The tea party fundraiser

Along with a few buddies, I am heading over to the Grand Canyon this weekend for a trail run. We start at the South Rim, find our way down to the Canyon floor, and up to the North Rim and back all the way. 48 miles of it. Or as much of it as fun, pleasure and camaraderie will allow. The whole thing should be a fascinating experience, visual treats along with extremes in temperature differing by 70F, and elevation changes in many thousands of feet.

This is a simplistic course profile here, but it looks simply beautiful. When I first saw this profile a month ago, I thought it looked like an old tea cup made of clay or of china whose handle had broken off. That simple imagery continues to be a symbol of pleasant anticipation for our trip to the Canyon. So that's what we're headed out there for - we've had all our little parties here, and now it's time for a grand old tea party at the grand old canyon.

photo courtesy: Maneesh Pandey

I got into running several years ago primarily to raise funds for the wonderful schools run by GSK in Rajasthan, India. That was when they had 65 children in thatched structures for classrooms. Today, they have 300 kids with great infrastructure and all of them enjoy spending time at what increasingly feels like a successful movement to restore the joy of childhood. The school's revolutionary alternative methods that attracted much opposition and criticism a few years back are now bearing some fruit - graduates excelling in public examinations, passionate buy-in from impoverished rural communities and more collaborations with mainstream schools.

There's a long haul ahead still for GSK, and funding continues to lag requirements - the Strides of Hope program from Asha for Education is a critical part of fulfilling this need for several such initiatives. My Grand Canyon run and tea party and a $1000 target are all part of this program. Donations made through this fundraising page go to the Austin chapter of Asha for Education. Asha for Education is a completely volunteer-run organization, and all donations are tax exempt in the US.

Thanks for sharing your time; now all you have to do is pay for your cuppa by 5/15 ;)

Links:

1. Donation page
2. Grand Canyon National Park
3. Gramin Shiksha Kendra (GSK)
4. Austin chapter of Asha for Education
5. Strides of Hope program

En-trance-d

My high school memories include a daily assembly of all the kids and teachers in the school courtyard, always too early in the morning and always too hot in Chennai. After prayers and what not, you could then see us seated in neat rows of meditating yogis, or snickering teenagers, depending on how far you observed us from. Transcendental Meditation (TM), they called it. After several years of unintentional practice, I got reasonably successful at reaching that state of mind when you feel relaxed and almost trance-like, though I never did get to feel the 'energy from the end of the universe'. (That would come later in life, with Pink Floyd.)

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The days leading up to the Wild Hare race were most un-'days-leading-up-to-a-race'-like. I signed up for the 25K so I could show off the shiny medal with the cartoon hare that Joe, the race director, and Alicia, the medal designer, baited everyone with. I wasn't trained, not by a long shot, but I wasn't completely out of shape either. I was in a rather curious stage with my running - when I ran, about once or twice a week, on short 5 mile runs, I ran comfortably well and despite my obvious lack of training, I was running faster than I had ever run before. But 5 miles was the point where not only my speed dropped, my run stopped as well.

A week before the race, I did a 14 mile run with my new training group. Since I had to re-learn how to pace myself, I scanned the group and promptly decided to keep up with Diana H, who knows a thing or two about pacing a long run. That was a good strategy, I completed my 14 miles comfortably. Now all I had to do was replicate that pacing strategy at the race: start slow, then go slower.

The Race

It's November 20, the Wild Hare trail race is on today at the Bluff Creek Ranch, Warda, TX. I've run here before on the soft pine needles and through the cow pastures. Driving into Warda on the race morning with Cris and Savi, I'm relaxed knowing I'd run the miles but not race them with a time goal to achieve. There are 2 loops of 8 and 7.5 miles each, and even with running slow, I expect my time to be around 90 minutes for each loop.

Seeing all my buddies at the race start bucks me up like a tonic and it is nice to see Sha, a fellow Team Asha runner, ready to do her first trail race! Despite my excitement, I remember my resolve to start slow. So I start at the back of the pack, chatty and slow. Warming up through the first half mile, I settle into a rhythm where I am not thinking about my run at all. I am just soaking it all up, all the friends and smiles and trees around me. After another mile, I am running on my own. I am en-trance-d, the feeling is similar to just what I felt with TM all those years back. I am only vaguely aware of what I am doing, there are no thoughts in my head and my body moves on pure instinct through all the rocks, roots and pines. I pass some runners and some others pass me, but I have found my natural rhythm.

The trance is broken as I near the first aid station 4 miles into the race. There's Cris and Henry, and after taking some salt and water, I am off. A few minutes into the long fields here, I get back to my rhythm, and back into my trance. Miles 4-8 go by without making an impression on my mind. As I run through the barn at the end of my first loop, I start getting conscious of the things I need to do: nutrition, hydration, change of shirt etc. I glance at the clock curiously, and I am shocked at the reading: I have done the first 8 miles in 72 minutes, way faster than I expected or sought to achieve.

A couple of minutes at the pit stop for fuel, and I am off. I'd been merely running easy until this point, now I want to race. Is it possible that I might finish in 2:30? How fast should I run? Should I avoid walk breaks entirely and just push through the remaining miles as hard as I can? Starting the second loop, I am sprinting with all my focus on how to make this a great race time-wise. I transcend into no sub-conscious trances no more, I am only too aware of how my legs are moving, how I am breathing hard and so on. From miles 10-12, it's narrow single track and I start getting anxious about passing runners who can't hear me shout at them because they've got headphones on.

I rush through the mid-point aid station in a hurry. Mistake. Saving a few seconds there meant that I did not prepare for a warming sun through the exposed fields. My body is heated up, and the day feels too warm to run, and I am willing myself to push through these last 4 miles. I am slow, I can't keep up with what I've been doing. I can feel the effects of the 6-mile hill workout from a day and a half before, my legs are tired. I am enjoying this no more, this second loop has had a completely different feel to it than my first one. I run in, and the clock says I've taken 78 minutes for my 7.5 miles, and I am not sure whether to be happy or not with my overall time of 2:32.

After a few minutes though, my body recovers and I feel good - not with my time because that doesn't matter, but with having run 15.5 miles and enjoying the post-run moments with my friends. I spend the rest of my excited day chatting, handing out finisher medals, putting up glow sticks and eating veggie burgers. It's been a great day, I've learnt a lot today about my running - about what to do and not do next time, and to just accept whatever happens and allow myself to be en-trance-d.

Nueces Trail Marathon

The Nueces 50 Miler and Marathon race was held on March 6 this year at the Camp Eagle park. This was the first year for this race in this form, and it was very exciting to be a part of the launch.

Camp Eagle is a gorgeous park. This is beautiful, rugged Texas hill country, with steep hills and a spring-fed river. I'd visited the park earlier for a few days in fall 2009 when I volunteered to help create, measure and map the trails here for the race. I was so impressed with the park and the facilities there that I felt like I'd stumbled upon a hidden treasure in my backyard! It wasn't the best time to visit the park for me though, as most of the hills are covered with cedar trees, and bush-whacking through the trees just puffed up clouds of pollen that didn't do my cedar allergies any good. It was all good though, I really enjoyed hiking and running on the trails, learning about how Joe Prusaitis, the race director, maps out the race courses and meeting all the friendly folks at Camp Eagle. It was no surprise then that I decided to run the race...

I selected the Nueces marathon as my target race for Team Asha and I pledged to raise $100/mile for the Austin chapter of Asha. At Asha, I have been working with 2 projects for children in Rajasthan (India) for a few years now:
(a) GSK, an education project that provides very high quality education to about 400 kids this year.
(b) RMKM, an education and rehabilitation program for about 375 mentally challenged children.

The race
I hadn't trained specifically for this race, but I had been running and keeping up with my fitness generally. But I'd flared up my hip flexors a couple of days before the race, and I was worried about having to run through pain and having a miserable race. My anxieties lifted though even as I drove into the park the previous night, and met all my running buddies. I decided that I'd have fun at the race - and the attitude change helped with my run the next morning.

It was a wonderful day to run. It was cool, in the 50's, cloudy, and we had challenging trails in beautiful hills to run on. I started very slow and it took me nearly 2 hours to complete the first 9.5 mile loop. And from miles 8 through 14, I struggled through with pain in my right hip flexor. The worst part of having the pain was that I couldn't run all those long delicious downhills! Even as I was starting to contemplate dropping out of the race, the aid station at mile 14 came up and I was supplied with some ibuprofen. That saved my race, and my next 12 miles went much better than my first 14 miles had. Surprisingly, I finished rather strongly and managed to pull in to the finish chute in about 5:50. I was happy with the time I made, especially with all the low expectations I'd set through the previous day and the race.

It was a good race to be a part of - the race organizers, the volunteers, the camp staff and the scenery were all wonderful. I'd definitely go back for this race next year!

Links
My Team Asha fund-raising page
Gramin Shiksha Kendra (GSK)
Rajasthan Mahila Kalyan Mandal (RMKM)
Nueces Trail Marathon (Tejas Trails)
Pictures from my Camp Eagle visits

Catoctin Mountain Park

Date: October 11, 2009

Place: Catoctin Mountain Park, Maryland

Trails: Falls Nature, Hog Rock Nature, Blue Ridge Summit, Thurmont Vista, Wolf Rock, Chimney Rock

Distance: 8.5 Miles

Difficulty: Moderate

More fall season hiking, this time at the Catoctin Mountain Park managed by the National Park Service. It's a beautiful drive of about 50 miles from DC leading to the park. The mountains here are part of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the ancient Appalachian Mountains. The park itself is forested thickly with hardwood trees like oaks and maples and also has some interesting rock formations wrought over hundreds of millions of years of geological evolution.

Shankar and I chose the longest round-trip trail, listed as being 8.5 miles with a few strenuous climbing sections. This loop skirts around the edges of the park, from the Cunningham falls in the west to the Chimney Rock in the east.

Falls Nature Trail to the Cunningham Falls

Around 1.5 miles from the visitor center trailhead, and along the Falls Nature Trail, lies the Cunningham Falls viewing point. The hike up is moderate, and the falls are set in a beautiful wooded area.

Hog Rock, Blue Ridge Summit and Thurmont Vista

From the Cunningham Falls, it's a strenuous hike up of around 1.25 miles to the Hog Rock. The Hog Rock is at the center of the park, and is made of metabasalt, a dark greenish-gray igneous rock. It's also called the Catoctin Greenstone. After sunbathing here for a while and taking in the beautiful views, we resumed our hike up to the Blue Ridge Summit about half a mile away.

The view here opens out to the Blue Ridge Mountains in the far west, hence the name. Another half a mile away on the trail led us to the Thurmont Vista overlook. You can see the town of Thurmont in the valley below, the valley itself a geological attraction made by erosion over millions of years.

Wolf Rock

Another moderate hike of 1.5 miles took us to the Wolf Rock formations. The quartzite rocks and the erosion by wind and rain water (through frost wedging) creating spectacular shapes were a treat. We spent considerable time here jumping from rock to rock.

Chimney Rock

Chimney Rock, another 0.6 miles away, was the highlight of the entire hike. This is again quartzite rock formed in the shape of chimney. In order to get on the chimney rock though, we had to jump across very deep wedges that had formed cliffs along the rock walls. Dangerous and exciting as the jump was, we were rewarded with the best panoramic views yet. After spending half an hour here, we jumped back onto the main trail and headed back.

A couple of miles more of hiking brought us back to the visitor center just as the sun was setting. The hikes made for a good workout among beautiful wooded and forested sections for the most part, and there are viewing spots all along the trail every mile or so. It is an enjoyable and rewarding hike through some of the best scenery in Maryland.

Shenandoah NP: Overall Run Falls

Date: October 4, 2009

Place: Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Trails: Overall Run, Beecher Ridge, Trace Trail

Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous

Shenandoah! (Just love saying that word aloud!)

The day was nice for a hike/run - sunny, in the 50s and 60s, fall season. The Shenandoah National Park is about 90 miles from DC, and consists of breathtaking scenery of forested Blue Ridge mountains and meadows. The plan was to hike/run the 11.5 mile round-trip connecting the Overall Run and Beecher Ridge trails. The trails are listed on hiking websites as being strenuous and having an elevation gain of 4000'. Despite all that, Shankar and I started the hike, for various excuses, at 4.45pm. Even as we started, we knew that it was miserably late and that we would finish when the fullish moon was overhead.

We started at the Traces Trail trailhead, and the trail started climbing steeply immediately for a mile or so. On the way we passed a few trail intersections, randomly chose what we took to be the "main" trail, wondering why these extremely well maintained trails were not marked at all. After hiking a mile, we came across another intersection, and we finally figured out then that the funny looking stone pillars had tiny metal plates on the sides that gave out the information on trail directions that we could have used 0.5 miles earlier. This intersection was with the famous Appalachian trail, which we had definitely not planned to meet.

Backtrack. Back to the previous intersection then, a fast downhill run on trails nice, rocky in parts but mostly soft. We finally got back to the Overall Run trail, our initially intended itinerary. We then hiked up steeply and then down steeply for a couple of miles through thickly wooded forests. There are no scenic views here, but the trail itself is colorful with the red, pink, yellow and green leaves from oak and maple trees that herald the arrived fall season. This part of the hike ends at a clearing with fantastic views of mountains and the nearby 93' Overall Run Falls. All the prior steep climbing was forgotten in this vista of meditative beauty. The setting sun added a picturesque background to the valleys of the Blue Ridge mountains.

We continued hiking steeply downward along the trail for some more, though Shankar by this time was plodding on bravely despite ITB issues and foot blisters. It was soon 7pm and darkening rapidly, and we decided to turn back to conquer the trail another day. A surreal night hike in the forest ensued, navigated safely with the help of a flashlight and a headlamp. The trails were empty of any people other than us two, quite reasonably, and that added it's own charm in the night with birds tweeting and creatures strange rustling the leaves on the ground. We got a little lost though and ended up at the Mathews Arms Campground instead of the trailhead, but we knew the way down to the trailhead through the campsites. We finished finally at around 8pm.

If the 7 miles or so that we did on the trail is any indication, this is a strenuous hike with rather steep uphill and downhill sections but well worth the effort for all the beauty there is along the way. Among the wildlife we saw today were white-tailed deer, gray squirrels, vultures and white caterpillars.

The little we saw of the trail and the park was enchanting. Enough to make me want to go there again. Soon.

Orphanage Benefit Run 50K

The Ciudad de los Ninos (City of Children) Orphanage Benefit Run, a 50K race was organized at the Bluff Creek Ranch, Warda, TX this year on January 24, 2009. The race raises funds to construct a water line from the city water lines to the orphanage building in Matamoros (Mexico).

I used this race as a training run for my upcoming 50-miler at Rocky Raccoon. I was familiar with the course as I had already run 25K at the Cardiac Run in November. There were 4 loops of around 7.75 miles each on this semi-supported race. The trails are mostly single track, 70% shaded with pines and old oaks. The trail also winds through acres of cow pastures and even an oil rig in the ranch!

It was cold and windy, but overall, it was a good day for a long run. I had fairly even splits to complete my race at 6hrs and 10 mins (a PR for me by 25 mins). I started out very slow, partly by choice and partly because I was very sore after playing squash on Thursday after 12+ years! I was in pain the first 2 loops but slowly eased into some comfort in the latter half of the race.

Running slow had some almost unintended effects. For the first time in a long run, I maintained roughly the same pace throughout as opposed to tapering off and taking more walk breaks towards the end. A lesson learnt then about my body: if I start out slow, then I am able to maintain stride and form steadily through a longer time without pushing myself too hard.

The race was, as usual for the organizers, well directed and the volunteers very helpful. Thanks to Damon and family for putting up a wonderful race! I now have to run the Doogies in March to complete the Warda triple!

Bandera 50K

So it was finally here. The race that I am actually feeling trained for - Bandera 50K at the Hill Country State Natural Area (HCSNA) in Bandera, Texas on January 10, 2009. This is a very beautiful park, and typical Texas hill country - rugged. The trails are steep, rocky and flanked by sotol bushes with sharp thorny leaves. You slide on loose rock, climb over stone ledges and get scraped, cut and bruised by sotol and other cacti along the trails.

I am feeling good about this race, I have been running well this winter. Both physically and mentally, I feel ready for what surely is going to be a tough challenge. Here is the race course.



Pre-race (Friday)
Gaurav and I, after our customary invocation to the Taco Deli gods, drive into the park on Friday afternoon. As we reach, we see that the kids' race is just over. The wind is starting to pick up, so now would be a good time to set up our tent. We walk into the Lodge in time for packet pickup and the race briefing. Joe and Henry are giving the lowdown on the race course and what to expect, but all I can hear and sense is the atmosphere in the briefing tent, 'twas electric with anticipation and excitement from all the runners! Ah, friendly faces all around, chat meet shake-hands chat, and is that food over there, attack chop chow. It is dark and getting late, and I reluctantly tear away from the fun and head over, along with Naresh, to a-bar-a-bunk-house, a home accommodation in town.

The house is nice, it looks cozy and it is warm and Cris is making tea. Hello! How are you? How is the tea? I am done with tea, let me take my bags upstairs and get ready for the race. I am feeling brave, let me wear just a long-sleeved shirt for the race and drop my wind jacket in my drop bag that I can access 15.5 miles into the race. Yeah, and since I start with a long sleeve, the natural progression is to have a short sleeve shirt in the drop bag as well. Surely, if I am not frost-bitten by 15.5 miles, my bravado can continue on for 15.5 more.

Pre-race (Saturday)
My nose is all stuffed up. My cedar allergies are acting up, and I am not able to sleep. I sneeze, breathe hard and noisily and turn over many times, all to no avail but keeping Naresh awake. I wake up still excited but sorely lacking sleep, and head over to the park. I decisively stick to just a long-sleeved shirt, and am determined not to listen to any doubting Thomases in the form of Gaurav, who asks when I see him 15 minutes before the start, 'is that all you are wearing?'. In a sea of eskimos, I am dressed for a warm day at the beach. Almost. After informing him that all that separates his tent from becoming an unidentified flying object is one flimsy peg, I head out to the race start.

Race start to Boyle's
It is nice to see all my friends along the start line. Hi Cris, Oz, Justin, Tania, and hey Jeff, long time! And after a rather social gathering, we go. I cannot go out too fast, I start out slowly, breathe slowly, go slowly. I think I should line up behind Bhavesh and John, they seem to have the same nice idea of going slow. Oz is off in a flash, but my legendary determination wins through and I stay turtlesque.

Hey Roger, good to see you man! Roger is at the Last Chance aid station half a mile into the race, where we pass the station but get no aid other than Roger waving us away.

Cairns' climb is ahead, and I start slowly. I feel good, but climb rhythmically. I let some of the stronger climbers go, I need to run my own race not someone else's. There is a lot of mental talking-to-oneself going on. Wow, is that all that Cairns' has to offer? What a wimp! Here I go then, yippee yay, I see downhill. I find that downhill is good. And I said let me do the downhill. Cairns' goes by without making an impression, maybe Boyle has something bumpy to offer?

The uphill climb on Boyle's Bump starts out a tad gentler than that on Cairns'. This is almost enjoyable. I am not cold, and for once, I am in a position to commend myself on my sartorial choice. I come up along a ridge and I start running, it feels great. I take the Bump of Boyle in my stride and I am having a party down the other side. I stretch out my stride and move...

Boyle's to Nachos
As the downhill tapers off, I am letting the momentum carry me past the aid station at the 5 mile mark. I know Gaurav is supposed to be here, but I cannot see him initially. Hey Gaurav! I have everything I need, food and water, and I don't feel like breaking my momentum. So I just keep running and turn back to see Gaurav make some hesitant steps towards me. He decides wisely to not follow me and just tells me I am doing great. Which is a lie, but it still feels good to hear that. I look at my watch, and I realize that I have been doing 10-minute miles on the hardest section of the course.

John and I are doing good pace along the Sky Island trail. Rob the coach is up there, perched on top of the sky island. He tells us we are doing good. These hills are enjoyable, partly because I still have my head and it tells me that what goes up must come down. And I have just come up quite a bit, and go down the hill with glee.

As we near Ice Cream Hill, we see Damon and he's telling us we are doing good. Everyone lies on a day like this. Bhavesh catches up with us here, and we climb up. There is no darn ice cream up the hill, hey you dark-humored cynic! I am done feeling good now, I want Nachos.

Nachos to Chapas
Nachos! I take a small break here, re-fueling and putting a piece of banana in my mouth. I head out slowly, its a nice day for a soothing walk in the park. Five minutes into the aforementioned s. w. in the p., I hate to break it to myself but it must be done. Buddy, this is a race not a picnic, move it, will ya! Reluctantly, I break into a trot and maintain a steady shuffle. I pass Bar-O and for the first time, I am doing trails I havent been on before. I take it easy here, not because it is hard, but because I want to finish strong.

Chapas to Crossroads
The Chapas house and aid station comes out of the woods like an unexpected gift. I am so happy I just sit down and get into my Patagonia Capilene shirt, and start eating my tamarind rice. And that is about how far I get with the eating, the rice is hard and dry and I cannot eat. While I am still struggling with my picnic preparations, Cris walks in and lets me know what she thinks of my slow pace. I realize she is right. I just pick up a gel or two and head out into the wild.

I have stayed too long at the aid station, I am feeling cold and my body is not warming up. I try to pick up the pace but don't want to push it when I am not feeling warmed up. I continue my slow and steady shuffle and run into Crossroads. More friends here, it is just wonderful to see everyone. Jeanette, Jim and Jeff and more. 5 miles after parking at Chapas, I positively hunker down again at Crossroads. My mind goes, if there is food to be eaten, eat it. If there is a chair to sit, sit.

Cris turns in once again, she is just 5 minutes behind me at this point. Once again, she goads me into moving, thanks Cris! I pick up my reluctant body and head out into the Three Sisters loop.

The Three Sisters
I am in no mood to push uphills anymore. I take it easy, as easy as you like, climbing up. Surprisingly, I still feel good hurtling down and I do, down all the Three Sisters. The Three Sisters are three hills that you go up and down in rapid succession, and they do go by eventually and I hit upon the flat and downward mile back to the Crossroads. This is all familiar territory and it picks me up considerably, I start running well knowing that the aid station is not far away.

Surprise, surprise! Gaurav is outside Crossroads even as I run in, taking pictures. Bhaskar and Gaurav start fussing over me, and that perks me up so much that I want to just head out again and take on whatever comes my way! Gaurav fills my bottles. To the full, to the hilt...

Finish
My bottles are starting to feel heavy. Its just a 5 mile loop, mostly flat, and I start watering the plants along the trail. Better them than me at this point. I run/walk hesitantly here, for my mind is expecting the dreaded Lucky's Peak. I tell myself that I am never going to listen to anyone else's opinions, especially dreads, anymore and let them affect me. Lucky's eventually shows up and I struggle up that monster. I call this the second FUJI, J for my coach and race director Joe. Hauling your thingy over Everest at Mile 30 is not fun. But it gets over, all hills at Bandera do eventually get over.

And now it is just a mile more of fun flats and downhills. I pick up speed and excitement as I narrow the distance to the finish. Good to see Roger again, I must be close now. Stretch 'em legs boy, lets go, there's a party waiting to happen in just a bit. Just a bit. Just a bit.

Done. Done! Joe is standing at the finish clapping and cheering and puts out a hand. I smack his outstretched hand with my bottled hand. Sorry Joe, didnt mean to, just really excited. Joe is cool, hands me my medal and Gaurav comes in all smiles. I sit down for a while, enjoying this moment, it feels very good. I check my time, its under 7 hours which is nice. I had a reasonably good race, and given all the things that generally can and do go wrong in a race, I have a rather smooth affair. I am happy.

Lessons learned
I have had a good race, but I still learn. I learn to keep my body warmed up at all times, and to move through aid stations more quickly. And perhaps head out even slower at the race start. And I also realize that my race goes well when I am well-trained.

Post-race
After eating continuously for hours on end, I wait around the finish area and cheer all the runners finishing. Savitha eventually rolls in with a big grin on her face, she has had a good race and tells us stories about her rolling down every hill on the course. More runners finish, and a lot of backslapping happens.

Course tear-down
At night, as the course tear-down gets underway, Gaurav and I head out to pull down the glow-sticks, ribbons and signs from a section of the course from Nachos to Chapas. Its almost 6 miles, but at night, it is very beautiful and we enjoy the hike a lot. The bright full moon casts a strange and beautiful halo around itself, and nature itself seems to be enjoying this night. We pull down ribbons and as we climb into Chapas, we join Joyce and others as they tear down the aid station.

It has been a long and tiring but enjoyable day. I am in the grips of a Bandera hangover for several days after that. And I cannot wait to go back there and race, and volunteer, and meet all my friends again.

Battling it out in the greenbelt

The day I was supposed to do my longest training run of 28 miles added a few twists of its own. The day started warm and extremely humid, and as the day progressed, it grew warmer while still remaining humid. I have typically not done well in such conditions. Actually, that is quite an understatement. Humidity and heat have always oppressed me on my runs, so this long run was going to be a challenge.

We started out at 7am in the Barton Creek Greenbelt at the 'Hill of Life'. It was a new route for me today, and I promptly got lost on the trails in the first loop and did a couple of extra miles. I ended up doing 3 more loops, shorter because I knew the trails now. The hilly loop including a couple of overlook vistas with breathtaking scenery and I lapped it up greedily. The beauty of the greenbelt with some fall colors thrown in for extra credits really helped keep my mind off the pains and struggles in my mind and body today.

There were a few positives to take home today. I have now learnt to pace myself much better in different conditions. Previously in summer, I would run a few miles and then give out completely in exhaustion and frustration. But today, I slowed myself down after the first frenetic loop. I mixed in liberal doses of forced walk breaks to make sure I was not pushing too hard against the elements. Consequently, each loop thereafter was taking around 2-2:10 hours to complete, even as I grew more tired with every passing mile. It was rather slow, but consistency won the day today. And by conserving energy initially, I was also pleasantly surprised to be running strongly even in the last mile!

For such a hot and humid day, my improvised nutrition plan also worked well. Normally, I found it hard to eat anything after a few miles on such days; it becomes hard to chew and digest, and the taste buds complain a lot. Today, I relied on an array of options: 1 banana, 2 clif shot bloks, 2 hammer gels, a few spoons of tamarind brown rice mixed with some lentils, 1 bottle of ensure, 2 packets of Succeed Amino, and countless tablets of salt, all taken with a total of about 200+ oz (~2 gallons) of water. That sounds like quite a feast now, but while I was running, I managed to ensure a steady supply of energy.

Thanks to the humidity, I also used up quite a bit of gear today: 2 shirts, 2 shorts, 2 bandanas, 1 cap, and 2 pairs of socks. I sure wished I had more though!

Another positive today was my handling of my IT-band pain. My tight IT-band has been a bane recently, it has forced me to back off training and try different things to alleviate the pain, like tying my bandana above my knee. I recently came across some nice stretching exercises for the IT-band, and by doing a few stretches every few miles or so for 30 seconds at a time today especially when I felt it may start to bother me a little, I managed to keep that issue at bay.

On the whole, I am happy I ran long today and did not bail early. It feels like quite an achievement for me, especially after the nightmares of summer training. I have clearly learnt a lot through experience, and I am still learning with each run on what works for me under different conditions. And battling it out today on the hills of the greenbelt under hot and humid weather and making the 28 miles slotted for today is a nice confidence boost! All in all, a great training run.

Why am I running?

I am training to run the Rocky Raccoon 50 Miler race as part of Team Asha. My target race is on February 7, 2009, in the Huntsville State Park, Texas.
This is my first 50 miler ever! Infact, it is way longer than anything I have attempted so far. Training has been fun but hard, and has involved a lot of commitment in time and effort for my first 50 miler. I am doing all this, as I keep reminding myself on runs that keep getting longer and harder, for a cause I absolutely love and support. I am running as part of Team Asha this year to raise funds for the wonderful and deserving schools run by Gramin Shiksha Kendra in rural Rajasthan.
The schools provide a high quality of education thats relevant to the local community in order to bring about meaningful socioeconomic change. It is a very thoughtful effort by a few committed and talented educators to make a real and qualitative difference in the lives of the impoverished rural community. They promote learning based on fun and child-centric activities. Teachers employ innovative teaching techniques and educational materials tailored specifically for every child to learn effectively and thoroughly. Local knowledge and cultural expertise is incorporated into the syllabus so that the children have a broad curriculum that they can relate to easily. More importantly, it also grounds the education of the children to the success of the local community. I passionately believe that the success of this initiative can provide a good model of education that can be replicated across various rural and urban communities all over India!
For this initiative to succeed, it needs your support! Learn more about this exciting project here.
I have pledged to raise $100 for every mile I run in my race. All the proceeds from my runner page go towards supporting Gramin Shiksha Kendra. Please contact me to sponsor my race and help me reach my fundraising target as I strive to reach my 50 mile distance.

My runner fund-raising page where you can DONATE is here.

Warda Cardiac Run 25K

The Cardiac Run race happens every year at Damon Nolan's Bluff Creek Ranch in Warda, TX. The ranch has pine forests, open grasslands and even an oil rig! The 25K race consists of 2 loops of 12.5K each, with about 325' of elevation change in each loop. The course is mostly runnable except for a few small but steep hills in each loop. There is one aid station in each loop apart from the Start/Finish area.

The 25K this year started at 10am, in bright but very windy conditions. For the first 3 miles, as my muscles were warming up, I felt some pain on the outside of my right knee. The pain however went away soon and I hit a comfortable stride after the first aid station.

Joe P. who was on his second loop of his 50K run caught up with me here and we ran together for about 3 miles running at a fast but comfortable pace. At around mile 6 though, as Joe and I were running astride, Joe's brand new shoes caught some mesh and sent him tumbling over my way. Joe was fine though and just got up and ran hard again!

As we pulled into the S/F area at the end of the first loop, the clock showed 1:17. After a minute replenishing gels and water, I started out on the second loop feeling more comfortable. And knowing that this was my last loop helped to push a pace that was definitely among my best for long runs. I finished the second loop and the race at 2:28, doing a negative split by 4 mins from the first loop. Quite easily, a personal record for me.

After the race, I walked into the ranch house, and had some wonderful food prepared by Damon. Joyce, Jeff and Robert also joined us here and Damon regaled us with stories about the ranch and activities in the ranch. After a while, I walked out to the finish area, and saw Joe finish in 4:59! A fantastic time, and then soon, Savi also rolled in for a personal record for her. Ganesh had started earlier and finished and left for San Antonio for a marathon the next day!

A wonderful race set up informally with very friendly volunteers and the good running conditions made it a memorable and enjoyable experience. The trails and the informal atmosphere reminded me a lot of my first trail race, the Rocky Hill Ranch 25K. I appreciate all the hard work that Damon and his folks put in to make this a great race for all the runners!

Running in the rain

Running on technical trails immediately after it has rained or even while it is raining can be challenging and fun. Yesterday, a few of us from the training group (Kelly, Jason, Charlene, Bob and myself) did a nice 5.6 mile loop starting at the Hill of Life and through Cedar Chop and Powerline. We slipped a few times on the slick and shifty rocks, stomped through puddles of water and kicked wet mud out of our shoes at each step. It was fairly warm and very humid, and the added challenges of night running on wet trails, made it quite a hard workout. Fun nevertheless.

Rocky Raccoon 50K

This is a good race put up by race director Paul Stone. The course is on flat but beautiful trails in the Huntsville State Park. The 50K consists of 2 25K loops, with many aid stations along the way. I had some issues with abdominal cramping and nausea starting around mile 10 and lasting nearly until the end. Nutrition, like in Palo Duro, turned out to be an issue again. The current theory for my nutrition woes has it that I had more salt (Succeed caps) than I needed. Despite all that though, I finished in 6:35, another personal best time for a 50K. The race was fun, and it was good to meet all the HCTR folks at the aid station and elsewhere - Naresh, Joe, Robert, Joyce, Diana, Henry, Dawn, Marcia and others.

Running to death

It appears now that we actively seek death whatever we do. Death just doesn't happen, we race towards it in so many ways. Its like the different 'yogas' (of B'Gita) you can do to reach salvation:

Are you running yourself to death?

Are we eating ourselves to death?

I am impressed. All I can say is...science has come of age: 'they have now discovered that death happens'. Quite profound.

Palo Duro Canyon 50K

Is it possible to run a 50K without much training?

Since the somewhat unlucky attempt at the Pikes Peak Ascent in mid-August, I had not run much until the end of September. Stanley pulled me back into running on the beautiful trails in and around Austin, like the Greenbelt and at the Bastrop park. As far as trail running went, I was back! And the incessant talk about the Palo Duro Canyon on the HCTR forum prompted me into an ambitious target- a 50K with almost no training; the longest run I had done since Pikes Peak was a measly 14 miles.

Actually, who knew Texas had a massive and beautiful canyon of its own? Yeah, and the Palo Duro (Hard Rock) Canyon in the Texas Panhandle region is actually the second biggest in the US (see panoramic view below).


We (Team Asha runners Dada, Bab, Savi and myself) left for Canyon, TX, near the Palo Duro Canyon on Friday, a drive of over 10 hours with all the various pit stops. Some injudicious snack foods along the way was to prove a little troublesome the next day! We reached our hotel late, and finally got to sleep around 1am!

In the morning, as we drove toward the canyon, all we could see for a while was just pancake-flat expanse all around us. And then suddenly, the earth opened up. We drove down into the canyon floor and made our way to the start area where hundreds of runners were all excited and raring to go. The 50K folks were to run a 6-mile loop initially and then 2 bigger loops of around 12.5 miles each.

The first loop. It was still dark when we started at 7am, and the narrow track meant that all the runners were slowly plodding through in a single file for the first 3 miles. After the aid station where the 50K and 50M folks split up in the first loop, Gaurav, Ganesh and I took off and had a nice fastish run in the early morning pleasant weather. We finished the loop, despite the slow start, in about 73 mins.

The second loop. The start of the second loop was tough for me, mainly because I had neglected proper nutrition after the first 6 miles and compounding the problem was some gastro trouble from the previous night's food. I wouldnt get any calories until the next aid station 3.5 miles further. That proved to be a drag on my energy reserves and I found myself walking already in the second loop. At a certain point, the couple of restroom breaks meant that I passed the same runners twice! Struggling through, mainly on account of low energy levels and lost time to restroom breaks, the 12.5 mile loop took well over 3 hours. I gladly stopped over at the S/F to take a longish break and catch up on some food.

The third loop. The third loop started out slow as I gradually started feeling better. A couple of miles into the loop, and especially after Phil's aid station, I had started running again strongly and maintained a good pace through the rest of the race. I kept having gels and drinking lots of Coke at every aid station. It was getting warmer through the day, but thankfully, I finished before it got really hot. Also, around this time, the aid station volunteers also had to deal with hundreds of bees attracted to all the sweet stuff around!

I finished with a total time of around 7.45 hours. Not a bad time, but it was a personal record (PR)!! Actually, smashed my previous 50K time from Tahoe by more than 3 hours. I enjoyed the race a lot, the course is fairly flat and is mostly runnable. And the fantastic views of the canyon from all the different points on the trails make it a pleasant and memorable run. The race organizers and aid station volunteers were superb. They had also put up some interesting and inspiring banners all along the way, saying things like:

If you are feeling comfortable in an ultra, dont worry, that will change soon!

Adversity does not build character, it reveals character!

and a favorite quote by "Big Red" Spicer, RD for previous editions of the trail race,

Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, ‘Bring it on, darlin’, and don’t be stingy with the jalapeños!’

So yes, it is possible to run a 50K without much training (and even write a race report!), but the performance can vastly improve with proper training. It had been so long since I had such a long run that I paid little heed to pacing myself appropriately or taking in nutrition periodically.

All in all, I am very happy I got the opportunity to visit the Palo Duro Canyon, run a reasonably good race and meet all the friendly trail-running folks out there!

Vibha Dream Mile 5K

After 7 years of being a part of the organizing team for the Vibha 5K, this was the first time I actually ran the race! The Vibha Dream Mile 5K was held on October 5, 2008.

The Vibha 5K course starts at the East Mall and goes through various roads in the UT campus, and that makes for a nice setting. Its a hilly run, slightly harder than an average 5K. Parts of the course repeat in 2 loops and so runners can take 3 water stops during the race.

Overall, a fun race. Its fun because its a small race and is run by enthusiastic volunteers and supported by excited runners and patrons. The whole atmosphere is festival-like, especially with all the huge tents for the kids' games, music and Vibha information (a novelty since the 2007 edition).

Personally, for me, this was my first 5K. I carried a camera with me on the run and got some pictures on the course. I also finished sub-30 mins, so that was nice. My team, Team Asha, also had a great time, with best team prize and Jith coming first in his age category.

Tahoe Rim Trail 50K

A Glimpse of Heaven and a Taste of Hell

My first ultra ever! A mountain 50K to boot...

Training
Training for the July race at Lake Tahoe meant that most of the 3+ months of training happened in the hot and humid Texas summer. The extreme heat meant that I rarely got to do any meaningful long runs except for a couple of back-to-back runs at Guadalupe Mountain National Park. Those runs at Guads were very useful, and almost perfect training of what to expect of running at an elevated altitude on the mountains as I would face in Tahoe. Despite the rather unsatisfactory training runs I had, I knew that the Tahoe 50K had a generous cut-off and that the challenge would mainly rest on my endurance and not speed.

Pre-race
I flew into San Jose a couple of nights before to meet up with Naresh. After having some amazing breakfast made by Roopa, we packed some food for our drop bags and left for Tahoe, a 4-hour drive away. After packet pickup, we met all the Rogue and HCTR folks over the carbo-load dinner.

Race day
We woke up early next morning and got into the race bus that took us from the host hotel to the park entrance. The weather was nice, in the 50's maybe when we started the race.

Course profile

We started at Spooner Lake at an elevation of around 7000 feet. We had a nice 6-mile run to start with, initially climbing 1500 feet in 4 miles and then adding both fast downhills and steep climbs, to reach the Hobart aid station through the Marlette Lake. At this point, I had started out slow but kept up a steady pace through the uphills and flats and stepped up a little on the downhills.

Immediately after the aid station, we had a steep climb up the Marlette Peak (8780') and Herlan Peak (8837'). From Marlette Peak, we also had some fantastic unobstructed views of the entire Lake Tahoe and the Sierra mountains surrounding the lake. Truly, a glimpse of heaven. I was tiring as I rolled into the Tunnel Creek aid station where my drop bag was.

The dreaded Red House Loop was next. I clearly underestimated how hard this section would be. It started out with a nasty downhill where I could barely manage to not hurt my shins or ankles while uncontrollably hurtling down. Then started a series of very steep uphills and my lack of nutrition intake showed badly. I struggled through most of this loop, referred to rather aptly as a taste of hell.

Nearing the Tunnel Creek aid station, still climbing a nasty hill, I met Brad and we sat on a stony ledge for a few minutes while we let our legs recover from the pounding. Brad and I chatted away for a while and that helped end the loop positively for us.

At this stage, 17 miles were over and I was feeling very beat up. But I also realized that the worst was probably over and that I was still doing very good time (well ahead of cutoffs). I sat down at the Tunnel Creek aid station, and changed my shirt and socks, and had a rather nice lunch while I let my sore feet relax a little.

As I left the aid station, the first few 100 milers passed me as they were still going strong. I felt much better though after the lunch, and climbed steadily but strongly on the way up to Snow Valley Peak, the highest point in the race at 9214'. We had more-or-less climbed all the way from the lowest point in the Red House Loop at 6800'!

I was still feeling fairly good after I crossed the last aid station and had less 3 miles to go. John Sharp, who was doing his first loop on his 100-miler caught up with me here and pushed me hard to sprint down the last mile or so. John was quite incredible, he amazed me with his energy and enthusiasm even after 50 miles!

I finished strongly despite the struggles in the Red House Loop and all the mountain climbs with a time of just over 11 hours. This was my longest run by far, and only my second run longer than 5 hours through my entire training. And apart from my sore feet, I was feeling good enough for a few more miles! Maybe, it was all the beer the volunteers at the finish handed out...

As I waited around for the other runners to finish, confusion reigned as the race organizers had Diana listed as DNF, but Diana ran in strongly to finish her 50-miler in less than 14 hours. Jeff, Jeanette, Diana and myself then waited around for Naresh and Robert to finish. Naresh finished just before cutoff and we picked up an injured Robert from down the trail.

All in all, I had a good race, it was a first for me in many ways -- my first mountain race, my first ultra and so on. The scenery was absolutely breath-taking, and I met quite a few nice folks there. I would love to do the race again sometime in the future...