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. 

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.