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| My companion for a few months |
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| The Trail surface was 70% like this |
Seven years back Western Massachusetts, after I was hit by a car in my university never did I think I would be able to run a mile again and running career was finished. Besides the dead vision in my right eye, everything came back but took 7 long years.
Post crash, being a couch potato for almost 4 months and after being on crutches I had exponentially increased weight but I kept dreaming continuously of doing an ultra some day. Cycling came to me as my physiotherapy and it was only last year that I had started to run full Marathons again.
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| The Loop of 20.8 kms and my stats |
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| Elevation chart of each loop of Bhatti Trail |
It was time to do something more, graduate to a higher level. Having run about half a dozen half’s and about 3 Full marathons and done 2 sets of Super Randonneur(cycling) series in the last one year ,it was Ultra Marathon doing my minds.
The choices I had were 50Kms, 80Kms, 100Kms and 160Kms (100 miles).My mind was saying 50K as that would not involve any night running as I am petrified of running in the dark after the crash but my heart asked me get out of the box and throw the scare out of the window and I succumbed to my heart….chose the 100 Kms knowing the fact that I don’t see at all with one eye and I will have to run in the treacherous terrains on Bhatti all night… It was difficult but not impossible.
A little bit the Ultra run is here :- http://www.outdoorjournal.in/articles/focus/2013/10/21/bhatti-lakes-2013-ultra-run-135-miles-utmb-qualifier-endurance-globeracers-new-delhi-india
A little bit the Ultra run is here :- http://www.outdoorjournal.in/articles/focus/2013/10/21/bhatti-lakes-2013-ultra-run-135-miles-utmb-qualifier-endurance-globeracers-new-delhi-india
6 kilos overweight, a former smoker, blind at one eye, once on crutches for 4 months were the hurdles I had to tame in my mind before taking the final plunge and give myself the commitment .
Well it was easy for me because I have Poonam on my side so left behind the past baggage and I just plunged, plummeted deep down, seriously training myself for over next 6 months aiming to run a nonstop 100Kms under 24 hrs.
Started to run more often than before and from a casual runner took the path of being a serious runner. I would cycle a 50 km in the mornings and run a 10 K in the evenings 4- 5 times a week for 4 months. I would run in the evenings more often to throw memories of my crash while running in the dark and I succeeded well.
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| Done and Dusted |
Got so much sucked into this training regime that my friends started to call me an obstinate unsocial selfish cocooned kind of guy but I didn’t budge an inch and proved them right.
I would mostly run alone and Poonam would cycle along with me and we did it pretty much 20 times a month for 6 months.
The foolish thing was, I was going to run a 100K trail but I had never run one before and I continued to be foolish till the event day. The scare I had was I didn’t want to fall and twist my ankle (foolish) but I always took lessons seeing people run trails .
It was important to test where I stood from time to time and alter/amend my practice accordingly .So in the mid summers in the month of June I ran a 45 Kms all around Ring Road in Delhi with Aakash Mall and a few more. I feel short by 20 kms and could do only a 45 kms but it was peak Delhi summers and temperatures were soaring well past 42C (110F) 3 hours into the run. But I was content and happy and perhaps a goal of 65 Kms was just too ambitious for me.
The last 2 months I had changed my running schedule having thrown away my night running scare to very early morning runs. Every alternate day I would run pretty much a 20K on GFR ( Gurgaon-Faridabad road) from Home which has a mix of pretty decent climbs and each loop would give a consolidated elevation gain of about 250meters in 20 K run. Would normally start at 5 am as my actual race start time and would run alone most of the days. Speed was not my criteria but able to run every alternate day was.
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| The all night Run with friends |
Last 2 months, every weekend I would run a 42K and once I ran all night and did a 80K in 12 Hrs on an all asphalted track with 24 other runners just to test if the wick would last all night on 2 legs…… I am happy it did well. It felt happy and proud to have friends like Rajiv Dubey, Trilok, Rajiv Chadha, ,Lok, Abhishek, Supratim,Aashish,Sanjeev and others who joined me on that night run .
The last 42 K I did on GFR with Sanjay which gave me the confidence of cracking a 100 under 24 hours and felt it should not be a problem.
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| I would run a 42 k from home till here almost every weekend |
The last 7 days I just did one long run but yes I did go for a 100K slow cycle ride 2 days before the race just to stretch my leg muscles.
My diet for the last 48 hrs was pretty much carbohydrates pasta and potato sandwiches and loads and loads of fresh orange juice .
Strategy for the run- Knowing my own body the best and having experienced many long distance cycle rides of over 24 hours nonstop, I had decided to run the first 42K in 7 hrs and next one in 9 and the next one in 8 hours… cutting it simple was run as much as possible till the sun hits hard and then in the afternoon would walk and will try to run the rest again after sunset…my aim was to crack a 120K.
My Team for the race –Mukesh Sharma would do his maiden 42 K starting with me, followed by Rajiv Dubey and then followed by Poonam and Trilok.
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| My daytime team |
Race day- Finally the moment was there, with butterflies in my stomach got my medical done, lights check, water check, and 5 am the whistle blows.
Its dark and the next one hour it would pretty much remain the same. Realising now how foolish and egg headed I was to have missed the recce run on the same track a week before, leave aside running ever on a trail before.
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| Trilok and Poonam pacing me at about 87Km mark |
Holding the torch on one hand and a water bottle in the other we all start like ghosts. The first 3 kms were like a breeze, Mukesh and I just went past everybody else and darn at the 4th Km had a nasty fall negotiating an edge. Luckily the ankle didn’t twist but the knee hits a stone .Mukesh pulls me up and the runners behind stop to see if I needed help. I took a deep breath did some stretchings and took a long pee and started to run again…well I began limping but soon it was a run. I was now careful and slow.
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| I had my first fall on this one at about 530 am, it was still dark then |
5K and we hit the first time station and it took us 40 mins to it...we were indeed fast on that rascal of a trail. Time for first aid, boy as soon as the medic focused the light on my left knee I was happy to see my blood tricking down my leg and was still Red after so many months J.
It took us 2 hrs 45 mins to nail the first loop of 20 Kms( my gps showed 20.8) , Rajiv Dubey joins us here and the next one took 4Hrs .Mukesh completes his maiden 42K and leaves.
with a heart full of satisfaction.
with a heart full of satisfaction.
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| More of the trail |
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| Mukesh my running partner for the first 42 Kms |
It’s getting hot with day past noon and me and Rajiv set out for another loop. I get up but the fall from the morning now taking its toll so had to pop in another Analgesic and wait for 5 minutes before we start sailing again. I was jogging while Rajiv was sprinting ,going ahead and coming back taking loops around me but never leaves me alone.
At my 45 kms and 5 km support station, Rajiv decides to turn back and from here on I am on my own.
I decide to walk the rest 15 kms in the sun and complete my official 60…it takes me over 5 hours to complete my 3rd loop.
60 done 40 to go. It was nearing 5 pm and now the loops have been reduced to 10 each from 20 so I need to do 4 loops.
Very quickly I finish my next 10 k alone in 2 hrs 10 mins and now I have 11 hrs to finish my last 30
The 71 K to 80 k was the toughest one, it was dark, and I am fatigued now, alone for almost 5 hrs now. Damn… 3 kms from turn back point I slip but I didn’t try to fight it rather I went with the fall and took it on my back fearing to twist my ankle in the process and jeopardise the rest of the run. The fall was painful but I didn’t mind as I could get up and walk back to the end of the loop.
Boy oh Boy I was never so happy to see Trilok so much before this, his sight and then Poonam’s appearance were just too mesmerising it took off all the pain from my back.
Poonam had got some hot water and a tub from home; I kept my feet dipped for about 10 mins and then back for the penultimate loop. I was now almost giving up and was in excruciating pain from the 2 falls and sleepy but determined Trilok and and Poonam paced me and got me back and it took over 3 hours.
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| without Trilok and Poonam I would not have been able to finish with in time |
Realising my mistake of not eating anything since morning and only drinking fluids Poonam feeds me some sandwiches ,banana and orders a coffee and Umesh Gupta from somewhere manages a caffeine pill for me.
God!!!! post the chicken sandwiches and the coffee I was feeling like a cheetah rejuvenated, the last loop of 10K we finished in 2 hrs 17 mins against a 3+ before that and completing my 100K ( 104+ by my GPS) with over 70 minutes to spare.
Job done and dusted but was yet to sink in me. A flurry of congratulations and hugs from people whom I never even met before hugging me and giving me a massage got me moved and emotional..
My heart skipped a beat and a lump choked my throat when Kavita was bestowing the medal on my neck. Mission accomplished and suddenly all my pain and fatigue was gone, the monkey was off my shoulder.
I decided to stay back and share my experiences with the runners who would start their 50 Kms ultra run an hour later.
Nothing succeeds like success , body is just a slave of mind hence proved …I did it from Crutches to running a 100 Km Ultra Marathon in one of the most difficult terrains and as they say it No ultra is perfect without blood and sweat and this was just a perfect example.
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| Once in 2 weeks I would run to India Gate from my home in Gurgaon |
Bhatti trail if not impossible, it is difficult to crack alone , specially in the night when one has covered 80kms .
I am deeply thankful to Rajiv,Mukesh,Trilok and Poonam to have been around me.
Photo credit goes to friends Dr Sanjay Dhawan,Gagandeep Sapra, Poonam and Ashwin.
Cheers
Chiro
chiromitra@chiromitra.com
www.chiromitra.com
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| My practise run in June 2013 on Ring Road with Aakash |
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| Add caption |
Photo credit goes to friends Dr Sanjay Dhawan,Gagandeep Sapra, Poonam and Ashwin.
Cheers
Chiro
chiromitra@chiromitra.com
www.chiromitra.com
