Auroville 2012

5 years after the event started, I finally managed to run in Auroville. Unlike several other events- Delhi Half Marathon, Bangalore Ultra, Mumbai Marathon, Hyderabad 10K, Kaveri Trail Marathon, Auroville was one event I had never participated in its inaugural year. That gap in my race portfolio has now been remedied. I would now whole-heartedly recommend anyone wanting to have a good race (maybe not if you are racing for time) on a lovely course. As Hari already pointed out in his FB post, big round of applause to the organizers for such a splendid show. It is actually difficult to believe that this is the same place that was ravaged by a cyclone over a month ago. Actually the organizers did such a great job that you will find it difficult to realize what it is they have done, since the place looks so clean. It is only when you look around that you notice trees bending in one direction, several of them bending over, some of them broken at the stump incl. a few having a diameter about that of my car! God bless them all.

Now for the race report. As is the case with anyone coming back from an injury I was feeling quite anxious about the race since I was planning to run at a brisk pace, a little slower than my tempo but faster than my long run pace. However, I had originally planned to race here. But my coach prudently recommended I do no such thing since my training which was originally scheduled to start 2 weeks after the Mumbai Marathon would now start the day after Auroville, since I told him I was running the race. I treat his word as gospel. So there would be no racing. However I would still try and run a PB for my half marathon in India.

I met Hari, at the starting line and we discussed that we'd run together since I had a goal of 1:40 and it was in his ballpark too. A few weeks ago, I had met him at Navin's party (for the first time) when we had discussed that he'd be running for time, regardless of what that time would be, thereby endearing himself to me (as I told him, I time even my warm up runs!). However he had already run 1:36 in Delhi in Nov and was in better shape, by his own admission, although he had not longer than 9 miles. I had run a 10 miler in 72:18 about 2 weeks as prep towards Auroville as I needed some confidence that if I were to run faster than 1:42 (my previous best for a half in India), I had the required strength. One major potential show-stopper was my glute-injury which has been literally a Pain in the A*** (now thankfully on the path to being fixed, thanks to some strengthening). So while I did want to run fast (not race), I didn't want to aggravate an injury which has only just begun healing.

At the start were various stud-runners, Damian, Steven, etc all of whom are sub-3 runners for a marathon and some of them have run 1:20 or thereabouts for a half. It was one cinematic moment - when people lined up for the race. The starting lineup had markers for people running from 12 kmph to 9 kmph. Everyone who stood at the front of the pack was checking everyone else out trying to mentally assess which ones would tear away from the beginning. I was obviously doing the same!
One of my regular preoccupations at the start of races is to check out the legs of various runners and then try and guess which ones will finish in the top 3...Of course since I knew quite a few of the runners, I had some knowledge of their abilities too. My guess was that Damian would be the first to the finish - I train in the stadium and at Cubbon Park, same places that he does and hence see him often. Steven I think is Hyd based. So a bunch of the Hyd guys were cheering him before the start. And there were some Indian runners, all ectomorphs who looked like they would go under 1:30. Then the countdown began - 5 mins to start, 2 mins to start, one minute and then the whistle.

We were off. Hari and I began a conversation which we kept up till the 11th mile till which we ran next to each other, after which I was in great pain to talk any more and trailed him till the finish. I had a side-stitch in the 1st mile itself (WTF!) which basically began to sting from about 300 m into the race. And then by mile 5 or so, I developed a second side-stitch which began to feel like a knife in my abdomen. Running with a side-stitch is not recommended or healthy! Running with two is asking for trouble.

However we still went through 6 miles in under 44 min or so, by when I knew that if finished under 1:40, it would be a success for the day. There is a mild gradient on the course about 2 miles into the run, which knocks the wind out of you. Although we managed to get through it in the first lap without much damage, we suffered in the second lap. At least I did. To quantify a pain, sample this - On my 10 miler in Lalbagh, I had an average HR of 181 and a max HR of 189 for an average pace of 7:13/mile. During this race, I had an average HR of 185 and a peak of 197 for an average pace of 7:33/mile! I have no doubt that the HR spike was due to my pain due to side-stitches!

There was only one spot at which there was a fork and there were no markings. Otherwise the organizers had done a good job, by posting good signs or volunteers at every such ambiguous point. Of course the course was a little longer than 13.1 miles. My Garmin and that of at least 3 other people showed 13.3-13.4 miles.

One grouse I had on the course was that despite organizers advising on race etiquette, several runners ran with headphones and at slower speeds, not making way for faster runners behind them (which is perhaps mostly since they couldn't hear a thing). In some cases, I could even hear the music playing on someone's music player! One guy even elbowed me on my 2nd lap. I hope that, that guy suffered in the sun and suffered some ignominy! On a trail run, especially on such a beautiful trail where one can hear birds, would you really miss music or whatever you are listening to for 2 hours?! Shame on you and a painful DNF to you in your next marathon.

During the first lap, I had pointed to Hari that we needed to take a left turn although it was unmarked for the half & full. The spot only had a sign for the 5K and 10K.
Since he was ahead of me by about 50m or so in the last 2 miles, I couldn't call out to him when he passed the gap. And I followed him. By this time, another fast runner (a woman named Olivia, who looked like she had started much after everyone) had sped past both of us, effortlessly! And she overshot the turn too. With my side stitches burning into me, I chased after Hari and screamed out that he had overshot. He stopped and then looked back, wondering what had possessed me. Eventually Olivia also began running back and Hari followed. I did too. I had run about 0.1 miles extra. Hari had run more.

Finally, when we got close to the finish line, I began pushing the pace when I saw the "200m to go" sign. That surge got me in 1:42 for 13.5 miles. I will console myself saying that I did perhaps get through 13.1 miles in 1:40, which is all I wanted. Once I finished, I buckled over since my side stitches (esp. the one on my right side) now felt like I would have an involuntary removal of my liver or whatever else inhabits my abdominal cavity. After about 2 mins of swallowing pain, I was fine. I went and got my free t-shirt which is awesome (grey t-shirts are usually so! Dibyo, if you are reading this, remember our Flickr idea!?). Damian made my day by saying my tee is better and he couldn't get the same colour (the organizers perhaps had only one colour for each size to make the task of handing out easier). And the medal is lovely and exotic - 2 fabric dolls hung on a standard medal strap.



My racing flats which perhaps helped me come under 1:40 are now brown with red earth from the trail.


I am writing this about 24 hours after the race and my right abdomen is still sore from my running with the side-stitch y'day. I feel like someone has branded me - Now I know the burning sensation from a side-stitch can persist for a day! And although I have been looking forward to it, I never thought I will write about my butt in a blog post! It doesn't hurt any longer. Woo hoo!

One of my trainees had a decent race in the half. The other, JB, was set back by a painfully twisted ankle (suffered earlier last week) and had to DNF - 2/3rds into his race. Several friends had less than desired performances. We will all survive this and do better some time in the future.

Overall a great race, thanks in no small part due to the generous Pradeep, who gave me a ride to Pondy and back, and his driver Mohammed who drove like a saint all the way through, despite the large number of idiots on the road from Bangalore to Pondy and back. Also a shout out to Auro-Grace in Thiruvannamalai for the great lunch.

Nice weekend overall!

And with that, I started on my Mission Boston 2012 with a 30 min easy run.

Someone tell all the pretty women at Wellesley college to start warming up ;)