Marathon Debut

I have been waiting for 13 months to write this post. I considered myself an amateur back then to write about it.

Today, I realized I will always be an amateur in running and there's always something new you can learn till your last run.

The wait is finally over!!

18^th October 2015 

This date will be remembered forever. As my good friend Pav put it, I was reborn again.

The high you get after you complete a Marathon is unmatched; it is indeed a Runner’s high :)

This is my story, the story about how running changed my life. Rather the outlook towards life.

The journey started little over a year ago.

Why did the journey start?

Every journey has a start, the little push, the little challenge, the tiny spark!

 Hear it from me.

There’s an annual relay running event at my work place.

 Back in 2012, I was part of the 8 member relay team to run 3.3km each. That was the first time I had ever run. All I did was sprint the first 100mts and then slowed down to gasp for breath. It was an ordeal to complete 3.3km for a 22 year old whereas people over 50 were doing it comfortably.

Immediately I registered for PUMA urban stampede 5K and was into practice. After around 3 months of practice, I completed the 5K in 24min 30sec. It felt good but I again lost interest.

Thereafter, the next 2 years I was a couch potato. The urge to run was there but could never put the thought into action.

And then last year (Aug-2014), I saw a charity event (10K) promotion on FB and decided to give it a try. My assumption was as I had already done a 5K, 10K should be easier 

(Simply going by the math behind it: P).

I had a good 3 months to prepare for it. Being an Engineer is sometimes a curse, we spend more time analyzing the logic rather than put ourselves into action and practice.

At last, it’s the way you use your brain for gain or pain.

I went with the simple logic of running for 20min every day, no matter what the distance was. I chose a 450 mtr park to train. Initially I could clock 3km in 20min and then I gradually improved. Speed was the only thing on my mind. I wish I had got injured much earlier than it actually happened. I would’ve been a matured runner much earlier and this post could’ve been written much earlier :P.

Back to the story, I trained alone. I had no contact with the outside world whatsoever. At the end of 3 months, I was able to run 4km in 20min. My target was to run a 5K within that much time.

3 Days before the event, as was my routine went for the 20min run again. At the end of 1^st km, I got horrible pain in the left leg calf muscle. I couldn’t run, I just walked back home and then I decided to rest for couple of days and go for the event. I revised my target from 40min to 50min owing to the last min injury and I knew there was no possible way to do a 40min 10K, as my fastest run in 20min was 4K.

 (Engineer at work: P).

 I can’t control my laughter looking at these numbers today.

Event day- 10K debut

I arrived at the venue 30min in advance. As a precaution, I had applied spray all over the leg. At the back of my mind, the thought was still there. What if it pains again? Is it all over?

I brushed away the thoughts and stood at the start line. 

The race began and I was running like a school kid as if the finish line is at the end of the road. I hung along with the fast runners initially :P. After 3Km I slowed down. It was my mind doing all the running, body was just listening to the mind. Every KM mark, I used to look at my stop watch and maintain the pace not allowing myself to slow down.

It was 5km, 2 loops. At the end of 5km, I had very little energy left as I had used all of it in the first 3km.  I also had a myth that if you drink water during running, you will get stomach pain. And so no water during the run. At 8^th km, the calf muscle pain was back but my zeal to complete the event was higher. I somehow made it to the finish line. How I got back home is a different story, I decided never to run a 10km, ever. Better I stick to 5K’s. This is my splits.

Km01: 4:09

Km02: 4:33

Km03: 4:25

Km04: 5:02

Km05: 5:02

Km06: 5:17

Km07: 5:17

Km08: 5:02

Km09: 5:12

Km10: 5:03

I completed my first 10K in 49min 03sec. I was over the moon as I achieved my target time. Took rest for a week and decided to run again. The bug hit me hard; remember the 40min target time is not yet achieved. Believe me, I couldn’t even run for a minute, let alone those 20 minutes.

This continued for 3 weeks, as soon as I ran a km or 2, the pain was back. I didn’t run for a full month, visited a general physician and he advised me to take vitamin D tablets and the pain would be gone in a month. I took it every day for a month.

The pain did go. I started my 20min workouts again.

Day1: Fine.

Day2: Fine.

Day3: Slight niggle.

Day4: Back to square 1.

For god sake, my body needed rest and I never heeded to it. I consulted many doctors and I couldn’t even explain what the problem was as I didn’t know myself what the problem was :D

By then I had joined a few running groups on Facebook and decided to post it in one of them to understand what my problem was.

 Right shoes, Warm up, stretches, warm down, nutrition, training plan- the causes were many. Sadly, I didn’t know that people do all this just to run :)

And this was the time one of the good souls- Guru pinged me personally and understood my history into running. He suggested me to see a physio. That’s when I understood that I had shin splints and it needed lot of rest and proper stretches to keep myself in shape.

Already 3 months down without running. Next 2 months was slowly getting back in to the running manifesto.

At the same time, he introduced me to a running group- Burners. There has been no looking back since I joined them. They have become my heart and soul. They are my closest friends too.

During this period, I restricted myself to running in the ground. 2 times a week. Of course no 20min runs :P. It was 3km, 2 times.Running on the mud had little impact helped me recover faster.

And then I registered for my second 10K, this was on a tougher course. I was not recovered completely yet.

I decided to give it a try and try to do a sub 49min which is equal to my debut run. It was complete disappointment; I took 57min 49sec. Sadly, I don’t have the splits to share. There was no way I could increase the speed. So getting back to 49min was a challenge, forget 40min.

The struggle was harder; I could slowly get back to form. i.e., pain free running but still time was a distant dream.

This was the turning point in my runner career. I decided to chuck timing and concentrate only on distance. To all the newbie out there reading this, this the golden rule of running. Conquer distance and time will follow through. 

6 months of almost no running. And then I’ve slowly transformed to a distance runner. I did a few 11K’s, 13, 15 and 17. This was the time I decided to try a half marathon. In 3 months time, I was ready for a half marathon. The time bug slowly started showing up, I had to subside it or compromise on lot more things. I took it easy. I did my first HM in 1:47:47. This time, it was not about time. I completely enjoyed my first half marathon. Immediately I registered for a full marathon at the advice of Guru.

And then within 2 months, there was a 10K run in the same course where I had managed 57min 49sec.

As I was more matured now, I thought I should try a sub 48min as my tempo runs were at around 50min.

To my surprise, I really enjoyed this run and also found that even pacing is the way to go. Positive or negative splits take a toll on me; I really like the even pacing stuff.

 45min 09sec was a shocker. This is what happens when you outweigh distance over time. Conquering time is just a matter of time. 

After this run, full marathon took priority and I started religiously following what my mentor had to say.

I split my week in to

Monday- Rest day

Tuesday- Speed intervals

Wednesday- Aerboic/ core exercises

Thursday- Tempo run

Friday- Hill repeats

Saturday- Cross train (Cycling)

Sunday- Long runs (Preferably LSD)

I’m yet to start my core exercises full-fledged; I tried to incorporate it here and there. For my marathon, the plan was to do distance training as mentioned below.

23K, 25K, 25K, 23K, 27K, 26K, 29K, 23K and finally a 32K over the weekends. So I should be ready within 2 months for the full marathon with one month time to taper down.

I couldn’t follow the training plan religiously and had to push my longer distances towards the end.

In order to simulate the race conditions, I decided to do my 32K on a tougher terrain in tougher conditions. I started at 7am hoping to hit some sun.

I chose a wrong time. It got very hot and for the first time during my running, I experienced cramps. After 27K, I could barely run. Did a jog+walk and finished the 32K. I realized the importance of fuel now.

Till now, my practice runs only included water and enerzol, occasionally I had bananas. Now, I realized the importance of bread jam, energy gels and salt tablets.

From drinking no water to having a full course meal during a run is itself a transition :).

The week thereafter I had registered for a trail run (Kaveri trail Half marathon) and I was 5 weeks away from my full marathon. 

The course was beautiful and I was planning a sub 1:40 which I thought was doable. As I started, it was completely flat, I was on a song. I completed the 10K in around 46min and then the return struck me hard, not sure if it was because of the previous week run in the sun or the present day run in the sun or the trail itself. After 17^th km, my right leg gave up. I walked a couple of time and finished my run in

1:46: 16. 

Had I stuck to the 1:40 Hrs timing pace, maybe it would’ve worked out but I just couldn’t resist running fast there. So I hit the throttle early and lesson learnt :P.

Now, the focus was back on full marathon. A month to go and there’s this exam feeling all over.

Mine being an amateur group, we had too many people debuting their full. So it was test of nerves. Couple of times, I got intimidated by others doing multiple 30K’s and was wondering if I was under-trained for the event.

All these thoughts were dispelled at once by Guru, he said I was on the right track and not to compare with others. Some more gyaan from Karthik, he looked into my training log and advised me to run the FM much slower than my training runs. It was his experience speaking there, he knew I wouldn’t agree to it. He asked me to consider it. He spoke about it multiple times on multiple days. This time I listened to him. It was my last training run, initially was planning to do a 35K but I couldn’t push beyond 32.5K.

I had paced my run at 5:25~5.30 per km. His advice worked, after 25^th km, I was going strong because of the reduced pace. This is when I heard that Nagaraj is pacing the 3:45 Hr bus in the marathon. My initial target was 3:30hrs but this being my debut, I didn’t want to screw it up and make it a 4:00 Hr+. When I suggested this to Karthik, he said this would be the right choice to make.

Fortunately soon after that, Nagaraj had returned from his ironman event and was running in BU. Me, Karthik and Nagaraj had a good discussion about running, nutrition, training and their upbringing. They are both down to earth and keep ego at bay. This is what I like about people.

Believe me! I could sleep in peace. Neither school board exams nor my engineering exams could intimidate me so much.

A few times, the thought of 3:30 finish crossed my mind but decided not to gamble.

Event day- Full marathon debut.

Distance is just a number for runners. When you have a good day, you feel like running the next morning. When you had a bad day, you still want to run to burst out the stress.

Running is modern day yoga. The interactions you have with yourself, calmness of the nature, waving at fellow runners, the sickness you get when you miss your runs is a life in itself. 

I love the way people plan the runs. Remember this at 10K, this at 22K, don’t forget the last gel at 35~37K.

Oh, I really enjoyed it.

Waking up earlier than your normal training days and waking multiple times during sleep and realizing still on the bed and not at 27^th km sends shock waves. I had a troubled sleep although I had compensated for it by having a sound sleep the previous day. 

We decided to car pool for the event. We went there a little earlier. Karthik made us do dynamic stretches and a few warm up runs. Body was flexible and the heart rate went up- A good sign. With so many people around you at 4:00am in the morning, you know you’re not the only mad person out there.

Mind just went blank looking at so many people at the start line, adrenaline was rushing. I located my pacer- Nagaraj, he was a good 200m ahead of me at the start line. We waved at each other. There was already a big contingent around him. I decided to stay back and follow him. I didn’t want to get carried away.

Lot of people increased their pace initially I didn’t want to do it (Remember- Strong finish, not strong start). I could spot him after around a km and joined the bus. Things were going very smoothly, lot of people around. I was moving in front of the bus, it was hard to control the rush inside. He gently reminded me multiple times over the run not to move ahead but to stay with him. I thank him a lot for it.

We maintained an even pace all along. 5:10~5:20 per km. We relaxed in the down hills, put in a little extra energy during the climbs. The volunteers and the hospitality were too good. I took water at the 6^th km, not my sign but just wanted to be on the safer side. My plan of using the gels was first one at 8-10 km, second at 16-18km, third at 26-28km and the last one at 34-35km, have bananas at half way mark.

This almost went as per the plan. We could finally see daylight at around 18^th km, I could see the faces of the people in my bus now, till then was only hearing the voices. They were a motivated lot, too much of positivity around. We exchanged water, enerzol, bananas, it didn’t feel like a competition at all, more like another practice run and we were being led by a great leader. Nagaraj ensured we were all sticking together, he went back, he came forth and kept the momentum up. 

During this time, we could see the elite runners cross us.

 Wow! What a sight to watch them, maybe some day! :P

At 24^th km, we could see other buses going towards the half way mark and realized we had the maximum people compared to other buses (4:30Hr, 5:00 Hr).  I felt myself like a robot then, just running at a constant pace. 

At 32^nd km, looking at my energy Nagaraj asked me to go ahead and get a better timing. I listened and I moved ahead. This was the last 10Km, felt good initially but then I couldn’t get water at all. Aid stations were too crowded by the half marathon crowd. I regretted leaving the bus. I had to chew the last gel without water and I was stopped at a traffic signal, this irritated me. I could see the bus behind; I decided to move ahead rather than slowing. 

I finally met all of them at around 39^th km. I couldn’t pace with them as I was tired, I could barely hang on to them and finally at last km, they started increasing the pace while I couldn’t.

Anyway, can’t have everything your way right! I don’t regret going ahead of the group. Some hydration during the end could’ve definitely helped me. Last Km was tough but it is nothing when you’ve 41km behind your ass. Last 300m sign board was a bliss, I’m about to become a marathoner, the feel was great :).

I could see my running mates who had completed their half marathon, I got some instant energy and did a sprint in the last stretch to the finish line. Full marathon done and dusted. Oh!  It is hard to control emotions at the finish line. I was 30sec behind my bus, not bad. My overall time was 3:46:16 against a target of 3:45:00.

I was more than happy, it was not about time, it was about journey, it was a beautiful journey indeed.

I am always indebted to my running group- Burners, friends who always encourage me, fellow runners who are always motivating you, Bangalore runners Facebook page- lot of insights there and my parents and relatives who don’t understand why I run :).

Finally I would like thank My lord, Krishna for giving me a opportunity to serve him this way :) 

Nandi Betta conquered on my MTB… Second attempt though :P

It’s every Bangalore bikers’ dream to ride to Nandi. When I searched online for information, there were thousands of blog posts. This deterred me to write about it. It was a few months back, maybe 6 months back. I rode to Nandi with a friend of mine and was too optimistic to scale it. 0.5km done and my first pit stop, what followed was a series of stops and I pushed through it. 

It hurt my ego, it hurt me bad. This is when I realized failure takes you to greater heights in life than success ever will. 

These lines by Henry Ford are very much true and are close to my heart.

Think of it this way: There are two kinds of failure.

 The first comes from never trying out your ideas because you are afraid, or because you are waiting for the perfect time. This kind of failure you can never learn from and such timidity will destroy you. 

The second kind comes from a bold and venturesome spirit. If you fail in this way, the hit that you take to your reputation is greatly outweighed by what you learn. Repeated failure will toughen your spirit and show you with absolute clarity how things must be done.

In fact, it is a curse to have everything go right on your first attempt. You will fail to question the element of luck, making you think that you have the golden touch. When you do inevitably fail, it will confuse and demoralize you past the point of learning. 

In any case, to apprentice as an entrepreneur you must act on your ideas as early as possible, exposing them to the public, a part of you even hoping that you’ll fail. You have everything to gain.

Now I just couldn’t control myself from penning this down. Let this be the 1001^st blog post about Nandi betta, am still gonna write about it and feel proud about my accomplishment

.

After my first brevet (read here-Krishnagiri brevet ride), my trainings have been on and off. My sleep times are more than necessary. These 3 weeks of semi hibernation mode took a toll on my fitness. This is when I decided that I wanted a kick to restart my training regimen. 

What else will be a better time to conquer Nandi than now? This would definitely boost my morale. If I don’t, well I will work harder and achieve it.

It was 13^th of June 2015, Saturday, my planned date for the ride. A night before the ride, I gathered all my accessories and tuned my alarm to 3.30am. I had planned an early 4am start.

Oh, my bad! I overslept and woke up at 5. After gathering everything, I could only start at 6am.

I regretted initially for starting late, probably this is the problem with the solo rides 

(No sense of responsibility :P). 

Once I started, the nice weather blew me over. Maybe, the early start would’ve not let me enjoy this beautiful weather. 

At the 24^th km from my home, this was my first pit stop, reached here in an hour, which was a good mileage. Had my favorite breakfast (Idli + Kesari bath+ Coffee) at the favorite place which we had discovered earlier.  

The weather was splendid, probably one of the best rides. It was cloudy with some chances of rain. I soon reached the base. So far, so good. 

This was one of the coolest moments of my life! Very much ready to conquer the hill and I felt nervous. I felt goose bumps after a very long time. Can I do the climb?

I started; gear ratio was at 2-6. I decided to change after a few meters. The gear wouldn’t fall to 1. I just didn’t want to stop after just a few 100’s of meters. 2-1, 2-1, 2-1…. finally the gear fell to 1. Probably the last time I had used 1^st gear was in this climb only. 

Some relief and the climb started. Saw the 7km to go mark and felt good. Just 7 more boy!!

The only thing I learnt here was to be patient and that was the only thing needed for now. I started chanting my favorite mantra and felt relieved. 

Now, I saw an idiot riding down on his motor cycle. 

“Do you really want to do this?”

“Is it required?”

I felt like punching on his face. Probably he will never in his life understand how much blessed a biker is! A sincere request to motorists is we never expect help from you, at the same time, at least show some courtesy to runners/bikers/pedestrians by making way for them. All that we burn is our fat and not oil.

One off incident and the focus was back on the goal. 

6km to go

I had a sip of water and was still holding on to the 1-6 gear ratio. I wanted to hang on with 1-6 as much as possible, anything lesser than that might make me tired and I might have to stop. Initially I decided to drink water every 2km, so that I don’t over hydrate and get tired but later whenever I could make time for it. My hydration pack with a sipper was handy now. 

5km to go

Effectively, I had completed 2km of the hill. Now was the gradual uphill. It’s now or never. I thought that if I pass through this, I can conquer the hill. I passed but it was not end of the story.

4km to go

Small climb and a flat road for a good stretch, finally could relax. 1-7 combination for a while now. The uphill started again.

3km to go

1-6, 1-5, 1-4. Well, this was the moment I was waiting for. It was my mind Vs the hill, body wasn’t even in the picture. At times till now, I used to stand and peddle, just to relax but now during the curves, it was inevitable but stand and peddle. Never in my life had I stood and peddled in 1-4 gear ratio. Every 20 strokes and cycle moves a little distance and leaves you more tired.

2km to go

If you have made it this far, better make it to the end. I was toggling between 1-4 and 1-5, didn’t want to go to 1-3. 1-3, curve and I would be finished.

1km to go

There was a father and kid in the front, also a group of people taking snaps and me crawling up. What a sight for them! I could’ve been one of them but I chose to do this. Another curve but this time more challenging, felt like keeping the leg down but the heart wouldn’t agree. Stood, peddled, used the last ounce of energy and moved ahead. Sight of the arch was bliss. 

Pic courtesy: Indiamarks.com

The pain disappeared and I made it to the end. The satisfaction was immense.

It was tough, I was tougher.

Nandi betta conquered. Now, I know which one next. 

Total 70km completed in 4hrs. Probably last 8km took a lot of time. I refreshed, relaxed myself and started the downward journey. Initial plan was to rest for some time at the base but I decided against it and moved ahead. 

At 94^th km, I touched the main road. Pain started showing up. I stopped for coconut water and continued. The headwinds were high. Sun and the winds played around with me. I stopped again after 10 km or so for a few minutes and continued. 

120km completed and return was much slower than expected, I have to get stronger. My core strength should improve further. Now, I stopped and had rice bath+ lemon juice.

 It was a good carb loading. I hit the speed again only to be stopped by heavy traffic. Lost 30min on the way and finally made it to home. 

Apart from the return journey, everything else was very memorable. Now, I am in love with this solo rides :). You get to talk to yourself and satisfaction is a measure as defined by you.

Total distance covered: 139.88 km

Total time taken: 7:56: 09 (I know this is bad pace compared to my 200km ride :P)

Trekking in Agumbe

I couldn’t wish anything better than what has happened so far. It has truly been transcendental consciousness for me (Still pondering over how I transformed!!)

I had a long holiday of 3 days this year. Don’t laugh at me. 3 days is a long holiday when you’ve started your career 4 years ago. The first plan was to do a beach trek, but as my colleagues wanted it to be postponed to a later date, I had to heed in to their request.

When I was contemplating my plan for these 3 days, my friends came up with the proposal for the trek in Agumbe and a walk around few falls there. I was initially reluctant to go with them, as is always the case with me (For reasons unknown to me :P). Soon I decided to join them. 

Again, as is always the case with my group, nothing goes as planned. A few of them wanted the trek to be postponed by a day. This was a blessing in disguise for me. I used this free day to bike 100km to chikka tirupathi and back with my new biking friends. I knew this was test of mind over body, a test of endurance. I was ready. 

This was my trekking group and my observations about them.

1. Madhuri- Organizer and to whom I owe a lot :P 

2. Kishan- Another Organizer and a nice buddy.

3. Bhargavi- My half sister and acts double as crazy as me.

4. Deepak- Calls himself a pro trekker :P. 

5. Kiran- Oh, his never ending stories.

6. Lucky- Looks like the patient guy.

7. Vidyadhar- Speaks what is necessary and to the point. 

8. Vishak- Always ready to help you no matter what.

9. Nifa- Knowledge and experience, 2 words to describe him.   

10. Sucheta- A bird watcher and an amazing friend.  

11. Saigiri- Myself, read my previous blogs and try to decipher my character.

 

The same night I boarded the bus to shimoga, after which it’s a 2.5hr journey to reach Agumbe (Heaven on Earth).

 

We all met at the Bangalore ksrtc bus stand. I knew most of them and got introduced to rest of them. Bar (Bhargavi), with her 3 layers of clothes and with 2 big bags, came as if she was about to relocate. The next day I realized the worthiness of her extra luggage when we cooked and feasted.

I wanted the aisle seat to stretch my legs after a long ride in the sun. I was expecting to have a good sleep and rest my tired body. The seat next to mine was empty and Sucheta asked if she could sit there. Bus wasn’t mine, I obliged. I saw her big binoculars and knew she was up for something. We spoke for a while and I tried to sleep but couldn’t. As I understood from her, even she was an early bird when it comes to sleeping but found it hard to get a nap. We spoke about each other for a while and we drifted to my favorite topic, running. She had just started running and I bugged her with all the information I had and finally she was motivated enough to sign up herself for a half marathon.

3.5 hrs to go and if I don’t catch sleep now, trek could turn into a disaster. I forced myself to sleep. Within minutes, I was in a different world, deep sleep for a while and occasional bumpy ride marred my sleep. We reached shimoga bus stand at 4:30am. Temperature was humid and I expected it to be a warm day.

Soon, we changed our bus and the 60 ~ 80 km ride was amazing and I was busy drafting my plans to bike there. I was hungry by the time we reached. We had an amazing breakfast at dodda mane which is famous for the ‘malgudi days’ shooting and ‘pay as you wish for what you eat’ marketing. Thanks to Deepak for suggesting the place.We met our guide who was already high over last night’s adventures. Later, we realized that it was his energy drink and always had a quarter in his pocket.

Then we boarded our 7 seater vehicle with 13 people and our bags!!

It was a 6km beautiful ride to the base where we will be starting our trek. I loved this stretch so much that I promised myself that I would run there, no matter what. After all, it was mind over body. We carried only the necessary things and left the rest of them at the base (Guide’s place). This was my first trek after 2 years. 

Trek to Narasimha parvata:

As it was summer, we had a good trail to follow. Within a km, we were in the forest. Only few rays of light pass through this amazing rain forest. Bird watchers were behind and story tellers were in the front, I somehow placed myself in between and was occasionally talking to Deepak. I had never experienced a leech bite before. As crazy as it can get, this place is haunted by leeches. A few good tips and I was no more an amateur in removing leeches off me. 

As we moved through the forest, our guide sensed elephant movement and asked us to be cautious.  This reminded me of my muninagara trek, where people were scared of the elephant dung. Here, we spotted similar dungs and were discussing various strategies; just in case if we encounter an Elephant.

At the 6th km, we reached the barkana falls. We didn’t want to waste time there and decided to spend time at the falls during our return.

From here, next 4~5 kms was moderate uphill. We reached a point after which, we were not supposed to move ahead as we were told that there were cctv cameras on the top to monitor our movement. We made fun of it and rested there. I opened my shoe and found this little rascal.

 It was around 2pm and decided to have our lunch. Chappatis and holige was our diet. Probably, I had the most. I even ate the leftover of Sucheta :P. It was a good one hour break and then we started our return jouney. 

The view at the barkana falls was breath taking, which is the highest water falls in agumbe.We spent another good one hour playing in water and enjoying the beautiful scenery. We were told that this area wouldn’t be accessible within a month as there would be incessant rainfall. The whole area is covered by forest; it doesn’t let sun touch you. Beautiful, isn't it?

 

 

 

We started the descend as it was getting darker, 22km covered in a day. A nice tiring uneventful journey we had. Thanks to the guide, we had a rejuvenating hot water bath at his place. When I was thinking it was time to rest. The team was in full action preparing dinner, next 3 hours was like a marriage preparation. Hats off to the hard work displayed by everyone. Our pro trekker was asleep (Probably a tiring day). Sucheta too rested complaining of headache. Probably little food and less hydration was the problem with her.

 Beautiful village life

It showered a little in the night, making it cold for us. It was a nice sleep finally but managed just 4 hrs. This was 3rd straight day of almost no sleep.

Next day, I woke up with a pressure. I had to release and eventually ended up drawing water from the well quite a lot of times for the whole group and this completed my morning exercise. Sucheta was about to go bird watching and asked me to join. 

I still had an hour to start my running. So I thought of accompanying her. She showed me a bird and asked me to look at it in the binocular. I had to first learn how to hold a binocular, and then the rest. Initially, I was shaking my hand and then could concentrate on locating the bird. She was asking me the color of the bird’s beak. Well I couldn’t see the intrinsic details as yet. Thanks to her patience, I could see the features and then I could move the binocular along the flight of the bird. I never knew bird watching was so much fun. Thanks to her, I could learn a new thing.

After a little fight with bar, I was more relaxed and decided to go for the run.  My socks were still wet which made me run with just my shoes. Initial plan was to hit the main road and come back which would be a 12k. I wasn’t really concentrating on the pace this time with this tired body but wanted to enjoy the nature. First 3km was really good but it was a never ending steep down, I had to decide whether to hit the main road or not, finally decided to turn back at 5^th km. Or I will have to climb another mountain.

 

The return wasn’t as bad as I imagined it to be and was seriously thinking about that missed 1km to the main road. This made me run a km farther and make it a 6km one way. Finally in around an hour and few minutes, I was done with my 12k. Mission accomplished. I was a free man now. The landscapes are still afresh in my mind. A beautiful place to run.

A walk to the Vanake Abbi falls.

I quickly packed my back pack, thanks to the good soul who had kept all my items near my bag. Then we walked on the same route again for a good 3km where we were picked to the main road. We had light snacks at around 11am at a nearby hotel. We started our journey to another water fall in Agumbe- Vanake Abbi. The entrance was breath taking but was soon bored with the same scene all the way till the falls. This place was ‘leeched’ too much.

 

Spot the spider below.

No matter how the journey was, the destination was out of the world. 

The trekking couple.

We spent a good one hour there. Looking 90 deg down from the falls was a first in my life. I enjoyed it thoroughly and watched it many times. 

Our gang.

 

Neefa trying to measure the depth.

Another amazing view.

Bar lost in the hole.

While the rest were contemplating whether to leave; I and Deepak started the return journey. It was a brisk walk + jog. Really loved the silence while returning and enjoyed the route more this time. We were back to the main road in no time. It was 2:30pm. We still had time for our lunch and decided to try our luck at dodda mane. We were indeed lucky; lunch was available for only two of us.

When we were done, we were unlucky. We got the ire of the fellow group members for leaving them and eating selfishly. Controlling my hunger is the last thing on the list these days. Few of us decided to rest while the most went to a nearby research center to understand the happenings in the forest.

It was a boring evening, so went in search of a beer. After visiting many fast food centers and a few condiment stores, we finally found a place. Done with 200ml of local beer, refreshed and boarded the bus back to shimoga. The frequent honking made the journey terrible. We had a late night bus which gave us ample time to refresh at bar’s place. Well, this is the native of both Bar and Sucheta. We had a good dinner at a good restaurant and walked our way back to bus stand. There we meet Sucheta greeting us with jack fruit; I had just one although it was delicious thinking of the return journey in mind.I forgot to mention that Sucheta went home before we went to falls in the morning and was suppose to meet us at the bus stand. 

Overall, it was a beautiful 3 days of my life. I owe a lot to these people for tolerating me all the while. I hope I catch up with these guys sometime again and recollect all the beautiful memories we shared.

Maybe another trek? :P