Bangalore Ultra 2008!

I finished the 25K in 3:58:50s, not an easy ride though even with the fantastic climate with no sun, great trail and cool breeze even at 10:30 in the morning. But longest ever run, longest time ever on foot running and walking!

The running location being a bit off the city, Hesaraghatta, the organizers had arranged buses for those who cannot stay over at the Our Native Village(ONV), the eco-resort where the event was held. The buses started at 430am, had to get up at 3am to catch the bus. Getting up early morning is not a problem for me, but my bowel movements are always a problem especially when I am a bit tense - longest ever run and a bit nervous about knee whether it will hold on for nearly 4 hours of running. I wasn't too sure about running this event because my training was

not going according to plan, but after a not-so-bad half marathon at the Kavery Trail Marathon without not-so-complete training made me run the Ultra as well.

We reached the venue before the day break and we had plenty of time before the 25K started at 730am - in between I thought I lost my car keys and panicked a bit, but it was in my bag. I don't usually warm up for the runs, I just use the initial part of the run as a warm up session, being a slow runner that really is not a problem for me. Also I am worried if I am up on my knees for a while before the run, it may start complaining early. The place was really out of town surrounded by empty fields around.

My plan was to run a 2-2 run-walk split and may be reduce the run based on the condition of my knee. I started off with a 2-2, but I guess the runs were a bit fast because of the longer walks. Maybe a 1-1 split would have been a better one I guess, at times I felt the 2min walk kind of cooled the muscles a bit too much. I was crusing along with a less than 8min/km speed when I slowed it down around the 5KM and it took almost an hour to do the first 6.25K. The trail was a bit tough during some parts which kind of slowed me down, it was a very narrow one-lane traffic path with lot of traffic. There were good amount of slow gradients as well. It went down for a mile and went up for the same distance with an amazing view of the horizon all around for couple of kilometers or more. Not sure who owns those lovely fields - may be they can build a football field out there as well! I kept going at 2-2, but the knee started giving in a bit early before I did the first loop(of 12.5K) and I was wondering if I would be able to hold on for 25K. So I slowed down further and started walking all the gradients up and shifted to 1-2 run-walk split on flatter trails. There were 4 water stations with lots of goodies to eat, I kept collecting salted peanuts that I could chew on the way and had electrolyte water as well.

I twittered during the run, but not being a not so frequent texter myself, it was just the important milestones. I was using my own hashtag, #bangultra since the organizers are not yet into twittering. I guess I need a separate post on this - twitter is an absolutely great tool for event organizers and participants.

The second loop had lot more walks initially, I reached the return point within 3 hours. I picked up some steam with 1 minute runs in the last stretch towards the finish with a couple of 2 minute runs in the end, which helped me finish the race just within the 4 hour mark. Finish was pretty strong for all the struggle earlier, and the knee was far better than the Kavery Trail Marathon in the end.

There was this runner, Santhosh, who was attempting a 24 hour run who started 12 hours before the 50K race started and was still going strong when I finished. The trail was awesome, perfect countryside with open fields with great scenery. For the city dwellers like us, it was a good outing as well. But nothing to beat a run on the beach however:) The resort where the event started and finished, Our Native Village(ONV), seems to be a pretty original one as well - the access roads are all muddy not-so-well-laid ones, and with fields all around and it is at a great location. They claim to be a completely ecological friendly resort.

I am not sure if anyone contributed to my charity collection efforts, looks like there is a need for a middleman to do the collection - may be next time I will have to play that role as well.

At this point, I am undecided about the upcoming StanChart Mumbai Marathon - in addition to the running, there is this hassle(or waste in lean parlance) of travel and accomodation at Mumbai. But the lack of an international marathon event in Bangalore tempts you to do this one. Let's see how things go - but I am planning to train for the event in any case.