Yes, this is how it ended. Fortunate to finish the Nandi Bull Run Ultra 50kms in 6hours 11mins to bag a podium. Winning a podium isn’t an agenda but nevertheless, the more the merrier.
I was back from LAULTRA 111KMS and on a break. Meeting Rajesh at a social gathering is where the seed was sown for making it to Nandi Bull Run Ultra. It took a while for me to reconcile the travel I had to plan ahead for the much awaited Khardungla Challenge 72kms and some madness followed at Ladakh Marathon – HM 21kms.
Nandi Bull Run was held on 28th August and in 10 days up, I am supposed to run the worlds highest ultra marathon at Khardungla, Leh. I therefore decided Nandi to be one of my training runs to compliment the Leh event.
Post a break from season one of Ultras, the itch to hit the longer runs were doing rounds. A month break or so and back in business with a aerobic 10, 21, 30 and 40kms run with some good strength training got me going for the later half of the year.
Nandi is over 72kms away from Bangalore and is offcourse a destination to be if you are looking for some trails in the outskirts. With the start time scheduled at 6am, it was wise to spend the night before at the foothills to rope in a good night sleep and avoiding the hustle of driving all the way from Bangalore to Nandi on race day. Having done that, the all mighty rains took no break and poured all evening and night. Well, this indeed added to our worries of slush outdoors on the trails and could just act as a deal breaker.
Woke up that very morning and the winds were blowing the hell out of the trees around and indeed uprooted a few of them making matters worse. Post a hot water shower and some munchies, headed towards the start point. The bib collection was scheduled on the race day at the start point, at a government school. This makes more sense when the number of participants to cater is less and can save a whole lot of time that goes for a BIB collectiom a day or two before.
The ritual of race briefing took place as expected and we were made aware of the 15min delay in start time to ensure the checkpoints , Ambulance, volunteers were in place prior to starting the run.
In pic:- Rajesh, the race director and also founder of Race time India timing solutions.
The race categories included 8, 16, 25 and 50kms. The 25km and 50kms started at 6:45am. The 50km category had a peak to cover in addition to the one covered by the 25kms. As we gathered at the start line, the countdown to the event began and off we go towards the first climb of the 8km category.
The 50km category crossed the start line twice before the finish. One post completing the 8km, second after finishing the additional peak which covers 34kms approximately and then followed by the remainder 16kms that takes you to Nandi Hill via the 1200 steps stretch.
With a slow and steady approach towards the first mini peak followed by a downhill felt easy on the feet and helped in the much needed warm-up for the legs. Missed the downhill arrow towards a turn and was the first boo-boo of the race. With not much lost in terms of time and distance, we were soon to note the absence of arrow marks in the route and turned back to join the rest of the runners who had got it right. The route took you alongside the railway tracks of Nandi and puddles of water and slush is something you wish to avoid in the early stages of the race.
A considerable amount of trail and tar road got you back to the start line and only to begin your climb to the next hill. Yet another mis queue with the arrow marks and we were lost looking for the route again. The red ribbons too were not in site. We spent some time looking for the arrows and surprise surprise, we meet up with Rajesh. And little did we know, he has some news for the 50km category. He intended to cancel the 50km category owing to harsh conditions of the trails and was a complete no no to let runners take that risk. In no time, I requested to consider the 25kms category loop twice for us to cover the 50kms and so he agreed.
Now, this can work two ways. One, you retain the mindset of 50kms that you prepped for, second developing a mindset midway of covering the same terrain and distance twice. When the conditions are known, you can plan the next loop well, but at the same time the difficulty level that you are going through can only add to the misery thinking that you got to do this again.
The talks were over in a jiffy and we ventured ahead on the 25km loop. The farms were indeed slushy making every step tricky because you want to avoid the loose gravels and being stuck in the fields. The mud was sticky too and held on to the shoe soles till we found some hard surface to shed them off.
Now, The journey to the famous 1200 steps to Nandi hill began. This climbs wasn’t leading to any challenges yet , just to reckon you still had those fresh legs since we were just over 11-12kms.
The check points were fairly placed but I always carry a thought of being self dependent. The hydration bag, with electrolytes, gels, energy drinks and some munchies is no less than me being religious in packing them the night before, so that I don’t miss out on any.
The human traffic on the step climb was immense, with the usual trekkers and the 16km category runners on the route. You were literally climbing into the clouds that encompassed Nandi. As you end the journey on the steps, you take the right and head towards the exit and no surprises here. The number of cars and bike making it to Nandi is not so good site. This adds to yet another challenge of making sure you are not knocked down by the vehicles and also to not miss the arrow marks that will continue your journey on the trail. This trail was a decline and a bit technical too. You just could not take your eyes off the route, else it could just proove a receipe for a disaster. This is the last stretch in the trail run followed by 4-5 kms of tar road that took you back to the start line. And when this happens, it was time for yet another loop of the same and had to be done as the planned route could be covered due to nature’s misery.
Nevertheless, back to the base of Nandi at the start line and while I waved off to the other category finisher, it was my turn to redo the route. The sun was indeed out hot this time and pouring water on self was a no brainer to cool off from the heat. I reckon, being in the lead and wanted to cruise through with whatever was left in me and hunger pranks had started doing rounds too.
The first peak was done and was not much of a hassle as it was comparitively easy and heading back to the start line again and to start the journey towards the gruelling steps was quite daunting. The reason being, doing it once was the kind of recce that I did not intend to do in the first place but was the call of the hour. Again, all this because of the untimely change in course due to unavoidable circumstances.
The steps definitely didn’t seem easy this time but had to be done. The virtual check points created during the first round is all I had in mind to break the mammoth climb into shorter goals and that was the only way ahead for me. Trails are difficult, no doubt but when you top it up with steps, and not once but twice, ask me how difficult it can get when you quads, hamstrings and glutes cry for help. This was even more difficult considering the disc bulge I carry. So, it’s that part of the blog where I explicitly insist on strengthening your back and core. No matter what, you cannot miss your strength trainings. From experience, you may choose to compromise on your weekly mileage, but not on your strength and mobility workouts.
As I reached higher up, the calves were locking up and intermediate rests and stretches helped me get to the top. There was a moment when I stood frozen on my feet just to get over the compressions happening in my leg muscles. These are the times when you either slow down but keep those muscle movements by either walking around in your very space , sipping in some water or electrolytes and shorten your shorter goals further to take the stress out as much as you can. This indeed helps!
So, reached to the top of Nandi passing by the Nandi temple yet again and crossing the exit gate amidst a mad amount of crowd just curiously have your in their eye sight wondering what Iam actually up to especially the ones who saw me during the first loop. Life I say, take it as it comes 🙂 Thankyou to our Race director who did not budge in agreeing to our request of converting the 50kms into two loops of 25kms, phew! Only if someone could have said before agreeing to this – Spare me the horror!
Now, when I do not see anybody behind me in the closest of the vicinity and the mental fatigue that I was growing through due to the heat and hunger was making me badly seek the finish line. While I finished the run down the road from Nandi and headed left towards the last trail of the route, I just left gravity do the job while I manuevered my direction with my presence of mind. Used the checkpoints to pour in some more water to calm your body heat.
And yes, i hit the road and the countdown to the finish line actually began. This stretch is all tar road and no trail and close to none when it comes to a shade , and yes life does get difficult when you are directly exposed to the sun. 1km at a time is the only way to go and let your nerves relax with those moments of happiness when your target to finish line reduces gently.
Just when I started to reach the finish line, a series of cramps did rounds and I had to slow down again and let my muscle stretch and breath and hydrate. While this happens, a known face shows up and I end up asking how much more. Rach was kind enough to share distance to finish line. A moment of relief is all i could say, when you know how much more is left for this mayhem to end. The cramps vanished after a moment and I could just run the rest of the distance without any pain.
And here we go, yet another trail, yet another challenge, yet another injury free finish and that is all that matters to keep you going and wondering Next Big What!
Garmin Stats:-
Strava Stats:-
Elevation Gains:-
