And what's been going down on the running front the last few weeks

I have been getting a lot of enquiries of why I have been absent from the writing space for a while so I thought I should rise again and make my presence felt. Since the last KTM, there has been a whole plethora of things that has kept me occupied, and sadly, training has not been one of them. Call it a spate of bad luck or a simple case of me being careless but I have constantly been in bed these last few weeks. Mum and Dad were away on holiday for a while so nutrition took a hit too, and then Mum was suddenly hospitalized while on holiday so that added to the stress levels as well.

Being as active as I usually am and then to fall sick so suddenly while having to curb most of, if not all activity and for such an extended period – meant all around depression and low energy levels. All of these conditions put together did not make for a very happy or bubbly Miss Sharma. In fact, a big shout out of Thanks to all the people who have had to deal with me the last few weeks. I have certainly not made anyone’s life easier with my long mopey and constantly grumpy self.

As unwell as I have been, me being me, each time I felt a little strong, I took a chance and headed out for a run, a bike ride or a swim – and yea, it felt great, until the endorphins wore off and then I was stuck in bed again. However, there have been two rather fabulous outings in the last few weeks. One was the long run a bunch of us decided to undertake on Gandhi Jayanti. This was more like a Hash Harriers run for fun with us taking turns as per the trail and having a generally great time while discovering some beautiful routes around Bangalore.

With the Bangalore Ultra around the corner, it has now become imperative for all those aiming to cover these ultra distances to get used to what we refer to as “time on feet”. As we would all agree, running, as natural as it is – is not an easy sport. There is a reason that an olympian such as Emil Zatopek said, “If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.” It is not easy for the human body to be on its feet for long extended periods and Ultra distances are far greater than that of a Marathon. Speed training is one thing and tough it is undoubtedly, but then there is an Ultra which is not only a test of endurance and patience but also a spiritual journey of self exploration.

For those who are unaware, any distance beyond the Full Marathon distance of 26miles or 42.195K is considered to be an Ultra. So in theory, even a distance of 43K would be an Ultra. The Bangalore Ultra is an event organised by RFL and is now in its 7th edition. Each year has seen the number of participants increase and is one of the events that most seasoned runners look forward to simply because it is an easily accessible, well organised race which provides the seasoned runners with a chance to push themselves out of their comfort zone and test their endurance.

As I have mentioned time and again, running is an addictive sport – it engulfs you and gives you numerous avenues to constantly punish yourself, emerge stronger and then push yourself out of your comfort zone yet again. If a marathon helps you experience a different life, an ultra introduces you to a brand new person.

A 10k or an HM is where you race against time, but an Ultra is where you race against the distance and your own mind.One of the greatest Ultra runners, Scott Jurek says in his book Eat & Run, “The longer and farther I ran, the more I realized that what I was often chasing was a state of mind–a place where worries that seemed monumental melted away, where the beauty and timelessness of the universe, of the present moment, came into sharp focus”. I think these words clearly define the spiritual realization that an ultra brings with it.

With these thoughts as a background, the Proton crew has decided that now on, until the Bangalore Ultra in early November, they will be doing some fabulous, scenic routes around the outskirts of Bangalore to clock in the miles. These Long Slow Distance (LSD) runs are probably the best way to bond with and spend quality time with people in your life.

The first edition was kickstarted with the Gandhi Jayanti Run. The run was the brainchild of Shuveshek. He decided he wanted to do an LSD in Whitefield. Before you know it there were 7 (Shuveshek, Dharma, Aditya, Rahul, Shreyas, Geeta and me) of us all set to do the run with Nagaraj being kind enough to crew us on his motorbike. This run was superawesome due to three things:

- It marked the comeback of Rahul MV to running. Rahul, and me had done our first Full Marathon together. After The TCS 10k, he had injured himself and then met with an accident. This had him off running for a long stretch of time, but this 2nd of Oct, he came back and it certainly is good to have him back.

- It marked the coming together of the crew for a long fun run after months. Somewhere along the line, we all got so busy in chasing PBs, training schedules, work schedules and personal life demands that it all became too mechanised and the fun element went missing – this was a good way to bring back the ” joie de vivre” and rekindle our love for running.

- It also revived the adventurous spirit in each one of us, as we treaded an unmarked route, followed our heart, at times the trail and most times the fence to have an eventful and scenic run from Whitefield to Sarjapura.

Of course, I was back in bed after this run. The weekend just gone by got us all together for the next session of the LSD. This time the chosen route was the infamous Pipeline route. This time around, I was smarter – Rahul and me both decided that we would be part of the crew and would keep the runners well fed, hydrated and energised through the route.

This run marked the comeback of the extremely beloved Gajendra Ranganna. He had been away in China for the last month and a half and his presence has been dearly missed. Pipeline route saw a total of 7 (Jitender, Sridhar, Naveen, Shuveshek, Sri Ram, Shreyas and Gajendra) runners and two crew members (Rahul and me). We had a gala time cheering the boys on that tough route, did a recce of a few new routes around the area as well and were complete happy puppies by the end of the day.

Ultra seems to have everyone excited and motivated. I can feel my health getting back on track so here is hoping that I join in as a runner with the crew ASAP.