Its done! I’m an Ultra Marathoner now!

On a bright Sunday morning, I broke into the world of marathon and longer distances.  As per Wikipedia Ultra Marathon is defined as any sporting event involving running longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 kilometres. I ran the distance of 43.3Kms thereby qualifying myself to be called an Ultra Marathoner :D. But technicalities apart, I’m happy that I could complete the Marathon distance. And what a journey it has been from 21.1Kms in February to 43.3Kms in April.  

The idea of running a full marathon got sown in Auroville when two running buddies (in high spirits) wanted me to change my run category to Full Marathon at the last moment.  Even though I stood my ground then, somewhere deep down the desire to run a marathon had planted itself. Back in Hyderabad an innocuous discussion with another running mate about his plans to do 50K or more distance got me thinking. This was the time when I was doing Half Marathons frequently but anything more than 23K was an unknown territory. I have always been interested in sports or activities that push the limits of human endurance, be it physical or mental and even though the challenge of running the distance of 42.2K looked enormous, it wasn’t insurmountable. 

March turned out to be an interesting month. While one running buddy got married and subsequently grounded, my wife helped me by going on a business trip for 4 weeks providing me enough space to carry out my insane agenda. Actually I also figured that most of my milestone seeking runs have been on days when wifey is scheduled to depart out of town. But more on that later. Craziness started with the Ultra Walkathon on the first Sunday of March wherein I decided to test my endurance for walking 45Kms. Took the whole thing a little too lightly and ended up with DNF tag.  However the positive part was that I did cover 40Kms and was on my feet for better part of 9 hours. Full Marathon didn’t look so challenging anymore. I had broken the mental barrier. 

21K Mid-point at Ultra Walkathon. (Picture credit: Vinay Akula)

To seek redemption from the DNF tag, decided to attempt running 30K the subsequent Sunday. Even though it took me almost 4 hours with some really painful sections, the mind finally overcame all adversities to come out winning. (Blog here). Subsequent week was Hyderabad Runners’ Annual Dinner and that’s when I met Arun Bharadwaj, an Elite Ultra Marathoner or in another words A Running GOD! (Blog here). Lot of things changed that day and finishing the Comrades didn’t look that scary anymore. In between Sunita, a super mom and veteran of many marathons, sent an invite to join her for a 36K run. That email reaffirmed what a lot of people have been telling me for a long time: “I AM CRAZY”. I was unsure till the last moment due to a sore muscle but finally decided to bite the bullet. Took it nice and easy and could completed 35.43 Kms in 4:35 Hours. And post run had enough strength to go to office and carry on with a regular work day. I had just moved up on the Insane Quotient (IQ) leader board.

At Finish Line of 36K (Picture Credit: Sunita T)

The natural progression from here was to do a Full Marathon in 3 weeks and the D-Day turned out to be 15 April 2012. 4 people I knew were doing a Full Marathon that day across the globe and for 3 of them it was going to be their first. Since I wasn’t registered for any event, decided to make one up myself. And that's how the Twin Cities Flyover Marathon was born. (Route here).   Spoke to quite a few people about this and the general reaction was I’m crazy (again). However few people with similar IQ (Insane Quotient, I mean) levels were quite receptive and agreed to join me either for the run or to don support roles. And I’m thankful to each and every one of them. What started out as a crazy thought now had quite a few takers at the start line: 8 runners and 5 people on SAG. And including yours truly 3 of them were running a marathon distance or longer for the first time. 

At the Start Line of Flyover Marathon, Running and SAG Team (Picture Credit: Kushwanth)

Starting out at 3 AM, we ran across twin cities covering many major landmarks. The Secunderabad Cantonment which formed the second half of the race had nice tree cover almost throughout making it easy for the runners. Even though I had bouts of pain in between, never once did I feel anything about giving up and crossed the finish line with enough juice left to do a few more Kms. 

Enroute (Picture Credit: Kushwanth)

Near the Finish Line (Picture Credit: Kushwanth)

At Finish Line with Hyderabad Runners (Picture Credit: Kushwanth)

As Emil Zatopek said “If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon”, I have experienced positive changes in various other facets of life since I started running about 8 months back.  So, what's the way forward? Intend to keep running lifelong and inspire others to run as well. And oh yes, run a 50K and 56K this running season so that I can call myself a “proper” Ultra Marathoner. And successfully complete Comrades soon!

A Day with an Elite Ultra Marathoner!

Since joining Hyderabad Runners in September 2011, I have had the chance to meet some really inspiring people. Arun Bhardwaj (http://arunbhardwaj.wordpress.com/about/)  is definitely amongst the top of that list. It is said that for ordinary people, marathoners are a mystic and for marathoners, Ultramarathoners are an enigma. Arun surely is. 

Saturday March 17, 2012 was decided as the date for Annual Dinner of Hyderabad Runners and Arun was designated as the Keynote Speaker for the event. He arrived in Hyderabad on Friday evening and the group ran with him on Saturday morning. That’s when I had my first glimpse of GOD.  I was given the chance to chaperone him around town and was amazed at his humility and down to earth nature. He is a pure vegetarian, teetotaller and one of the few real time practitioners of simple living and high thinking. Mind you he IS amongst the best in the world. But no airs at all. Few salient points from my time spent with him.

1. Arun started running after his first daughter was born to show to her that impossible is nothing. If you set your mind on to something with all seriousness, it is definitely achievable. He named his first daughter Zola on a middle distance runner from South Africa Zola Budd. He also named his son Yiannis on Yiannis Kouros who holds all the World Records in 100 Miles – 1000 Miles running.
2. Arun is from a very normal background with his father being a KV Teacher and the lone earning member of the family. He was very weak and suffered bouts of malaria every now and then while growing up. Was diagnosed with a tumour and was operated four times before he turned 17. Spent 11 months in the hospital recovering from the last surgery. He moved to Delhi when his father got transferred and did his B.Com from DU thereafter joining the Planning Commission as a Clerk.
3. He was always good in sports. Tried first in Chess and reached upto State level but due to various external factors, gave it up. Moved to powerlifting and was doing good till the time one of his old injuries came into play and started acting spoilsport. He also figured that it might be difficult to reach the world standards prevalent that time due to his injuries, so he moved to running. BTW he could do 500 push-ups at one go during those power-lifting days.
4. His prep for his first long run i.e. 180 kms from Haridwar to Baghpat was not much. max he had done previously was only 32~33Kms at a stretch run and his training average for the previous 6 months was only 2Kms/Day. But he still took up the challenge and came shining through it.
5. I have been thinking of doing the Comrades Ultra Marathon either in 2013 or 2014 which covers a distance of 90 KMs and it being the oldest Ultra Marathon in the planet is a signature event. I hesitantly asked him whether he has taken part in that and he shrugged his shoulders and told me that "Its only 89Kms". Even though it was not the same derision that most marathoners use towards 5K/10K runners, it was similar and caused by the fact that mandarins of sports bodies in India weren’t exactly helping him. So he wanted to concentrate on the more hardcore events. He says he has had to take personal loans to attend international events due to apathy in the bureaucracy inspite of provisions being there in the government regulations.
6. Having fought his way through the system and various prejudices to continue his sport and that too always representing the country, he is not bitter at all. As a matter of fact he has a zen like attitude and says "Someone had to take the lead. I guess it was me". He even refused an offer to migrate to Australia under elite sportsperson category because he wanted to be his country's flag bearer.
7. During all this conversation, I sheepishly asked him if he ever had a DNF (Did Not Finish in sports parlance). He replied in negative and narrated one of his race experiences. In a 7 day race in Athens, he twisted his ankle on potholes on the 2^nd day causing terrible shin pain but still went on to complete the course and did some 570KMS. His logic was simple. Giving up is easy. But once you give up, you cannot ever ask your children to give their 110% and not throw in the towel. Because you'll never have the conviction to say it. And once your kids grow up, they'll know that their parents had "given up" themselves.      

I can keep going on but I think I'll rest here due to paucity of time and space. He also shared few of his upcoming plans but it wouldn’t be prudent on my part to reveal them here. But I can assure you, your jaws will definitely drop when you hear about them.

I further quote a section from a friend’s blog (Taken from http://runbrajeshrun.blogspot.in/)

If there is something that you think you cannot do because of circumstances in the past or you not being in the right place at the right time, or because of your physical, mental or genetic make-up, all that you are doing is telling the world – and yourself – a bunch of lies. 

Saturday 17^th March 2012 will remain a red letter day in my life. To me, Arun Bhardwaj is the living embodiment of these simple but powerful words:

Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it.
Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion.
Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare.
Impossible is potential.
Impossible is temporary.
IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING !

My First 30K Run!

It was one of those crazy ideas that I "HAD" to execute. With plans of doing Full Marathons and Ultras soon, I felt it was high time the body saw/felt how a 30K looked like especially considering my previous longest distance was only 23K. On hearing my idea, few well wishers were concerned especially because it just a week after the back breaking 9 Hrs/39 Kms walkathon. Heeded to their concern and promised that I would take it slow and stop enroute if I felt even an iota of pain/injury starting up.

Friends chipped in with GU Gels and salt tablets and quite a few agreed to join me as well in this craziness. Have been plagued with a niggling pain in the right thigh muscle but thankfully that went off once the body was warmed up (need to figure out the cause of this pain). It was nice and chatty between 6 and 14Kms with Rajesh Bung who gave me company inspite of my slow pace. On the return the set of hills after the 26K mark had me really irritated and the Sun wasn't helping things either. But the thought of back to back "DNF"s wasn't exactly pleasing and all those youtube video's of ultra marathoners finishing the course inspite of all the pain kept me going. I wasn't going to throw in the towel however long it took.

Initial target of 3:30 Hrs was first revised to 3:45 and then to 4 hours but thankfully completed within that. Post finish I have been told that my timing will improve quite a bit if I do these 30K+ distances as part of a training schedule and been rebuked not to try such a stunt. So it will be sometime before I see a 30K again but I promise to return stronger and faster.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank the people who make the Hyderabad Runners. They not only fire up your imagination for crazy things but also help you achieve them with support. Thanks guys (and gals)!

More details here http://connect.garmin.com/activity/156697164

This is where it all started. At the finish line of Airtel Hyderabad Marathon 2011. My first official Half Marathon.

Hyderabad Heritage Marathon 2011.

Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2011

Icebreaker

A lot of people have been asking me to pen my thoughts on why I took up running and the transformation it had in me. Even though I had been procrastinating, I knew it would be a good idea to chronicle the progress that I have made in the last few months. So on the occasion of New Year, I decided to start the blog. But then laziness got the better of me and idea got pushed down the pile of tasks that were staring.

Finally 5 months and 4 days after I started running seriously, my chronicle starts. In this period, I have had a mini transformation: done 4 events ( 2 IAAF Gold Label events in that), lost about 10Kgs of weight, got a semblance of discipline in my daily schedule and have started looking at life in a different way. So I leave you with a few pictures to enjoy till my next post!