Feels simply awesome to announce I smashed my PB in 10K run today with a timing of 58:27 at Bengaluru 10K challenge. More happy that I could do this on this tough course on NICE road; it has stretches with high elevation which was, needless to say, the most challenging part. I have registered a sub-60 10K during one of the practice runs last year, however this is the first time I've done it in an official event. Last month has been a steady one having some good runs with a little change in running form, which clearly has helped me to achieve a better result i.e. an improvement by ~4 minutes in my PB done way back in 2012 in TCS event. I intend to continue this fine form towards the much awaited Full Marathon that I have signed up for, scheduled in Oct'19.
Since my half marathon done in last October, I haven't been running much due to a certification program which I signed up for, which I completed in this February. And post that, I got occupied with my holiday season and my Sarpass trek in May. In short, I lost my running rhythm and gained around 4 kilos of weight in this interval. Gaining extra kilos isn't much of concern to me, but surely losing up on running mileage was. In order to get things back in place, immediately after coming back from my trek in May, I signed up for Shriram Properties Bengaluru 10K run which is scheduled on July 7th and full marathon by again Shriram Properties in the month of October. Yes, a full marathon this year is a target. And fortunately this has brought me back to my routine of 3-4 runs in a week since then. Last week, I was reading up on few running efficiency articles and found some contents which suggest to maintain a good running cadence of about 180 spm in order to run efficiently with good form and to avoid any injuries which happen due to longer strides. I checked my running history only to realize I have an average cadence of ~160. And that's when I decided to make changes in my strides to improve it by 5-10 spm. Now, due to this change, I am seeing some good results in terms of how relaxed I am post long runs and also w.r.t. my pace. As part of preparation process for the FM, the organizers conduct some practice runs every month or so before the final date, and I happened to participate in one of these runs i.e. 10K run yesterday. I decided to take this opportunity to test my new running form considering a cadence of ~170. And yippee! this indeed gave me impressive results. I had a relaxed 10K and completed it in 61 minutes, well better than my expectations of 62:30 minutes.
This of course is a welcome change and would like to take it forward during my Bengaluru 10K run next week. Hoping to achieve a result of sub-60 minutes on that tough track. Wish me luck. :)
Like every year, I along with my friends planned for yet
another Himalayan expedition. And after considering quite a few options, we
decided to book for Sar Pass trek conducted by YHAI which is a 11 days
expedition. This would be my second Sar Pass trek, as I had done it in 2009.
The fact that out of 7 higher camps 4 are new ones compared to the last trek,
I was ok to repeat it.
Sar Pass
- 2009
Sar Pass - 2019
Guna Paani
(8000ft)
Grahan (7700ft)
Fual Paani
(9500ft)
Padri (9300ft)
Zirmi
(11000ft)
Mingthatch (11200ft)
Tila Lotni
(12500ft)
Nagaru (12500ft)
Sar Pass
(13800ft)
Sar Pass (13800ft)
Biskeri
(11000ft)
Beskeri (11000ft)
Bhandak
Thatch (8000ft)
Bhandak Thatch
(8000ft)
Day 1: Report to base camp.
We took HP tourism bus from Delhi to Manali, got down at
Bhuntar and took another local bus to reach our base camp, Kasol. Since there
weren't any activities planned for this day, we spent our day roaming around
Kasol market, Manikaran and nearby park. I was happy to see this new park constructed at a
place which previously was just a parking lot kept in dismal state.
Day 2: Acclimatization, Orientation and Training.
This day started with a morning exercise at a nearby
location, followed by a small trek post breakfast. Also included a briefing
about the program, details about the higher camps and general do's & don'ts.
Day 3: Acclimatization, Medical and Kit Inspection.
This day too started with a morning exercise but rigorous
one. The trainer actually tried to kill us all before the trek started by
asking us to perform some serious jumps, stretches and what not. I was smart
enough not to follow each and every instructions from him and thereby stay
alive for coming days to see ;-). Others were too, in case you are wondering!
This was followed up again by a small trek post breakfast.
And on similar lines, this too was a tiresome trek; a steep one, which kind of
gave us an indication of what might unfold in coming days.
There was a presentation later that day which explained
about the High Altitude sickness, its symptoms etc. And finally there was a
virtual campfire where our batch members came up with entertaining dance,
singing and yoga performances.
Day 4: Trek to Grahan camp.
The group got ready early morning, had breakfast, packed
lunch boxes and were ready to leave the base camp at 8 am. The batch is sent off
with a customary guard of honor by other batch members.
This stretch of walk took us along the Parvati river and was a simple one comparatively. The Grahan village camp was a
nice scenic place where everyone had a nice time taking pictures. And later, everyone enjoyed the card games in the tent.
Day 5: Trek to Padri camp.
Trek towards Padri camp took us through some streams and
uphill areas. The lunch point was a beautiful place with some big tree trunks
fallen down. This gave us all a place to have some wonderful snaps.
The camp
was situated in the shadows of a mountain with a beautiful view of snow-capped mountains at the front. This place was an ideal place for us to enjoy a game of
Mafia too.
Day 6: Trek to Mingthatch camp.
This was undoubtedly the most difficult day we had in
this whole trek. It was about 9 kms long, steep stretch. And what worse, we had
the continuous rain to beat too. Imagine walking a steep AND slippery climb in
the forest. Of course, many of us had to deal with few falls here and there. At
some junctions, we were even found crawling in that mud. We reached the lunch
point anyhow after this arduous walk with swollen, bruised and numb fingers. We
had no clue the ordeal was not yet over. The final stretch towards the camp had
a steep climb, almost like mountain climbing. Many of us didn't dare to look
down the mountain while climbing.
The camp didn't have enough level area to accommodate all
the tents along with kitchen, due to which the kitchen was little away and we
all had to take this mini-trek every time we went to have tea, dinner or to
pack our lunch boxes.
Day 7: Trek to Nagaru camp.
This was the day when the snow patches started to show up.
Though it was again a high elevation trail, it seemed quite an easy one after
our previous day's stretch. The weather was supportive too as we didn't have
any showers on this day to deal with. The lunch point was a very tight spot
with less space to walk around. We finally reached the Nagaru camp post lunch
and we were dumbstruck with thesight it provided.
This camp is situated on the edge of a mountain with snow all around. Due to muddy area with snow
melting, this place had become too difficult to walk around. Many of the guys
slipped and tumbled. The camp leader, Ankit from Haryana was an entertaining
chap and who knew what was required to survive in those kind of tougher higher
camps. He passed on some invaluable tips and even demonstrated different
walking techniques in snow which apparently came handy the next day.
The camp, surprisingly, had enough network coverage due to
which we saw most of us making video calls to loved ones, to share this awesome
view we were witnessing.
Everyone at the camp had a sleepless night due to snowfall
and high winds at night. Everyone in the tent were up most night holding the
tent and pole in those high windy conditions. The next morning we were supposed
to start the walk towards Sar Pass at 3:30 am.
Day 8: Trek to Sar Pass & then to Biskeri.
I was up at 2:30 am, went out to take a leak only to realize
I need to walk around on the fresh snow to a toilet tent which was partially
uprooted. It was cold, it was dark and over the edge. So without much thinking,
I can surely say it was the most daunting walk I had to take for a leak ;-)
Everyone kind of got ready by 3:30 am. Cornflakes & milk
were served as breakfast and immediately we had to pack our lunch boxes. We hit
the road, rather the snow trail, at ~4:30 am and for next 7-8 hours we walked
snow.
We reached the Sar Pass summit at noon and everyone were so glad and felt
so proud of this accomplishment that we had a group hug and took lots of
pictures there.
Immediately after that, the descent started with the most
attractive aspect of this Sar Pass expedition i.e. the snow slides. Yes, for
next few minutes, we went through ~5 slides. The first slide was around 400
meters and the penultimate one being the longest probably around a km long.
The slides were great and little scary at the same time due
to the bumps formed.
Many of them went through the feeling of anxiety &
nervousness at the beginning but felt fearless & elated at the end of those
5 slides, in fact wanting to have a few more.
Again, Biskeri is a beautiful camp. I remember our group
enjoying a game of Cricket the last time in 2009. Once at camp, we had a task
taking care of our wet clothes due to the slides.
Day 9: Trek to Bhandak Thatch/Kasol.
As we were towards the end of the trekking expedition, many
of us got tired and due to a sense of completion, we decided to take permission
from the camp leader to head towards the Kasol base camp instead of the final
camp Bhandak Thatch. Camp leader was quite accommodative and agreed to send the
half the batch to base camp along with a guide out of 3 guides who accompanied
all through.
This final leg took us more time than anticipated through
the Barshani village, from where we boarded a bus to base camp.
On the way to base camp, we decided to book hotel rooms
instead of staying one more night at the camp tents. That's the way we decided
to treat ourselves post successful summit of Sar Pass.
We reported to the base camp the same evening to collect our
completion certificates too.
I must tell you, this was the most satisfying trek by far I’ve had
so far. The routes and camps were scenic which took us through some
unbelievable arduous trails and mountains which took my breath away. And
needless to say, this expedition gave an opportunity to make some new friends,
brought in some situations to learn from and some wonderful memories to cherish
forever.
After going through a list of getaways around Bengaluru & lot of discussion, my friends and I decided to visit Sakleshpur in Hassan district of Karnataka over the weekend. We booked Kaduhithlu homestay/resort. This place is around 6 hours from Bengaluru. We started at dawn and reached the resort during lunch time, after stopping in between for breakfast and tender coconut. The resort is situated in the middle of greenery with a nice view of mountains next to it. We were greeted with delicious lunch immediately. It has a nice play area where we and kids enjoyed playing volleyball, cricket and football. There is a hut kinda sit-out which served as the ideal place for our quiz games and discussions. Campfire at night in that breezy cool weather was something which everyone enjoyed.
The best part of this place was there is no cellular network. So, all we could do with our phones is taking photos and playing music. Just imagine, all friends sitting around and nobody checking any social networking apps or messaging apps, complete attention in the middle and everybody totally involved in the talks or games or with kids. Bliss! Hope this place remains that way with no network, and I forgot to ask how the owners managed w.r.t inquiries and bookings. There is downside to it but I guess, the whole point of getaways like these is that you have total fun away from all your chores, including your mobile screen time.
PC: Varsha ;-)
One other good thing is the arranged trek/hike to nearby Saalugudda hill. This is about an hour, easy trek which anyone can enjoy, including 6+ years kids. If parents are fit enough to carry kids who are < 6 years old and those who can't walk for long, can even think of going. I trekked this hill twice i.e. on a Saturday morning and Sunday morning as well. First one with friends which gave a proper estimate of the trek which apparently helped me decide to take my wife and 6 year old son the next day. This was my son's first trek and I was delighted. He was excited walking in the dense trees and reaching the top, however his energy faded towards the end as he got little tired :)
The hilltop gives a nice view of the sunrise and also of the surrounding areas, including the resort top view. In fact, people at the resort could see us when we were at the top.
A nice sports shoes should be enough for this trek, especially for kids. Even crocs or floaters are ok for grownups.
Carry a backpack with water and some snacks.
So, in all a nice weekend retreat and one of our best outings so far.
The last few years have been wonderful. My son has given me so many wonderful moments and instances to cherish for the rest of my life. These kids have this amazing ability to surprise us every now and then with their intelligence, creativity and logical reasoning. One such incident happened just last week. My 6 years old son was given a theme for a class drawing session. The theme was 'I'm proud to be an Indian' and the kids were supposed to come up with a drawing and write a few words about it. And as it so often happens, I remembered about it just the previous night of the schedule. So all I could do was discuss with my son as what he wants to draw the next day in class. I asked whether he is okay to draw an airplane representing the Indian Air Force. He was happy with the idea as he loves drawing cars and stuff, and immediately asked what should he write with it. I told him to write, 'I'm proud of Indian Air Force as they fight the enemy'. I continued to mention, 'Aliens' as the kids relate to aliens more than the enemies. With that idea we closed the topic. The next day I had to pick him up from school who usually commutes in school bus. I very well thought of meeting his new class teacher to have a word with, so I went all the way to his class. While we were at it, my kiddo was excited to show his drawing which was put up on the board along with few others. I was happy seeing he had drawn a nice airplane as per the plan. I took a snap and came back. Only after coming back home I noticed all the other details from the snap and I was astonished of the fact that he has created a whole scene on that paper. Kiddo had filled in so many other details in the drawing that I was amazed at his thought process. I've numbered few key aspects which I want to emphasize on:
1. Here, he has drawn an alien ship. I am pretty sure, he has got that idea of alien ship from the cartoon Pocoyo. 😜 2. He has drawn a guy taking a leap from the airplane with a parachute. And please note, he has aligned the frames to depict a fall. 3. And here he has made sure to open the back door. I can see that was a closed compartment before, which he erased to open it. 4. I can also see he is showing few bullets being shot at the alien ship. 5. Icing on the cake, he gives the title 'Air Force protects us from the Aliens' 😃 We have always seen him enjoying his drawings and coloring activities at home. I was happy when his previous class teacher had talked about his ability to bring details in his drawings in a recently concluded Parents-Teachers meet. This was so overwhelming that I decided to share it here.
