Monthly Archives: April 2018

Tri thrill at Half moon bay: My 2nd olympic distance triathlon experience

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Six months back, doing an Olympic distance triathlon seemed like a mammoth task.  When I conquered my second one last Sunday (April 22nd 2018), it felt like reconnecting with a long lost friend. Does it mean that the distance was easy? By no realms. It just means that I went with the flow literally speaking.
Half moon bay is a just a 45 minute drive away from Stanford. “The water is freezing” , I had heard people say at the swim clinic one week prior to the event. On race day when we went for a warm up lap in the sea, I noticed some Americans shivering despite wearing wetsuits and  despite being used to swimming in cold waters.
Swim: It started off as a foggy morning and blurred the visibility for swimmers. The 1.5 km was in the harbor where the boats were docked. We had to swim around them and the orange buoys to get to the beach.  At midpoint, my face froze and went numb along with my hands. Not to mention my goggles were fogged, making sighting quite a tedious task.  It turned out to be a bit of a struggle to ensure I don’t drift away from the course. Managed to pull through the swim despite the ocean being cold and dreary.
T1:  I felt wobbly as soon as I got out of the water but that didn’t stop me from running in my wetsuit towards the transition area to pick up my bike.  Removing the wetsuit on the way, I reached my bike, buckled my helmet and bike glasses, slipped on my t shirt and shoes. The hardest part of the triathlon event is probably getting off your wetsuit, an art that I need to practice a lot more.
Bike: I mounted on my bike after gulping down a gu gel.  The first few km felt miserable as I was still shaky from the swim. A sip of the magical Gatorade worked wonders and I zoomed on a course which took my breath away. It was one of the most picturesque routes that I have biked on. The rolling hills were sandwiched between green contours on either side adorned with plantations and flowers.  Now whenever I bike, I have this little voice cautioning me against a flat tire- a cyclists nightmare.  As I pedaled deftly on these hills, I chanted ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’- a plea to the lord of obstacles to help me and my road bike reach the transition without hiccups. It’s an old folklore that when you pray to the elephant faced God before doing anything major event, there would be no obstacles in my way. So here I was chanting this mantra all the way, smiling and waving at the volunteers who cheered us on until I reached the transition area.
T2: Wheeling my bike, I mounted it on the stand, removed my helmet and took a sip of water before I went on to do my third leg.
Run: Just when you think, you are done with the race, you still are 10 km away from the finish line. The first 3 Km was hard especially since I had exhausted my reserves on the bike.  Volunteers entrusted a gu gel in my hands insisting that it would help me going forward. Bless them!  It was a 5 km loop and I noticed a lot of runners coming on the other side. “Great going girl, you got this one”, they shouted , giving me a hi five. “I love your bright colour” a lady smiled pointing to my radiant orange t shirt that would have probably blinded even the sun which had come out by then. Thats the fluctuating California weather for you!
The course was along the coast and partly on a trail with a few rollers. The sound of the alluring waves pacified my wrecked nerves and muscles as I ran along.  I spotted some surfers on the waves and families with little kids and their pet dogs.  The dogs were playing on the beach, getting splashed by the friendly waves. How I longed to join them and laze around instead of pounding  my half dead legs.
Pop! Went another gu gel as I turned at the 5 km point and zoomed ahead. It was sunny and I was glad to have worn my sun glasses. I could hear the sound of the race announcer and before I knew it, I crossed the finish line in a jiffy.
The finish: I plonked myself on the chair after receiving the medal, letting cold water trickle down my throat. I glanced at my watch and saw that I had shaved 10 mins from my previous Olympic distance triathlon.
As I walked to the transition to collect my bike, I heard a voice say “She did the Olympic distance.” I turned to see couple of women smiling at me. “Way to go gal”. They chirped.
I smiled. That was the best part of doing races here- the non judgemental attitude, the sportsmanship, ability to appreciate even those who are not necessarily the fastest. Something that I treasure even more than my medal!
A big thanks to the volunteers and USA productions for putting up a great show! A big thanks to my coach Viv under whose guidance, I have grown stronger.

Skechers 10K – Santacruz

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Yesterday, i.e. 22nd April, 2018, MRR organised its first Skechers 10K run. The event was hosted by Skechers at their newly opened showroom at Linking road in Santacruz. The event page was hosted by MRR in its FB group, page & twitter.

Before the run Skechers offered their GoRun6 sports shoes to few runners to test it out during the run and give their feedback. About 4 male runners and 2 female runners opted for that. Their feedback was posted on the MRR FB group.

Sandeep Gupta took the pre run warm ups and Manohar gave instructions on the route. There was one water stop at Carter Road near CCD.

The run started at 6.04 a.m. from their showroom and went down Linking Road towards Bandra, turned right at the H.P. petrol pump, onto Turner Road, all the way down to Carter Road, facing the Arabian Sea, towards the CCD where we took a right turn to go into the Pali Hill Road. This was an incline for about a mile or so at the inner roads of Pali. There was a lot of tree cover and shade in this particular part of the route. We descended from Pali hill towards the Police Commissioner’s office again onto Carter Road, this time we took a right to keep going towards Khar Danda, where our nostrils were assailed by the smell of fish and dry fish.  Thankfully it passed and we kept going towards Linking Road and then a left to the store again.

 The post run stretches were again taken by Sandeep Gupta and then there were some goody prizes to be won on a quiz questions, which was enthusiastically done. Breakfast was offered to the runners.  About 80 runners took part.

This run will be held once a month.

Conquering Morgan hill: The South Bay Duathlon experience

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Run-bike-run! Sounds like fun, right? It sure is if you don’t mind your legs wobbling like jelly at the end of it and when I say jelly I don’t mean the mouthwatering dessert that you see at those fancy tea parties. It means that they feel like a pile of bricks tumbling down in an earthquake.

March was considered the start to the triathlon season in California and I decided to inaugurate mine with an Olympic distance duathlon event organized by USA Productions-one of the largest west coast based event production companies that organize endurance events. The venue was at Live Oak school, Morgan Hill which was about 50 minutes away from Stanford. The event began at 7:05 am and participants had to be there an hour prior to set up their stuff at the transition area.

It was still dark when I arrived and I could see several strong looking triathletes setting up their bikes and bags in the transition area.  I set up mine and stood there shivering in the cold despite having worn an inner warm clothing.  I looked around at the friendly folks who were laughing and joking with one another. They made it a point to include me in a couple of their jokes which helped in easing those bouts of nervousness that had suddenly consumed me like a dark spell. “I didn’t bring my other bike as I am still not comfortable with it.” Said one guy. “Then you should ride more often on it to get comfortable. What say?” he looked at me laughing and I grinned.  The ambience was certainly that of an easy going one, a far cry from the seriousness that I expected out of high performing athletes. I decided to relax and walk around for a bit before the start of the first leg which was the 10 k run.

While talking to one of the volunteers, I discovered that this wasn’t an entirely a flat course and that the bike course had one steep hill.  I cringed my face as my hill cycling was at its worst. Running up the hills was a far easier feat than peddling those wheels up the slopes.  I offered a silent prayer to Lord Ganesha to help me complete this event without any obstacle. Fortunately, there was no cut off timing for this event as the organizers strongly believed in the spirit of participation more than anything.

The first leg 10 k run: The weather was quite chilly and an ideal one for someone to aim for their personal best. However, the thought of having to bike 40 k and run another 5 k post weighed on my mind as I paced myself cautiously like a chicken which had just hatched from its egg and was exploring the world for the first time.  While the other women sprinted from the word go, I paced myself sensibly.  It was 2 loops of the 5 k course and we passed through some cherry blossoms, mustard fields and green mountains in the vicinity. The entire sight reminded me of Switzerland and clippings from those famous Yash Raj Films.

The mustard plants transported me back to the song “Tujhe dekha to yeh jaana sanam” from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge. I suddenly heard a bell and looked up surprised only to see a volunteer jingling one to encourage participants instead of a demure looking cow wearing a cowbell on its neck like it was shown in the movie. I smiled and shook my head at my idiosyncrasies and ran ahead.  Before I knew it, I had completed one loop and was on my second loop.  I saw some cyclists whizz past me like a whirlwind. So, some of them were on their second leg now, I thought, making me marvel at their finesse and athletic abilities to sprint their way through each division. Probably enough to give me an inferiority complex making me wonder what a tortoise like me was doing amidst these cheetahs. However, living in the Silicon Valley for 8 months taught me one thing-never give up even if the odds are against you and hold your head high irrespective of what you do. When I heard the volunteers shout “you go gal”, “you are my hero”, “you got this one”, I revived my spirits, overtaking a couple of runners as I crossed the mat in 59 minutes.

T1: Ideally, I had to just put on my helmet and glasses and wheel my bike towards a point from where I could start cycling. However, a momentary confusion and getting that clarified from a volunteer costed me 3 mins.  I mounted on my bike, ready to rock the roads. “Have fun”, a volunteer shouted. I nodded smiling. That’s what I was here for right? To have fun.

40 k bike: Residing in Stanford campus gave me ample scope to navigate around on a cycle whether it was to go to my classes, library, gym or just buy groceries and carry them on my bag pack. Quite an adventure by itself and a pleasant change from being coped up inside a car especially since I was prone to car sickness.  The rainy weather had Stanford entire winter had made it challenging to clock mileages outdoors so all those long hours on the bike were spent indoors on the wahoo kickr trainer.

It was lovely to be back outdoors especially since the weather gods had decided to be nice today.  It was 5 loops of an 8 km course and a picturesque one, making it hard for me to tear my eyes away from the postcard like surroundings and focus on the road ahead.  Volunteers stood at every juncture, directing us in the right manner lest we get lost.  The roads were perfectly divided with cones to separate the regular traffic from the event course. Feeling the fresh breeze on my face, I cruised ahead taking in the fields and the green carpet of nature that had cascaded on either side of the roads.  Everything was going fine until I reached that gigantic hill near the dam. Oh boy! This looked deadly as I lowered my gear and peddled up. After a point, fatigue took over my legs, prompting me to get down from my bike and wheel it up. A couple of concerned cyclists and volunteers asked if I was ok to which I responded with a cheerful nod till I reached a point where I could mount my bike again and cruise on the roads like a free spirit. One loop done and four more to go. With every loop, my legs were getting stronger barring that ugly hurdle which probably costed me at least 5-7 minutes of my cycling time.  I had finished 40 km in 1:50, a significant improvement from my previous timing of 2:05, all thanks to my coach’s training.

T2: It hardly took a minute to remove my helmet and glasses and hit the roads again with my strides.

Third leg 5 k run: My legs felt numb. Wait a minute! I felt like a ghost on a run, almost invisible until I heard a few cyclists egg me on shouting “you go gal”. Alright so I hadn’t turned into a spirit but why did I feel like I had no legs.  I looked down to see that they were still in one piece.  In my mind, they felt like a 2-story building crumbling down in a natural disaster. A gulp of electrolytes handed over by the kind volunteers restored life back to them. By now the sun was up and glaring down at us. I felt the cyclists whizz pass me-the sprint category participants and each of them had a word of encouragement for me, making me feel as though I was on a quest to break a world record.  “never give up, you can do it, you are almost there”, were the words I heard till I reached the finish line.  The last 5 k was in 33 minutes as I plonked myself on one of the chairs after collecting my medal.

Breakfast was being served and I grabbed a couple of oranges, a bowl of blueberries and half a muffin as I was famished. There was provision to check our finish timing at the timing kiosk if we entered our bib number. I was pleasantly surprised to see 3:29:31 when I thought it would be somewhere around 4 hours. Compared to international timing, it was pretty mediocre but for an Indian who is from a non-athletic background, I was elated as I had performed better than expected.

It doesn’t matter if you are the last, it doesn’t matter if you re slow but what matters is you finish like a champion holding your head high, strong enough to lift your bike which has been your ally throughout this journey!

A special mention to all the volunteers at this event and without their support, I wouldn’t have reached the finish line.  Take a bow USA Productions for a well-organized event. A big thanks to my coach Viv whose constant guidance helped me grow strength to strength.

Lata Alimchandani- Live Life Neeru Size

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This sprightly 60-year-old young girl took up Running only at the age of 55. Lata was always physically active throughout though sports were fairly limited to Kho kho et all in school in those days. Post marriage, she ran her own boutique and made quite a name for herself designing wedding outfits. She travelled from Kashmir to Amritsar, Delhi and finally moved to Mumbai. Business and family jaunts would regularly have her traveling abroad. On one such occasion, she was detected with Brain Tumour for which Lata had to undergo Surgery. Fortunately, everything worked out perfectly and she was up and about within no time 😇.

Post-Surgery, when she was living in Bangkok; early riser that she was, she would regularly head to the close by Garden for stretching when loads of youngsters would be returning back from Discos. There she learned Yoga and continued to practice the same for 4-5 years. Always eager to learn new things, she also took up Aerobics later in Mumbai.

Encouraged by her Aerobics friends, she did her first running event- 10K at the Pinkathon in December 2013. At the time, Lata was clueless about Marathons thinking that everyone ran as a group starting and finishing together 😁. In fact, she ended up carrying her timing chip since she didn’t know that the timing tag had to be attached to her shoe and her timing wasn’t recorded at the Pinkathon 😑.

All gung ho, she decided to do her very first Half Marathon at the SCMM in January 2014. She convinced her husband to register her through a Charity Bib as she did not want to lose out on precious time. She went on to do a 25K during training and finished in 2:10 despite her shoes giving her trouble during the Race.

This was followed by another HM at the Hiranandani Thane Half Marathon in February 2014 where Lata stood fourth. Subsequently, it was at the IL&FS 10K where Lata tasted sweet success and got her very first Podium. Elated, she was literally jumping up and down with Joy 😁. Of course that was followed up with several more podiums practically all over the place as she soon became a familiar face on every Victory stand.

Subsequently, she went on to do about 60-70 events including several 10K, HM, FM besides track events at the Masters; both Domestic as well as International. Having qualified for Boston, now Lata is training for the World Masters as well as Asian Masters and also wants to complete the World Majors- 6 major international marathons at the earliest.

Not being Social Media savvy, Lata only learned about Mumbai Road Runners from Sunil Shetty. She got connected with MRR in 2015 when she enjoyed the monthly Bandra-NCPA run with them. She was delighted to be awarded in the Best Female Veteran Runner Category subsequently at the MRR Awards in 2016 when she got to meet and interact with several other Runners 😊.

Initially, Lata would train Solo thinking no one can teach you Running. She felt all she needed to do was run more than the required distance during practice. Later, she connected with Sunil Shetty and other Puma Brand Ambassadors and went on to be mentored by different Marathon Coaches. However, Lata continues to adapt her own training plans giving far more importance to Strength training. She believes that one should always Listen to One’s Body and Run or Race accordingly.

Lata follows follows a 3-4 days Run schedule followed by post run Stretching and Strengthening besides 2 days of Strength and Functional Training though now she gives less importance to Weight training. She keeps trying to do different things and enjoys dabbling in variety. She is highly inspired by the Labor Class who run and says that they manage to find time to work out despite their heavy work load 😎.

She advises that one should always be active keeping the mind occupied so as to keep aches, pains and illness at bay. There is always so much more to do besides just plonking down in front of the TV. This way you will always be healthy and happy.

Lata loves her Running-centric Life which has given her so much Respect, Adulation and Admiration. She still cannot believe when people message her saying that she is an Inspiration.

On a lighter note, Lata states that she has told her most ardent supporter- her Hubby that he must arrange a Marathon after her death when he is to give away all her medals and trophies. After all, what better way to be Remembered and Cherished by fellow Runners 🤗.