A beautiful run: the Nilgiris Ultra 50k 12 Nov 2016

An electric charge coursed up my spine: running an ultra, in the Nilgiris!?  Wow. I was hooked.

But first things first: last year (2015), from October, I trained hard for the Auroville '16 full marathon. Santhosh (Runner's High Chief) built me a custom schedule and I went all out; not only for the marathon but more, for the all-important JLBR training season 2016!

Well, man proposes...  My aunt Farida Abraham, principal of La Martiniere Girls School, Lucknow, sadly passed on 12 Feb '16. Dilshad and I cancelled our travel. With the timely and fantastic help of RH friends, we ran our runs in Cubbon Park (BIG thanks Srini P, Chandra, Abhi, Vinay- all so kindly there to help us!!).

Come March 2016 and I join my old friends, the amazing JLBRs. I run hard, and well; but… I come up short: by May I drop out (my excuse is work). It still stings, it still hurts. Am simply in awe of their commitment: let me tell you - they are truly incredible. (Not to take away from the others of course!)

Santhosh wisely advises me to listen to myself, to just relax, something will come.  And guess what, about a month later, it indeed does: it seizes me - an electric charge coursed up my spine: running an ultra, in the Nilgiris!? Wow. I was hooked.

In short order, a plan is drawn up, courtesy the good Chief. I have to commit, and train, on my own, on hilly terrain. Not easy but nevertheless- I had after all earned my RH nickname ‘Single Malt’ right!? :-) Dilshad supports me one hundred percent and pushes me when I feel down, as I inevitably do.  

I carefully log my training in great detail; knowing that Santhosh is watching is a great boost (and a scare :)) [As an aside, see Why you need a Running Group and Coach]. At first, it just seems too hard- I do technical corporate training's (go Linux!) and software consulting work for a living; training before or after a whole day of work on my feet is hard. Initially I waver. But, I stick to it and by early August, turn the corner. Hard tempo runs after long on-my-feet workdays become a reality and I find I can do it! I now believe.

Blood, sweat and tears yes?  Yes :-) literally. Cut my thigh (not too much but a little blood, on the infamously big Kanteerava steps one morn). Sweat- obviously.  Tears- ah, some things are best left unsaid :).

“The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle”!

Kanakapura '1' location: 22k with the RH gang!

The Nandi Hills runs

Did my first (for this season) Nandi Hills run on Independence Day. 30 km. Turned out to not be such a good idea- there was some bike relay/race thing going on. From early morning, pretty much all we heard (Dilshad accompanied me, in the car) was the roaring of bikes up and down the hill. That day I could race the cars going up as there was a huge traffic jam on the upper region :) haha. Dilshad patiently tracked my pace and nutrition, noting what I ate and when. Paying attention to what I can eat and when is something I learned to focus on this season.

 

 

On the Monday I had run Nandi 30k, the same week on Sat at 5.30am was the 34k long run at Stonehill with RH. I did feel really fatigued on this run. Mind games - I wanted to stop at a max of 32k and kept telling this to folks I’d talk to; still, somehow forced myself to do the full 34k distance.  Felt good about that. In effect, did 80km that week!

The following Sat we went and ran the half marathon at Hyderabad! Enjoyed it.

Hyderabad AHM, 21k, 28 Aug 2016

 

Then, from now on, the (800m/1600m) intervals were done on the Cox Town flyover near my home. Oh yes, I again got used to lugging my own water, bananas, etc with a backpack. Felt good after a while, and necessary.

A marathon on Pipeline Road

Come Sept 18 and guess what? A full marathon on Pipeline Road is prescribed! Very tough, of course. Dilshad was there the full time, thank God! That was a huge help, mentally. I covered the approximately  4.5 km hilly road 9 to 10 times! 1st lap and 2nd last lap I turned right and did about 2k there.. overall good but I felt quite terrible from about 25k to 35k. Rookie mistake - I think I went out way too fast in the beginning. In fact, at around 34k, I was really hammered; Dilshad walked with me a bit, and later drove beside me blasting music from the car; it lifted my spirits and pace!

 

Pipeline Road, 42k, 18 Sept 2016, with Sheroy & family

My family (parents, kids, aunt) showed up while I did the last 5k or so; that lifted my spirits! My older boy Sheroy ran the last 4-5k with me, with the younger chap, Danesh, and niece (Tashu) running a kilometre too! Felt good on completing it in 6 hours. Dilshad is fond of telling friends that she read a book while waiting for me :-). I appreciate it, thank you dear!!

A run in Kolkata New Town, 8k, 27 Sept 2016.
Very hot and sultry!

Nandi Hills, again, and again!

On the 1st and then again on 8th Oct I ran Nandi Hills, 32k and 36k respectively, this time alone (as Dilshad was now deep into her maiden full marathon training). The second, and a partial third time up, are always very tough. I get appreciative nods from the cyclists going up and down! Those runs taught me a lot about running hills: there’s no specific run-walk time pattern, it’s linked to the slopes, etc.

My parents were kind enough to drive up as I was finishing the 36k; such a lift! Had coffee with them after. I swore, I’ll never go to bloody Nandi Hills again! And then of course, we RH’ers ran it a couple of weeks back (17 Dec 2016 :-). So much for us runners and our swearing “I’ll never do this again!”.

 

Nandi Hills training runs 2 and 3, 32k and 36k, 01 and 08 Oct 2016. Whew!

With my parents, Nandi Hills, 08 Oct 2016, right after the run

Nandi Hills training run 3, 36k, 08 Oct 2016.

A last 28 km long run at the Kanakapura '1' location to round off the training; I’m now ready! Am not yet confident of completing the Nilgiris Ultra 50k run in the 8 hour cutoff time, but am happy to just give it my best shot. So off we go, to Ooty! Such a blessing to have all of us - my parents, in-laws, wife and kids - go along.

The Run - Nilgiris Ultra 50k, Ooty

Briefing the previous day with Kavitha Kanarpathi (Globaracers). It’s an out-and-back route - the headache is that the first 25k leg is about 80% downhill, so I knew that coming back up was going to be a real party! (We even did a route recce the previous day in the car, which turned out to e a good idea).

The morning of the run - Sat 12 Nov 2016 - was very cold of course (11-12C). I thought of my JLBR buddies doing the Bangalore Ultra the very same day!

Dilshad decided to do her 28km training run too!! Hats off to her! We started off well, gentle pace initially. First 5k, leaving town, there were some ups and downs. I went ahead at about 3k. Met other participants; it’s a lot of  downhill on the first 25k, so did a good decent pace. I managed to do the initial 25k in about 2:50 (wow, did not expect that). The scenery was so beautiful, the air so clean, clear and crisp. By 7am the sun was bright and clear, a cloudless sky, perfect running weather!

Of course, the 'real' race began now :-) Going uphill for long stretches (sometimes >5-6k) proved very hard...  I really struggled from about 35k to 45k. Very happy to see my parents, later again with Dilsh. They were my crew!! And what a help that was. I found the race getting really tough from around 35km; its still a bit too far for the gravitational ‘pull’ of the finish! But I knew that I just had to hang in there; soon enough, I’d feel that pull! The run support was pretty good - food, water, etc - all in place. I like how they minimised wastage and used no plastic at all.

 

 

 

 

NU 50k: very scenic, very tough, very satisfying!

Earned this one!

So: am now just 5 km from the finish! My folks and Dilsh drove just behind me for that stretch - it’s such a huge help mentally. I felt deeply happy and at peace with the universe those last 2 to 3 km - actually felt blessed. Did my PB (under 7 hours), ended up fourth place in 50k (among just 11-12 participants :)! A superb experience. Happily exhausted, elated. What a feeling!

Of course, needless to say, I just could not have done it without all the support I got from my family - especially Dilshad, parents and kids, my coach Santhosh, my running buddies, the Runner's High community. A humble and sincere big fat Thank You.

The Nilgiris Ultra, organised by Globeracers, has distances of 25, 50, 75 and 100km. So, who knows?