All posts filed under: Running

Taming the bull โ€“ on cycle and on foot!

Published by Anita

Our destination: Nandi Hills, located about 60 km north of Bangalore and about 4800 ft above sea level. On top was Tipu Sultan’s summer retreat and the remains of Tipu’s fort still remain. Tipu’s Drop, a 600 metre high cliff face, where prisoners were hurled down the precipice when the king was really angry. Not a place you want to venture close to! If you reach the top early enough โ€“ say between 6-9 am or so – you can experience the mist covered hills and drive through the clouds.

It’s an uphill climb!

Published by Anita

The training for Sunfeast is on! This is the Kanakpura stretch where we go when we want to do uphill stretches. This time we did a 4k stretch downhill to start with. And then we come back the same way, except this time it’s all uphill ๐Ÿ™‚ Believe me, it’s not happy thoughts on your mind when you’re toiling up one of those hills. If you can spot me here, I look extremely surly and grumpy when Dr Rajat caught me on tape shuffling up on one of the steepest slopes. He was positioned there video taping us asking, รขโ‚ฌล“How are you feeling?รขโ‚ฌย You can see me shuffling off. I had no breath left to tell him ๐Ÿ™‚

Running in Mumbai

Published by Anita

The Mumbai run was an exciting event for me. The registrations start way in advance so there is quite a build up over the months. It was another story that I wasn’t too prepared and hadn’t put in any long runs in the month prior to Mumbai. But I was excited, never the less. My mom expressed her surprise when I said I was going to Mumbai. To run. I had after all lived in the city for well over 5 years and she couldn’t quite figure out why at this stage in life, I was suddenly travelling all the way to another city just to run. Some things are just too hard to explain.

Looking forward to…

Published by Anita

A quick update… It’s been a hectic few weeks. My blog looks a little forlorn. I have a tea story from Cochin in my head and I haven’t managed to post it. Besides running a 5K in the women’s corporate rally at the Midnight Marathon on Jan 9, I haven’t really done any long runs mainly out of laziness and the cold (it’s a nice excuse!). So, I am definitely not happy with my preparations for Mumbai, but it’s too late for hindsight and after thought… But, on the bright side, I’m looking forward to: ~ Catching up with old friends ~ Eating (no trip of mine can be complete without this anyway!) ~ Window shopping (somebody will need to stop me from splurging) ~ Running in Mumbai for the first time! And so, here I go…

Mumbai calling!

Published by Anita

So, in a few weeks time, it will be time to visit Mumbai! The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon is on January 18. I am hoping to run into a few bloggers and familiar faces on the race day. If you’re in Mumbai during the time, do come out and cheer. There’s the dream run too (6k) where you can run/walk and I’ve asked some friends to participate in that at least. Quite a few of us from Bangalore will be travelling for the event. In my 5 years in Mumbai, I was never even aware of the marathon and it’s actually quite ironical that I will be travelling all the way from Bangalore to be a part of it now! But, that’s life… always full of surprises ๐Ÿ™‚ Anyone planning to run? Or coming out to cheer? ๐Ÿ™‚

The ultra experience

Published by Anita

Last year’s Ultra was my first long distance running event. Besides the fact that I had no idea about the route (especially the uphill sections), I had also not run more than 10-12 kms in training. So it was quite an experience for me. But what was really motivating was the fact there were so many runners out there doing it for the first time and giving it all they had. Very inspiring. From Bangalore Ultra 2008 This time around I was a little better prepared. I made sure I put in a couple of long runs (of course, the training never seems enough on D-Day). The day of the ultra dawned on us : it was cool and there was a cloud cover : in fact it was drizzling lightly as we packed up in Pankaj’s red bus (comprising of Prateek, Toufeeq, Meher, Satsang, Ashok, Pankaj and me) and left for Hesaraghatta at 5 am.