Quicksilver 50K (05/15/16)

There comes a time when you say you can wake up and do a 1-mi run. Then you work on your fitness and endurance. And the 1-mi becomes 3-mi, 3-mi becomes 5-mi, and so on.. you keep pushing yourself.

This was definitely a time where I was like.. "I can wake up and do a 50K."

2016 training was going nowhere and it needed a kickstart. Spring run got me thinking about it. And then I was looking for local 50K races to sign up for. Boom. Quicksilver 50K pops up and there were never a second thought. Who can say no to a race pretty much in your backyard. The proximity of the race from home made it a no-brainer, and I signed up for it. This would be the start of my long running season ahead.

Soon I found out that Nattu (100K), Dennis (100K), Reshu & Bipul are also signed up for it! I never knew the race was so popular! Apparently one of the few 100Ks that are qualifiers for Western States 100!

A quick look at the trail elevation map at least got me mentally prepared for the task ahead. Uh-oh. What did I do? Good thing though - it had a 14-hr time limit. (While the cutoff for 100K was 17-hr!) Luckily for me, Reshu was going to run this with me. So, I just had to follow her lead. The goal for this race was to get some hours on my feet.

I grabbed a running camelbak from Vinod, who advised me to use up the entire 14-hr limit. I nodded. He asked Reshu to not let me run off. :-) In a conversation with Nikhila earlier, I set up an expectation that a 10-hr finish would be good. At the end of it all, just decided to listen to the body and see how it went.

The race was so pretty! It had wild flowers and some wild hills. And the support was terrific. And with constant support and guidance from Reshu, it was so enjoyable! Definitely recommended race. At the end of it, I crossed the finish line running in about 10.5hrs! Seemed like a pretty good finish!!

Things I learnt from the race:
- Watch out for signs of soreness/tightness early enough & keep stretching as required
- Keep moving forward, one step at a time, regardless how much you want to just stop
- Eat, drink, move!

And 2016 is underway!!

The World's Toughest Mudder - Preamble

While training for ironman in 2013, I was invited by Santhosh to join him and his friends. They were doing this 'tough mudder' in Tahoe and I totally jumped at the opportunity. We did a gladiator run for practice locally in San Jose. And then we went to Tahoe to do the tough mudder event.

What's a tough mudder?
Tough mudder is basically a mud run / obstacle course. There are different kind of challenges along the way: something like -- monkey bars, lifting logs, climbing a rope, running fast and crossing over a high obstacle, jumping over obstacles, walking through ice completely submerged for a bit, jumping INTO water from more than 10 ft above, walking through live electricity wires. It is a challenge. But the good thing is that there's a lot of camaraderie. And it's a good fun event for team building or to do it as a group. A loop is typically about 5-6mi.

The Tahoe tough mudder was on the slopes of Northstar Ski Resort. Of course during the off season. So it was a hilly course, nevertheless, quite a fun one.

WTM
Sometime down the line, in one of their promotional emails, Tough Mudder sends some information about "World's Toughest Mudder" - do as many 5-6mi loops as possible in 24hrs. I got excited. And registered for it. :-) I registered for 2015. But 2015 wasn't a good year. So I extended the registration forward to 2016. It's basically an obstacle ultra run. (Ultra = ultramarathon = any run greater than 26.2mi.)

WTM 2016 - Preparation
The first few months of 2016 were spent getting more serious about the race - research and mental preparation. I ran into some really inspiring websites. I tried contacting some folks on the blogs but no cigar. Since I don't know anyone who is doing the WTM this year, these blogs/notes I found will be my inspiration.

After reading through some of the blogs, I could understand the challenge ahead. Some of the training practices that caught my attention in them:
- not using heater until the temperature went below 40F (getting used to cold)
- trying different wetsuits for run (it could get pretty cold at night)
- figuring out the correct gear (shoes, wetsuit, sleeping bags, etc.)
- pull ups or just hanging on to a bar (to improve arm strength)
- incorporating obstacles during the run : running/burpees/running/pushups/running.. so on.. (course specific training)

All these aspects of training are new to me. In order to get there, I figured, I need to first get the running endurance part out of the way. The confidence from that will likely help me focus on the other aspects of the race.

As in 2013 (when I signed up for multiple races along the way towards my first ironman race), I am going to train for some races along the way towards my first WTM!

I have to be an ultramarathon runner first before doing an ultra with obstacles! One easy (if there's something like an easy 100mi) 100-miler to train for is the Run de Vous in August. It has a flat course option and one can set up tent at the start point. It will be a good training for setting up the base at WTM as well. Having a successful run here would give me 3 good months of WTM-specific training afterwards.

Rock. And. Roll.

Let's start.. 2016..

So.. what next? That is what I wondered after my iron-distance triathlon. Okay, that was way back in 2013! That sounds so lame, even to myself!!

As lame as it sounds though, yea, that was what it was.

The funny thing about goals is.. once you accomplish something you have striven for, there's this void you feel. Because you haven't really given a thought about what after. Time doesn't stop for anybody, and if you don't want to stop for anytime either, you better have something lined up next already. :-) And I don't mean something like "run-drive 2hrs-play scrabble-drive back-run at night-play scrabble in day-run" event.

Since 2013, I have kinda wondered what next. For 2014 I had registered for IMLT (for redemption) but I wasn't fully convinced I wanted to do it. The registration happened before The Great Floridian. Well, the lack of intent showed up in how well 2014 was. A bunch of DNF's (did not finish'es) resulted. For 2015, I registered for a race called 'World's Toughest Mudder.' But I promptly cashed in my 'Life Got In The Way' card! I did get in some nice hikes and backpacking and long bike ride experiences though! :)

So come 2016 - at least I was clear about one thing. I am done with road races. Too much money! And I can plan a route myself and do it. Why pay? With trail runs though, the support is totally worth it! And awesome support as well from my limited experience of going to a few of them.

So, it's settled. Trail runs is the way forward. About time for something new too. After the backpacking experience of 2015 that was totally inspirational, trails are the way to go. :) One of the good things about 2015 was I could postpone my WTM registration to 2016. And it was not a road race.

What is World's Toughest Mudder? It is something totally insane! I am fairly used to crazy, but this seems crazy even to me. It is a 24-hr race which involves doing as many tough mudder loops which involve stuff like lifting logs, walking through ice, jumping off a 20ft-high plank into water and swimming. And this, round the clock! I am scared. Of jumping into water at night! And I haven't found any company for what seems like totally off-the-charts adventure! :)

The good thing though, is that, I have time. Precisely 6 months.

Great Floridian (Oct 2013)

Build up to IMLT
Story of 2013 does not go down without a mention of my extended family, my constant cheering squad, without whom the task would have been even more arduous than it already was. There were my almost roomies Neha & Puja. And along with Muthu & Venki, I could walk in to their place anytime to a warm welcome and food. :) And then there were my brothers Vivek, Vikram and Prakash. We were all buddies in training (there was enough to train for) and the trips. There were Wildflower, Sharkfest, Death Ride, Expedition Man & Ironman. Ironman Lake Tahoe was a disaster but I got a chance to give justice to the training by completing another iron-distance race later in October that year.

When you "train" for your first marathon -- and by train I mean really train, not like I did for my first marathon when the longest I had run was maybe 14mi in San Diego hills and still had a great race -- you go through the first half of training building the base and then maybe do a half marathon and are excited by it. And training for a full marathon means doing pretty much a half marathon every weekend for the next 2 to 3 months. Now take that analogy to full ironman. After Wildflower 1/2 IM in May, it was like that. Lot of training during week and both days of the weekend (or so it felt) and still not able to keep up with the training plan coach Char had come up with. All the races I registered for kept me honest and excited about training though.

After Wildflower I knew I could swim, so finally got the courage to go and jump in San Francisco bay for Sharkfest. I had registered twice before and didn't show up. :-) Third time was a charm. Training for Death Ride & Expedition Man meant lots of trips to Tahoe, which had become like my second home by now. After the Death Ride high, I was peaking (probably early) by the time Expedition Man came around in August. I thought I was ready on the race day at IMLT but the slacking in training over September was evident during a cold swim when I pulled out after a terribly slow 1.2mi.

Post IMLT
After a disappointing day at IMLT, letting all the friends who showed up to cheer down, sunk in, I was happy to let it go and reflect on the rest of 2013. It was only in a conversation with Deepika that I realized something more. The question she posed to me was if I was going to attempt another race soon. My answer to her question was "there aren't any races now." It hit me!! So if there was a race I was ready for it and would do it. I wasn't done with the year yet! A quick search showed up The Great Floridian - pretty much my only choice. Registered for it in a flash and I prepared for the journey from one coast to another.

The planning for Florida race brought new learnings for Venki, who was accompanying me to Florida, and me - packing & shipping bike in a box, figuring out pickup and drop-off locations which are open at times that would work for us, etc. The best thing to come out of it was the realization that shipping a bike is a piece of cake! Out of town races were not out of reach anymore.

From west to east. From the snow and chill of Lake Tahoe to warm and humid atmosphere of Clermont near Orlando. From the very familiar roads and routes of Tahoe to utterly unknown course. But it was what it was and it had to be dealt with.

Florida
The race was on a Saturday - which is how typically the triathlons are scheduled, except for the branded Ironman races which occur on Sunday. This was a small race. Still quite popular in Florida. They called themselves "Tougher than Iron." :) They had hills! It was nothing like Lake Tahoe but definitely a challenging bike course. For doing it the first time. The good thing is that there were three loops on the biker course. That meant only the first loop would be unfamiliar. :)

After capturing views of the beautiful Alcatraz & Goldengate park from the plane, we landed in Orlando late Thursday night. Friday was the day to pick up the bike, assemble back again, make sure it is working and check in for the next morning's race. The lake looked beautiful and the weather seemed perfect! There were some talks of alligators in the lake!! And reassuring words that they don't usually bother crowds. Yeah. Right!

It all went smoothly on Friday. We had lunch, drove through the bike loop and had a pretty much relaxing day on the eve of the race day. The hotel we were staying in was quite close by, that worked out well too. And as it happens quite often, the day before the race day is almost always perfect! :) It was predicted to be a much warmer day on Saturday and whether wetsuits would be allowed or not for the swim, that call would be taken just before the race started. The race was slated to start at 730am.

Race day
By the time we got to the start location, maybe around 530am, it was already quite warm. Everyone was curious to know what the verdict about the wetsuits was. Okay, not sure about everyone, but I definitely was curious. Here I was, I never had swum in any kind of water body without a wetsuit. Little nervous about what to expect. I was dressed up in my wetsuit and I was sweating profusely already!

The verdict was out. The water temperature was at 82F. Above 78F water temperature, no wetsuits allowed for the competitive racers. Above 84F water temperature, no one is allowed to wear wetsuits (for safety reason.)

It did not matter!

I was so hot in the wetsuit that I decided to get rid of it. It was 2 loops of 1.2mi each, running from the beach and back to beach for each loop. I decided that if I am not comfortable on the first loop, I will go for the wetsuit on the second loop. It helped that the swim cutoff was 2:15 instead of 2:00. I completed the entire swim without a wetsuit. I was excited about doing my first open water swim without a wetsuit. And also excited about actually passing 1 or 2 folks in my second loop! Finished the swim in about 2:06. After using up about 9min for T1 (T1 = transition from swim-to-bike), I was off biking.

All the loops (swim, bike, run) started from the start location or is commonly called transition area. Venki was here. Cheering me, posting my updates and sharing with a bigger crowd.

Swim cut-off met. Now, on to bike cut-off. Having a successful race depends to a large extent on how smart one executes their plans on the race day. And on an unknown course where I had never rode before, it came down to how well I handled the unknowns. I had 8:15 to complete my 112mi on the bike. Split evenly among the three loops, that gave me 2:45 for each loop. I had no idea how each loop was. The first loop, I consciously rode within myself. This was the time I was guaging the course. It took me close to 2:40. Not too bad, but Venki was sweating. And I don't mean from the heat.

It was cutting it close but I still felt in control. The second loop was going to be the toughest I thought. Hottest time of the day - temperature easily hitting the 90s. This was not the time for heroics. "Keep it steady and take care of your head." "Drink lot of water, pour lot of water, eat, use ice on head when available." It was a very well managed course and the ice at ~60mi was a blessing! Second loop done! About 2:50. Another high-five to Venki.

I had completed two loops in little over 5:30 including the breaks in between loops. Last lap. And weather easing out. Less than 2:45 to go but now I had a spring in my step. With the body feeling good and now knowing this is the last loop, I started to pick up pace after the first half. Again I passed some bikers. Nice! Now I knew I could do this. Finally done with the third loop. 2:35. And the bike course done in little less than 8:10.

All that is left now is to run!! Excited! That was such a well executed biking that I was actually feeling warmed up now. I had 6:30 to complete the run. I was going to use all of it and enjoy the race. Take it easy in the first half, finish strongly.

The course staff had mentioned the entire course was well lit. So I abandoned my headlight in my run gear back and headed for the run. I was running slowly, with walk breaks, averaging about 13min a mile. Soon, in an hour's time, it became dark. Quite dark! Where are those lights you promised???

With pitch darkness around me and slight hills, I was going to just walk. The run was about 2.5 loops. After pretty much walking back to transition area (1st loop completes after the second crossing), I picked up my headlamp. Ran-walked to complete the 1st loop. After finishing 13mi in such slow fashion, I figured it was about time to pick up some pace. :-)

The second loop went by much quicker. And the food served on the run course was awesome as well! The cold drinks provided an energy boost and the hot soup gave a boost to the taste buds. The finish was close! But I was cutting it close as well. By the time I completed the second loop I knew I would be finishing it. And Venki started to sense the same as well.

There were not many runners left, but of the folks left I probably looked the strongest. I was passing folks again on my last loop! I took my Team Asha t-shirt and took off for my final hurrah. Racing ahead at maybe 10 or 11min per mile, I reached the finish line.. about ONE minute before 1am, the official cutoff time. There were however more folks on the course. Iron-distance races that are not Ironman brand are not as strict. We heard the next day that the last racer finished at 2:30am. But here I was. I had done it!

All of 17.5hrs! Consistent racing all through. That was the longest race I had done and at that intensity! I was an Ironman then! Not a branded Ironman, but Ironman nevertheless! It felt like a perfect race on a blistering hot day! Heck, it was 79F at 1am when I finished my race!

Funnily, surprisingly, happily, the next day didn't seem like the usual next day of a marathon. No limps, body feeling fine. It probably meant I had room for getting better. I will take that day any day though. Sunday was for packing the bike back and shipping it off, catching up with Laukik's brother for lunch and in general chilling out before our red-eye flight back to San Francisco.

Two years down, most of the memories are still fresh in my mind. It was my biggest achievement then. And it probably still is. When you have accomplished something you had dreamt of for years, first it slowly sinks in and then comes the void. The question of "what next?" Goals are such. You need to constantly keep updating them and striving towards them. Otherwise, you get stuck in the past. It was high time for this race report. And it is also high time for a new challenge. Life's so short!

So? What next.... ?

The Wildflower Experience (may 4, 2013)

Prologue

What should I write here? Should I write about the 75yr old who raced past us in the run leg in his 5th (yes, only 5th) year as a triathlete? Or should I write about the one-legged athlete who did the long course? Should I talk about the super amazing Team Asha family support at the race or should I pen down my thoughts about the one-armed athlete who did the Olympic distance triathlon? Maybe I should talk about the camping experience before the race or, maybe, should I talk about the beautiful lake which brought us all together?

I should not talk about this OR that! I should talk about this AND that and all things around. It was not a race, it was a wholesome, extremely fulfilling and a much needed experience! It was the best of all and I feel so blessed to have been part of it!

Wildflower half ironman was going to be my first real race of the big year that I have planned. I was going for gold in 2013..... and so it started.. the race report that I started writing long time ago!

Wildflower race start location

The year, the plans

Now, when I sit back to start writing again, it all seems a blur! I am done with all the running, swimming and biking for the year and it is about time to take stock of what has been. It has been such a busy year, but not too shabby either. It's been just that so many things have happened that it is easy to forget some things! Like the one-legged athlete who did the long course (1/2 IM). So, I am glad I penned down the first paragraph when I did.

Coming back to the race -- so this was going to be my first real race of 2013. After running Morgan Hill marathon in Oct 2012 and riding Seattle-to-Portland in July 2012, my biking and running seemed to have the requisite foundation. But swimming could really use a leg up. I was excited about Wildflower, but what I "really" was excited about was doing Sharkfest. It is a swim from Alcatraz island to aquatic park in San Francisco. Yea, the name sounds so daunting that I had already registered for it twice before and was a no-show for it. And I was so eager to not repeat that again this year.

Gearing up for the year meant a lot of planning around the events, the timing of them, the training plan, etc. 2013 had a not-so-rocking start when I slipped off the stairs on a rainy day towards the end of December and hurt my back. Luckily, the injury was not a big deal after the first week or so. After a week or two of recuperation, I was ready to warm up with Advait and Manisha at the Surf City marathon early February. That race was probably what kick started the training for 2013.

Starting with the Wildflower in May, I had an event spaced about exactly a month apart (Sharkfest being the except and being 2 weeks after Wildflower). I knew I was needed to go into a higher gear pretty soon. And keeping up with the training for so long meant planning for sufficient breaks along the way. After all the planning, I was (finally!!!) ready to hit the pool towards the end of February. Not something coach Char would be proud of, as he found out at the Marin county swim end of March. He reckoned lot of work was needed for the swim, and I was willing to put that effort in.

After sufficient swims at the San Francisco bay and enough training on the bike and on the feet, I felt I was ready to give Wildflower a shot. And Wildflower was not just about the race, but also about all the people involved - the camping, the Wildflower planning parties, the whole lot.. :)

Vivek with the North Park gang

Eve of the race

After listening to previous year's stories from Venki, we figured the key was to get a nice spot in the open park. And Vivek, Venki and myself arrived early and were lucky to get a nice spot under a tree for everyone. Wildflower always welcomes us with searing temperatures, so, it is a blessing to find a shaded spot to minimize your risk of getting dehydrated even before the race started. :)

And it was a hot day! But probably little cooler than previous year (or so I hear). Lots of water-sipping (and feet-washing with drinking water, my friends would point out) ensued on Friday during the entire registration/check-in process. And eventually, the rest of the gang arrived. The best part of the trip though, undoubtedly has to be the part where Muthu and Protima took care of everything!! The big part of everything was the food. We did not have to lift a finger! :)

There was a big contingent of folks taking part in the race. Along with me, there was Vivek-Venki duo doing the 1/2 IM relay, there was the Amit-Jayant-Venkat trio doing the same relay, coaches Char-Naresh duo for the 1/2 IM relay again, few veterans Rajeev Shankar and Harpal Kochar doing the 1/2 IM - all on Saturday & Laukik for his first Olympic triathlon on Sunday. And none of us had to do ANY WORK on Friday (except of course a small training ride a few of us went for). It was all taken care of!!! :) Amazzzzing stuff!! I am sure, come 2014, it will be time to give back. :)

On the way to the campsite, having never been on the Wildflower bike course, I was getting a rundown of it from Venki's previous experience. As we were riding along, I was marking the course into speed zones. And by the time it was time to sleep, I was dreaming of some finish time expectations. Only problem was I actually said it out loud!! I think I was aiming for a 7:00 (7hr) finish and 6:30 (6.5hr) being the dream finish. :) And that's how Friday ended!

Race Day

The transition zone (the starting point) - what a sight!!! And so vastly different from how it looked the previous day. The whole place was throbbing with life. It was so exciting to see so many athletes and here I was, nervous for my first ever triathlon! Is this how triathlons are? WOW!! Now, that is something!

Transition zone (each leg - swim, bike, run ends here)

Swim
I started the swim first in the gang (all the relay folks were going to start after individual racers and Rajeev & Harpal were out somewhere else :) ). It was a nice warm day and some of us swimmers had a short warm-up before the official start. They had like a minute or two warm-up before each wave of swimmers started. I probably had enough time given the cutoffs were a little relaxed for individual finishers. The race started alright amongst the crowd and about half-way through the turn-around point, I was still bumping to other swimmers. At about the half-way point, my timing chip started to become lose and started to play on my mind. (At later races, I saw that they had replacement timing chips after the swim leg handy. :) ) After swimming few more yards trying to keep that in place, I found a support staff on a surf board. I quickly got on to the board and fixed my timing chip and got back into the water with a nice dive :) (yoo-hoo). Soon after, my left calf, or was it the right, hmm... one of them started cramping. Swim is considered the easiest part of the Wildflower half (it is flat too :) ) and here I was already cramping. I figured I had to slow down and not use the legs as much. I eventually completed the swim in about 1:12.

Bike
The bike leg, the most anticipated leg - the leg where we heard horror stories about heat and the hills - that was the next one! After an uneventful transition, I was off on my bike. As soon as we head out of the transition area, we head into a small hill I hear is about 10% grade. And we are greeted by a topless girl! Brought a chuckle but didn't make climbing any easier! After the initial hill was a section of rolling hills and rest stops where I had the first experience of being handed over water-filled bottles (happens in tris). I was going at a good clip and down to a flattish section around mile 19. I got a shot in my arm when I heard folks cheering my name frantically. It was Neha, Puja and Shashvat who drove in that morning. After some drama on whether they were coming or not, I was thrilled to have their company and was excited to see them at the end of the race.

The next portion of the bike leg was a slight gradient and a slight down hill before the Nasty Grade at around mile 40. I remember reaching mile 36 or so in about 2hrs or little more than that, with about 20 more miles to go and the Nasty Grade to contend with. There goes my 2:45 dream. :) I was already 3.5hr into the race. I got to meet Puja, Neha and Shashvat again at the rest stop before Nasty Grade. It was already getting quite warm and the aid stations were beginning to run out of water. And the water that my friends were carrying there had already heated up! This was the my first triathlon and one of the aims was to try and minimize the stop time. So, I did not bother stopping at any aid stations, eating and drinking on the bike (which is mostly the norm and not the exception at tris). However, it was my first triathlon and it was a different experience. Soon enough came the much awaited hill. As I was trudging along (on my bike), I watched so many folks struggling. Some walking up the hill, some looking devastated. I bore a thought or two for some asking how they were doing and relaying their information to support staff ahead. And soon, about 3/4ths of the way up the hill, I started cramping up on my quads. It was time for a break, finally. I stopped and pulled over to the side, massaged my legs, pleaded them not to give up on me yet and got back on the bike once they responded to my pleas.

After the hill was a steep downhill followed by some more rolling hills in hot pockets. As soon as I started descending, I saw a man sprawling in the middle of the road from a bike crash. Boy, that was close I thought and focus was back on the road. After the covering the remaining 15 miles or so, I completed the bike leg in little more than 4hrs. By the time I started the run, I was about 5:30 into the race.

Run
I had no idea what the run course looked like. I only knew the fact that it was a hilly course in hot weather but when I saw the first hill, it almost seemed like a hike. :) And that was nothing compared to the hill around mile 4/5. I barely trained on hills, so I decided to walk the hilly section. More so, it was a long season ahead and what was the point anyways. I had already got cramps on the swim and the bike. :)

As I was hiking up mile 5, Vivek caught up with me and gave updates on the rest of them. And from that point, he ran/walk alongside me for the rest of the journey. There would be sections where I would run, Vivek would cheer me by saying I was too fast and then my legs would cramp and I would have to walk. And then it felt like I ate/drank too much, so, I did not have a good nutrition plan for the cramps. You live and learn.

After mile 10 or so, Vivek and I are overtaken by a 75-yr old man. The age is etched in markers on one of the calves, that's how we know. As we speak to him, we figure he started doing triathlons at the age of 70. What an inspiration!! After walking and running through the remaining uphills and downhills, it was finally time for the finish chute. And Vivek decides to let me finish ahead and get the limelight! I mean, c'mon, who does that! Really?! It is a great thing to be surrounded by fabulous people! At little over 8:30, I finish my race.

Post Race

Soon after the race, I meet up with the rest of the gang. Jayant and Naresh had tough times on the bike leg but the rest did okay. And I get to hang out with the little tots and the rest of the cheering squad as well. And Laukik/Sampada had arrived by then for Laukik's Olympic triathlon the next day. Soon, I started having a nose-bleed (an indication of hot weather) but nothing serious.

There are so many little things that were learnt for this experience - the need to train more & the need for a better nutrition plan being the primary ones. I heard from somewhere that Wildflower (referred to as the Woodstock of half IM's) time is a good indication of a full-IM finish time. Just double it. So, I was pretty much looking at a 17-hr full ironman finish (which is just on the cutoff).

The real icing on the cake, however was being able to see the whole action from the sidelines the next day, cheering Laukik on at his Olympic tri. If participating in the event is one thing, cheering and being 'part' of the event is altogether a different experience! As the experience of finishing my first triathlon was sinking in, I was soaking in the whole atmosphere the next day again. As we were heading back to the tent, we see an athlete with just one leg who just completed the Olympic triathlon!

On a personal front, even though I came out with a less than perfect race and lots to improve, watching the elites and amateurs finish alike was memorable. And the sheer number of athletes present along with the aura and such inspiring stories made for an unforgettable experience! I could not have asked for anything better for my first triathlon, and I thank everyone present for being a part of it.

The cause

And not everyone is so lucky to be in the same position as I (and us). To be able to do what I please, I consider myself very fortunate. I like to think of it as - I do it for those who cannot. And I do my bit to help those underprivileged.

Being in the zone...

(If you thought I ride long, sometimes I write long too!)

Life is funny. You set yourself goals, and sometimes in setting them you push your own limits - physical, mental, intellectual - and after you have achieved them successfully, you sit and wonder: WAS THAT IT?! Really? What now?

That is exactly how I felt after having completed the Seattle-to-Portland bike ride, popularly called STP, in ~15:30 hrs.

That was definitely not what I had anticipated, not when starting out early Saturday morning at 5am. And that was far from how I felt the day before when we met the TA Seattle riders who were doing 1-day option @ STP. We had met to know each other (we had already eked out a plan which included riding @ 17mph average so that including the stops we would be done in 14hrs). The person who devised the riding plan, Sankar, was an STP veteran who had done the 1-day option at least 2 times before and knew the course well. So, it seemed sensible to stick to his plan although it was a little intimidating to hear from his fellow riders how it was difficult to catch up with him on the hills.. and here I was already wondering if we (or rather I) would be able to stick with him in his riding plan.

Leading up to July 14th 2012 (the D-day), inspired by Ryan Lochte's visualization of the perfect race, I had begun to wonder how my perfect STP would be. Buoyed by Sankar's expectations/target time for the group, I thought - would I be able to finish in 14hrs? Will we be able to do it faster if we felt better? As the D-day approached however, all that optimism was slowly giving away to a quiet nervousness. We had done all we could in regards to preparation, now, we just needed to see what lay in store for us on the actual race day. It had been quite a few hot weekends in Seattle leading up to the point, and the temperature was forecast to be in the 90s on race day!

Friday evening, we collected the race packets from Prema (at the gathering), and headed to my friend Akshay's home where we were put up overnight, with just one thing in mind -- complete preparations for the next day's ride and sleep as early as possible. After some catching up, preparation and some sumptuous dinner, and one last look at the weather forecast (which seemed to be getting better) we finally hit the bed @ 10:30, leaving us about 4hrs to sleep. I was lucky enough to fall sound asleep.

"I don't want to wake up!!! I want to sleep some more.. please." After some internal struggle in the head :), all of us were finally ready to leave home at about 3:30am, like planned. Just as we were about to leave, we hear a long hiss! One of the tires is going flat. It was Venki's front tire. We decided to get to the start point parking lot and fix it there. After a quick fix of the puncture, we were at the START!! @ 4:45AM. There were the two of us from TA SV (Venki & me, Prakash was going to do the 2-day option and start later) and three more folks from Seattle (Sankar, Sai, Aravind). We probably missed the first wave of bikers and were ready to leave at 5:00AM. It was exciting to see so many bikers tee off. If you get to the start point feeling fine, the atmosphere is almost always exciting. One thing firmly on mind though - be careful, do not crash!!

After negotiating the initial section safely (the crowd wasn't bad at all) and after having turned on the GPS watch, I finally caught up with the rest and we were finally riding!! Until the first food stop @ mile 24, we stuck together through the thick crowd, while enjoying the beautiful view of Lake Washington! At the stop, got a glimpse of a simple bike stand where all bikes were rested on a bar by just a single point underneath the saddle. It was so simple yet so effective! The day was getting brighter but there was no evidence of sun yet (thinking silently "the sun must be out anytime now"). God.. so many more miles to go!!.. is what I am thinking even as I am writing this blog.. and that was what I was thinking for a fleeting moment while getting out of the first food stop. Who in the right mind signs up for such a crazy endeavor? I have no idea, but when Venki casually asked in Feb if I wanted to do the STP, I did not think for a minute. Maybe that explains why I signed up. :)

Few more folks (Nahappan, Varadan) caught up with us at the first food stop. After grabbing some quick food, we headed out (we forgot about Varadan). The crowd had thinned as well which gave us an opportunity to paceline. We did that until the beginning of "The Big Hill" - it was not much of a hill really, about 1.5mi climb with 6% grade - and we regrouped again at the top of the climb. We were done about 45mi and that was regarded as the toughest part of the route. And still no sun! Well, this seemed easy enough and after having completed almost 1/4th of the total ride, the feeling was great and the next 3/4ths did not seem much of a challenge. We were off to our paceline again. I lagged behind the others initially but soon Venki helped me catch up with the rest and we stuck together till mile 54 where we stopped to refuel and refill.

And we were off again on such a beautiful section of the route. The roads were so smooth, the weather was perfect, the body was feeling fine and we as a group were racing ahead! Can it get any better? I have to say kudos to the organizers for taking care of us so well. We did not have to stop much and the cops (xoxo) controlled the traffic so that we got the preference. After the awesome road, we entered a flat bike trail that was wide enough to support two lanes. The group split into two in the crowd here with Nahappan, Sai and myself trying to catch up with Venki, Sankar & Aravind. We were within touching distance a few times but we eventually caught up with them only at the stop @ mile 87. Along the trail, there were volunteers at almost all stop signs giving us a "CLEAR" sign to go ahead! It was amazing!! Soon, Varadan caught up with us @ mile 87 as well. The group re-grouped. Meanwhile, Prakash started an hour behind us and was keeping the gap. We kept in touch through messages.

After refuelling ourselves, we got back on the road again, and again the whole group vanished in front of me! :) I was riding by myself when I managed to find this strong group of 3 riders. They were chit chatting and having fun and seemed to be going at a good pace. Not seriously pacelining - seemed more like my type. :) I caught on to them and kept up with them, sometimes me pulling but most of the time them pulling me from ahead. (Pulling is a technical term in biking when you are in the front, and rest of the group is riding (or drafting) behind you.) Thanks to them, I was able to catch up with my group (which had split into two by now) and then go past them. I stuck with them till lunch, feeling great and regrouped with the rest of them at lunch. 100miles, 7hrs, nice weather - things can only go worse! And so they did. The sun watlzed out and was blazing by now. The ice-cream being handed over by the volunteers was a blessing. There were sprinklers to keep us cool. After grabbing a meal made of quinoa and tofu, we were back on the road again.

This time again, I fell behind. But it would be hard to catch up now given tougher conditions - rolling hills, sun, headwind and some nice climbs. The group that pulled me to the half-way mark came by again. But this time I could not keep up with them for too long. My legs were tiring - is it lactic acid burn out or is it cramps? did I push too much before the half? What was a beautiful first half was quickly turning into a nightmare! I needed some help. It helped that the rest of the folks were waiting at the 110-mi stop. But the real boost was my magic pills - MUSTARD SEEDS! Sankar had mentioned that chewing on raw mustard seeds relieves cramps in ~5mins. I never tried that before. Popped a few. In no time, I was feeling great!! This is magic! Quickly realized that what I had for lunch was not enough at all.. grabbed a bottle of gatorade, had some electrolytes and was on my way again, this time with the rest of the gang.

Soon, it was becoming difficult to paceline along the rolling hills. Not everyone rides at the same pace or in the same fashion on rolling hills. It was hard to stay behind others while drafting on downhills. I could not resist any more - I took off. I quickly reached the next stop and pulled over my bike to the side so that I can capture the rest of the folks, but I was too slow in my preparations and the gang whizzed past me. And again I fell behind. And then came some more hills. I caught up with the rest before Sankar & Venki beat me on the hill. After having negotiated some reasonably tough climbs, the heat was soaring now as we approached the stop @ mile 140. Met with Venki & Sankar and some cold water at the stop. Refilled ourselves and looked forward to the food stop @ mile 146. I was in two minds whether to stop or not at what seemed like a food stop, but I wasn't sure. After going past it for a bit, I decided to turn around and fill my bottles at least in case there is no support for a while. All this while, we relied on Sankar's knowledge of the course and his guidance and I was least prepared to figure out when the next stop was. Anyways, I turned around and was happy to find the rest of the folks there as well. We knew we were behind out 14-hr target. It was now only about finishing it on time. It was time for a quick check with Sankar, our local guide, about the terrain that lay ahead. The news was not encouraging. Similar stuff, a climb on a bridge and few more towards the end. And by now the sun was in its full display and the weather was nowhere close to the first half. Phew!

We had done 46mi in like 4hrs and we had about 4.5hrs to get to the finish line before 9pm. That is ~60mi in 4.5hr. I felt we were cutting close! For the first time, doubt crept in my head - will I be able to do it? Now, we were on our own. I told Venki - take me along.. I am not sure if I would be able to do it otherwise! And then came a bridge. Bye bye, Venki!! He took off on the hill.. I put my head down and climbed it slowly, and after the bridge was an awesome experiece. I was actually taking a ramp to a highway!!! Wow! I had never taken a highway ramp before on my bike and getting on to US-30 on that ramp was awesome. Again, kudos to the STP organizing team!! And after that, the whole stretch of Columbia River Highway (US-30) was such a pleasure to ride and slowly, I was riding at low 20's and slowly started believing we are in the home stretch. Soon I caught up with Venki & Sankar as they took a mini-stop, and of course they took off again and I met them again at the last food stop, with about 30mi to go and 2.5hrs more!! In the back of my mind now, I knew the job was more or less done. I was feeling in the zone!

Now, it was all about enjoying the rest of the way. It felt good, really good. And to my surprise, I met the group that helped me get to 100mi mark. I did not think I would see them again after they went past me in the second half but there they were. I left the mini-stop again along with Venki & Sankar but they were out of my sight in no time. This time though, I was not going to chase them. One of my fears or my only fear all through the training was if I would be able to ride at someone else's pace, stick to someone else's plan. In the end, I was happy to have ridden my own race, at the same time managing to stick around with the group, regrouping every once in a while. And just like that I knew the end was nearing. Finally, when it did come, after a boring stretch of street roads and traffic lights, there was a feeling of blankness. Not awesomeness, but blankness, that made me wonder.. WAS THAT IT? Venki was waiting to give a high five! And an hour later, Prakash completed his amazing feat, having started out with 2-day in mind and completing the 200 in just 1-day! And then we wrapped the day with some solid & delicious home cooked meal @ Sanjay's place!

The important thing for me though was completing the race, without an accident! I think I am a better rider now. Stronger and wiser after the 2011 crash which ended my season. I managed it without breaking a bone! And I am elated about it. Does it make up for missing my 100-miler last year? Maybe.. maybe the 200 will count towards 2011.. maybe it just does!

I don't know what to attribute the feeling of blankness to though. This was "true happiness lies in the journey, not the destination" coming to the fore. Is it because the terrain was easy compared to the training home ground terrain of SF bay area? Or is it because of all the training since May, and the constant push from Venki? Or maybe it hadn't sunk in yet? Regardless, I have to thank Venki for all the training. This was probably the most I have trained for any event, and maybe that is how good training must feel. And thanks to the abdundance of inspiration and support from Team Asha!! Go Asha!! Just one word to TA - PHENOMENAL.

If you want to experience it, look no further, TA running season 2 is here!!

I am beginning to fall in love with training. On to my next immediate goal now - the SF half marathon. I look forward to it and the India vacation that follows!

And some pictures!

Sunday, what a Fun..day

I don't remember the last time I challenged myself as much!!

It was Ind vs. Eng on Saturday night - the first real match for India in the world cup. So, we had a little poker + cricket party at Bharath's place. We gathered at around 10pm and started playing and then the cricket match started at 1am. Thoroughly enjoyed Sachin's sixes :) and India's batting, but was a little disappointed with India's finish.

After India's innings, I headed off with 2 other friends (Jenny & Ishwar) for a ski trip to Tahoe. The weather forecast was sunny and there was supposed to be a lot of snow because it had been snowing the whole week. So, there was lot of anticipation about skiing on Sunday. While driving there, we had the luxury of watching cricket on Jenny's iPhone. That was something. It was awesome being able to do that. But India were terrible defending a huge score of 338 and we were glad we lost signal when the match was all but lost. And Jenny took over the driving. I predicted the match would be over with 2 overs to spare the way Strauss and Bell were going at it.

We reached Kirkwood a little bit before 9am on a beautiful sunny day and decided to check the score out. Surprisingly the match was still going on. England had dramatically collapsed and they needed 30 from 13 balls with 3 wickets to spare. Thanks to the technology, we were able to witness the drama and the thrilling tie!! Okay.. at least we did not lose the match. Not a bad start to the day we thought.

The weather was perfect, lot of sun and lot of snow. :) It wasn't snowing then and there was lot of fresh snow on the slopes. It was my first time skiing on so much powder (ski lingo for snow). This was my 3rd time to a ski resort and the first two times I had taken the beginner package with lessons and stayed on the bunny green slopes. So, the order of difficulty of ski slopes goes from green t0 blue to black (or diamond) to double-black (or double-diamond). After one run, we joined AP at the resort and the group I was with this time were regular skiers and Jenny and AP were daredevils, I heard from Ishwar. They would go on the blacks and the double-diamonds and also go off terrain. Whoa!! Anyways.. here I was with them.

I did not want to be on the green slopes skiing there by myself. The last time I was there at Kirkwood, I did that and was bored at the end of it and wanted to try something different. It was my first time with this group, so, they had no idea how I skiied or on which slopes I could ski. So, the first run with Jenny was more of an assessment. I think it was blue slope. There was so much snow and first time on a blue slope for me. I was intimidated. After a slow and unenventful run, we tried to find a run that I can go on repeatedly. I waited at the base of a lift while Jenny went up a lift to assess that run. In a few minutes, he had gone up to the nearest peak I could see and come down. And by this time, AP joined us. After deciding that would be a suicide for me, we went up a different lift. It was a difficult blue. It was a little steep and narrow at the top of the run and once I fell down I found it hard to get up on that slope. So, after trying in vain to get me back on feet, AP and Jenny went down the slope and promised to come back up that lift. I can't believe now that I just stood there at the edge of the slope waiting for rescue like a deer caught in headlights. I pretty much froze.

I stood there wondering if it was the shoes which had a bit discomfort. Or is it the excess powder on the slopes. Jenny was back in a few minutes and with his assistance I managed to come back down the slope this time. At the end of the run, I was more comfortable to negotiate that slope than before. I practiced slow turns & I also learnt new techniques to get up after a fall. After checking if I would be able to go on that run alone again, Jenny went off with AP to jump off a cliff, or ski down some precipice. That run was called "The Wall," so you can imagine how steep that could be. They had gone off to the highest peak I could see from where I was standing to do their stunts. I went back on that slope and after exhausting myself with some slow turning all by myself, I looked for company and that effort going in vain, I took the lunch break. As I finished up my lunch, I bumped into Ishwar & then caught up with the other guys too. During the break, I had refreshed myself and also adjusted my shoes.. so, I felt much more comfortable after it.

Post-lunch, I just wanted to stay with at least one of them. Well, I probably had to because my cell phone died. But either ways, it turned out to be tremendous fun. It was such a huge resort and Ishwar wanted to go a different side of the mountain. In order to get to those lifts, we either needed to walk up some slope a bit or go up a lift and ski down to those other lifts. We chose the latter and at that point these three guys wanted to leave me on the easier slopes while they were gonna tread some blacks. I refused to go to the green slopes and just stayed with them instead. :)

Best decision I made? Maybe Ishwar would not agree. Over the next hour or so, I negotiated my first few blacks and took umpteen number of tumbles. The first run was probably an easier one and managed to ski down it fairly comfortably falling only a couple of times. The second one was way too sleep and made me take a variety of tumbles -- on the belly, on the back, facing uphill, facing downhill, legs in a V position, legs in an X position. If there was a way to fall, I fell that way. Once I even lost the ski pole boarding the lift, and another time I lost the ski boarding the lift and had to hop off on one ski after that -- all sorts of adventure. Given the amount of discomfort I put my body to though I feel very lucky and thankful though not to have broken a bone or two. But after getting out unscathed through all the hell, I felt satisfied. Good workout. And enough for the day.

Few more blue runs and green runs, few more fast runs and fast tumbles later, I was back to the lodge, having explored lot of Kirkwood. It was a great day to ski - lovely weather and lot of snow. And a lovely experience overall!

After that, it was the drive back, to a sumptuous dinner @Ishwar's including mango lassi, parathas & kabobs all home made by Ishwar's & Jenny's spouses. Great way to end a great day. Now, if only India sneaked in on the victory, it would have been even more special. By the time I reached home at midnight, I had slept for an hour (on the way to Tahoe) in the previous 24hours and that was by far the fullest utilization of 24hours in a day I can remember.