The Border Ultra 100 Miles - The name of the game is Pain!

Having completed a couple of races from The Hell Race Series, it was quite evident that the difficulty level of the run can increase by manifolds. Signing up for The Border Ultra 100 miler had that feeling and mind you, it lasted till the end of the race. Solang Sky Ultra 100k taught me a lot as a runner and a human being. Going through such a technical trail and executing that kind of will at Solang helped me take my passion of running to the next level. I literally left my soul into the mountains. After the 32 hour mayhem of covering 100kms in the peaks, tears weren’t rolling down but the flood of emotions took me into a trance state where the messaging was just right – I need to keep hitting the mountains and there was a lot more than just running out there.

The sign up at The Border Ultra happened! Do not forget to use your discount coupons if you have run any of previous runs. These are exclusive coupons that can fetch you lower signing fees for the race. Post Solang sky ultra, the time for recovery seemed less as I had to get back to mileage training for the 100 miler. Not to forget, I had to dwell in my strength training for my back and core. Climbing the mountains had a toll on the already hearniated L5 disc that keeps tapping on my S1 root nerve giving me those nudges and shooting pains right from my lower back to right glute down to right calf muscle. On the days of the race, the key for me is to how am able to manage these shooting pains considering the ultra distance I ve signed up for running.

Solang gave me a blood clot in one of my fingers and my toes had gotten numb. The numbness continued and just did not go away. It was wise of me to schedule a physio appointment to analyse it and to our findings, the vitamin D level had dipped. This was compensated by Vitamin D shots. The sugar level showed high, but a retest just clarified that all was fine with me. I am yet to get back to the physio with my shoes to let know if the make of my shoe needs to be switched that could have lead to the clot and the numbness in my right toes.

I was advised good amount of rest after Solang, this affected my running mileage all that month hence I focused more of strength training and Yoga stretches to loosen up the fatigue muscles.

I had pitched in few runs here and there, running middle of the week at times and long runs during the weekends. The motivation to do more was diminishing and hence I planned signing up for events like the Coorg Elevation Series HM, TUFFMAN Beach ULTRA 50kms, Goa River Marathon HM that keeps me alive as a runner and also help me with the much needed recovery runs and mileage gains.

In comes December and just over 15 days to go before I could land in Jailsamer, packing for the run become important owing to temperature variations in the day and night time. This time, tucked in a new Columbia Jacket and a set of new warm gloves keep me off the chills during the night which indeed did the job it does best. This was a recommendation by a runner friend Shubham, who has ran the Border ultra last year.

Flew down to Jailsamer on the 15th December and get a glance of the weather conditions. All seem pleasant until late evening when it started getting colder. Did a small walk towards the famous Prabhu Ki chai tea stall and had a hot glass of milk with malai that tasted like heaven.

Walked back to the hotel for dinner and caught upon the much needed sleep. The next day, few more runners landed into the hotel while I continued to work from hotel. The day after, a short run towards the famous Gadisar Lake in the wee mornings with fellow runners to know how the weather conditions are and the layers of clothing that may require in race day was something to look forward to post this mini recce.

Back to the Heritage Inn Hotel again for a good breakfast followed by a shower to begin my day at work. Lunch was planned at a well sort restaurant that led us to indulge in some authentic rajashthani cuisine. Post which, had to head towards the Bib collection.

I had got yet another opportunity to speak my heart out, now that I had inked the hell race tattoo on my arm, the race officials were keen on knowing the insights of my journey.

The hilarious race briefing ended and Drops bags at 50, 100 and 160 kms had to be planned. Back to the room, packing refreshments and pair of clothing along with winter jacket to beat the chill. Snickers, Running Gels, Coke, Redbull, Peanut chickee, electrolyte made it to the ammunition this time. Handheld and head torch, beanie, warm gloves, power bank and mobile phone along with charging wires, just made the bag heavier but had no other choice because being self dependent was also a aim as the aid stations were 10kms away from each other. Packing the kit bag lead to a sense of nervousness and I decided to pack the rest on race day morning.

The start time of the race was 12pm. This helped in getting the much needed sleep without having to worry of early morning wake up calls and last minute hustle.

The mornings were occupied with silence and post dropping the drop bags for 50,100 and 160km mark, the wait to the start line began. Headed to the start point 15-20 mins prior and once the Race Director had the last say on the route briefing, the countdown was over and the idea of being mobile throughout the route just started building in.

The goals were kept shorter. First 50kms were to be covered under six hours. Since the back injury, I have been making sure to cover as many miles I can at a pace that will help me in giving the much needed buffer to cross the checkpoints. Because, its the time factor that decides when the pain will start shooting in my right side of the body from lower back to glute to hamstring to calf muscle. Hydration was yet another key along with electrolytes, oranges and gels per 13kms mark to beat the heat, humidity, dehydration leading to any muscle fatigue. This also kept the cramps if any at bay.

At the 37th kilometre, the back started acting up and was giving me frequent niggles. I therefore slowed down the pace and was only concentrating on these calls that my body made and I respected the same in return by slowing down and doing some stretches whenever required.

I made use of aid station placed every 10kms for water, coke or electrolyte intake. Also grabbed bananas and loads of oranges on the route.

The journey continued till the 50km, the sun had started to set and the temperature as expected was dipping too.

At 50km, marked myself at the checkpoint and was noticing the amount of salt that I lost and could be noticed by the white patches of salt on my running attire and face. A refreshment refill, a warmer insert along with Columbia jacket, winter gloves , a beanie and after the much needed face wash, I continued to head towards the 60km mark. This is where the dinner was served.

Few spoons dal chawal and a quick check on the battery life of the Garmin Solar Instinct had me remove the powerbank and keep the watch under charging on the go. The power bank had to be accommodated in my front pocket of the hydration bag with the watch wrapped around it. One learning, use a smaller power bank thats light weight and portable and have a slightly long charging cable for the watch. The 60km checkpoint was quite dark and had to rely the torch I was carrying to finds things from the bag. Also, the chill started to catch up due to the sweat and before it kicked it, I had to start moving again. I joined the Hyderabad Runners group that had set a momentum of 800 meters run and a 200 meters walk for recovery.

This was very well monitored by the individuals and was much appreciated. I managed to continue and grabs those miles, but the back started acting up again and hence had to retain my calculations in terms of running and walking the remainder of the journey.

At the 80th kms mark, I could manage to get some tea along with the group. It was well cherished and was a refresher to help you go on with the run.

A while later, I was left behind and the group continued with the strategy to finish the run under 24hours. Completing the run in 24 hours was a manifested target considering the runs and events done in past.

Running in silos in darkness can be intimidating. The lonely roads and you being the only soul and listening to your foot steps can get scary. With the tiredness in your feet, you tend to imagine things that aren’t really in existence. And to your misery, you will be chased by dogs at the villages crossing. It can get messy, so the the trick is to flash lights at the dog and they just bark away.

Nightmare at the 87th km, I pop in a gel and my body just refused to gulp it down. I felt like throwing up, this made me stop in the middle of the road and try and puke my guts out of the system. Five to seven attempts and still no sign of puke. I started taking longer breaths and helped calming down the vomiting sensation. A sip of normal water and I was back on the route.

Another challenge is to keep a track of the arrows on the road. The arrows are marked in white and fairly visible in the moonlight. By the way, you will not need the head torch and its Twilight and the road majorly straight. At crossroads, you have to make sure and take a pause to identify the arrows and then head in the right direction. Many runners had lost track and that was the last thing on my mind, to loose track and just getting lost. I have had it already at Solang sky ultra. Not again!.

The route had few roads under construction and as a result, the unevenness of the mud trail had to be wisely run. A step here and there can lead to a muscle pull, hence walking those few hundred metres out was a good decision. The journey continued and the most amazing thing of the run happened. A Shooting Star that big and that bright. A never before experience had come to life and the only wish I could ask for it to complete my run in no haste and unharmed.

So be it, I managed to enter the next checkpoint of 100kms.

The drop bags had to be hunt this time. The bus parked at this point carried the bags and with no attendent, you were on your own to find your own luggage with the help of your torch. I decided to unload my powerbank and charging cables, my headtorch and changed into a new pair of warm gloves. The physio were busy attending other runners and to wait it out for my turn could lead to more delays. A stretch here and there and with some chai and maggi in the tummy, I started my journey for another 60kms.

Had to be a lone survivor throughout the route again. I continued with some pace and in comes a vehicle asking me if I was on the right route. All I had to say is that I followed the arrow marks. These distractions can be fatal at times and decision taken wrong under the influence of a foreign element can just be disastrous. I am using these words because every little mistake can cost you the run when you are immensely tired and worn out. With steady mind, I continued marching towards the next checkpoint. Here on, i followed the walk run walk run strategy as I didn’t want to burn my self out. Walking helped in recovery whereas running was only limited to descents on the route.

The sun had started to rise and I suppose, I was at the 120th km mark. It was still quite cold and I continued with the warmer, jacket and gloves till it got hotter. At the 140th km, I dropped my jacket, warmer and gloves and carried mininal amount of refreshments. I knew, it was just water and electrolyte that I would be needing from here and eating anything solid was not on my mind.

The fatigue level had shot off the roof and the rolling hills were making life difficult. Even the descent could not be run by now. Brisk walking was going to be the only option. The sun had started to rise and with the heat levels starting to increase, hydration had to continued as I had started sweating again.

I could sense the finish line and was gaining confidence of crossing the last hurdle of 10km. This finish line was at Longewala war museum. The milestone for Longewala acted well as mini goals to be covered and the distance to destination started to decrease.

At a far sight, towards the war museum, I could see yet another 100 miler on the way to finish line. That gave the much needed motivation and helped in continuing the momentum. I managed to overtake the runner just before 200 meters and crossed the finish line at 161th km and was greeted by the dear ones.

This is how we gave it all to the soldiers of Longewala battle of 1971.