Return to Ladakh – Day 9 (KHARDUNG LA 72K CHALLENGE) and Day 10

Read days 1 through 8 to learn how I prepped for the big race once I reached Leh.

MY DROP – BAG STRATEGY WAS SIMPLE: There were three drop off points: first one at North Pullu that was 15km from the start point – the next was at Khardung La top that was 32km from start point and the last one was at South Pullu, which was 47km from the start point. I would remove my thermal wear and jacket with my compression top at the very last drop – off point at South Pullu.

The technique of wearing a cotton tee underneath my compression top was a gamble – I had no idea if it would work, but it’s how I love to race – light – and it’s exactly how I want to be in the easier downhill portion which would be my strength in the race. Making sure to drop my drop – bag (along with the one containing my clothes from the previous day) in the “South Pullu” van, I went to the breakfast area with all three of my friends.

It was 2 AM. The porridge was hot and it was all we wanted in the needle – pricking- cold. Eggs and hot tea were also served. I took minimal quantify of food remembering I had yet to empty my bowel. I sneaked away inbetween for a call under the starry outdoors a considerable distance from the breakfast point and thanked the good Lord for the unused tissue paper stowed away from yesterday’s lunch, which I used for the job.

I hadn’t taken diamox, but had the unquenchable desire to pee – which happened thrice over the period of one hour. This was concerning because I knew it would dehydrate me well before the event. I kept sipping water as I waited. As we waited for the start at 3AM, the inspiring runners from Silk Route (122 km ultra) crossed our start point and ran ahead, while we cheered them on. It was soon 2:50 AM. It was time for a warm-up. All four of us got into the groove as we warmed up our joints with all 200 participant’s breaths exuding like steam into the cold morning air.

The race started exactly on time – and it was interesting to note not even one of the participants ran ahead except for the elites – all of them knew it was a serious mistake, which would lead to severe exhaustion before reaching the peak at 32km. We walked our way up- jogging where we could and tried to keep the pace at 9:30 to 10 minutes per kilometer.

The effects of less sleep and low oxygen started to show after 10 km of walking and jogging. Jinesh went on ahead while I had to slow down to a pace of 11 minutes per km, steadying myself from walking all over the road. Taking short breaks to drink water and electrolytes every 5km and a 10 second break to sip water every kilometre, I kept the pace up to North Pullu (15km). And then, tragedy hit.

As the climb got higher, walking progressively became more and more difficult. By the time I crossed 25km, my brain was foggy. It was all I could do to keep moving forward and not come to a grinding halt. The pace which had once been 9 minutes and 30 seconds per km then fell to 11 and now it was around 12 minutes per km. Only one thought was in my mind: “these people are crazy”. Yes, they’re probably thinking the same about me.

The last 5km to the top: my Garmin beeped – I had crossed 27km. I made a mental calculation of how far Jinesh would be ahead of me. Assuming he had maintained 10 minute per km pace, he would be around 20-30 minutes ahead. I tried to keep plodding forward, but the more I tried, the more tired I got. I spotted an older gentleman who was running The Silk 122km Ultra and shadowed him for a while, using him to block the harsh winds partially so my job got a little easier. After spending 3km behind him, I felt I got the energy to overtake and move forward.

The last 2km to the top was perhaps the most difficult I have ever done in my life- and mind you, the races and practice sessions I have done have been anything but dull. I was able to breathe but there was hardly any oxygen in the air and I was depleted after having walked 30km from 4 AM. I felt giddy and sat down by the roadside on a rock. Getting my bearings, waiting for the heart rate to drop to 130, I started walking again. I repeated this process four times until I finally got to Khardung La top. I was a mess. I was not medically fit and as a doctor I knew it would be dangerous to keep doing this.

“SHOULD I QUIT?” – the statement did pop up into my mind and I would be lying if I said it didn’t. I thought about all the years of running, hard practice, balancing my coaching with my training and eye surgeries.

NO – I COULD DEFINITELY DO THIS. I collapsed into a chair and the soldiers immediately gave me hot soup. The minute I downed a bowl and had some Nimbu Pani, I felt alive again. Not recovered by a long shot – but felt I could make the downhill journey in one piece. I sucked water from my hydration bag and downed some electrolyte snacks- just 40 more kilometres. That’s less than a a full marathon- and I’ve done plenty of those. My balance was all over the place- and it was all I could do, to keep myself from falling headfirst as I got up from the chair and started jogging downhill.

Was I making the right decision? Medically speaking – yes. The treatment for high altitude pulmonary and cerebral edema was immediate descent – and that’s what I set out to do, using a pace as fast as possible, which would permit me to keep my balance without sending me over the edge. The aid stations every 5 km helped a lot, though I was not severely dependent on them as I was during the uphill climb. I knew catching up with Jinesh and Ravi was out of the question, but I decided to put on the best performance I possibly could, and as God would have it, the altitude sickness just magically lifted after 10km of steady downhill running.

During my 10km descent, I overtook as many as fifteen runners. 30 more kilometers remaining – I glanced at my Garmin and smiled. “Let’s do this”, I muttered to myself and put on some speed. I overtook two more lads, and one of the youngsters started giving chase, not about to give up his position. I had no idea what place I was in but I wasn’t going to give up either. Now it was just a question of managing leg fatigue- and I had had enough and more training at Kodaikanal for the same. I stuck to a pace that was moderately hard and was still fast enough to get the other athlete to slow down.

I soon reached South Pullu which was my designated layering down point. Praying my bag would be untouched in the van, I rummaged through where I kept my bag and found it at the bottom. Dragging it out, I removed my beanie, jacket and thermals to expose my cotton t-shirt underneath with my name on it. I donned a Saucony cap from my bag to protect myself from the harsh sunlight, wore arm sleeves and was back on the road. The whole process took two minutes.

We took turns to go fast- when I slowed down, the guy behind me would sprint up to me and I’d start running again at a moderately-hard pace without sprinting. The see-saw effect continued to happen till we overtook three more athletes after rounding every turn. And then I noticed it- the steady footfalls of someone other than this young lad. I didn’t turn back until I heard a mini bus honk from behind me and I had to turn to give way. Right on my heels was a Ladhaki- a local of Ladakh silently closing in for the kill.

I wondered what he was doing all the way back here when he should have been at the front of the pack- either way, I didn’t want to let up. Survival instinct kicked in- or should I say the instinct to win. I was about to complete the 59th km- 13km left to complete the race and I could almost taste it. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and set off at a pace of 6 minutes per kilometer, leaning forward to use the downhill gradient to help my endeavours without wasting energy. Lightly flicking my heels I surged ahead.

In two kilometres, I glanced back and noticed both athletes behind me were nowhere to be seen. I slowed down temporarily, making use of an aid station to refill electrolytes. I soon crossed the 62nd kilometre. “Just ten more kilometres”, I said to myself. However it was easier said than done. The route seemed to be getting longer and longer by the second. I was looking out for the petrol bunk that would signal it was only 5 more km to the finish line, but the bunk was nowhere in sight. “C’mon c’mon c’mon”, I repeatedly muttered as I overtook two more athletes – but these were Silk Ultra Participants.

The Petrol Bunk soon arrived. I glanced at my watch – it was only 63km- maybe the race would be over at 68km and the route was not properly planned? Either way, I didn’t give it much thought – I turned around and saw both the Ladhaki and the youngster closing the gap. I smiled,”Time to shine”. That was when hyper- mode kicked in. Setting off at a pace of sub 5 minutes per km, I was running when almost everyone around me were exhausted and resorting to walk-jogs. To my pleasant surprise, I crossed Ravi and waved to him in encouragement as I passed by, almost sprinting toward a finish I assumed was just 5km away.

As fate would have it- that was not the case. The course had been correctly plotted and to my dismay it turned out to be 8km from the petrol pump and not 5. The route took us into the small streets of Leh town, and as we made our way near the route to Shanti Stupa, a volunteer shouted just 4km left! I don’t know if he expected me to be happy but I was totally exhausted and didn’t know if I had the juice to go through the remaining four.

Not knowing what to do, I turned around and to my surprise, saw the Ladhaki boy hot on my heels. Summoning the last bit of my energy reserves, I dug into my fat stores to keep the speed constant without going into anaerobic mode. It was a task running at 150+ heart rate after 68 km into this gruelling race, but I kept my mind focused on the finish. Gritting my teeth, I made it through the undulations in elevation, using strides to run down and jogging up the steeper slopes. One more glance at the Garmin showed 1km left.

The last kilometre: stealing a look behind me, I noticed my competitor had vanished but it didn’t slow me down. Flicking my heels with slightly more force, I surged forward at sub 5 minutes per km pace, confidently running straight through the main roads to Leh Market – a route that now felt like home.I still wasn’t sprinting yet – that was reserved for the blue – carpet – ending. My heart rate seemed to be almost 160 now, and I could just hear vague cheers from people whose faces were a blur as I rushed past them.

400 meters to go – another 200 meters later, I saw the blue carpet – there were railings and a carpet inbetween with a huge throng of public and tourists on either side, cheering with all their might for a stranger completing one of the most difficult races in the world. I started to sprint – my eyes were mildly watering – emotional tears? Running at full tilt, I almost fell forward, but managed to regain balance and kept running. Seeing a few extended hands, I made an effort to high five one of them. The crowd cheered as if I was finishing in first place as I ran across the finish line, which I later realised was more of a jog than a run.

IT WAS DONE! 10 hours and 55 minutes of running the most adventurous race of my life. My hands on my knees, I regained my breath. By God’s grace – The Khardung La Challenge was no longer an impossible event on the bucket list! My eyes almost in tears, I walked to the rehab tent and let the doctors and paramedical staff examine me. To my shock my SpO2 was 77 on three different instruments. After a thorough exam they just kept me on observation for ten minutes, following which the repeat measurements showed 88. (Ravi had arrived five minutes after I did).I then walked over to the stage to recieve my well deserved medal.

I then headed toward where Jinesh and Mahalakshmi were waiting behind the rehab tent. After talking to new found friends there, we went to a cafe nearby for a well – deserved Lunch combined with tea. (It was almost 4PM by now). Jinesh had finished in 10+ hours around 40 minutes ahead of me. Most of the sub ten and sub nine hour athletes were Ladhakis and well known ultra runners. I knew I would not be in the top twenty, but I was happy with my overall performance in the race especially toward the end. I had suffered badly between 15-32km but that couldn’t be helped. Next time, maybe?

Jinesh and I returned to our room, while Mahalakshmi stayed back to collect our drop off bags from the vans. She returned with all the bags plus a parcel of cake and doughnuts. The intense run was still gnawing at our tummies and we dug into the food. Jinesh was worried that some of his stuff was missing from his drop off bag – this is something the organisers have to look into the next year. A volunteer who would wait right by the side of the van till we collected our bags would be nice.

Finishing the eventful day with dinner, Jinesh, me and Mahalakshmi went to Hotel Bon Appetit, which is a must – visit – a beautiful restaurant with an adventurous approach – a lane that looks dangerous, but is actually maintained well. We noticed many foreigners there and the quality of food didn’t disappoint either.

I slept like a log that night. Getting up on time, I packed my bags, wished Ravi, Jinesh and Mahalakshmi goodbye and got into my taxi. Barely making it to the airport on time, I got through security and caught the flight to Delhi. The Delhi to Chennai flight was on time and I reached Chennai by 4:30 PM.

I decided to visit my in- laws and pick up Sanju from there. We made it back to the airport and caught the flight to Trichy, arriving home at 9PM. It was hard to believe that just 48 hours earlier, I was in Khardung Village, getting ready for the race of my life. “Till I return”, I thought to myself as I closed my eyes. I had a half marathon race (KMC Half Marathon) to run the next day at Trichy. Best get some rest.

The results arrived in a few days and I was happy with what I saw. It isn’t an easy task being in the top 50 among 200 determined athletes who were experienced with the distance and the altitude.

P.S: Dr. Mahalakshmi participated in the half marathon at Leh, while Ravi and Jinesh also did a full marathon there on the very next day. All of them did well and finished with decent timings at one of the world’s highest towns.

Strava activity:

Yercaud Hills Ultra 2022

The transition from fast – half – marathon runner to a long distance ultra- runner takes time, dedication and discipline, but all those three are easily lost without wisdom and practicality of applying these precious principles.

For those of you who have been following this blog, you guys know I have a fondness for endurance events, but have been putting them off in favour of improving my speed over shorter distances. This November however, holds a different story.

I had two ultra races lined up for November 13th and November 27th 2022, but when Ramyaa, my friend and co – founder of GFN invited me for the Yercaud Hills Ultra 2022 on November 7th, I found it an intriguing way to push myself and see what my body was capable of. My friend Albert was to run the 30km race and I, being the adventurous soul that I’ am opted for the 64km race. We started planning for the run well in advance, with Jeeva – our always – present volunteer for our events.

THE JOURNEY

We started to Yercaud in the afternoon and took turns to drive. A late lunch at Namakkal did feel a little out – of – place, but for someone like me who is always particular about timings, this seemed like a welcome difference as it was once in a blue – moon. It was time to carb – up and before I knew it, six barotas landed up in my tummy with an omelette, a half – boiled egg and some chicken pieces to boot. The weather was cool and we enjoyed the drive uphill to Yercaud. We reached in the evening and wanted to collect our bibs for the event before checking into the hotel.

BIB COLLECTION

The bibs were being offered at ‘The Retreat’, Yercaud. The staff there were very accommodating and we parked in the allotted parking space before proceeding inside to meet our friends including the organisers Mr. Bala and team.

Nithin, Ramyaa and Dhinesh were also there to greet us with our race kits at the ready. The atmosphere was charged and everyone was checking out everybody else, measuring their strength and trying to determine their speed and endurance from their appearance.

PRE – RACE NIGHT

We arrived late at Hotel Grange after collecting the bibs from Ramyaa and Dinesh. The place was 1.5 km away from the race venue, tucked away in a coffee estate with simple cottage rooms. Hospitality was great – we were immediately provided an extra mattress for Jeeva, but the door handle came off with one go. We laughed over it and discovered a way to open it gracefully. We then ordered some tea, which arrived pretty quickly.

The staff came to our room to ask us what we wanted for dinner – we opted to carb up with phulkas, a big bowl of curd rice and chilly chicken gravy for each of us. The restaurant was chilly and we decided to ask for chicken – clear soup to give us some warmth. So that actually made for a pretty huge dinner, which I was pretty sure would help a great deal in the race next day.

With everything done, we proceeded to bed at 9pm so we could get up at 3am for the race start at 345am. Things went like clockwork and I was up at 3AM. Bowel – emptying was crucial because racing long distances involved eating like a leopard en – route to keep my body fuelled for the long haul. With morning duties done, Jeeva drove me to the start point at 340AM. Much to our dismay, the 64km race had been postponed to 430 AM along with the 50 km runners because of many bisons being spotted en – route by the police, the volunteers and the locals.

RACE TIME

During the waiting time, we went back to the bib distribution area and took photos with the remaining runners, had delicious lemongrass tea and made sure to stay hydrated.

The warmup session started at 415am and the race started sharp at 430AM. I tapped my Garmin and the timer switched on. I fell back a little and allowed ten people to move ahead, then picked two runners who seemed experienced and were headed at a pace I could catch up-to and maintajn. The race was on!

THE DESCENT

Except for 300 to 400 meters of sparse elevation, remainder of the first 15km was pure downhill. This accounted for a pretty good knee – banging if you were a total beginner. Of the two people I chased, one was Mr. Ganesh from Coimbatore – a cyclist and trail runner who had won the 2020 edition of YHU. He was fortunately in the 50km category and so was Hari – a physical education teacher and football coach who had surged well ahead of both of us. Seemed like I was the only 64km runner who was well ahead of the rest – I smiled. I knew of many races where the ones in the lead grew over – confident and faltered toward the end. Only time would tell the outcome.

The best way to stay ahead of other runners in your category is to follow someone who’s doing a shorter distance than you. (Just make sure you’re on the same run route) 😜

The fog enveloped us as we ran – our headlamps creating a tunnel of light only over twenty feet of distance. The tarmac didn’t have big potholes and we were thankfully spared from injury. Wherever the trees thinned out, the fog cleared and we could see. I checked my watch – turns out we were at the 10th km and holding a steady pace of 4:50 (which means 4 minutes and 50 seconds on average for each km). The descent was becoming steeper and there was more knee – banging. Trying to soften the blows, I tried running backward and increasing my cadence – the technique worked like a charm and my run was controlled.

We crossed aid stations every four kilometres while sipping water every two kilometers from my hydration bag, while acquiring the electrolytes from the supplements that were provided at the aid stations. The other foods available were oranges, watermelon, butter buns, Bovonto, lime, salt and bananas.

We soon reached the 15th kilometer where we stopped at the station to have a bite of watermelon and bun (odd combination- I know, but they helped a great deal). I took a deep breath – from here on, I knew it was going to be around 7 km of uphill followed by downhill and again 5 km of uphill.

THE ROAD TO MANJAVADI RF

Ganesh and I kept pace and talked about his vast experience in trail running and cycling. As endurance runners it is rare to come across people with similar interests sharing the same speed. Time went by in a jiffy – since Ganesh was doing the 50km race, he had to turn around at the 22.5 km mark while I had to proceed till 29.5 before going back to the 15th km aid station (to finish 44 plus km)

The volunteers at 22.5 seemed very surprised to see me reach that early and noted down my bib number before I waved Ganesh goodbye and proceeded, while he returned. Stashing my headlamp into the hydration bag, I resumed my run onward.

From here on, it was a lonely road to the 29.5km mark, marked by occasional monkeys that watched my movements carefully from trees, dogs that took chase (I offered them a banana, which seemed to help). I used both aid stations en route to fuel – up, while sipping water from my Camelbak hydration bag on – and – off.

I crossed a temple and a few villages that dotted the landscape, before arriving at MANJAVADI RF – the 29.5km mark.

I was running strong and didn’t actually need a break – hence just scooped up a banana and a cube of kadalamittai, took a photo with my friend Suresh Jeganathan and started my way back to the 15th km aid station.

Handling the descent at a pace of 4:50 to 5:10 and attacking the next elevation at 7 pace seemed like the best strategy, moving forward. I saw the other competitors for the 64km race – Mr. Babu of Salem Runners and Ashwini & Hanifa from CTC, 4km away from the 29.5 mark. I skipped an aid station on the descent and I was glad I did because of the electrolytes still sloshing around in my tummy from the previous one.

Spotting the remaining 50km runners taking a u-turn at the 22.5 aid station made me smile. Glad to see I had caught up with them! All was fine till I crossed the Montfort Tribal School, where I was forced to perform a very slow 9 pace jog to the top, before hurtling back downhill at a pace of 4 minutes per kilometer.

Tip for the wise: reserve your best poses for uphills😉

Many runners think running downhill is easy, which is nothing farther from the truth. Taking continuous hair – pin bends en route, I was getting bored and started counting the number of bends till I crossed the 11th one. Soon after, an event volunteer gave me company till the 15th km aid station/the 44.5km mark.

Jeeva was waiting with the other volunteers. I glanced at my watch – it was 845AM (4 hours and 15 minutes since I had started). The sun was up and I removed my YHU tee shirt and stuck to the sleeveless top which had the bib pinned already. Took a photo with the enthusiastic aid station volunteers from CTC and set off to complete the remaining 19km.

ESCAPING THE WALL

If there is one thing endurance runners dread, it’s hitting the wall. Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t a physical wall, but one where you get drained and are unable to take a step forward. The wall crushes a runner’s stamina and speed and has the reputation of tearing an elite athlete’s performance as if it were a piece of old parchment.

The remaining 18km were fully uphill, which made every step forward a strain on the quadriceps. I had gotten by without salt so far, because of the constant onslaught of electrolytes from the cheering volunteers. A sudden change in muscle tension in my quads alerted me to the possibility of an upcoming cramp. I quickly shifted to a fast walk and slow jog for 50 meters each and kept alternating between these till I came to the next aid station.

A quick glance at my Garmin showed my heart rate was well in control but I was unable to create proper muscle tension for speed because of low sodium intake. I kept up this technique of walk – jog for the next two aid stations (over a distance of 7km) and I could sense that with each intake of salt, my muscles were returning to their prime state. 9km from the previous aid station, I reached the 54th km aid station, from where I had to turn left and take the trail to Sri Annamalaiar Temple. The trail extended for a distance of 2km from where it transformed into a well laid but steep road to the temple for the next kilometer.

The slope was even more taxing than that of the Monfort Tribal School – stretch – of – road and I walked up along with several 50km, 30km and even 16km participants some of who were using sticks to support them and carry them forward up the steep slope. This was probably the slowest part of the course and gave a lot of rest for my heart, as I walked up enjoying the gentle breeze, thanking participants who encouraged me as they crossed on the way back from the temple and wished them the best. I knew the other 64km participants were 8km behind but I still couldn’t resist looking back – none of them as far as the eye could see. I soon reached the temple – Was greeted warmly by Dhinesh who asked me to take the trail around the temple to the hill-top and return.

My legs were a bit worn, but I complied nevertheless and returned after completing the 300 meter circle, to cross the timing strip. 57 km done! I refuelled with electrolytes, banana and watermelon. Dhinesh refilled my hydration bag – I thanked him and the other volunteers before starting the steep run downward. What seemed like a slow journey upward of over 10 minutes took only 4 minutes as I let gravity pull me forward while balancing myself with some mild braking.

The remaining distance to the aid station on the main road (2km) was covered with relative ease at a pace of 6 + minutes per km. I reached the 54th km aid station (now the 60th km aid) hydrated, and kept running with half a banana in my hand. Ravi, who I saw there, encouraged me to keep going to cover the remaining 4 km. He also added there wasn’t one 64km competitor in sight.

Of the remaining 4km, three of them were on road and were relatively easy to cover with around a 100 to 200 meter distance of elevation. I maintained my 6 minute per km pace and walked up from the middle of steep slopes. Very soon I entered the finish at “The Retreat” where they welcomed me on mic and encouraged me to finish the remaining 600 meters by taking a beaten and cleared trail that ran around the campus. 200 meters into the trail, I was just beginning to think I had lost my way when I saw some 16km runners walking onward.

I smiled and plodded forward right into a slight elevation, uprooted plants and loose mud. I picked up some of my remaining energy and ran up the last slope. I could hear my name being announced and ran right across the timing strip into a welcoming crowd who were whistling away and clapping like it was the first show of a Superstar Rajinikanth movie. Smiling like it wasn’t big deal but feeling like having a huge serving of water and snacks, I bowed to the crowd.

Ramyaa awarded me with the finisher medal and we took photos. The kind and energetic crowd was full of handshakes and appreciation before they finally let me move forward.

Albert was waiting for me and informed that he had won second place in the 30km race. I was happier for him getting on the podium than I was about my own victory. After all, the biggest victory for a teacher is the victory of the student than a self – scored achievement.

I proceeded to the podium where they announced Mr. Idris as the winner for the 16km event and Mr. Ganesh (my co runner up till 22.5km) for the 50km event. He had finished 50km within five hours – what an achievement! When Albert was called onstage, he requested me to award him his completion medal as his coach, to which I obliged.

I was curious about the remaining runners of the 64km race because I could not get my trophy before they arrived. The organisers made a few calls and they were informed the runners had not even reached the 54th km mark (the turn toward the temple trail). It was going to be a long wait! Sibin, a friend who ran with us while being posted in Trichy as a sub – inspector, joined us soon.

After getting some stretching done by the experienced physiotherapist, I made my way back to the resort with Albert, Jeeva and Sibin, who we dropped at his hotel en route. We checked out of Grange resorts after a bath and change of clothes, picked up Sibin again and returned to “The Retreat” to collect my prize. To my surprise, none of the other 64km runners had turned up yet! I then remembered seeing three runners making their way to the finish who we noticed from our car while heading back from the resort – “they should be here soon”, I told Ramyaa, Sibin and Albert.

No sooner had I said this, than the runners entered the ground at 1:40pm, exhausted from the whole experience and plopped to the side after getting their medal. It was cool to see all three of them – two youngsters and one older runner cross the timing strip together with arms around each other’s shoulders. With the remaining podium finishers for the 64km event at the ground, the organisers awarded me my trophy for finishing first, with a timing of 6 hours 57 minutes and 30 seconds.

I choose to think of this as a humbling experience rather than a victory – an event that helped me learn to overcome elevation and fight the odds over the last 19km.

We left the ground after a delicious lunch of chicken, rice and veggies and wishing all the awesome volunteers profuse “thank – you”s. Dhinesh had yet to return from the Temple point and we sent our regards through Ramyaa, after inviting her to her 50km run in Trichy Heritage Run on November 13th. (She refuses to run 42km but we will see about that)

THE RIDE BACK

Jeeva took the wheel of the Abarth and we dropped Sibin off at Salem. It was growing dark and Albert soon took over. We reached Trichy at 8PM.

SELF – CHECK:

✅ Finished 64km within 7 hours

✅ Kept average heart rate under 160

✅ Improved on my previous 60km Ooty Ultra run in 2019 (specs below)

As you can see, the elapsed time for Ooty ultra is well beyond my completion time in YHU ultra 2022.

🛑YHU 2022 STATS BELOW:🛑

Improved from completing 62 km in 7h 45 mins to completing 64km in 6h40 minutes.

Keeping heart rate under 160 is crucial to completing big races in good health. The lesser, the better.

✅ Didn’t use a single gel or paracetamol en route or after the race (this is highly essential to keep progressing as an ultra – runner. This is of course my view of things. I still use energy gels during times where I can’t move and still need to complete the race, or during times where I’m doing high speeds continuously for a half or a full marathon)

🛑The use of paracetamol, while not particularly being harmful, may mask any underlying problem and lead to over – working a muscle to the point of extreme fatigue. Recovery without paracetamol will also help you recover faster in future after bigger races.🛑

And now it’s time to keep down this addictive LED screen and get back to seeing patients. Adios folks, till the next big event 💐

Auroville Marathon 2020

I put down my pen and scratched my head. This year’s running goals entailed attempting 21 kilometres within 90 minutes and 10 kilometres within 40 minutes.

This seems like an impossible and daunting task but I thought I would start my running journey this year with Auroville marathon. Hence in the quest for 1 hour 30 minutes half marathon, Auroville saw me attain a running time of 1 hour 38 minutes in the 21 kilometer race. (My previous PB being 1 hour 42 minutes)

I donned my Asics GT 2000 shoes and left my hotel room at Mango Hill at 5:30 a.m. I drove to the start point near Matri mandir where I met Joison, Venkat Sir, Albert, Dr. Vishnumohan and other members from the Trichy Endurance Team.

The start was exactly on time at 6:15 a.m. after a few fireworks and I sprinted ahead along with a few youngsters who were trying to maintain 4:10 to 4:15 pace/km.

As expected, the pace soon dropped to 4:40 and I gave up hope of finishing the half marathon in 90 minutes. I was however seemingly leading the pack and that was enough motivation to keep surging forward.
The two kids behind me kept catching up at aid stations and I decided to put some space between us, focusing on breathing, leaning forward and running with calm. The distance between us soon increased to 300 meters.

The kids who came in third and fourth place

The volunteer who cycled ahead and paced me was very helpful, took photos and encouraged me to stop for fueling every once in a while.

Before the fifteenth km

The JBL Bluetooth headphones I use only on major events helped me keep my pace up, with rock, pop and trance hits. (I generally don’t recommend music unless you’re pushing really hard at a big event). The tracks from the movie ‘War’ soon had me pumping myself without realizing it.

Whenever I felt tired, I took deep breaths, focused on my posture including orienting my upper body. (Bad posture due to fatigue usually starts with tight upper body muscles) I loosened myself up and swung my arms in sync with my legs.

Tired but trying to maintain form

The aid stations were stocked with oranges, bananas, water, electrolytes and chikki. I started taking fruits after the tenth km and kept fueling with carbs every six km, using water and electrolytes and alternating between them every 2.5km.

Once I crossed the 17th km I became confident of finishing at sub 4:40 pace and i pushed harder. There was a moment of weakness at one aid station but I forced my body out of it though the pace was down to 5 for that km.

It was soon only two km to go and I was pumping harder. The last km saw me go back to 4:20 pace as I gave it everything I could. It was soon just 100 meters and I sprinted to the finish to record 1 hour 38 minutes and odd seconds. The kids behind me finished two minutes after.

Only then did I discover a foreigner had finished ahead of me by ten minutes with a blazing time of 1 hour 28 minutes – nevertheless it was great fun and an experience to cherish.

I took some photos at the finish point with a few of the volunteers and friends among the participants who finished over the next hour.

With the volunteer who paced me by cycle

Must – have finisher pic

Cute volunteers are always a blessing 💐

Catching up with Niranjan from CTC

With Poornima from Chennai runners

A short nap at Mango Hill soon followed after breakfast at the tent. Lunch was at the Promenade and things finally fell into place for a few of the Trichy Endurance Team members to meet.

With TET members at The Promenade

The drive back home was fun, starting at 330pm with Sanju, Shruthi and Sharukh. The CM paid his respects to us en route too 😉 (there was a ten minute wait at Ulundurpet) but we got home by 630pm. Looking forward to more events this year!

Skechers Performance Chennai Marathon SPCM 2020 – Chasing the sub 3:30 goal

I looked up ‘Strava’ desperately tapping my screen to make the app get back to recording my run after a few drops of rain made the app to stop functioning. I had crossed 20km in Skechers marathon and I was fiddling with my phone while trying to maintain a pace of 5 minutes per km – man, this wasn’t going well at all..

Saturday – pre race day (4/1/2020)

We were all set to travel to Madras for SPCM 2020 where I was to do my fourth consecutive 42.2km marathon. I never miss this one because it’s my favourite.

My wife and I made it to Chennai by 9am, had breakfast and set out for collecting the bib at expo.

This was at Kalaivanar Arangam near Spencer’s. Met a few people there who I knew and collected my precious race kit then proceeded for lunch outside.

Once I got home, I checked up on the rest of my stuff:
Nike zoomx Vaporfly- check
Injinji socks – check
Bib pinned to polyester shorts – check
Marathon t shirt to wear to startpoint – check
Cap – check
Prebooking taxi for 3am – check

Decided to head out to Phoenix mall to complete the day since I was still fresh – Sanju and I covered all the floors before deciding on a Japanese restaurant for dinner. Taking a huge risk I had two bowls of non veg base Ramen as a carb up meal.

Sunday – (5/1/2020) RACE DAY
The taxi was right on time as prebooked. I reached the venue at 330am and met Anand, with whom I walked to the actual start point which was 1km inside YMCA campus. Had the privilege of meeting my college senior Dr. Arunandhi who is also an elite runner.

After fifteen minutes of waiting, we were asked to walk for five minutes to the actual startpoint from where we were flagged off at 4am sharp.

I made the huge mistake of not making it to the front before the start and paid a huge price of three minutes of slow running trying to get out of the crowd. Once free, I sprinted hard till I covered 1 km in 4:48 pace. I checked myself – no hard breathing, heels flicking backward, slight forward lean from the hips- everything seemed to be in order and so I proceeded at 4:10 pace for a while till I caught up with three people who were running at 4:30 pace.

I knew it would be tough to maintain but I felt it could give me a margin to relax in the last hour of the run. I held on for dear life as the runners in front chatted, laughed and joked as they continued to run at 4:30 pace. My plan was to hold on till the 11th km then let go. I changed the plan to 14km after making a few calculations in my mind and assessing my body.

At the fourteenth km I let them move on and dropped my pace to 4:40. The refreshment points were awesome and I made sure to stop running for ten seconds to fuel whenever I needed to eat something and just slowing down for water or Fast&up electrolytes. The pace soon dropped to 5 by the time I crossed 21km distance. Strava was causing issues by automatically pausing every time a rain drop or a bead of sweat fell on the stop button. I tried to use my Xaomi watch but it didn’t find a GPS signal.

By the 25th km (now on ECR) Strava was on pre save mode and refused to return to recording the run however much I tried. I cursed inwardly as I strained to maintain pace and finally ditched the app – I had now come to Seashell avenue. The turn reminded me of my previous run last year and I remembered being winded by the time I reached the coast. Nothing much had changed!

There was a modest incline but combined with the sea breeze acting against us at the 28th km, it was a tough place to get through. My legs were aching all over and my lungs were on fire. I stopped for a good twenty seconds to get my bearings, had water, electrolytes, a banana then shoddily attempted running again. My pace had dropped to a dismal 5:30 by the time I made it back to the highway. A few minutes later I saw the trio who I followed at the start on the opposite lane – I made some calculations and found they were already on their 35th km!

Getting my energy back (motivation?fast&up? Banana? Lack of headwind?) I went back to running at sub five pace. Good news? Strava had started working again. There were two more similar loops leading to the coast, each one slowing me down to 5:30 or worse, before I eventually reached the 31st km, where we were to take a U – turn. The beep from the recording strip sounded as the volunteer announced 31km time 6:20am – that wasn’t bad! I had just 11 km left to cover in 1hour and ten minutes!

The new found motivation spurred me on to five pace. I sighed as we were made to repeat the three loops to the coast. The one to Seashell Avenue dragged me down to 6 pace. I struggled- I shouted inward and flicked my heels rather than reflexively using my calves. I noticed Venkat sir, Srikanth, Anand and Hari – all members of Trichy Endurance Team on the way and managed to encourage them.

Just seven km to go! 35 minutes left to reach a goal of 3 hours 30 minute marathon! I knew I could not make it – but that didn’t stop me from trying. Whenever I felt I was exhausted, I slowed to 5:30 pace. One of the refreshment points were serving watermelon and I hungrily munched on one piece, had fast&up and sprinted at 4:50 pace. Just two more km to go! I could soon see the finish line – should I sprint it?

I eventually managed to convince myself to do it but to my dismay it was the finish point for the twenty – miler and not the full marathon! The actual finish was another five hundred meters away -i looked at my phone – it was 7:30am already and my goal time of 3 and a half hours had crossed. I still managed to sprint in perfect form and completed the event in 3 hours 32 minutes and 20 seconds.

It was wonderful seeing other friends from the running community who welcomed me with open arms. There was even a volunteer who read out and congratulated our names individually as we walked up to get our medals. The people there were mostly half marathoners and twenty -milers.

I met Vignesh, Ramya, Karthy, Yogaraj, Mr and Mrs. Gopi and Albert to name a few.

With Yogaraj, one of the volunteers at SPCM who is always truly caring and hospitable

With Mr. And Mrs. Gopi

With a man who is truly passionate about cycling – Vignesh from Madurai

I warmed – down with a few dynamic movements and static stretches, had breakfast and slept on the lawn. It was a successful day for everyone on the team – probably the best way to start a brand new year.

The page from MyRace showed my position as 16th out of 495 runners in the full marathon.

Details on My Race page for my bib 42291

There was hardly any pain but I did feel a little giddy – overall an awesome experience. I’m already waiting for Skechers 2021. This is Vinod from Trichy Endurance Team, signing off till next time.

When to transition from half marathon to full marathon and how to go about it

This is a commonly pondered question. The answer totally depends on your goals.

IF YOUR GOAL IS:

1. Looking to lose weight:

shave off more time in your half

marathon before moving to the full Monty. The slower your speed, the lesser your chances of losing weight even if you run a 100 miler. This is the worst mistake you can make and end up damaging your joints due to heavy weight combined with high mileage.

What to do?

– Low carb food sources
– high protein diet
– Frequent tempo and hill runs

-Weights and core sessions twice or thrice a week

– Focus on better timings and train like a pro rather than log slow miles.

2. Looking to improve timings:

if you’re a pro or a beginner who is looking for more speed, it would be very counter productive to increase your distance without having achieved your goal time. An ideal time goal for a beginner in 21.1km would be 2 hours 20 minutes. If you want to improve your timing, then it would be ideal to shift to a full marathon only after you manage a 2 hour 10 minute or sub two hour half marathon.

What to do?

– healthy carbs and high protein diet

– tempo runs and hill runs

– aim for sub 55 minute 10k and then sub 2 hour 21k. Come back to FM once you’re done with both.

3. Running for fun/accumulating mileage:

if you’re a running junkie looking to run more and show off your Strava records, be my guest! Even if you take 7 hours you can still complete your full marathon.

Though I would generally not advise this, if you’re purely an endorphin fan, go for it and get your dose of runners’ high.

Gates of Hell – Day 5 – THE ULTRA RUN

I COULDN’T SEE ANYTHING INSIDE HER EYE. Her other eye showed signs of severe Non Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy which meant she needed prophylactic green laser in the said right eye.

The left eye wherein no view was possible presumably had vitreous hemorrhage which meant the abnormal vessels from her retina had already bled out, which in turn meant it would be impossible to administer laser at present. We would need to wait for the blood to clear, or try injections to absorb the bleeding vessels.

Either way, she had only a 50 % chance of good vision. I explained her the prognosis and she was devastated. “If only someone had told this to me so clearly previously”, she groaned as she left.

THIS BRINGS US TO THE LAST DAY OF OUR ADVENTURE FOR AWARENESS OF THIS DEADLY EYE DISEASE.

Day FIVE

The alarm rang with resounding finality signifying the last day of the 5 day challenge. The “Gates of Hell Ultra Triathlon” definitely had brought out the best in all of us.

Over the past few days, I had swam 15km and cycled 940km. Today would be the last and final day.

I checked my knee which I had banged on the platform – there was some tenderness on the medial aspect over a 3mm diameter area. I yawned and checked the time – it was 345am. The support crew would arrive in fifteen minutes. I rushed and got ready.

I emptied the paper bags with ten bananas and oranges into the car, then packed the ice bag with pre refrigerated ice packs before placing fruit juice cartons and energy drinks inside it.

The crew had arrived and by the time everything was ready it was 425am. I wished Balaji, Ajay and Jeeva a very good morning and they took a video marking the start of the last event of the challenge.

Ajay and Balaji, both accomplished 10km runners finishing in sub 40 minutes timing, would accompany me for twenty km, taking turns to be with me until I had completed the full distance.

The injured knee meant I could not do 120km as planned. Hence I decided to try 100km instead and reduce further if necessary. The forecast was rain on and off and I estimated around an hour of the same. I decided to cover 7km each hour and planned a suitable cut off for the same. If 100km was the target distance, cut off would be around 14 hours.

I limped for a while then decided to try jogging on and off. With Ajay by my side, encouraging me, we set off at 8 pace per km. We had tea and distributed eye awareness pamphlets at the 7th km.

Focusing on running, I managed to localise the pain in a pinpoint area so that it did not flare – up. It however returned with vengeance whenever I sat down to rest and got up from a seated position. The core of the matter was, as long as I was running, I was 95% pain free – and that’s just who I am.

Before we knew it we had covered 23km and reached Kallanai.

We had another cup of great tea here and proceeded forward. My knee was much better now and we were keeping a steady pace of 6:30 per km or less.

We took breaks every 4km to sip water and have fruits. Balaji took over from Ajay and he accompanied me till our breakfast point here.

We soon reached Thiruvaiyaru in 3 hours and had lunch (which wasn’t actually lunch but halwa and coffee, under Ajay’s recommendation). The rain had started by then and it was a great combination – being wet, enjoying the aroma of sweet and coffee, while looking out into the busy street at regular traffic going about their busy Monday jobs.

En route to Kabisthalam, we came across a friendly dog which gave us company rather than chasing us.

Running in the rain was an awesome experience by itself. The pain was forgotten with the cool feel of water drops on our faces which came complimentary with a gentle breeze.

We were getting closer and closer to Kumbakonam, which was 30km ahead of Gangaikonda Chozhapuram (our initial destination)

Kabisthalam welcomed us with coffee at Balaji’s sister’s and a great stretching a.k.a chiropractic session courtesy of Balaji. The coffee was a great boost, which was served with egg puffs though I tried telling her we may be too comfortable to run with puffs inside our raging tummies.

Back to my calculations again, I estimated we had 12km to Kumbakonam. My knee was aching again and we decided to complete the run at 90km near Kumbakonam bus stand. Since we had updated the distance, the cut off time would also have to be dropped from 14 to 13 hours – which did not give us much time since it was already 415pm and we had to finish by 530pm to finish at 13 hours as planned.

Normally this would have been a cinch, but with knee pain and four days of triathlon added to the mix, maintaining even 7.5kmph was a challenge. We set off, and I tried my best to keep the pace at 5:30 or below, taking breaks every 3km.

Ajay emptied the energy drink and sprinted his last km to complete full marathon distance and got into the car. Balaji and I passed him and continued to run at 5:40 pace. It was getting difficult to breathe and I had forgotten my knee pain now. I looked at my mobile – 4km to go. Ajay gave me the other can of energy drink. Taking a swig, I set out behind Balaji as the pro continued to run at 5:20 pace.

My knee had gone numb and all I was thinking of was keeping pace with the champ. Balaji has been trying to get into the Territorial Army – and in the process had honed his skills to finish a 5km at 3:40 pace or below. Running at 5:20 seemed like a breeze for him and it was all I could do to keep up.

“Sir, just one km more sir” the 25 year old encouraged me. I nodded and kept looking ahead. I could sense all the people of the town of Kumbakonam looking at the pair of us, as Balaji’s bare feet struck the ground softly and quickly moved to the next stride.

I don’t know how he managed to run on the road riddled with potholes with his bare feet but he did, and he seemed to be running faster with every kilometer. I looked at my phone. Strava showed the distance as 89km – just 1km left!

Balaji must have realised the same, because his speed increased – he was now steadily taking me to 4:40 pace. I ignored the people staring, the regular traffic everywhere. My vision was now a tunnel – focusing on the guy in front and keeping pace with him.

And before I knew it, we had reached 90km! I slowly jogged to a halt and shook hands with Balaji, then with Ajay and Jeeva who closely followed in the support car. We took a few pictures, an awareness video, took pictures at Kumbakonam railway station, then visited a popular coffee shop.

We then left for Trichy – Balaji in a very tired state having run his highest mileage of 30km in one day. Both of them slept soundly in the back while I kept talking to Jeeva as he was driving back home. We had dinner at SRM Hotel as soon as we got back.

We arrived home at 11pm and I thanked the crew profusely – I’m pretty sure I would have managed only 70 to 80km alone.

With that we now come to an end of the 5 day Diabetic Retinopathy Triathlon a.k.a #gatesofhell . I hope the public learns about the seriousness of this condition and takes proper measures to safeguard their eyesight.

This is Vinod, signing off once again till our next adventure.

STAY HEALTHY, STAY BLESSED.

Gates of Hell – Day 4 (The end of cycling)

I WAS CONFUSED – I had seen the patient last year and his vision had been perfect. But now he could hardly see two feet ahead. I questioned him about it and he seemed reluctant to say anything. After some time, he slowly opened up that he had switched to an alternative mode of treatment. Now I’m not against other fields of medicine, but when something is working well, why switch unnecessarily? There were abnormal blood vessels all over his retina and a significant fluid collection in his maculae. He would now need to spend around 30 to 40000 on injections alone other than the other costs, with no chance of regaining lost vision.

Which brings us to:

DAY FOUR:

I woke up at 445am feeling battered. We decided to let Bhuvanesh skip Yercaud since he had arrived only at 130am. I sent him a text and the rest of us silently left the room without disturbing his well deserved sleep. (The plan was to recoup en route to Trichy)

Aravind was making great progress. We soon reached foothills of Yercaud in just an hour, had some tea and proceeded to climb the hill. The hill was slightly easier than Kotagiri and would have been easier than Kodai if it hadn’t been for the tiredness we were facing.

As we climbed higher, more mist and clouds came our way. It was serene, even though the usual hustle – bustle of traffic was ever present.

We stopped for breaks every 3 km and we were soon at the top at 830am. After a few photos by the lake and the U turn point at Eggetarian, we left and returned to Salem.

The next plan was proceeding to Pachamalai hills via Mettupatti and Maliyakarai. This hill was similar to Sirumalai and we wanted to finish the challenge before 6 pm, aiming to finish and descend back to the forest checkpost by 6pm.

It was already 930am. We also had to cover extra distance at Pachamalai to compensate for skipping Sirumalai. That would mean 23km uphill before returning to base. Making calculations in my mind as we pedaled I estimated we would need at least 3 hours to pull off this stunt, which meant we needed to reach the forest checkpost by 3pm.

Was that Bhuvanesh up ahead? Yes it was – our plan was going like clockwork. He had checked out, skipped Yercaud and joined the party. Welcoming him, I went back to calculating distances and times. Google maps showed 72km left to the forest checkpoint. It was already 1130am. Time was not in our favour as usual and we would have to achieve more than 20kmph average to achieve this feat.

I kept the boys moving at 25kmph with breaks every 10km and we took a half hour lunch break to gobble down barotas at Maliyakarai. We resumed our journey keeping the same average and managed to eventually make it to the cool hill base at 3pm as planned.

The forest checkpost guy sat lazily and beckoned Ramesh to come sign the entry roster. The three of us cycled past and continued uphill. The hill was not that difficult but after the cumulative effort of the journey, our bodies were taking a massive hit. My knee was also paining badly despite the medication I took after lunch.

We did see some really beautiful landscape up at the top and on the way. The air was fresh and rejuvenating with almost nil traffic.

A tree shaped like a deer with antlers

I relaxed, forgot the time limit, and inhaled deeply. The smell of pure air was at it’s best. We took a photo at the viewpoint and kept riding in the rain for another 10km before returning to the forest checkpost by 610pm.

I smiled – just a ten minute delay! These guys were awesome. We then cycled into the city and had tea following which we were back to driving like mad men at 25kmph. This time we took just three stops over a distance of 60km to Trichy.

The traffic was annoying but we grimly fuelled, had snacks, carbonated drinks and pedalled with everything we had left. The pain had numbed and our minds had pushed it into a localised area somewhere insignificant.

Thuraiyur soon arrived – we took a break there. Aravind went ahead for a while but we caught up again and overtook him. We soon reached Manachanallur – just ten km to Annamalais Toyota which was the designated finish point! All those hours were now coming to this – half hour or less of pedaling!

Bhuvanesh and I looked back and saw no sign of Aravind. Worried, I pulled over and called him. There was interference but I managed to make out he was just 2km behind. Bhuvi and I proceeded forward at a slower speed and finally finished the challenge at 9pm. Aravind joined us 15 minutes later and we took a finish photo before dispersing.

Finish point with both warriors!

Aravind was going to ride home to Tanjore to cross 1000km! Bhuvi was going to his place of stay at Dindigul highway and I had 8km left to home. We departed after handshakes and goodbyes. This was a memorable occasion. We reached home and Ramesh was emptying all the stuff from the car.

“Lucky guys”, I thought to myself. “I still have 100km of running left to do tomorrow”.

Ramesh responded with “Enna thambi?” and I realised I had been thinking out loud. “Oh it’s nothing”, I replied in Tamil. My family was of course glad to have me back (of course I was berated for straining my knee)

After a well deserved dinner of yummy noodles, in went the next dose of paracetamol with enzyme.

MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP! But still, I messaged Balaji, Ajay and Jeeva to come at 4am to start the run. What a day! Only God knew what the last day held.

AND WHAT A DAY IT WAS GOING TO BE!

Gates of Hell- Day 3

“HE’S UNNECESSARILY EXTRACTING MONEY FROM ME”, complained the old lady who had been advised panretinal photocoagulation by green laser. She had almost lost all her vision due to visiting her doctor late, and has refused to visit her ophthalmologist again because her first sitting of laser did not give her vision back.(PRP needs three sittings of laser)

I sighed.

I sat her down and explained the need for the next two sittings of laser which were necessary to preserve the rest of her vision. I also gently broke the news that she was too far into the disease to get any of her eyesight back. I referred her back to her previous ophthalmologist and advised her to listen to her healthcare practitioner and not worry about the cost at this stage. She gave a toothless smile and blessed me. Ah, the perks and the disadvantages of medical consultation!

ONWARD TO:

Day 3

Waking up at 330am had become easier now. I rubbed my left knee that was throbbing a bit after the encounter with the platform the previous night. I got up and was happy to note there was no pain on weight – bearing.

By the time I got everyone ready, it was already 430am. As we rode on through traffic and bad roads, the sky was dark on one side, with the moon casting it’s monochrome illumination over the urban landscape. The promise of dawn awaited on the other side with a definite lighter hue toward the east.

We stopped for tea halfway to Ooty foothills then proceeded to our destination. We reached Mettupalayam at 6am thanks to significant downhill roads, then went on to take the right turn after the bridge to ascend to Kothagiri.

We realised there were already “animal crossing” boards and recognised the possibility of no restaurants for breakfast. Ramesh took the car back to town in search of parceling something to eat, while we cycled onward, attacking the elevation gradient which was definitely tougher than Kodaikanal.

With each km we recognised that we could never reach the top on time, our speed dropping to a dismal 6 – 7 kmph low at times and going to 10kmph only at slightly lesser gradients.

Ramesh returned toward the 15th km upward and we enjoyed idlis and sambar which he had procured from a food cart due to unavailability of hotels at said time. Food had never tasted better as we gulped it down inside the car while hungry monkeys jumped on the bonnet and tried to snatch our food from us. We refilled with tea at a nearby shop and went onward again.

The slope progressively rose higher and higher and we were eventually cycling at 6 to 7kmph with frequent breaks.

W

We crossed Kothagiri by 1230pm then pedaled ahead 19km to reach the U turn for the day, at Uwais CCD.

After this it was an all out sprint back downhill. The plan was to take the route via Sirumagai – Puliyampatti -Nambiyur – Gobichettipalayam – Bhavani and reach Salem by 1030pm. (142km from Sirumugai to Hotel Palm Residency, Ariyanur)

It was already 4pm and we were running out of valuable time. We pedalled as hard as possible and the roads had alternating elevation and troughs which both aggravated and relieved us.

The knee pain was becoming more and more intense. With medication after Nambiyur, the pain reduced enough to proceed. The rains returned after Gobichettipalayam along with bad traffic, who never bothered to give way for cyclists.

We soon had dinner at 8pm and found we still had 60km to cover but our bodies weren’t responding to maintaining a 20kmph average. Bhuvanesh’s head started nodding after a while and he couldn’t manage without sleep. He offered to rest while we moved on. Soon it was just me and Aravind, pedaling hard fighting exhaustion, to reach Ariyanur at 1130pm.

We requested Ramesh to bring Bhuvanesh back and we thank him for sacrificing his sleep to go back and escort Bhuvanesh back to the hotel. They arrived by 1am (I was drifting in and out of sleep waiting for them to return) and soon I was at peace, following which all of us were sound asleep.

The adventure cost me my knee though and the pain was slowly returning. I had to take another paracetamol with aceclofenac and serratiopeptidase before bed.

Two more days to go – will it be possible with this battered body?

Gates of Hell – Day TWO

THE PATIENT WAS IN TEARS. He had become totally blind in a matter of two months. His wife had expired and he had discontinued his diabetic medications and injections for three months straight. I examined him in as much detail as possible and could give him no guarantee for his lost vision. If he had taken his meds and visited his ophthalmologist and physician regularly, he would at least still have his eyesight.

Diabetic retinopathy is real and it’s very serious. Kidding yourself that your doctor is lying will only bring you ill health.

Will my suffering over 1045km bring awareness to the public?

Onward to:

Day TWO:

Hotel Chenduran Park, Dindigul

I got up at 330am, proceeded to brush my teeth and get ready while waking up the others who were still fast asleep. The plan was to go to Sirumalai at 5am but we found that the forest checkpoint would open only at 6am. Losing one hour of valuable time didn’t sound cool since we had to cover 290km that day of which 50km was uphill.

The elevation to Kodai is for 50km as can be seen from the graph.We started straight to Kodai from the hotel.

There was a drizzle but nothing that could not be managed. After taking some time to find the way, we set out at a good speed. The morning was chill and the occasional call of birds meant we were not the only ones up and about.

Maintaining an average of 25-28kmph, we stopped for tea twice along the way. I bought the guys some cake to eat before the climb at 630am. We reached the base checkpost on time and clicked a picture.

The climb was awesome and I managed to keep a steady 9-10 kmph speed.

Photo of Manjalar Dam:

Aravind caught up with me when I was having breakfast at the 15th km uphill.

Both of us then rode together to the top, taking photos near the famous Silver falls.

We finally reached Kodai at 1230pm and I found a chocolate shop (Aravind’s favourite cycling snack), took pics by lake,

then had lunch at ‘Thatha’s bread omelette kadai’. Bhuvanesh caught up in half hour and we started downhill at 1pm (or so we thought).

The road to Palani had ten km of further uphill (which none of us noted on the graph) and weren’t mentally prepared for. Cursing and whining within myself, I pushed on. After that, we were blessed with downhill adrenaline rush at 40kmph speed, except for bad road patches every two km.We managed to reach Palani only by 330pm, and raced at 25kmph average to Udumalpet. After that, exhaustion took it’s toll, and the average fell to a dismal 16kmph being fuelled by tea or drink stops to 22kmph on and off. We crossed Pollachi only by 730pm.

The road to Coimbatore saw us fully drenched in rain.At 50km from the point of stay, the rain started pelting our faces and bodies making it hard to see. We jumped down a platform and ran to take cover under a building. The rain had no intention of stopping but when it reduced, we decided to keep moving. While returning to the bike, Aravind placed his palms on the platform and cleanly swung his legs up back to the road.

Forgetting my exhaustion I followed the 18 year old, only to bang my left knee square on the platform. My vision blurred as my knee went through pain and then numbness. I closed my eyes, knelt on one knee and focused, breathing slowly and steadily.

When I felt I was fine, I proceeded to examine my knee. No pain on flexion or extension. No pain on internal or external rotation. There was some dried blood but I figured no broken bones. We managed to reach Hotel Pranov Residency only at 1130pm after navigating through highly irritating traffic which slowed us down to a 10kmph crawl.

The pain in my knee was more pronounced now.”Worrying”, I said to myself as I proceeded to insert my phone charger to the socket.

Exhausted from the day’s events we fell asleep almost as soon as our heads hit the pillow.This was probably our second most difficult day of the five day experience. (The worst was yet to come)

Gates of Hell Ultra Triathlon

Diabetic retinopathy – sounds boring doesn’t it? But when not intervened early this can lead to permanent visual loss. There are two types:

1. non proliferative, which requires basic blood sugar control and

2. proliferative, which requires green laser, intravitreal injections and surgeries to stabilize vision – none of which bring back lost vision.

Hence the need for something drastic to make people notice the need to keep their blood sugar under very strict control from the start! After all, why would you spend 100,000 on a disease you can prevent?

Which brings us to this huge scale event.

Day ONE:

5 AM

The pool at Ponni Delta was pitch dark. The only sounds to be heard were the water sloshing and the occasional sound of crickets. The moon was the solitary source of of light in an otherwise shrouded night sky.

I undressed, got into my swim trunks, got my refreshments ready inside the changing room to feed myself in-between what I assumed would be a 10 or 12 hour swim.

15km seemed like a daunting task. I had never swam more than 10km recently and that’s just what I love – a new challenge. The last time I swam 15km was at CTC Swimathon and that had taken 8 hours 35 minutes two years ago. (Read old post in my blog) I set off across the length of the beautiful thirty meter long pool with my Amazfit smartwatch logging my activity.

By 630am I was pleased to see I had already covered 3.5km. I had brought along cake and some fruits – I fuelled a bit, and continued. By 730am, 5km had gone by and I was happy that things were going well, when the nausea set in. Instead of panicking, I lowered my heart rate, slowed down and let my body take care of itself.

Soon the nausea had vanished and I decided to take a bathroom break at 8am. 7km in 3 hours – this was going better than I had expected. Back in the water, I focused on making my strokes smooth, breathing out inside the water steadily and taking short breaths of air before going in again. Bhuvanesh came by at 9am and stayed for an hour, taking photos to post on the fitness group on WhatsApp.

By 10am, 12 km had gone by.

My movements were becoming choppy at this point since my body wasn’t used to swimming such mileage. I forced myself to relax and concentrate on smooth strokes and breathing, eventually managing to get back my rhythm. I proceeded to count the number of strokes per length of the pool and it stayed at 28 to 32.

Toward the last km I started swimming more of breast stroke and less of freestyle to preserve energy for the next phase. At noon, I managed to complete 15km and collapsed by the side of the pool.

I ate the rest of the food, hydrated well and took a nap. Aravind and Bhuvanesh were supposed to report at 1pm to start the cycling phase to Dindigul, which was 109km away.

I got the banner from the car and met Hari Raman who had graciously offered permission to use the pool for the day.

After taking a few photos with him, we put up the banner for display. I went back in and took another nap.

Swathi soon called when she arrived with the photographer for publishing the article on Times of India. The photographer took a few pictures of me swimming, cycling and running inside Ponni Delta by which time Bhuvanesh also joined.

Aravind was running late and we managed to start the ride only at 230pm.

Phase 1a: cycling to Hotel Chenduran Park, Dindigul
Aravind – already an accomplished 1000km BRM rider, took turns with me switching up lead position to help Bhuvanesh keep up with the slightly heavier hybrid bike compared to our road bikes. We were doing pretty well at 23 to 25kmph. The elevation was steadily climbing but the energetic car support from Ramesh was more than enough to sustain us.

This is a rough elevation profile of our ride to Dindigul, from Trichy.

I kept pushing the boys to take no more than two minute breaks and it paid off when we reached Dindigul at 730pm. Finding the hotel was a different ball game and that took an extra half – hour, with Aravind and me overshooting the destination and making u turns to get back to the finishing spot on Google maps. Bhuvanesh found the hotel first and we decided to call it a day.

The hotel had a restaurant with nil maintenance and delayed room service but the room was neat and the food was good. Ramesh and I settled in early cos it was gonna be a very long day the next day. The boys went out (God knows where) and came back at 1130pm.

That marked the end of day 1- which actually became the easiest day among the five.