was very good. I ran a good distance before beginning to walk. As the trail was full of rocks, I struggled a bit. The body refused to cooperate and the muscles began to scream asking me to stop. That's when I faced the inevitable question that every runner comes across at least once during their runs. Why am I doing this? And its also very amusing to see the kind of answers that the mind comes up with. I finished the run in 1 hr 45 mins to loud cheering and clappign by fellow runners.

Here is a link to the trailer released by RFL (Runner's for life) of the Bangalore Ultra Mock Run http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8rANypBiRQ&feature=plcp

After the run we shared tea and had a good chat during the stretches. Rashmi's tasty sandwiches and Anu's tasty akki rotti (rice flour roti) made the day even more memorable. With the mind empty, spirit full and the stomach even fuller up to the brim, there is nothing else that one needs .......

Process Runner : Week 4

Oct 15 - Oct 21:

The fourth week again began with the arrival of the much awaited and anticipated mail on Sunday afternoon from Santosh with the details of the week's running schedule and program. It is always exiting to know the venue of the Saturday and Sunday runs because he keeps changing the venues to keep it interesting and challenging for us and to avoid making the running experience monotonous. Also, it gives us the experience of running on different trails.
Santosh's  mails also contain a lot of information on breathing, recovery, nutrition and hydration and various other tips that are helpful to us in our running. He also sends some inspirational articles and videos and some articles either written by him or from any other source that are relevant to that week's running.

Monday was the day of rest and on Tuesday I had to run 25 minutes and then two 100 mts strides (sprint) with 1 minute walk in between. I could not keep the 3 minutes run and the 1 minute walk intervals. Even though I started with the 3 minute run, after the first loop around the storm water drain, the running started decreasing to 2.5 min, 2 min, 1.5 and then 1 min. The walks started becoming slower and increasing in duration. I ran with Rashmi and quite late at around 6.30 PM.

The Wednesday Cubbon park run was a slightly more difficult run, We had to run 4 km around the park and I struggled to keep up with my fellow runners. I tried walking faster and tried to keep the last of the runners in sight. After one loop around the park we had to run up a small rock right in the middle of the park to gain some experience of hill running. Coach Kanishka was near the rock giving encouragement to all the runners. I ran up the hill with fellow runner Raji who kept encouraging me to run faster. I had to do 2 runs up the rock but unknowing I did 4 runs. After that we had to run three more loops around the jogger's trail. I was exhausted and I was walking more and running less. I kept taking a very long time for each lop and after my second loop which I walked most of the distance, coach Srini coud not see my plight any more and asked me to stop and do the stretches.

The Saturday run was scheduled to take place at the Kanakpura trail. Through the week Pani kept saying that he might not be able to make it to the run as he was working very late everyday. But finally he could not our enthusiasm and excitement and finally made it to the run. Pani, Rashmi, Aseem and I set out early at 5.30 so that we could reach the destination well within time. Again, Kanakpura trail is a long way from our area and it was a good 1 hour drive.

The run commenced at sharp 5.30 am and the long drive was all worth it as the trail is beautiful. We had

 run up to the 3.5 km point and turn back. I started very well and ran a good distance before slowing down and begginning to walk. At the end of the 2 km mark there is a beautiful lake and the entire trail is lined on both the sides with beautiful trees. The villagers have got used to the runners by now. I lost my fellow runners right after the 2 km mark when I started slowing down. Then I met Shubha who is coach George;s wife. We decided to run together. We had a good conversation and discussedabout a lot of things. As we neared the 3.5 mark, we saw a lot of villegers standing near the turning. We decided to avoid them as we didnt know what they were there for. We turned around a few paces ahead. imediately the villagers started cheering us and calling out 'mosa' 'mosa' 'illi tirug bekittu' which means 'cheating, cheating, you were supposed to turn around here' in Kannada. had a good laugh and were laughing about it for quite a long time.

As we were approaching the 5 km water stop, Shubha developed pain in her calf muscles. We met Kaiwan who was manning the aid station and he congratulated us on our pace and said that we were doing very well. Shubha told me that she would walk the rest of the distance. I came back to the beautiful lake and spent a few moments admiring the beauty and the serenity of the place. Even though the trail had a lot of killer ups and downs I was able to run up a few. But the rest, I had to walk them up. But still I tried to maintain a fast pace even during the walk. Al in all, the beauty of the place kept me going and I was able to complete the run in 1 hr and 40 minutes and arrived at the starting to a lot of loud cheering by the fellow runners.

That day, the elite senior runners of the group along with Santosh were doing the 50 km run and it was really very inspiring to see them run.They had started their run at 5.30 itself and finished their run at 10.30. The sheer beauty of seeing a person run those distances and the passion with which they do it is something very commendable. The run ended with very tasty sandwiches that Rashmi had got for all of us and hot steaming coffee and tea from my thermos flask that I had started taking along with me for each run.

The Sunday run was again at Cubbon Park and we had to run 5 km. One round around the park which is 4 kms and 3 rounds around the jogging track. After the Kanakpura run I was totally exhausted and could not run very well. Karthik who is the 8 yr old son of fellow runner Manjunath Rao kept me company throughout the run.His constant chatter and his description of his exploits on the cricket field was very delightful to hear and we both ran together. He kept chasing the pigeons every time we passed them and their flight together made a wondrous sight to behold. Coach Srini joined me during the last 1.5 km of the run and encouraged me to run by timing myself and strictly adhering to the intervals. He told me about maintaining a rhythm, breathing in rhythm, keeping to the timing of 3 minutes run and 1 minute walk and to gradually reduce the length of walks and increase the length of runs.

All in all a very beautiful week of running and discovering ....