My first Ultra - blown away by myself

Again like I said, I have stopped thinking of myself as a runner. After my Napa Marathon on March 2nd, I did nothing. No runs, no workouts. Guess I am getting lazy, but I must be enjoying myself.

I had singed up for the Ruth Anderson 50K as soon as I heard Rajeev Patel, my friend, coach, and someone very very dear to me and loved by many was going to be the Race Director. Ruth Anderson 50k is a 4.5 mile almost flat loop around Lake Merced in San Francisco. You go around 7 times for a 50K. Considering my last 50K attempt involved a 8000+ ft elevation gain, this seemed doable.

I don't know why, but I was not at all stressed about this run. It did not even occur to me during the 5 weeks following the Napa marathon, that I should train for my first ultra. One reason for this was that there was no cutoffs to meet. The race had a 50K, 50M and 100K race. So I knew I could take my time. The other reason was the there was an aid station every 2 miles and it was a loop. So if things got really bad, I did not have suffer for long.

The day before the race, I spent time with friends, ate some rice (my carbo load).
Anu, Rajeev and I recently went to Fiji to become Oneness Blessing givers. This is an energetic transfer that brings divine grace into human lives. I asked Anu and Rajeev to give me a blessing with the intent that the race feel effortless, I enjoy every moment of it and finish feeling strong.

Got home and put everything I needed for the race aside and in the process sprained my back. It was pretty bad. Even a slight back bend was very painful. For some reason it did not cause me to panic. I went to sleep as flat on my back as possible. When I woke the pain was still there. Again it never occurred to me that I would not go. So I picked up Bharti (who was also doing her first ultra. She had run her first marathon in Napa 5 weeks earlier) and Coach Raman (who was attempting his first 50 miler).

When we got to the start, it was like a gale. Bharti pointed out the trees to me and the power of the wind was visible. We got off the car and it was freezing. Picked up our bibs and I went into Anu's van and donned a couple more layers and also a skull cap. I would eventually run the entire race with 4 layers of clothing, a skull cap, a cap, gloves and my track pants.

The winds got stronger as the day wore on. It was reported to be between 35 - 40 miles per hour. The aid station volunteers had to deal with the worst. The winds were so strong they could not even hold down a tent to pitch it. I could never thank them enough for being there on a day like that to serve the runner. They were the most amazing bunch. I dedicate this race completely to them.

Once the run started it was exactly as I had requested in the blessing. I was in the moment, very little mind chatter. I would run the sections where the wind was not too strong. The sections with the wind I mostly walked. It was so strong that I was being pushed back or sideways. I listened to my body. When something would hurt (mostly my back), I would say this is effortless and the pain would slip away within 15 mins or so.

Many of my friends were volunteering at the Race - Anil, Mohan, Lily, Anu, Arul, Gayathri, Char, Renuka, Shekhar, Deepa, Pallavi. So in many ways I could not have asked for more. The aid stations were well stocked, everything from PBJ sandwiches, boiled potato, salty snacks, chocolate, fruits, you name it. I honestly think I gained weight on this race ;-) I love ultras for the food and the people. Its the best way to run :)

Lily ran one loop with me. She mentioned that I should ask someone else to run the last loop with me. I told her when they try to encourage me, I will be cranky and be nasty and it will not be pretty ;) Gayathri offered to run with me and again I told her that when I am tired I will be mean, cranky and bitchy. It will only make me feel worse since then I will have to worry about having hurt her as well :) Anyway fate was to have it that I ran into Gayathri mid 6th lap. She then accompanied me for the rest of the race. She was most patient and never spoke until I was ready to take it easy. It was very nice to have her with me.

I heard that several of the elite runner had either dropped off or cut down to a shorter distance race. So the winds affected everyone. I salute all those who showed up to run and braved the winds that day. The love of the runners and volunteers for Rajeev was apparent. He is a most loving soul and dearly loved by everyone in the ultra-running circuit.

Towards the end I mainly suffered from blisters on my feet. I was doing fine otherwise. Rajeev ran up with his camera for the last leg of the race to take some pictures of me finishing. When I got back to the tent, I realized that since there was only one other woman in my age group in the race, I had actually won second place!!! I congratulated myself for even showing up to run a race like this on a day like this, sticking through it and finishing like it was an easy stroll in the park. I was also grateful to the divine for being with me throughout to make the journey pleasurable and easy. Rajeev, the volunteers, and my friends will forever remain in my heart for having shared my first ultra-marathon experience with me.

My come back - Napa Valley Marathon

I have stopped thinking of myself as a runner. I have been really slacking off on my workouts. I ran the Napa marathon on March 2nd, 2008. My race before that was the San Francisco 1/2 marathon in July 2006 and I did no running in 2007. I did get on a health spree and did a lot of detox and cleansing in 2007. I also got on a spiritual path and I think through that more in tune with my body, mind and emotions. It is not easy to figure out how this has affected my endurance, but the results seem to speak for itself.

Napa Marathon

A group of my friends, many first time marathoners were signing up to run the Napa marathon. So I did too. I always reasoned that Spring marathons are the best, since you get to train through winter, when otherwise it can seem dreary to be outdoors.

My frist training run was 8 miles. I went out and ran on Los Gatos Creek trail on my own. I figured I wanted to run by myself, since earlier, I had observed that I am not in touch with my body and cannot figure out what my optimal pace is. I tend to run too fast to keep up with others and end up injuring myself and feeling lousy. I did 7 training runs for Napa and no weekday workouts (8, 10, 12, 15, 8, 20, 14). Did not run for 3 weeks before the marathon and went out and ran in 5:32. This was my 2nd best marathon time.

I would not say I had a perfect run. Started out too fast, did awful nutrition management (too little dinner, just a banana for breakfast) and was not too regular on gels. My emotional state was not too great either. I did have some pain after 16 miles and nausea. I ran/walked and made it through. The course was gorgeous. It did have hills (I had done no hill workouts), but also some nice tail winds.

In retrospection through, this is an amazing accomplishment for me. Compared to my earlier marathons the effort that I perceived was negligible as was my training and my stress. I think what really helped was my belief that I will finish before the 6 hour cutoff and that I do not need to prove anything to myself or others. So once I started to have pain, low blood sugar and nausea I did not stress about taking walk breaks. I think another huge component was that I did not seem to fight what was there mentally and emotionally. I accepted the hills, how my body was feeling. So it did not register as something awful. Just another factor to consider while managing the moment.

After the marathon we again did not eat until we got back home for dinner. I think by this time my body had had enough. I was running a temperature when I got home. I used to fall ill fairly regularly before. But since I started my detox and health regimen, I had never fallen ill and had not even taken a OTC pain killer in over a year. So I was not thrilled about falling sick. But once I had dinner and went to bed, the next day I was fresh as a daisy and was not even sore (compared to what I had experienced in the past).

So looks like I am back :)

Anu!

My dear friend Anu finished her first half-ironman race yesterday and how!
She learned to bike early this year, trained on her own with unwavering willpower, battled injuries, and finished the race in under 7 hours by controlling her mind to push her body. I am so proud of her!! Here is a sonnet I wrote to her a few years ago:

A babbling brook, a chirping bird
A tropical breeze, a fountain of love
Eyes that know all without a word
Voice that's blessed by the gods above
Heart that soaks up every sorrow
A smile that washes away all grief
Arms that embrace a peasant or a pharaoh
Runs with such ease, its beyond belief
Means so much to so many people
Cares so much with all her heart
Wise old soul, with a little girls giggle
Goes without saying, this one is smart
So easy to talk to, nothing is taboo
This is an ode to you, my dear friend Anu

Running in the rain

With winter just around the corner.. I remembered a mail I had sent last winter after I read Padma and Rajeev's reports on running races in winter...
---------------

I always read race reports with amazement. Its so humbling to read about your trials and tribulations - be it Padma running up Mission Peak in the snow or Rajeev dredging through mud and muck.

I feel that prickling on the back of my neck. My chest swells up with pride. Sometimes I so miss that feeling of crossing the finish line for the first time.

Arun and I were all worried on friday if we should go run at Sawyer because the forecast said rains. But we went. It was drizzling..so we sat in the car. Once it stopped we started running. Then for the next 6 miles it rained quite heavily. We were drenched through. But I guess once you are out there on the trail with your running buddy the rest of the world ceases to matter..
its back to the basics.. one foot in front of the next.

Biking in Amsterdam!

Amsterdam is a city of bikes! The Hilton where I stayed actually has 4 bikes available to patrons. My colleague is Parisian. He used to come to Amsterdam all the time growing up. Seeing my over enthusiasm for travel, he said we have to bike if you want to experience the city.

I was most sceptical about it because:
a) I have been on a bike exactly 4 times in my life.
b) The cab driver nearly ran over 3 cyclists on the way from the train station to the Hotel (And claimed its their fault)
c) The only ride of any magnitude I have done is at Hellyer.
d) I have ridden only on straight, flat "streets". So turning is not something I have learned.
e) I have never shared the road with anyone. (The hellyer ride was at 6:00am on a monday morning)
f) bikes have strict traffic laws in Amsterdam.

But I said ok.. let me give it a shot, if I cannot ride then I can simply return it and we can walk or take the tram.

So we go out with the concierge to see the bikes:
a) These are rickety old rusted bikes.
b) It does not have brakes. You have to pedal backwards to brake.
c) The dutch are really tall people. So this bike is too high for me.
d) Its 6:00pm in the evening and the bike does not have a working light or a bell.

Of course its been so long since I got on a bike (Char knows the reason) I cannot even get on it. If I step on the left pedal the entire bike falls left. Anyway after a bit of a struggle and shrieks I managed to get on it and ride in the parking lot. Of course the first thing is to learn to stop.


Anyway long story short I ended up riding all over Amsterdam for nearly 4 hours!! I nearly ran a kid over, who suddenly stepped out on to the street from front of a parked van. Which resulted in my first big fall. Then passing by the flower market I pushed and also fell over another cyclist who was trying to pass too close to me. We barely missed the cacti. A big frown and nasty looks. I was backing my bike and hit a drunk in the balls. I voluntarily fell over thrice to avoid running headlong into speeding cars coming right at me. (Its one of those.. o O OO OOO situations).

Of course at each traffic light its a major ordeal to get back on the bike cause it takes a while for me to start going straight ahead. I snake through the street causing disbelief among people sharing the road with me. Anyway after a while I started shouting BIKE everytime I saw a pedestrian even thinking of crossing my way. Since there are so many cyclists on the road people it only resulted in startled confusion :-(

I am glad I missed falling into a canal. Anyway I was lightly bruised but otherwise safe in my hotel room. Its was more exhilarating than anything I have done so far :-) Riding a bike in a busy city is something else!!

Anbessa

Thanks Arun!!

Watch the song video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLg4j4gMzqA&search=bekele

It is very moving. Haile Gebrselassie mentored Bekele and Sihine, but
they outran him Athens (he was getting on). They keep looking back for
him while running the race. The lyrics at this point translate as:

==
(This is Kenenisa or Sihine, possibly both)
It was hard, to leave you behind
It was hard, the father of my dreams
It was hard, my eyes looked for you
It was hard, I even turned back

(And this is Haile's response)
Keep going, the people crave the win
Keep going, our people are anxious
Keep going, don't get overtaken
Keep going, don't look back for me

==

Hat tip: http://thinkingrunner.blogspot.com/2006/06/anbessa.html

Partial translation: http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=655878&page=1

I see... Do you ?

One reason why I decided to run an ultra-marathon..



On April 30th, I ran the Big Sur International Marathon. As my foot traveled 26.2 miles on the rolling hills of Hw1 from Big Sur to Carmel, my eyes feasted on the rugged beauty of the California coastline. This journey, like every other in my life was so much more pleasurable because I can see.


However, millions in India go through life and suffer being needlessly blind. One fifth of the worlds blind live in India. 80% of them are curable! I want to do my bit to bring light and beauty to these lives.


Hence, I am returning to Carmel on May 20th to run my first Ultra-marathon. This is a 50km run with 8825ft of elevation gain. I expect to be running for over 8 hours. This is my bit. I am not asking you to run 50km with me, just to donate at least $100. A dollar for each km that each of my feet will travel (or any amount you are comfortable with) I request you to help me help the blind by donating generously to Sankara Eye Foundation (www.giftofvision.org).


Sankara Eye Foundation funds the building of world-class eye hospitals across India and sponsors free eye surgeries for the rural poor (until the hospital is self-sustaining). With 3 hospitals already built, 55,000 free eye surgeries were performed last year. This year funds are being raised for 4 more hospitals (Bangalore-KA, Shimoga-KA, Anand-Gujarat and Guntur-AP). The SEF mission is to build 20 hospitals by year 2020 to perform 1,000,000 free eye surgeries yearly!


Every one of us blessed with eyesight can do something for those that were not
(http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5313880984896781274)
Together we can make “Vision 20/20 by 2020” a reality!


To donate:
* Please go to http://www.giftofvision.org/
* Right on top is the DONATE NOW button.
* In the Designation field please put my name "Samanvitha Rao" so that I can track your donation.
* Thank you!!

My first ultra-marathon attempt - Carmel Valley

After completing the Big Sur marathon on April 30th, 2005 I decided to run a 50k ultra-marathon to leverage my marathon training. The first ultra I found when I was free on race day was the PCTrailRuns Carmel Valley (http://www.pctrailruns.com/Carmel_Valley.htm) race on May 20th.

My ultra-running friends cautioned me that this was a very tough run, but also that I might be able to handle it. I had heard that in an ultra instead of relying on just energy gels, you get to eat proper food like potatoes and I really wanted to try that :). I was also told that everyone walks up the hills and runs the flats and the downhills. Plus the soft trail is much better on the body than the hard alphalt on which we run road marathons. I felt I'd be able to handle it.

There were a few things bothering me:
a) I was not fully recovered from Big Sur. My left knee still hurt when walking down stairs.
b) I had not really run after Big Sur to train for this ultra.
c) cramping due to..

What I knew about Carmel Valley:
The elevation gain during the race was going to be 8825ft. Considering this is ups and downs, it might trash my quads. The elevation profile for the 50k is:

They also have an 8k, 17k and 33k race on the same day. The 50k is essentially finishing the 33k loop, returning to the start and then doing the 17k loop. So there was always the option that if I was dying I can still complete the 33k race.

Most importantly Padma and Kiran my super-duper ultra running friends were running this one. So I simply outsourced the worrying to them and did not give it much thought. Rajeev of course was tremendous help. He mapped out what I should carry, what I should do, how I should run etc. So overall I was stress free about this run.

But this turned out to be quite a killer. It was non-stop climbing. There were literally stairs during the first few miles. The course was beautiful though. Music saved me. I was feeling strong for the first big climb. Then on the way down I think I ran too fast and trashed my quads. I was also laying off gels for a long time and then I finally took a GU and that also started the nausea which ruins the fun. The aid stations were fabulous. I finally finished 33k in 6:54:00. I decided to drop out since my knees were really trashed and I did not have the training to run for over 10 hours. Padma and Kiran eventually finished the 50k in 10:52:50.

Pictures from the run