Whims published... It's not an expert's opinion, It's not an online diary, It's not a web journal... It is just my whims published

Ever since I registered For 75 Kms in Bangalore Ultra, I would say, my months of practice was always accompanied by loads of skepticism about completing the race, about getting injured due to the extra mileage I was putting in to the practice, about the adequate hydration on the race day and myriads of such thoughts.

When I had attempted 50 Kms in 2012, It was easy to push my mind and body, as I could always say, it's just 8 Kms more than a Full Marathon. I did not have such 'easy' formula for 75 Kms. What do you say to your tired legs and unwilling mind - just 33 Kms more than a Full Marathon distance..? Naah. Once the race route was published by the event organizers, which was of 25 Kms lap, I decided it to take one lap at a time. Not easy as it may sound, but I had no other choice!

 

The Race Day:

I was jittery at the start line at 5:00AM, trying to brush aside the negative thoughts by stretching and cheering the co-runners. When the whistle blew, I started slower than my average running pace.

 

1st Lap (0-25 Kms):

Quite comfortably finished it. Was hydrating well in aid stations. The company of bustling fellow runners made the distance easier to cover. 

 

2nd Lap (26-50 Kms):

This is when most of the runners hit the wall and every one starts fighting their own personal battles. The smiles on the faces evade, cheers to the fellow runners become faint. Though I thought I had the right intake of water+salts, I had the crystals of salt formed on my face. Sweat and color of urine are good indicators for any long distance runner. I stopped taking Enerzal and other salt supplements at the aid stations and had more water in subsequent aid stations. The Sun was harsh and few blisters on the toes decreased my speed.

 

3rd Lap (51-75 Kms):

After finishing 50 Kms, I rested for 10-15 mins. Had boiled Sweet Potato and Eggs which I had carried in my bag (that was kept at baggage counter). The tough part was to resume running, the easy part was, that was my final lap :) Around 60th Km mark, the blister on the small toe of left foot bursted. I could feel my socks getting wet. The burning sensation was severe. I started limping. The problem with such altered posture is, it impairs the whole balance and my ankle and shin also started paining. One of the volunteers handed over the band-aid and surgical tape. I wrapped it around my hurting toe and started walking! The finish time of 10 hours seemed very distant. All I wanted at that point was to cross the finish line.

 

At the finish line:

After walking for almost 10 last Kms and being on the running trail for close to 12 Hrs, I was there at the finish line!! With a sense of accomplishment and a big smile on the face :)

 

Lessons Learned:

• I should have had few practice runs in the afternoon that would have made my body more prepared for the run in hot Sun
• I should have run the entire distance at least once before the event!
• My running shoes were best suited for tarmac or hard surfaces. It wasn't for trail run.

 

Things to cheer about:

• No major cramps and dehydration problems mean, my diet before and during the race was just adequate to push me to the finish line
• Apart from the usual exhaustion of the muscles, No runners' injuries
• I never gave up!

Apart from these, I have done 5-6 Half Marathons and 2 practice marathons. The Endomondo stats say, I have run over 1200Kms in the last year!! During this, I have seen a considerable improvement in my timing. Earlier I rarely used to clock 5:20 mins/km, now I often hit close to 5 mins/km. Of course, the challenge would be to sustain that pace for longer period in longer runs.

Ok.. That has been the achievement in running in the year that was so much dedicated to it. Running has become part of life now. A friend of mine (a non-runner) once asked me, 'Till when do you want to continue doing this?' I said, “As long as I enjoy it” Yes, the improvement in timing, the travel to few unknown cities, keeping fit and earning few acquaintances has been part of running. If running was just about that, I might not have thought about continuing it. What makes it joyful is the drop of sweat on the forehead when I am pushing hard on an uphill... The sweet pain in legs during the stretch after a run. These are just priceless.  

The resolutions pertaining to running for this year would be to bring the FM timing within 4 hrs 15 mins. And to visit at least two states in India which I have never visited before. 

Belated New Year wishes to you all :)

Image courtesy: Team In Traning

The new venue of Bangalore Ultra was Hennur this time. After the successful and more importantly, very enjoyable Hyd Marathon, I had ambitiously registered for 50Kms category in Ultra. Few weeks before the event, stiffness in the left knee dithered my confidence. Sought help from my doc and religiously followed the recommended stretches for days that followed. It magically worked.

On the race day, on a new trail, knees did not bother much. But the hot and humid Sun posed a tough challenge. I maintained a pretty good pace till 32-33Kms after which my pace nosedived. Some how managed to finish my first ever Ultra Marathon of 50Kms in 5Hrs 47Mins. Still waiting for the official timing certificate and race day photos. Will update this post once I get it.

Tips for aspiring marathoners: Though, I am yet to figure out better and efficient running techniques to better my timing, I have to say this to people out there. Met few runners on the trail. When our pace was almost the same which allowed the conversation to go beyond 'great run brother!', I was shocked to hear at least from three runners that they were running an Ultra distance having never run a Full Marathon before! Running few Full Marathons is never a qualifying requirement for running an Ultra, but according to me, it surely conditions your body. It surely makes you better equipped to run 50Kms and beyond. It surely gives you a good idea of how good are you after completing the initial 30-32Kms. And as expected, all these guys struggled after the initial 24-25Kms - the distance to which their body is prepared for. After all, running a Full Marathon or an Ultra Marathon is not about crawling to the finish line and dropping dead there. It is about having enough reserve energy to run at least 5 Kms after breasting the tape!! Keep this in mind before you attempt your next big run. Never ever, leapfrog your distances and make your legs suffer for your over enthusiasm. Take it incremental, It is not a mandate to run a Full or Ultra within months of running your Half. Listen to your body and be sensible.

Timing Update:
The official timings are out. I have finished 50Kms in 5Hrs 45Mins 13Secs, holding 19th position of the 40 participants who did finish the race. Not bad eh..? ;)

After running my first ever marathon in Auroville in Feb 2012, I was dying to run my next marathon at the earliest. Summer and the rainy season that follows is a lean period for most of the marathons in India. The ones that were held were not in the neighboring states. This made me register for Airtel Hyderabad Marathon.  My practice for this started soon after TCS 10K i.e., in June. Though I thought of taking a formal coaching from an experienced marathoner, I some how ditched the thought and decided to continue on my own for some more time. Started following a training program by Hal Higdon with difficulty of intermediate level-1 [the site has training programs for novices to expert runners]. This training was of 18 weeks. Since I did not have so many weeks to train after June, picked the training program from the midway till August 19th, keeping a week for rest before the marathon.

Before I started training, not ignoring the strain in my right shin which happened during the training for TCS 10K, I went to a physio who is also a marathon runner. I was relieved to hear from him that it was nothing serious. The shin stretches he suggested really worked and the pain subsided. After that, I started following this training. I kept taking enough breaks and rests in the middle of this training to avoid overkilling of my leg muscles. This regular running seems to have worked for me [otherwise, I was mostly a weekend runner]. My Personal Best Half Marathon timing has improved considerably. It used to be consistently around 2 Hrs 15 mins, has now come down to 2Hrs 05Mins. Also looks like I am more comfortable with my Half Marathon runs now, than ever before.

A practice marathon:

Ran a marathon on last Sunday. I wanted to run one before the actual race. I remember a fellow blogger and marathoner saying 'Marathon is such a sport, that the previously run marathons never guarantee a completion in the next marathon you are going to run'. Every marathon poses its own challenges un-encountered in our previous ones. After all it's bloody 42.2 kms :) Every marathon is going to be a Herculean achievement for all we mere mortals.

On Sunday morning, drove to GKVK, just to dump chocolates, bananas and enough water in my car. Started my run at 6:45AM. Should have started much earlier. The weather was very very pleasant till I completed 25Kms. Later it became quite sunny. My struggle had already begun around 25Kms. My mins/km reading was dropping kilometer after kilometer. When I completed 30Kms, I was clearly struggling. Kept pushing myself hard to complete the rest of daunting 12Kms. Did a lot of run-walk-run to reach 38Kms. This is when a thought of giving up occurred. As they say, the mind gives up long before the body. To curb the thought of giving up, I deliberately detoured from the path which was leading to the place where my car was parked. Good I did that. I am sure, I would have given up running at the sight of my car. After almost walking for last 2-2.5Kms, I finished what I can call as my 2nd marathon in 5 Hrs 08 Mins. 

Split Timings:
0-10kms - 59 Mins 30 Secs
10-20kms - 1Hr 1Min 31Secs
20-30kms - 1Hr 11Mins 48Secs
30-40kms - 1Hr 34Mins 47Secs
40 - 42.2kms - 21Mins 24Secs

Good things: Carrying enough water, bananas, chocolates, plastering my nipples to avoid chapping (the easy solution I learned after that torturous 25Kms in last year's Ultra Marathon) and most importantly NOT GIVING UP!

Not so good things: Two boils between the toes - I suspect the slightly tight socks I was wearing,  no fellow runners and supporters to cheer. That's the problem with running alone such long distances. It can bore you in the end.

Some times, even after accomplishing some things - though it comes out the way you plan it - it does not satisfy you. Yesterday's TCS 10K was one such thing for me! 

The run began at 8AM from Kantheerava stadium. I finished the run around 8:58AM. That's exactly how I want to sum up my experience! I do not have any thing to mention in between. I can't particularly point to a thing and say why was it so. Was it because I was skeptical about my strained right shin or was it the previous day's junk food intake or was it because my Endomondo did not catch GPS signal during the race or was it because I did not have enough time to use the rest rooms after reaching Kantheerava or was it some thing else... I am sure some thing was not right about the whole run. I basically did not enjoy the run. Mind you, it is not the finish timing, I have nothing much to complain there. 56 mins - 58 mins  has always been my 10Kms timing. 

This TCS 10K was more like my engineering studies, All I know is I finished it, I neither enjoyed it nor  I remember anything about it.


Update at 3PM:
OK... the official timing is out now. My net finish time is 56 mins 49 secs. My overall ranking is 771 out of some 7000 odd people who finished the race in my category. More stats can be found here.

Greenathon is an NDTV-Toyota initiative to address environmental issues and spread awareness about usage of alternative sources of energy, wild life conservation, restoring forests and also whole lot of things. This year's Greenathon is a 4th annual event which kicked off on Earth Day on 20th of April. Model cum Actor cum Ultra Marathon runner Milind Soman has been actively taking part in this initiative every year. This year with a team of 4 runners he has started his run of 1500 Kms from Delhi to Mumbai in a span of 30 days!!! That means the team has to run a Ultra Marathon of 50 Kms at least everyday for a month...!!!!! Along the route, he would be meeting school students, social workers and other common people who have worked towards the cause. Some of the local runners too could join the team on and off.

The updates by Milind on his run and videos from NDTV team could be tracked here on daily basis. Today is the 6th day of their run. They must have covered over 300Kms already. Some of the videos in the site shows the team running mostly during the night to avoid the scorching summer Sun of Delhi and Rajasthan. Guys, running a marathon itself is not easy. For 2 days after running my first ever marathon, I did not feel like getting up from my seat for a  sip of water. That's the level of fitness we common people have. Now imagine running an Ultra Marathon everyday for a month in peak summer. It is just superhuman! Kudos to Milind and his team members - Sajjan Dabas, Apurba Kumar Dass, Raj Vadgama and Sumedha Mahajan. I wish them all the best and pray for their health.

Get Set, Go

I had told Jitendran that that was my first Full Marathon. An excellent runner by himself, he asked me if I have set any timing goal to finish. Being too ambitious in setting my goals, I said I have set 5 Hours in my mind as target. 5 Hours is a good time to finish a marathon.

Amol and Akshita wished Romel and me for the race. Few minutes before the race, there was an announcement about having a group warm-up session. An old white lady was giving us the demonstration of various stretching postures. We all followed her. We were all given a torch as, there were no lights on the way of trail.

At 5AM sharp, the whistle was blown. I started my first ever marathon with hundreds of other runners. The bunch was really diverse, from few college students to 60 year olds. Yes, marathon running is indeed a sport for all ages.

The spilt timing and the ‘complete surrender’

Though I found it tough to make way and run carefully on the mud trail with just the light spot emitted by my torch, few minutes into running, I got adjusted to it. Fair amount of moonlight too helped us.

I finished my 10Kms in 1Hr 06 mins. I do not think I could have run better in dark on an unfamiliar mud trail. After 10Kms the fair amount of sunlight made us run without torches. I finished my 20Kms in 2Hrs 14Mins. Not bad either. I had not lost much of pace. Some seasoned runners say marathon running is like meditation, some say experiencing Runner’s High is a joy incomparable. I felt a tad philosophical too while running. Osho says, a real disciple should completely surrender to his master. There should be no element of doubt in his mind about his master or master’s teachings. Though my heart agrees to it, my mind has often raised the finger like an inquisitive student who is disliked by the teacher. But I was an obedient student on this trail. The tired legs were directed towards the destination by the signboards always. I never questioned it, I was damn sure that the trail will surely lead me to my destination. There was the complete surrender Osho referred to, I had completely surrendered myself to the trail.

The tough part and the ‘spirited’ last lap

To reach 30Kms, I seriously struggled. I had lost my pace. I did a bit of walk-run-walk. I drank more and more of electrolyte and water at the aid stations. Had few bananas and orange slices too. Different aid stations gave us runners different food supplements. Some supplied dates, some chocolates, some groundnut chikkis. But, all of them had bananas and oranges in common.

I reached 30Kms mark in 3Hrs and 35Mins. The run between 32-33Kms to 38Kms was the toughest for me. The Sun was blazing already; the humid weather of Pondicherry had squeezed every drop out of my body. I walked a lot and ran intermittently. I dropped my ambitious target of 5Hours to finish the marathon and stuck to the realistic target of 5hours 30Mins.

When the signboard read 38Kms, I know I was not very far from my first marathon. I am not sure, where that reserve energy was all that while, I attained a good speed. When some of the runners who had overtaken me were walking, I overtook them as if some spirit had gotten into my body.

The much awaited finish

When I was done with 42Kms and it was the last 200 mts left for the completion, A thought came across my mind whether to celebrate the finish with a swear-all jig like Virat Kohli does or a gentle acknowledgment like my idol Dravid does after his every century. The people near the finish line started clapping loud and cheering me. I can’t believe myself that I was almost into tears! Remember the scene in ZNMD where Hrithik gets teary eyed after finishing his deep sea diving? I had totally empathised with his character while watching it, but now after finishing the marathon, I experienced it. Finishing a marathon gives you a great sense of achievement; it makes u feel humble and strong at the same time. It makes you thank your own body, that we always take for granted. As a fellow runner told me before the start of the race, the joy of finishing a marathon is simply inexplicable, it can only be experienced.

Garibrath Express – the unofficial carrier of marathoners and my new friends

The Garibrath Express from Yeshvanthpur was at 11:30PM on 10th Feb. As soon as I got into my designated bogie it was obviously evident that my bogie was full of marathoners. After the formal exchange of ‘Hi’s’ ‘Hello’s’, the topic of conversation turned to Auroville Marathon.

I met Romel, a passionate photographer and a marathon runner from Arunachal Pradesh working in Bangalore. We had an instant connection because Romel too had never run a Full Marathon before. He often said how he was feeling the butterflies in his stomach. Romel introduced me to his college mate and fellow photographer Arindham, who was in the same bogie with his family for marathon. Romel later gave me his website’s URL. Visit their site NOB-Photography, I must say Romel and his friends are indeed a talented bunch of photographers. Ask Romel, what does NOB mean, he jokingly says, None Of your Business? 

Taking part in these marathons is more fun because of the interesting people you get to meet. After getting down in Pondicherry station, Romel introduced me to two more of his friends Amol and Akshita who were taking part in Half Marathon and were in another bogie. Incidentally all the 3 of them had booked room in Anandham Residency, the hotel where I had booked my room. Instead of taking an extra bed in Amol and Akshita’s room, since Romel knew I was alone in my room, he asked me if I was willing to share my room. I had no problems at all.

The night before the D-Day

On the day we reached Pondicherry [11th Feb], we had to collect our BIBs from Auroville Visitor’s Centre. I left my hotel room soon after refreshing. I had plans to hire a bicycle and roam around Pondicherry. Then eventually I decided to cycle to Auroville to collect my BIB. I was little sceptical about straining my legs on the previous day of the marathon, but I decided to go anyway. Romel, Akshita and Amol took a wise decision of going to Auroville by bus/auto and collect their BIBs.

I was little tired after cycling for nearly 40 Kms to collect my BIBs. I had an early dinner and returned to room. Romel, Amol and Akshita were out for roaming around the city. 

Auroville Full Marathon would start at 5AM and Half Marathon at 6AM. The organizers had arranged for the pickup from major hotels in Pondicherry quite early. The bus would come close to our hotel at 2:45AM. So Romel and I decided to sleep early. But like the night before a major exam, both of us did not get sleep at all. We kept discussing a lot of stuff about running, running events, practice tips etc. At last we dozed off around 11:30. That means we effectively slept for 2.5 hours that night.

The official carrier of marathoners

Romel wanted to take shower before leaving. The idea of wetting my body at 2AM in the night did not enthuse me. I just brushed my teeth and got ready. Amol and Akshita too joined us though they were running half marathons and their pickup was another hour later. They accompanied us just to cheer for us before the race. That was really nice of them.

Raja Talkies signal was the exact pickup point for us. The four of us stood waiting at the signal. The very idea of standing on a stranded street in an unfamiliar city at 2:30 in the night is insane. These are the insane things we would cherish for a long time. Jitendran Nair, an ex-commander in Indian Navy too joined us at the pickup point. It was only when we got to know that he is retired from Navy, we could guess he would be around 45 years of age. Otherwise he was looking like a guy in his thirties. He was damn fit. See, what running does to the external appearance of a person.

The Swaraj Mazda arrived to our place at 2:50. It picked up lot of guys on the way to Auroville from other major hotels of the city. The atmosphere was electric. We all felt like soldiers in an army truck heading towards the warfield.

                                                                                                                             (to be contd...)

On 12th Feb is the 5th edition of Auroville Marathon, an annual event held in the Auroville campus. If everything goes as I expected, I would be running my first ever Full Marathon [42.195 Kms] there. Having bitten by this long distance running bug since 1.5 yrs, I have run many half marathons [which includes many practice sessions]. A Full Marathon is going to be a big challenge for me. For many novice runners, running a marathon is a dream, for some, it is one of the entrants in the wish list of their lives! Frankly speaking, I am not feeling any such thing about it. I am pretty anxious about finishing it that’s all. Neither Auroville Marathon is a timing event,  nor I have an earlier timing to improve in Full Marathon. Hence I have nothing to lose, as long as I manage to complete the distance.

I have been practicing hard for the event from last 1.5 months. Sad to say, I was never able to run a Full Marathon in my practice sessions. I can run a Half Marathon comfortably. I have pushed my limits to 33-35 Kms once. The thought of last to last weekend practice session demotivates me! I had run Half Marathon and then ran for some 20-25 mins more. I had reached the farthest end of GKVK campus. I stopped for a sip of water and just did not feel like running after that! I wasn’t really tired; I could have surely run for another hour or so. But I just got bored! There was no company of fellow runners that day. Usually I do not carry any music players while running, so though I was capable of running few more kilometers, but damn.. I just got bored running. It took me 30 minutes to reach the place where I had parked my bicycle. This very thought of boredom while running scares me. I think it is high time I accept running too needs a motivating partner like in gymming. I am sure this problem will never occur in an actual event. With so many fellow runners, with runners motivating each other, with some music and dhol played at frequent intervals, I am sure, the milieu will be as exciting as ever.

Rajendra, an interesting person and my new friend from my cab, suggested me this website by Hal Higdon, a marathon runner and a coach. It is a very useful site for Marathon enthusiasts with many training programs under different categories.  All the training programs Hal Higdon suggests are of 4.5 months duration. I do not have so much time left to take this training up. I better stick to my learn-from-mistakes-regime for rest of the days and perform well in the event.

Bib	Name	Gender	Category	Rank	Category Rank	Net Time
1179	ANANTHA MADHAVA	Male	Open	26	20	01:17:47
To share your Timings on Facebook				Share

Below is a pic of mine collecting the finisher medal

The 5th edition of the Ultra Marathon which was held at Our Native Village at Hesaraghatta [as always] yesterday was my first Ultra. As mentioned in my previous blog post, I had reduced my running category from 50Kms to 12.5Kms considering the state of my left foot. This was more of a safety net I chose for in case I could not complete 50Kms on the race day, I did not want my name in the list of DNF [Did Not Finish]. Though my new category was of 12.5Kms, at the back of my mind I had a thought to run few extra miles and complete 25Kms. Well, Ultra allows that. Only thing is, the timing certificate will still be given for the officially registered category.

I woke up 5AM in the morning and left home around 5:20AM towards Hesaraghatta. Though people  had suggested me to take the road via Yelahanka-Rajanukunte, the route was quite unfamiliar to me. I did not want to risk it and reach late for the race. I took the Hebbal-Goragunte Palya-Tumkur Road route instead. The directions to the venue were very clear and descriptive in the Racer’s Kit. The frequent hoardings by the side of the road guided me whenever I was in doubt. Ultra as well as RFL insists on car pooling. I was more than willing to share my car / take a ride to the venue, but most of my running acquaintances living close to my house were going on their own. I thought it would be foolish to share my car with some strangers in the wee hours by posting an ad in the site or anything.

12.5Kms category was to start at 7AM. I reached the venue around 6:45AM. As soon as I reached I realized that it would be a trouble to carry my car keys with me while running. My running shorts did not have pockets. I was ready to keep my wallet and mobile phone in the car but where would I keep the car keys. The lesson learnt is that I should have gotten my waistband to carry this little stuff while running. Luckily the wrist band I was wearing could hold the car keys! I stuck my keys inside the wrist band and noted in my mind to keep checking the car keys while running. Going to the race ill-equipped is like not able to learn that one important theorem before going to the Maths exam. I pinned by BIB to my t-shirt and headed towards the start point. All the 12.5Kms guys were given red colored bib, green for 25Kms and I think purple for 50Kms and more.

The start point was quite far from the parking place. The 75Kms, 100Kms race had begun at 5AM and 37.5Kms, 50Kms race 6AM. The special announcements about the senior citizen’s participation, people who shared their birthdays with the race day and participation of last year’s winners went on for a while. There were also instructions about the refreshment counters at the frequent intervals of the trail. I was surprised to see not many people stretching when race was about to begin in few minutes. I did a bit of stretching which is very very necessary before the long distance running. It was time to say, ‘on your mark, get set, go!’ Like all the marathons, the people crowd a lot in the initial 2-2.5Kms, which curtails the speed and hence affects the time of people who run little faster than the aam-junta. I manoeuvred to attain my normal pace of running. The initial 2-3 Kms of race route always sifts the grains from the chaff. What remains after that is seriously trained runners. And I must say, there was very less chaff in Ultra. After all, Ultra is known for its tough trail and only the trained runners participate in this.

I had caught a guy who was running with pretty good pace that I could keep up with. He kept pulling me for quite some distance. I think after 5Kms of running, there was a slope where that guy maintained his normal speed and I had to slow down. Many 12.5Kms runners overtook me as well as participants from different category who were on their 2nd lap of the race. For the next 5kms or so, a colleague of mine and me kept overtaking each other alternatively. It inspires me when such a runner is around. This went on for a while. I slowed down to sip some electrolyte at a refreshment counter. By then my colleague took a significant lead over me. I think around 7Kms [I do not remember this precisely] the runners had to take U-turn of the lap. My timing chip tied to my shoes beeped for the 2nd time when I stepped over the magnetic mat, the first time was when I started. My white running shoes had turned red because of the mud on the trail. The return from the U turn to the starting point was getting tougher and tougher because of the Sun. I had started sweating profusely. I kept hydrating myself with more liquid at the refreshment counters. An old problem revisited. The chapped nipple! The friction with the T-Shirt causes chapped nipple to long distance runners. There was a severe burning sensation in my right nipple. For me, it is always the right nipple that gets chapped more. Being a rightie, I think it is to do with the way I swing my right arm more while running. Runners usually apply lubricant to their nipples to avoid this. I prefer putting a band-aid over the nipples to avoid the friction. I had forgotten this on the race day. I kept asking for the band-aids in the refreshment counters. The two of the counters did not have it. I kept running in pain towards the finish line of the lap.

The board on the way read 10Kms. I looked at my wrist watch. I had taken exactly 1 hour to complete 10Kms. That was not my best timing. I had lost pace because of pain and also merciless Sun. I was left with 2.5Kms more. I made up my mind not to let more than 3 runners overtake me till I cross the finish line. I think that was too ambitious of a strategy. Within the next 1 Km, more than 5 strong runners overtook me. 

I put all my energy towards reaching the finish line. Diya burns bright before it dies . I went past the final curve to the finish line. I could hear people cheering the finishers. I pushed myself hard to reach the finish line. Made sure nobody overtook me from that point. Ran under the arch towards the point where we had started our race from. I could hear a female announcing on the microphone, “Here we have another 12.5Kms finisher”. One of the volunteers presented me the finisher medal. I looked at my watch. I had completed 12.5Kms in 1 hour 17 minutes. Not bad, but not good either. Ultra announces the position and the timing of each of the participant in 2-3 days. Will I hold a position within first 50 runners off the 300+ runners? Well that would be too much to hope for.

By the way, with these many thoughts running in my mind, soon after receiving the medal, I returned for the 2nd lap. I had made up my mind to complete 25kms. The burning Sun had turned more violent in the 2nd lap. I had reduced my pace significantly. My right nipple’s complaint was still not addressed. I held the front of t-shirt little away from the chest for a while. But this was just the temporary solution. The moment I let my t-shirt touch my chest, the pain used reoccur. I had started feeling hungry. I munched pieces of sandwiches, oranges and drank lot of water at the refreshment counters.  I ran really slow towards the U-turn of the lap. Thank God, the refreshment counter there had the band-aids. I stuck two of them to cover my right nipple properly. This avoided the friction and pain vanished. That does not mean, I started running well after that. In fact, I was just pushing my body too hard to complete 25Kms. 

Umpteen number of participants overtook me. Kudos to their zeal and fitness levels. After 16Kms or so, I stopped running and started walking. Thinking that it would be a good break for my legs and then to start again. I usually never do this. The problem with this approach is it breaks the momentum. The more I walk, the more difficult I find it to resume my running. I kept run-walk-run-walking for few more kilometres. I saw the board that read 22.5Kms. I was left with 2.5 Kms more to finish my first ever 25Kms mark in an official marathon. I decided not to walk any more till I reach the finish line. I tried to gear up. But my legs were too tired to run anymore. My hands were gesturing of a run but my speed was nothing more than a brisk walk. Few runners had gathered around a fainted runner!! The help by the doctors and the medication was timely I hope. The delay in these situations could prove fatal. The doctors there said runner’s pulse rate was very low. I felt sad for the person. I stood there for a while. A doctor injected him to bring him back to consciousness. I started running again.

Somehow, I managed to reach the finish line. I had finished 25Kms in 3hours 27 mins! That means, for the 2nd lap of 12.5 Kms I had taken close to 2hours 15 mins. 1 hour more than my first 12.5Kms. That is pathetic.

To sum up my first experience in Ultra, I ran 12.5Kms successfully and barely managed to complete 25Kms.