Madhe ghat - story in pics

Satara Misal - Stage 3

Homeward bound

All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. ~T.E. Lawrence

Umesh is the dreamer of the day. I dreamt of the return trip at night.

Here's the scene at the Satara Hill run endpoint

Umesh : "Let's go back to the room, get fresh and start our return on the bike"
Me: "Hmm .... give me some time. Let me eat something and recover"
Me:  (after sometime) "Umesh, lets use the bike rack and catch a bus or take a lift"
Umesh : "What happened ? Not feeling like it ?"
Me:  I am fine except for the ankle pain which does not come up during cycling. See the weather. No clouds. We will be starting latest by 12:30 / 1:00. There will be headwinds.
Umesh : The weather will be ok. We will start early.  But your call. I will go by your decision (But I could see his heart was bent on going back the way we came - cycling)
Me : "Hmmm ... Let me go get fresh. My mind will be a lot clearer then"
Bhari : (concerned) "Guys, Lets not risk it. The bike rack can be setup for all three bikes. You have already stretched the limit."

12:00 noon : Both of us are ready outside the hotel to return

And thus we embarked on the return. Not before fixing up the rack on Bhari's car with Vijay's bike. That had its own share of trouble as it was the first time I was setting this up. We lost a nut from the strap harness and Vijay biked down to the nearest hardware shop and fetched another one but we did not have anything to tighten it. Finally Bhari and Vijay put the rack into the car went to the same shop got it tightened and were back.

The bike rack and bike all setup for the return

I wrapped the reflector around the bike to be on the safer side and told Bhari to get down and check the rack whenever they stopped or hit some bad road patches.

We also told them to start a couple of hours after we started, in case one of us needed to discontinue.

Typically after I run a marathon I drink water at frequent intervals until I flush out all the toxins. I also eat at regular intervals. This time we were burning fuel as well as needed refuelling. I had filled a litre of Enerzal. Umesh and I had also eaten Upma and Poha after the run at a hotel near the bus-stand.  Bhari had dropped the others to the hotel and come back to pick up to take us back to the hotel. He had been giving us VVIP treatment throught out as well as in the hotel room.

The moment we hit NH4 towards Pune, I told Umesh we will stop at a decent dhaba and eat some solid food.

In 30 min we came across a hotel and refueled with a Roti each. The dal fry was very spicy (for my palatte) and I ordered and Egg bhurji without chillies. Washed this down with cold water and refilled my camelbak with cold water. i felt much better so much better that I told Umesh that I was ready to climb Khambatki now :-)

The road back is all rolling and mostly downhill, except for a steady gradient at at Shindewadi. I kept it easy and  we took turns at leading. We were faced with cross winds all along and the downhills were not all that fast. Umesh was doing strong and if riding alone would have reached home faster. But he slowed his pace with mine and stayed together.

We were passed by a couple of marathoners in their cars who cheered us. This added to the motivation. Soon after another car passed by gave a left indicator and a hand came out with a camera to shoot us. The same car stopped ahead at some distance and continued shooting us as we approached the car. It turned out to be Venkat who took some great snaps and told us we were crazy. He was driving down to Bombay after all the hard work of organising as well as pacing as a 3 hr bus.

Venkat took this snap as he passed us

A selfie was the right thing to do at the moment

We took another break for cold water but this restaurant did not have any. I ordered some sandwiches as we had stopped anyways and a cold drink. I was also stopping by for urinating and was checking on the urine colour. Pale yellow to white was a good sign and I managed to get this in sometime. 

We approached Wai Phata and another 5 kms before we hit Khabatki tunnel which was a beautiful downhill all the way even after the exit. We stopped before the tunnel approach road and fished out our head lamps. Checked our tail lamps and got ready for the dark tunnel ride and the downhill. 

I was leading as we entered the tunnel with the other vehicles noise deafening us and some of the bikers honking all the way and I noticed I could barely see my head light or the road ahead. What was wrong ? !!! Decelerated and slowed down. Dang ! we had forgotten to take our sun glares off. Stopped immediately and Umesh asked me the reason. He too had his glasses on and was wondering the same. We removed it and put it back into our jersey pockets and continued on. There was a missed call from Vijay on Umesh's cell when we were approaching Shirwal after Khambatki. They had started and were also approaching Shirwal. we stopped for them and they reached us in a couple of minutes. 

Shirwal - Meeting our support car

Bhari and the others were concerned and wanted to know whether we wanted to continue. Of course we were in great shape. the sun was now past its worst and the breeze was cool although I would have preferred a better direction. I told them to carry on ahead. Our next stop was the Vitthal's restaurant which I like because of the filter coffee. I wanted some caffeine 

Vitthal's on all highways

We took a long break at Vitthal's with Masala dosa and coffee. Called up home. It was probably 5:30 pm and I anticipated another 2 hrs more

Soon the gradient towards shinde wadi and the Toll naka started and we continued on. And the Katraj hill came in sight, we decided to take the Katraj tunnel by pass instead of the ghat to avoid the city traffic on the Katraj -swargate road. 

the tunnel and the road after was a long downhill and we got paid back for the climb that we had done the previous day morning. We did remember to remove our glares for this tunnel :-)

As we approached the Sinhagad road phata the road turned bad and the traffic worse. This was the Sunday evening city traffic. We had to stop and start quite a few times because of the bad traffic as well as traffic signals. Umesh parted way to go to Pimpri while I stayed on course to reach East street and Camp. Finally home was in sight and knocked the door at 8:00 pm. 

Siddhant is all smiles and beaming on my return

An eight hour ride after a half marathon was like running a full marathon ? Maybe not :-).

Thanks to Umesh for dreaming in the day. Venkat P from youtoocan run for the wonderful pictures and motivation. Bhari (Bharadwaj Keesra) - a friend whose support and care is unconditional.

Vijay Chavan for having the courage to start and stretch his limits and the spirit to stop and take the support for the return and Brijesh, Prashant and Ashish for the company and motivation.

More of our pics from Team PTC are here

Satara Misal - Stage 2

Hill Finishers

Bhari with the rest of the PTC friends reached at around 4:30 pm. The others got the hotel room. Bhari got our bags and settled himself as our third room mate. We had washed our cycling shorts and Tee shirts and kept it out to dry, optimistic about riding back after the run.

Elevation map

Now it was time to prepare for Stage -2, running the hills. The route 's elevation is as shown in the pic . I had no dreams of doing a PR here. And the journey back was uppermost in my mind as we discussed the next morning's ritual.

We had tea at a tapri in the city and then scouted around for some bread and bananas for the next morning pre-race fuel. Bought some bottled water and returned to the room planning for an early dinner at the hotel restaurant.

The hotel was some distance away from the start point and we were mulling over the best way to reach. Bhari volunteered to drive us down and make two trips as we were 7 of us. Fortunately two of us got a ride in another car as Sudhir a colleague's husband and his son were going to the start point as well.

The organisation of this event is impeccable and has grown from strength to strength over the past couple of years. With Warm up sessions, DJ Music, Drone cameras and water station at the start point,  it is clearly an event organised by runners (Dr Sandeep Kate and his team). The atmosphere is electric and the crowd was energetic and raring to go.

Brijesh, Sudhir, Rishabh, me, Vijay, Ashish, Prashant, Umesh.
Bhari is taking the pic

No political speeches and at 6:00 am and we were flagged off. We had pacers (bus) for the 2 hr, 2:15, 2:30, 2:45 and 3:00 hr finish . Venkat P and Nikhil Shah from Pune running group were the 3:00 hr pacers

I kept a slow pace while Umesh, Vijay and Prashant moved ahead. Prashant is a fast runner . I had predicted an easy sub 2 hr run for him. He dissappeared in no time. I had hopes of finishing between 2:45 to 3:00 hr.

Umesh and Vijay were running barefoot. I admired their resilience despite the unpredictable terrain. I had decided to run in Vibrams. There are many runners from the Satara Athletic Association running barefoot on this course and tearing downhill at high speeds.

panoroma - pic credit - Venkat P @youttocanrun

Ashish Arora was debuting his first run event and Brajesh and Bhari were behind me. The route was an uphill right away and snaked its way through the town into the road leading up to Kaas.

Uphill walking for some

Motivation

Music, cheering locals (a big difference from the inaugral edition) and water stations lined up the route. There were running related quotes which motivated the runners and kept their heads up.

Adequate supply of Music, water, energy drink and medical aid

The water stations had enthusiastic volunteers. They were opening up the bottles and handing it to the runners. Energy drink holding volunteers made themselves visible by extending their arms.
The medical personnel had aprons and pain relief spray with them. Perfect support and further evidence of a "by the runners" event.

Some runners were littering the beautiful roadside with their empty / half filled plastic bottled. Although the rag pickers are around to pick these up, runners should be sensitive to the ecosystem and hold their bottles / waste till the next water station. This becomes easy for the rag

A veteran runner does an impromptu jig with the music

picker to collect. Some runners w
ere throwing the bottle away from sight. I wish the organizers message this out BOLD in the goody bag next year.

I passed the 2:45 pacer on my way up and then saw familiar faces coming down. Umesh and Vijay followed on their down route.

Finally reached the half way mark, grabbed a banana and set myself for the down hill. Down hill does seem easy. Easy for the heart but takes a toll on the legs. I had no plans of hurtling down. Venkat, with the 3 hr bus was coming up and he stopped to click me and many others. I soon passed another 2:45 pacer going downhill. Bhari was enjoying the uphill run with his phone camera. He noticed me and turned his camera to record.

Bhari selfie with quote :-)

Sometime before I had started getting pain on my right ankle bone. This was an injury which I had recovered from a couple of weeks back. Any attempt at increasing the downhill pace hurt the inner area above the ankle bone.
I took a spray at the next water station. and got a little relief. Reached the base and the town area. A corporator had put up blaring music and announcement of his name along with his welcome message.

Venkat P@youtoocan run took this pic

The town road was now lined up with kids and their family. I like to hi-fi the kids standing with outstretched hands . Made suer I did not miss anybody not even the tiniest as some of them giggled and others shyly acknowledged my touch.

Another water station came up I paused for a second shot of pain relief spray. After this started increasing my pace as the road gradient had eased out although still downhill. I could hear the music at the end point and suddenly saw a huge group of  runners coming towards me. Enthusiastic kids in costumes joined me. This was the Dream Run equivalent of SCMM (Mumbai). Now the half marathoners had to look out for the small children and make their way. I was in no hurry and advised a kid whose lace had come undone to retie it. There were other finishers with medals walking up, encouraging their friends and relatives. Soon the last turn and the red carpet came in sight as I turned in to the finish point. saw the clock showing 8:36 and realised that I had out run my estimate. A satisfying run as I made my way to the refreshment area to get the medal.

Met Rafiq Somani who was with his Bombay gang. Some people were enjoying an artifical rain shower. The atmosphere was festive. Umesh and Vijay had finished and clocked a sub 2:30 while Prashant had made a blistering 1:50 finish. The others soon followed as we waited and rested.

The weather was sunny, no clouds, the body had endured a half marathon and there were headwinds on the highway back to Pune. I was in two minds - To bike or take the easy way.

on to Stage 3 - if you have reached this far :-)

Satara Misal - Stage 1

The idea of making a misal of cycling and running was borne in 2011 when Umesh and I were travelling from Bangalore to Mysore for the Kaveri Trail Marathon. There was a cyclist that we passed on the highway and he was soon out of our minds as we enjoyed the drive and small talk. Later in the evening while we relaxed in the hotel balcony in comes Mr Cyclist and checks into the hotel with the Kaveri Trail Bib bag. Next day after the run he loaded the cycle on car bike rack and checked out. 

Soon after Satara Hill Marathon announced its first edition in 2012. I recalled the above and thought this was the ideal event for the Misal as the place is around 130 km from Pune for a half baked randonneour like me to indulge in. It took two more years for the actual attempt, read on ....

Short of Long distance cycling practice I had to take out my Masi for some rides and ended up doing Chandani Chowk and Pirangut. The running training wasn't going good either with the house renovation taking its toll on me physically and mentally. I planned to space out my reserves and not go all out for each of the stage (cycling to satara , Running the half, Cycling back - 130 - 21 - 130 )

Umesh was all geared up with numerous trips to the just opened Decathlon store at Wagholi. He had also bought the Merida Crossway and invested in the right accessories. His training during the last week before the D-day was also way above his usual preparations for any event.

Checklist

The two of us made a long list and shared notes. I was skeptical about the return and ordered a Bike Car rack for a hatchback / Sedan from BikerZ which arrived just a day before leaving me no time to try it out.

BikerZ bike car rack

Bharadwaj (Bhari) was going to drive down to Satara in his car with 4 others. I gave our bags (with the running clothes) and rack to him on Friday.
One of the runners in the above group, Vijay, changed his mind and decided to join us on the bike ride. We were a little apprehensive but one never knows the other person's capacity to stretch his limits. It was a risk that each participant needed to evaluate for himself.

Kiran Revankar, a long distance rider decided to accompany us in the morning and turn around at the 40 km mark. We had good company when we met at Rajaram bridge at 6:15 AM

At Rajaram bridge 6:00 am

The start of the ride is always great with the body fresh and dawn breaking out with less traffic. We reached the Bombay- Bangalore bypass and hit the false flat road approaching Katraj tunnel at steady pace. Umesh and I were leading the pack and I was trying to introduce Umesh to paceline riding :-) while Kiran and Vijay followed. We took a break at the start of the tunnel for a fuel break and to attach the headlights. We saw a runner approaching us and he was a veteran looking very strong on the uphill.

Paceline :-)
Photo credit - Venkat P@youttocanrun

We resumed the ride with me taking up the rear this time and Vijay in front of the group into the tunnel which was still uphill. Exiting the tunnel was an exhilarating downhill till the Toll and we could cover the lost time as we hit top speed with a nice tail wind to assist us

Kiran at Katraj

3 idiots at Katraj

Our next planned stop was the MacDonald at 36 km. We gorged on some Egg Muffins and I packed another one, advising the others to do the same. I needed the second after the Khambatki climb.

Kiran parted ways soon after and took a U-turn back home while we rode ahead. Vijay was faltering behind and we stopped after some distance to let him catch up with us. The weather was partly cloudy and it showered slightly and I prayed this to continue till Khambatki top. Umesh led the way now with Vijay in the middle and me bringing up the tail. the distance between Umesh and us was increasing and Vijay was at a slower pace than mine. The clouds had cleared and we needed to cover 30 kms more to reach Khambtki base before the sun hit us. I passed Vijay and caught up with Umesh as we approached Shirwal and Khandala.

The ghat was approaching and I mulled over the thought of suggesting Vijay to go to the other side and walk across through the tunnel from the wrong side and save the climb. Would have been dangerous. Umesh was doing strong as he pulled ahead of me and overtook a groaning truck. I kept a high cadence and kept it easy, watching my breath. Soon Umesh had powered his way to the top and started capturing my ascent on his camera. This would soon be his routine for the rest of the journey as well :-)

We decided to wait on the top as I refuelled with the egg muffin. I had also carried a couple of bread sandwiches. Umesh took one of them and I kept the other for Vijay. Both of us made calls and selfies and enjoyed the scenery around for a long time with no sign of Vijay.

Khambatki Top

I got worried and tried flagging motor bikes passing us to see if they had noticed another cyclists. Finally one guy said he saw a cyclist at the base walking up which meant a another 30 mins. Umesh called up Vijay who told us to go ahead. We got ready for the descent and zoomed down encashing our climb effort till we reached Wai phata and stopped for buying some water.  The road surface was getting bad as the six laning work is in progress with lot of diversions and bad surface patches. The sun was hotter without any clouds or breeze and we were around 35 kms away from our destination - the Marathon Expo Hotel. Traffic had become denser as we reached the NH4 crossing to enter the city and stopped to ask for directions. Reached the expo at around 12:30 pm and started the formalities of collecting the Bib. Met Divya Tate and Veloscope photographer Brijesh Nair who spotted the Team PTC - PMC bike jersey. Venkat P from youtoocanrun was in one of the booths for the Bib verification and we bade him bye as we needed to check into our Hotel Lakeview as soon as possible.

The bikes parked outside the Expo had some locals interested.  They had the usual queries for long distance cyclists :-). After satisfying their curiosity we found our way to the hotel. After some usual lethargic moments from the hotel management (or lack of it) got a Room which was adjacent to a Reception hall and called the "Bride's room".

"Vadhu" is bride in Marathi :-)

This is the changing room and temporary resting room given to the Bride's family for any Marriage function hosted Well, the room was big to accommodate three of us but the toilet was an Indian one. I dreaded the thought of crapping and cramping together, not to mention the getting up after the job was done. But that is for another post ... :-)

We had packed a spare change of  shorts in the handle bar bag, as the Car with our bags was to reach in the evening. We removed the Satara marathon t-shirts and put that on much to the bemused look of all the others in the hotel wondering why these guys were wearing the next day's event T-shirt.

Vijay followed us soon after by 1:30 pm in the Hotel restaurant for a well deserved Curd rice, more rice and some more rice and we remembered our Rice eater Bhari who was to drive down and reach by 5:00 PM.

Stage -2  running the half marathon follows ...

My commuting decade

This year’s Earth week celebrations at my workplace  coincided approximately with my finishing a decade of commuting with a bicycle to work. I had bought my Hero cycle (model name was Nitrogen) for around 2200/- in 2003. The choices back then were restricted to Indian brands at least in the local shops around my place. I also had it fitted with a child seat on the top tube for taking my 2 year old around. It was a great decision he loved the wind in his hair, I did not have that privilege.

This bike took me around Pune, for sundry shopping and of course was my daily commute to office other than dropping and picking up my son from his play school and then Nursery class in the Bishops School nearby. I could have continued dropping him but his growing legs made him uncomfortable with the handle turns and he graduated to the school van in the next standard.

This bike got stolen in 2009 from my society parking lot. The vandals must have carried the locked bike despite security. Following which I bought myself a second hand Hero Hawk. This was a drop bar (bent racer type) handles, frame size perfect for my height and the most inconspicuous for any body to even fiddle around. I later replaced the handle, stem and crank with a lighter version from Metro Cycles, Kalbadevi, Mumbai. In 2010 I got a locally made Pannier form a cyclist friend in Bangalore for a mere 600/-. This pannier bag rests on the carrier behind and overflows on both sides of the cycle. My wife was eternally thankful for this biking accessory as all her sundry shopping needs fit into this bag including vegetables, eggs and even a dozen ceramic cups once during Diwali.

A couple of months back looking at the north bound fuel prices I got around to calculating the saving that my commute would have made especially since I was nearing 10 years. The results, predictably, was interesting and a solid proof with which I could justify my purchase of cycles and accessories to the home minister. (Not that she ever grumbled). So for your sake, below is the graph of savings per year with blue dots representing the average fuel cost of that year (petrol). 18270 Rs is the saving in 2012 alone when the petrol prices jumped into the 70’s

The below table shows the detailed break up till December last year with an average of 10 km per day and calculated for five days of  commute per week. (with a car mileage of 10 km per litre)

A saving of around 2609 litres of petrol which converts into a virtual saving Rs 1.3 lakhs. Now let me go shop for a carbon frame bike J.

I got a couple more bikes in my stable - a Trek 4300 and a Masi Cyclocross. Guess, I have utilised part of the virtual savings for now :-).

Wish you all a safe commute and a Happy Earth week - 2013.

Windows hopping @ RTO Pune

For a change let me document  my recent experiences with Renewal of the two most important documents in any Indian's life - The Driving License and the Passport .
I came across a similar blog which  encouraged me to go to RTO Pune sans agent. So dear reader the next time you want to renew your license do not spend money on an Agent to save time and effort. Harm yourself with the right information beforehand and venture in. Be patient to spend some time waiting in the queue. Carry a bottle of water as well and wear loose clothing especially if it is summer :-). Before that read on ...

My old License status - 
1) is from RTO Mumbai with Mumbai Address
2) is in booklet form and dog eared with contents unreadable
3) is expiring in 2015

Why am I wanting a new license
1) Change of Address to Pune
2) Want the laminated card (They call it smart card)

Procedure

1) Get an NOC (No Objection certificate) from the old RTO where your license is originally from.
2) Download Form1, Form 1A (Physical Fitness and Doctor's certificate) and Form 9 ( License Renewal form) from the website OR
Enter the RTO pune, Sangamwadi compound. Look at your right. there is a wooden structure adjoining the compund wall. The forms are available here (atleast the renewal form).

Documents needed
1) 3 PP size photographs
2) Address proof - Aadhar card / MSEB Bill photocopies
3) Identity / Birth Date proof - PAN Card / Election card
4) Old license original and photocopy

The journey

Go to the parking lot and ask for the "Doctor" to any of the agents who hover around you.
Ask the "Doctor" his fees beforehand.
Give him Form 1 and 1A duly filled with the photos stuck. he will do the needful. I paid Rs 30/- for the Medical certificate

Proceed to BLOCK C to the ARTO office. Mr ARTO, if punctual will be in the office at 11:00 AM.
he will look at your forms and NOC and sign Form 9 as OK to process. (NOTE - this is required only if your old license was from a different city RTO and you have the NOC from the old RTO )

Proceed to BLOCK B (Window No. 1) Verification officer. He will verify all documents and write the total fees to be paid in form 9. My form was written as Rs 350 /-

Proceed to Window behind Window no. 1 (these look like cashiers with Glass partition). Pay the fees and take the receipt. My receipt reads like the 
DDL - 112.70
Despatch Fee - 50
OA - 100
Sticker (unreadable) - 87.30

Proceed to Biometric section (Photo, Finger prints and signature on a WACOM :- ))

This section was a little hard to find but you can go to the room right next to the Cash section (BLOCK B) . The person inside sent me outside and I wasted sometime locating another biometric room. ( I have no idea why he sent me room hopping when he could have done the biometric himself)

The Biometric person takes your pic, finger print and signature and keeps the form along with your old Licence. You can still drive with the receipt and a photocopy of old license till the Gods send you the renewed license.

My Biometric person did not keep the form but sent me to Window no. 6. Lady behind Window No. 6 sent me to Window no. 1. Window no. 1 sent me back to Biometric person. This time I again visited the room next to the Cash section and he accepted my form telling me that redoing the biometric was not necessary if it has been done in the adjoining room.

When will my License arrive ? At least 2 months was the stoic answer by Mr Biometric.

TOTAL money spent - Rs 380/- (350 + 30)
TOTAL time spent - 10:30 to 12:30 PM (including 1 hr wait outside the ARTO office as he came at 11:40 AM). should have been lesser if the Windows and Biometric rooms were correctly labelled or directed towards for me.

Hope this helps your License Renewal process at Puneri RTO.

Stay tuned for my NEXT BLOG - the infamous Passport Seva Kendra and Police Verification

barefoot boley toh

“Are you crazy ?”, My dad reacted over the phone as I told him I walked barefoot for a couple of kilometres one morning. “This is ok on clean roads in other countries. Our roads are full of crap. You will end up with an infection”

It did make me skeptical back then (Dec 2010). But I relented in my pursuit of Soleness. I read more and more about BFR (Bare foot Running). My internet searches pointed me to a book “Born To Run” by Christopher McDougall. Then came Vibrams – the five finger glove for the feet, VFF as they are popularly known. Ordered them quite hesitatingly online. But they gave me a false sense of protection as I banged a 10 k including a hill repeat, in spite of the knowledge that I needed to go slow and break them in slowly. No major injuries but I faced some niggles in my arches and Top of the foot pain (TOFP – in BF parlance). I still have the KSO’s (and a hardly used Bikila model of Vibram.) which I use when venturing to unknown trails.

So start BF slow and steady. Your soles will tell you how much distance is enough and at what speed. (Even if you are slower than when you were in shoes). If one ignores these signals may end up with injuries and debunking the BF theory. This is true with people who already run a lot of miles in shoes and expects to put in the same mileage after going shoeless.

Below are a few learnings from my quest that may help you 

1. Indian roads are shitty and gravel found everywhere. I had to be very very slow during such stretches. Bending knees and relaxing helped.
2. Shattered glass and plastic are common too at the edge of the roads, I am scanning the road constantly and side step such patches. Make sure you are not bending your neck and looking near your feet. Relax and keep an eye a few metres ahead. Barefoot Ken Bob (BFK) believes running in the dark helps you relax. I did try it once and found it to be true but don’t want to risk it on Indian roads.
3. Monsoons are the best time to run barefoot – no squeaky / wet shoes. Jump into puddles only if you are sure it is fresh rain water :-). Avoid puddles near open drain and garbage bins
4.  If you are in an office with a desk job – keep an extra pair of slippers, I remove my shoes and slip in them. Nobody minds, at least no one's complained at my workplace, yet.
5. School kids pointing at your feet and telling their friends during morning runs and did I mention ,giggling. Wearing VFF’s on a daily basis (eg – visit to the movies, malls etc) has its share of snickers and remarks.
6. People are curious when you run barefoot, in spite of the amount of time we as Indians spend time barefoot in the house. Be ready for questions from strangers as well as from your acquaintances doing their morning walk.
7. Spending time barefoot in the house and running barefoot is different. 
8. Mix BF with shod or minimals if you do not want to be a purist like BFK. I did SCMM 12 in shoes in spite of running the Pune half a month before without shoes. Why ? had a slight niggle after my 30 K training run and decided not to risk and attempt a TMTS (see jargon below)
9. After the run – Wash your feet thoroughly don’t scrub with a hard brush as tempting as it might seem. Use a loofah and TLC.
10. Forget about running times and PR’s and comparing them with your past shod runs. If you are faster and pain free good, if you are slower and pain free good. “Pain free” is the key. Speed  and distance will follow
11. If you are not sure about the terrain of an event that you have signed up put on your minimals / VFF’s / huararches. Barefoot is not a tattoo that you need to flaunt all the time.
12. Small splinters, stones, cuts are part of the deal. Don’t get put off. A sterilised needle and a helpful spouse (like mine) puts you back into action. That said I had a splinter only once.
13. Strengthen your feet – which includes Toes (see link in Information overload below)
14. Blisters are a sign that your form is not correct.
15. Feet are easier to clean than shoes.  

Some BF jargon

Minimals – Shoes which have zero drop (difference in height) between the forefoot and the heel. Vibrams Five Fingers and Vivo Barefoot

Huararches – Foot wear made popular in the Born To Run book. Used by the Tarahumara tribes. Luna Sandals and Invisible shoes are huararches. This can be done at home as well.

Arch support – what’s that ?

TOFP – Top of the foot pain

Metatarsals – Your toes without the flesh and skin – the bones of the toes, each feet has five unless you are polydactyly

Stress fracture – something resulting from BF enthusiasm during the transistion form shod to BF

TMTS – Too much too soon resulting in above

Information overload

Dr. Mark Cucuzzella - must watch video on effortless running form and more

Dr. Phil Maffetone - on Barefoot running and more

Useful Link

Discussion forums on BF that I follow

Books on Running or other trivia (some are on my wish list)

Born to Run o Barefoot Running Step by Step o The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing o The Art of Slowing Down o Barefoot Running Book o The Perfect Mile o Eat and Run

Barefoot Bloggers

Christopher Mcdougall

Bourbon Feet

Barefoot Ted

Indian BF scene - Seems to have gone underground. This blog was from Anand Anantharaman from Navi Mumbai India who had also organised a BF half marathon in 2010. He also maintains this web site

Disclaimer : Information above is purely my opinion and experience and I am not a medical expert. You are responsible for your own feet and any injuries that you get after reading my post is not my doing … and there are medical professionals that you may consult before taking my opinion seriously etc, etc.

BF runs - SCMM FM 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 HYD FM 2013, 2012, Pune HM 2011 and training runs.  
VFF runs - Kaveri Trail HM 2011, Satara HM 2012 and training runs.
Shod runs- SCMM 2012 FM, SCMM 2011 FM, SCMM 2010 HM

Falling in Love ... Again

Take a huge scoop of nature garnished with smiling, friendly people, served in a palette of French architecture followed by a dessert of a trail run with massage thrown in for extra measure and Valentine around the corner will make you fall in love with Auroville.

With a trail weaving through the vast green landscape of Auroville giving you glimpses of its way of living, be ready to run for the JOY of RUNNING. Like Fred, the man behind this run, said on the previous day. “Don’t look at the kilometer marker or your watch. Enjoy the run and look around”.

From web

As for me, I was attempting the Auroville marathon with no runs after the Mumbai Full and a cough which had refused to subside for almost two weeks. This had left me skeptical and in doubt of the full marathon that I had registered for. I had contemplated not making the trip at all. Then thought of just cheering others. Doubts and fears engulfed my mind as we reached Chennai at 9:00 AM on a humid day.

Unity Transport Service, the cab service to Pondicherry that I had booked was right on dot. I will recommend anybody planning a trip to use them. We waited for my brother and sister-in-law to arrive at the airport from Mumbai and had our first taste of Dosa and Idli in the land of Dosas at the Sangeeta restaurant near the International Departure outside the airport.

From web

Our destination was Hotel Surguru in Pondicherry (Puducherry now). We decided to take a detour to Mahabalipuram (Mammallapuram now). Lovely stone and temple architecture but recommend that you make this trip either early morning or late afternoon.

From web

Soon we reached Hotel Surguru in time for Lunch. This is again the most reasonable and one of the older Hotels known for its Veg meals as well. Late afternoon we planned to explore the east coast sea front and the old French town and buildings. Finished off the day with a dinner at Hotel Seagull – Dicey, in a dark alley and overlooking the sea at the end of the Promenade. The garlic prawns were fresh but not marinated enough. The rest of the dinner was a bit of a dampener.

From web

From web

Day 2

Next day we planned to reach Auro after lunch to collect the bibs and listen to BFT. I had my cough acting up again and decided to rest in the hotel room in the morning while the others left to explore the Ganesha temple and the Market for antique furniture.

From web

After a special thali at the restaurant for lunch and we set off on our road trip for our first glimpse of Auroville which is around 13 km from where we stayed. The turn to Auroville from the main road is nondescript and can be missed easily. The road goes through some small villages and turns into a sprawling, green area. The devastation meted out by the Cyclone of December is evident by the logs of wood on the road side, coconut trees on the verge of falling down and huge tree branches hacked off. Life is limping back to normal but the green cover that is lost will take ages to replace.

Auroville Marathon is devoid of sponsors or celebrities and the bib collection itself is a low key affair. The organization is impeccable and messages out environmentally conscious way of living in everything that they do. No printouts of Registration confirmation - your email ID is looked up in a list and the bib number handed out. No goody bags with free samples of pills that will invigorate you or lozenges which you may need in a polluted city. No gait analysis and peddling of pronation correct shoes or other running paraphernalia.

The Auroville cafeteria, book stall and boutique were interesting and a dent on the pocket J but with Valentine day near the corner, what the heck !

We saw a 10 minute film on Auroville and the Matri Mandir after which my brother went off to take some pics of the same. I waited in the cafeteria with Siddhant for Barefoot Ted (BFT) talk to start.

BFT came, saw and impressed everybody with his take on Running. Well worth the wait. The talk had to be shifted to the open area after the Auditorium where it was originally planned got choked to the brim with more people waiting outside than inside like a Mumbai suburban train compartment.

From web

From web

The talk got over and we rushed to the cafeteria for the mouthwatering salads and pasta that we had seen on the menu. Alas, the kitchen was busy preparing for the pasta dinner for runners and was not taking any orders. We had to now plan to eat on our way back in Pondicherry as we had not registered for the Runners pasta dinner. And also call a cab to take us to Pondicherry.

We decided to try Le Club on the lane behind the Pondicherry seafront. But this restaurant did not allow kids inside and we had to scout for another one and started a long walk from the sea front to Hotel Promenade which we had seen the other night. As we made our way along the sea front there was a long display of Vintage cars with a huge crowd thronging for a glimpse and pictures. Despite of the marathon next day we were on our feet ogling at these cars as we made slow progress to the Restaurant. Dinner at the Promenade was more style than substance, a salty pasta and an oily Potato preparation made their way into my hungry belly as a pre-marathon dinner. Dessert was a mix of Caramel pudding, soufflé and some fruits. We decided to take a rick to the hotel and negotiated for 80 bucks, four of us and son, me sitting next to the driver. Finally back to the hotel at 9:30 PM to prepare for the next day start of 4:30 reporting time for which I had hired a taxi to pick me, Parag and Umesh up at 4:00 AM.

Race day

The night before an event like a Marathon is always sleep deprived. With me having a coughing bout this was all the more difficult and the icing on the cake was a 1:30 AM SMS from KingFisher airlines announcing that our 9:00 PM return flight to Pune was rescheduled to 11:40 PM. This left me with little or no sleep. I woke up before the alarm went off and started the preparations for the run. Down in the lobby the Taxi driver was already waiting at the reception desk. Parag and Umesh joined me and we were soon on our way. Nitin was going to drive his friend’s car and my brother and sister-in-law were joining him for the half marathon later. Our cheerleaders (our family) were to follow suit at 8:30 AM and I had booked a taxi for them separately.

Barefoot Umesh

Umesh planned to run this barefoot and I marveled at his courage and determination. I am a convert to barefoot running as well, but taking it slow and easy not having run beyond 30 km in barefoot and experimenting with minimalist shoes as well. The fear of the unknown keeps me from plunging head on into barefooting during events like these but Umesh is a different animal altogether. The silent crusader, his actions speak louder than words and he was going to create history today, at least from the Pune gang.

My Race Plan

My plan was to have a 6:00 hour finish, having run Kaveri I knew that trails are more difficult than road runs. The cough had not left me and I had packed the Alex lozenges and kanthil in the waist pouch along with the cereal bar. I was planning to take one loop at a time and evaluate my condition. I would abort if a cough bout started or the run left me panting. Secondly I wanted to enjoy this run and not worry about PR’s.

We reached to see very few people gathered around the bib collection booth. I met Ram and a few Mumbai runners. I have been meeting Ram for all the events ever since we first met in Corbett in April 2011. Looking back I think he is my lucky charm J.

The start was preceded by a warm up session accompanied with music and the atmosphere was electric. The sky was dark with stars and we were in the middle of nature with the music and fluroscent lights lighting the route for not more than a few hundred metres after which it was pitch dark except for moon light or stray light from some dwelling. The thoughtful organisers had given us small LED torches, some of the runners were carrying head torches. We started on time and me, Umesh and Parag were at the back. I met Venkat from Pune / Mumbai, we exchanged a few notes as we made our way along the route, picking up the path in the narrow beam of our torches.

I have always dreaded cycling in the night which is one reason for me not attempting a Brevet beyond 300 km. Now running in the dark was almost giving me the same feeling of disorientation. At least I was not on a saddle but the feel was different to running in daylight or on a lit road. The early birds were calling out and it was both fantastic and eerie at the same time. Parag had gone ahead and Umesh went ahead as well, I was running at 7 – 8 min/km pace looking around at fellow runners passing by. Checking on myself whether I was wheezing, whether I was able to talk to myself watching my step in the torch light and also my head as at some pace the branches were really low. There were some volunteers on Mountain bikes and torches lighting the way and passing us by. A perfect transportation device in this narrow trail. Broad sections had water stations which were well equipped not only with water, lemon, biscuits, bananas, electoral ( no Gatorade !) which was appropriately diluted, salt and most importantly smiling, eager beaver families and kids. The thoughtful volunteers had cut the bananas in pieces, one could just press the end of the piece, pop it in the mouth and throw way the bio degradable peel J. The water / electoral holding volunteers cried out loud to ease the task of fast runner. I was in no hurry and chatted and thanked each one. At one water station made myself a salted lemon juice with the squeezer which the volunteer was holding. It felt like a picnic. And the pace I was running was perfect LSD for me. No sign of cough, no sign of travel fatigue, everything in place for a 6 hr finish. Till I took a wrong turn as I watched the rising sun light up the geodesic dome called Matrimandir on my left. Aprox 800 m down the road and somebody hollered at me from behind. Two more runners had followed me to the wrong path and one of them pointed at the arrow on the road which was pointing in the opposite direction. Well, no harm done, we back tracked and joined the course and got Matrimandir to my right.

From web

Soon after I saw Umesh and caught up with him. I have always noticed him keeping a constant pace and thought of running along with him. There was one more guy running in socks and few others trying barefoot. One runner I met later at the third loop had discarded his shoes at a water station.

The darkness had already made way for the morning light as we finished the first loop and found the 10 km runners joining us, the half marathoners had already been flagged off and they were ahead of us. At no point was the trail crowded as it was a circular loop. I had forgotten to hand over my torch at the water station and gave it to a volunteer on the bike. My hands were now free and I removed my cell click some pics and started a walk – run routine. Umesh’s pace was slightly faster than my walking pace and I was very comfortable enjoying, talking and looking around.

From web

From web

Now we were passing more 10k and half marathoners, one of the stone benches had a runner lying down. I asked him whether he needed help. He was just taking a breather. Soon the sun was getting hotter, Umesh had started doing the walk - run as well, his walk pace was slower because he was barefoot. I told him to run when there was no shade and walk in the shade. We passed Venkat and a fellow runner. And I was wondering whether we would miss Sharat, Sunita and Nitin altogether when Sharat, my brother passed me at the end of the second loop, he was targeting a 2:30 and looked strong. He had a camera and I told him to forget the target time and take our pics J. He obliged but still finished in 2:30. We were now starting the third loop and the trail became sparser as the half marathoners got separated. Our pace was slowing down to 11:00 min a km and I checked on Umesh. Did not want to push him too hard but we were going to miss the 6:00 hr target at this pace. I had started pouring water from a bucket at each water station on my head and shoulders. It was a bucket bath at each water station along with chewing some lemons and eating a banana or biscuit. One of them had kept five star chocolate pieces. Chewed one for a while and spat it out because of the dryness.

Checked on my cell and it appeared switched off. I had forgotten to put the cell in a plastic pouch and now I was not sure whether the cell was drained or the display had conked off because of the water. Borrowed Umesh’s cell and called Sona told her about my expected time of 6 to 6:15 which means 11:00 AM to 11:15 AM. Umesh told me to carry on as he had slowed down considerably and would probably make it by 11:30 or 11:45. I now picked up pace and started my walk run at an average of 8 to 9 min/ km passing a lot of full marathoners. As it was the last loop I thanked all the volunteers and told them it was the last time they will be seeing me until next year. The distance in the Garmin was off by atleast a km because of the wrong turn I had taken early on. And I finished the 42.2 at just past 6:00 hrs. the road marker for the finish came in sight and I picked up pace to sight the finish. There was a girl with medals in her hand cheering me to come fast and Siddhant, Sona and Nitin’s family were at the end cheering my completion.

From web

It was the most wonderful end to a very beautiful course that I had ever run a marathon in. I almost regretted that it had to end and was satisfied with my strong finish. To top it all there was a massage area and because of my late finish not much of a crowd. Had to wait for some time before the volunteer masseur, an Auroville resident, got free and started attending to me. I chatted with her and she said they were here since 8:30 AM. It was a marathon for her as well. Big respect to their selfless service and thoughtfulness. Such a wonderful gesture from the organisers, I was ready for another half marathon after she finished with my calves and feet.

Barefoot Umesh came in around 40 min later. What an effort ! He was his usual cool self and did not show any sign of discomfort. We all posed for a group pic and made our way back to the hotel in an autorickshaw.

From web

It was going to be a perfect end to a small vacation marathon. Little did we know what was in store at the airport for our return. Although the flight was delayed to 11:30 PM we reached Chennai airport at 7:30 as my brother had an earlier flight to Mumbai. We ate outside the airport and entered the airport to catch some sleep before the flight departed. We were shocked when the announcement was made that the flight was further delayed and will take off only at 1:10 AM !! I and Parag took our kids on our laps so that they could catch some sleep as we chatted and swatted some mosquitoes all around.

From web

Finally reached home at 3:45 AM but then probably a marathon teaches you to face all eventualities. And this was just a minor setback to an otherwise perfect weekend of Nature in its bounty, barefooting Ted talks, dosas and iddi appams, Prawns and fish and a perfect trail run inside Auroville.

What more could one ask for to fall in love ? Auroville 2013 ... can't stop falling in love ...