Bangalore Ultra 2011 - The best Race to have your first DNF

Preparing for the Ultra

Had been running hard this whole year , Doing a Marathon run every alternate week since April (Thanks to my partner in crime Param for that ) . The excitement of doing something that seemed impossible or very very tough excited me and i just love the pain you get after draining yourself out thus registered for the 100k category . I knew that doing even a 75 K is very tough but at the back of my mind , i knew i could manage it .

Faced my first setback in training for the 100k in September after completing Hyderabad Marathon , caught a very bad viral just after the marathon , weight dropped to 57 since i could not eat much.Felt dizzy even while standing and was not able to run for 3 weeks . Getting back to form was a challenge and i chose to run Sunita Godhra's golden jubilee Half marathon at Nehru Park for that . Did it somehow in 1hr 54 minutes , felt dead which was great since i needed to feel this way again so that i could start pushing hard again .

From September last weak to October , started following a simple schedule of 20K,30K,50K per week . The strategy for the weekday runs of 20k and 30k was to run them at a pace of 5:10 to 5:45 and for the long weekend run , i dropped pace to 6:10 to 6:40 .
Pushing myself harder , did a 63k run on 16th October in 6:22:12 , followed by 20k on 18th , 30k(2:52:10) on 20th and 48k(5:17) on 22nd(Bhatti Lakes Ultra ) .The body felt good so followed the bhatti ultra with a 20k(1:45) on 25th October , felt overconfident and ran a 31k (2:46) on 27th , running the last km at a 4:20 pace .
Then planned a 50k run for Sunday the 30th of October .However i had not realized that my body wasn't that strong , partially tore my right quadriceps muscle 22Km into the planned 50k run . Somehow managed to get back to Nehru park and was left limping . However the real horror of this , i dint realize until 2 days later , when i tried to run and was left with crippling pain after 3kms . That's when i got really scared and went to see Doc Rajat Chauhan who himself has run over 100 marathons , who confirmed the muscle tear and told me that " you have a very good excuse not to run the ultra " . Even the lady assisting him told me that its a very good chance that the pain will hit me at the race day.
The next 2 weeks leading up to the ultra , i searched the shit out of Google for quadriceps tear . I was limping and would feel sudden twinges in the right quadriceps even while walking . Mentally i was exhausted , i didn't feel like going to Bangalore anymore , i was almost broken . But i had to go having put in so much effort already , even if it meant only doing 12.5Km .

The Actual Race

Had a fever the night before the ultra , probably because of some inflammation (Did not take anti inflammatory as on internet it said , it slows healing process.So only resorted to icing ) . Everybody was discussing the course and the strategy to run it or their last year's experiences . I was still hung on my right right leg , constantly feeling the muscle for any pain .
When at the start people came up and wished me luck for the race , All i could think of was , that it won't do me any good . In the last 2 weeks , i had lost hope slowly and at the starting line did not feel any adrenalin pumping through my blood .
Finally the race began and i started walking , remaining the last ultra marathon participant on the loop till the first 3kms . Then i slowly started running , trying to keep all the pressure on my left leg . All i wanted at that time was to somehow manage to run till 25kms and then somehow walk till 50km , thus attaining a respectable distance . So for the first 2 loops though i ran , but not one minute passed when i wasn't still concentrating on my right leg for detection of pain . Twinges , i did feel , felt scared , slowed down and put more pressure on the left leg . There was no rhythm in my running , i was somehow managing to go forward . When people cheered me on , i did not give them a very warm thanks , instead just tried to make up a smile and nod (Really sorry for that) . I was totally tense and was struggling with the changed running style .
In the third loop however the twinges in between in my right legs muscle became less noticeable or maybe i just got too tired noticing them . So i ran more confidently though still trying to avoid putting my right leg with full force . But now i had become more comfortable with the forced adapted running style and completed the 3rd loop . In the fourth loop however , i could feel my left upper front thigh muscle getting stiff , it was getting hard lifting the left leg , but still carried on swinging my upper body sideways hard to gain momentum . Even the injury that i had suffered during the Bhatti lakes ultra through hitting a stone on my right ankle, cropped up again . And could now feel my right quadriceps paining .

Was really glad to walk jog 5th loop with shashank , it really helped taking my mind of the pain that was getting higher every step in my left thigh due to the pressure i was putting it in to compensate for my right quadriceps injury . Going in the 6th loop was a pain , problem being the left thigh which i really over strained . It was like trying to do a leg raise with 100kgs of weight . Other pains getting diminished in contrast . Somehow managed to complete the 6th loop , running the last 2kms and restraining from sprinting at the end , which i could have done but was scared to completely tear my quad muscle which was paining now too . So i finished the 75Kms in 11hrs . In all this the attention din't even go to the blistered left feet and the cramped up back which i was swinging throughout to compensate for my changed running style .

So at the end i was left dissapointed but at the same time grateful that i managed at least 75k . I was not happy , did not feel a sense of accomplishment . Even when all the awesome and ever so welcoming people from running and living group cheered and welcomed me at the finish with enthusiasm and joy . I somehow could not feel anything .

The route was tough , the sun was high , My t shirt and shorts got all white with salt . but compared to all above

attention did not go there much . In the end over training might have done me in , but it was the one which helped me go this distance .

Could i have gone for another loop ?

well yes . But then i would have required a stretcher to carry me .

Had this injury not happened , would i have been able to complete the 100 k ?

It still would have been tough , but i should have been able to made it .

Did i over-train ?

well it was more of in-experience . I wasn't able to make out the difference between the pain i felt between a stressed out muscle and a muscle that if i continued stressing would tear . All in the learning curve , i guess .

Having said that , I have come a long way from Running my first Half Marathon , November Last year to a 75K Ultra , November 2011 . According to the timing chip , i Did 81.25 Km .

In the end i would like to thank the backbone of my running viz my mom and dad who always nurse me back to health and take care of me so well . Despite being against my running these distances .

Also Heena , without whose support , I don't think i would have come this far . Your support means a lot to me .

Hyderabad Marathon 2011

My Second official Marathon . Lets see how it goes . Fingers crossed .

From Ultra Fat To a Marathon Runner : The journey

The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start .
-John Bingham

The Before person you see was the super fat me in 2007 , the After me is in 2010 and present.
I must caution the readers that the before to after transformation does not include any wonder pill , diet or a magical weight loss program . Its not a VLCC add ( though i was tempted to sell them this pic ) .

The History

My parents pampered me a lot . So needless to say i became really fond of eating . In school i wasn't overweight but a person whom you would call very healthy . I guess the school activities kept the weight somewhat in control and prevented my body from bursting out .
The real problem came when i entered college . There wasn't much physical activity and i really developed a taste for the unlimited buffet at the hostel mess . There are people who eat and eat and still don't put on an ounce , I sadly wasn't one of them . The sedentary lifestyle and the hostel buffet ensured that my waist line grew on a steady upward slope . I touched 88Kg's with a waist of 36.5 inches by the end of my 5th semester .


Reason for the Transformation

One thing you must realize is that there is no magic involved in the transformation nor some dramatic steps . All in all there are no shortcuts , unless you want to go under the knife .
To speak the truth i don't even know for sure as to why i started to actually work seriously on loosing weight . The answer may seem obvious , I was fat !! . But there are many people who are fat and unhappy or nonplussed about it , either way they still choose to remain so . I was the one who belonged to the nonplussed about it group . But you know sooner or later , you do get weary of all the jokes being thrown at you . Others may seem the jokes directed at your body harmless and funny , but they aren't . Even your own parents call u motoo ( they claim that its out of love for you) , but what they don't realize how irritated you get when they call you this with a smiling face .When going out for buying clothes , it again becomes embarrassing since nothing except the XXL fits you , and when you complain to the shopkeeper for not having a jean you like in your size , even he doesn't miss a chance to taunt you. People just don't get how hurtful the jibes can get , specially when in a group . It lowers your self esteem . Its nothing at all connected to that you can't take a joke .

Anyhow being fat was just one of my concerns , the other i still don't find very comfortable talking about . But the combination of the two just became too much to bear .

Getting Fit

First the junk food went out .That meant no ice-creams , no sodas , no burgers and no puris . Kind of a torture diet , but then again to loose the extra fat ,these things go to the poison list . The occasional binge did come from time to time , i am but a mortal who can succumb sometimes to his taste buds . This went on for a year or so and it did bear results . i was under 80Kgs now , maybe around 78kgs .
So now i was in a state where i had been many a times in my life i:e the not fat yet not lean either state . It wasn't good enough for me . Now what you have got to realize is that cutting your fatty foods to get fit , is not enough . I realized this when i stopped getting any progress after hitting the 75-80 kg range . With the weight down and the summer breaks in college , i started running or more like fast walking . It wasn't much , just 1 -2 Km maybe of continuous jogging . But with the weight loss , the body didn't resist the running act . In fact it felt good .

The turning point though came when me and my college buddies went to shimla( for a week) . There you have the altitude thing going , which makes it a tad bit difficult to breathe and the terrain is not flat at all . So i walked a lot there , up the hill down the hill etc . This was where my stamina got a boost . On coming back to Delhi , when i went for my usual run , something felt different . I could actually run now , not the fast walking but actual running .The distance was still very small but still the feeling was awesome. Consistency is the key to success and i made sure i was very consistent with my running . Come rain , come heat , come anything , i ran . First i touched the 2km mark on a regular basis ( running daily 2 kms ) , then the 4km , 6km and finally 8kms ( this transition from getting to 8kms from 2Kms took around 4-5 months) . So now i was doing 8kms runs around 5 times a week ( this was around September 2009) . I coupled my running with some push-ups and crunches .
However September was the time when i started my job and then it really became hard to keep the running schedule. So now i was only doing 2 runs on the weekends of 8 to 10 km each . It was torture , i mean running these runs on the weekends after a 5 day gap back to back was very tiring and painful . It used to leave me almost dead but i never gave up on it .


Inspiration to Getting Fighting Fit

The torture runs went on for a couple of months more till November 2009 and then Heena happened . I run at Lodhi Garden . Generally the people who come there in the evening to jog are either really slow or they just run 1 to 2 laps (each lap being 2Km approx) and 99% of all the joggers are men . So when one evening i saw this girl , running in the park with very good speed . This sight wasn't common and it made me curious and in her next lap i followed her ,obviously not to stalk her but to see how fast she really was . And she was pretty good , much better than the 90% runners at the park . I still was curious as to how much did she run . So one day when i found her sitting on the bridge at the park after her run . I went to her and started small talk . I came to know that she did 3-4 rounds of the park daily !! . I was awestruck , i couldn't believe it and suddenly she became my idol and inspiration . We became good running buddies , it was a delight to be around her and running alongside her . Anyhow getting back on track to the Fighting Fit transformation .
I got free from office early on a day and went to the park to meet Heena . She was as usual running , on seeing me she stopped and invited me for a run . Now imagine this , i was in my jeans , with a tucked in shirt , was not wearing my running shoes and i had just returned from office from a hard day's work . I explained this to her, however she remained nonplussed and told me that she runs after going to college each day , so what's the big deal about it . I had no answer to this . However the incident made me think , i realized that i wasn't making any progress and had somewhat hit a wall , running or struggling to run 2 times a week wasn't good enough . Being a hostler in my college days , i was used to staying up late , but waking up early was an alien concept . However sacrifices have to be made to achieve something better . So now i started running 8-10 Km even in the mornings , waking up at 5:30 am at least 3 days on the weekdays after sleeping around 1 am on the previous night . Here the hostel training really helped since it had trained me to sleep less and still work more (or party more or watch movies more in college) .
I texted her about my each run and the way she appreciated my progress really propelled me to carry on with even more enthusiasm . I even started developing abs ! . it was just great .



From being a regular runner to a marathoner

As i started running in the mornings , soon the running was no more a struggle . The activity became more than just a hobby . Running became a passion , it was where i found my solitude and peace , away from everybody . I was already very fit . But somehow i still wasn't content
with just running leisurely . So i kept on going on and pushing myself harder .
November 2010 came and with it came Airtel Delhi Half Marathon . I had trained myself hard for it . My runs now got extended to 12-16 Km . Finally on the D Day without any gym ,without any advice from anybody about running a half marathon , only with my own solitary running , i completed it in 1hr 38 min ( bib number 8375) . I did not stop here and used my preparation for the half marathon to push even harder than i ever had and extended my weekend Sunday runs to 20-22 Km after the ADHM . Ignoring other peoples advice some of whom were pretty experienced runner's and who commanded respect ( which wasn't very wise of me ) , Registered for my first full marathon the Mawana Sugar Full Marathon in February 2011 and finished it in 3hr 58mins ( according to my watch) , 4Hrs according to official timing ( chest no. 24) . I was still hungry , hungry for more and finally i finished the Delhi Runners 50k Ultra , held in March 2011 at Nehru park in 5 hr 38 min .
At present i mile around 70-80 Km a week . Sundays being long run days , where i push myself beyond 25Kms regularly . I recently ran from my home at Pandara Road( next to India Gate) to a place in Gurgaon ( total distance 40Km approx ) . As for my inspiration and buddy , Heena just did her first half marathon this April , the Bolt 21K (London) in flat 2 hours . I am as proud of her as she is of me . I hope we keep on running hard and achieving things that we desire be it our professional lives or running related goals.

MY First Marathon

Mawana Sugars Indian Open Marathon March 2011

Finish time : 3hrs 58 minutes

The preparation

In November last year , i had participated in airtel Delhi half marathon so i was in a good shape .
After the ADHM , i did not want to loose my form so i extended my weekly runs from minimum 10 Kms to 12 Kms at a go and since it was winters , it wasn't a problem .
Still it wasn't until January (thats when the dates of the mawana marathon were declared) that i actually decided to run for a marathon . Now here came the problem . I had read many articles on marathon preparation and almost all advised a 3 month schedule for a runner . So i prepared myself a crash course . The idea was simple , training the legs for longer runs so that they can withstand a marathon . So in the last 30 or so days leading up to the marathon , i would do 2-3 runs of 12 Kms and a Long run of 20 plus Kilometers on the weekend ( most of the 20 plus runs were in the morning on empty stomach) in a week . The longest run i think would have been of 25 kms.


The Race Day

Now i am no fool and i knew that to complete a marathon , my stamina should have been of running atleast 30 kms at a go . So without saying i was quite skeptical about finishing the marathon . But since in the last thirty or so days , i had already done 5 half-marathon plus runs . I was determined enough to block my skeptical view.
At the race starting point on India gate , i also ran into a running and living group , nice bunch of people.
Now shedding light on the actual run . The first lap was the easiest , no problems . I was going at above 12kmph . The race route was filled up with runners , half marathoners and full .
During the second lap , i felt that i was getting some tiredness so i dropped my speed a little though still going at 11 to 12 kph . By the second lap the route wasn't that dense , people were spread out across the 10 Km route .Also it was getting a bit hot . Now completing the second lap ( thus completing a half marathon ) , i was feeling tired . But in my mind i knew that i could complete the third lap since i had done 25 kms just a week ago. So i carried on though i decreased my speed and now i was running between 10 to 11 kmph . But into the 25th kilometer , i felt really drained of energy . I could see people running with their shoes off , some less caring individuals were down to their undies . But i wasn't in the mood to stretch my muscles for a grin .    Lucky for me i was at CP inner circle , so i stopped , bought a Slice (mango drink) from a shop , cooled down and continued . The Slice gave me enough energy to get me to complete the 3rd lap ( but i lost 5 to 10 minutes) .
Now the toughest challenge . The 4th lap . I always have believed that the legs do help but in the end its the mind that keeps you going . The legs had no energy . My feet were burning with the frictional heat that had accumulated during the last 3 laps . It was almost unbearable . But looking at the clock , i realized that i really had a shot at completing it in 4 hrs and knowing this the idea of giving up vanished. But even walking seemed difficult , let alone running . So a new strategy for the last lap had to be devised . The strategy was simple . The water booths were spaced 2.5 Kms apart . So now the strategy was to run booth to booth or crawl booth to booth. So i would stop at every booth , pour a bottle of water over myself , gulp another down my throat , walk some 50-100 meters and then slowly run towards the next booth . While going for the next booth i constantly reminded myself that its just 2.5 Kms , no biggy ..
Finally i could see India gate in sight where the finish line was . Mustered enough will to sprint towards the finish line . For a moment the sprint seemed like a bad choice as i felt like cramping for a split second but nothing bad happened and i crossed the finish line amongst the cheering crowd .
I couldn't believe it . Not only did i complete it but i did it in 4hrs. Words could not do justice to the feeling i felt at that moment. I must also mention the many runners at the marathon who cheered me and shared their supplies with me  during my run . Needless to say ill cherish this experience forever , not just because it was my first marathon , but also because of the struggle .