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Nandi arch
Second loop
After a two minute hydration + refuelling break, I began the second loop. Right away, my quads started their protest. It was going to be an interesting second lap. The ability of our minds to create repositioning (moving the goals) nonsense is quite amazing. Some thoughts that came up for consideration:
“Maybe I don’t need to run the second loop ALL the way. After all, I DID run the first loop hard.”
“Do I even need to run the second loop? The rest of the guys would have to wait for me for breakfast and that’s kind of rude.”
“Maybe I’ll just drop the pace and see how far up the hill I make it before making any drastic decisions.”
In the midst of these indecisive thoughts (around the 15km mark), my friend Shilpi (S) joined me. And that turned out to be a really good break for me. S is a really good runner and an exceptionally strong hill runner.
She finished the first loop climb only three minutes slower than me but, significantly, without pushing herself much. Since she hasn’t made friends with Dame Gravity yet, I was able to gain some minutes on my downhill slalom.
As we reached the 18km mark, doubtful thoughts crept in again. At some point, I voiced them. S didn’t say anything. At a couple of steep inclines, I pragmatically walked a few hundred meters. Close to the 20km mark, S cheerfully declares “We are just a kilometre away. Why don’t we finish it?”
Sometimes when the decision is taken away from you, it’s immensely liberating. Off we went. S also finally got tired of me slowing her down and increased her pace just enough to finish the climb about 70 meters ahead of me. Yes, ladies and gentleman, I got “chicked” and believe me, there’s no shame getting beat by a stronger runner (male or female).
The second downhill was negotiated at a more sane pace (6:10?ish for the first 3km) and I finished the remaining 4km at a 5:10 average pace. Two loops of Nandi Hills (28.76 km) in 2:57 min – inclusive of two refuelling breaks (4 minutes in total).
Thank you, Nandi Goddess. I shall be back again, soon.
