Full Vineman

Vineman Full Distance Triathlon is an event in Santa Rosa, a few hours drive from bay area. I watched this race for the last two years (once even participating in the swim portion of the relay). People of all ages, sizes and from all walks of life participate in an all day endurance event to swim 2.4 miles in the Russian river, bike 112 miles through the vineyards and then run 26.2 miles. There are time limits and cut-offs for every segment, with an overall limit of sixteen and half hours. Many things like the weather, nutrition, training, pacing strategy and a good amount of luck need to align themselves together to pull off such a task. Emotion and drama runs really high with GI distress issues, dehydration, flats on the bike, injuries, cut-offs being made within a few minutes, etc. However, as each finisher's name is announced, it is one hell of a charged atmosphere at the finish line.

I was hooked and signed up in a 3 for 2 registration offer :) with Chakri and Doug. I even talked of getting a tattoo done once I finish.

Early this year, Coach Rajeev Char invited us home for dinner. In addition to Renuka's delicious cooking, we received a detailed excel sheet with a structured training plan for an Ironman. Rajeev and Abhijit (who had finished the Vineman in 2009 as well), gave us a lot of insight into what the training constitutes and how they went about it. In terms of time, the initial weeks seemed manageable, but the latter weeks seemed impossible. We all signed up for a common online training log which Coach Char constantly monitored providing feedback and encouragement.

In a quest for a spin class I chanced upon Rob and Jacquie Mardell of La Dolce Velo. Krishna, Chakri and I signed up for their Thursday spin sessions. Week after week of single-legged spins, higher cadence workouts and, transition runs after the bike, etc., turned my choppy raised heel cadence into a more graceful smooth pedaling technique. Very soon the Thursday spin lessons translated into full-time swim technique lessons on Tuesdays as well. Though I had a moderate base from swimming at the Santa Clara Swim Club, Rob's pointers on positioning and technique made me a more efficient swimmer. I even learnt to improve my run cadence. Rob and Jacquie have been phenomenal in helping with everything I needed from bike fixes, learning to fix things on the bike myself, using a heart rate monitor, figuring out training zones, latest hydration needs (started using speedfil which has me drinking much better), learning to calorie count, fine-tuning nutrition needs, etc. I am very glad that Team Asha bike program is building a superb relationship with them.

It is quite hard to train alone, especially after being pampered by Team Asha with full aid stations, great coaches, fantastic volunteers, rightly timed fun-parties, great run locations etc.
Though I had not run a full marathon in over two years, all the learnings from Team Asha marathon program in 06 and 07 were still around to maintain a good running base.
For the bike, thankfully Vivek, Krishna and Chakri decided to join me in the long rides and they kept me going at it week after week and made all the weekend rides a lot of fun.
Krishna and Deepu generously allowed me to train in their pool. The weekend open water swims with Chakri sealed the swim training.

Now, nutrition was always a big issue. I would constantly be hungry. Once after just a 20 mile ride, I had to eat an entire hot-dog (hot dog vendor at intersection of 9 and skyline) just so I could continue doing the rest of the ride. Now, I have a recipe for raagi congee (from my parents) and it has become standard fare for all my long bike rides.

To train for the ironman, Coach Char suggested to the wildflower (a half iron distance race) and the 100 mile Giro di Peninsula bike ride as intermediate milestones. I guess they were more of a reality check to gauge fitness levels. The days around wildflower were stacked with being sick, and the race turned out to be a disaster for me with stomach issues. I bailed out after 7 miles in the run. Nevertheless, it was a big lesson in nutrition. The Giro ride had about 5500 ft of elevation, going up and over skyline down to highway 1 and coming back. With weather being hot on one side of skyline and cold and foggy on the other side, it definitely seemed a big achievement when Vivek, Chakri and I finished. The home made cookies on the ride's aid stations were a completely different story (they are just yummmmm).

Stan (Team Asha Bike Coach) then took it upon himself to personally oversee and to whip us in shape for Vineman. He scheduled for us to participate in his SuperBrick 2010. It was a combined bike run workout, with 15 miles bike, 8 miles run, 15 miles bike, 4 miles run, 15 miles bike and a 7 miles of run to finish. It was supposed to be very hot in Napa and this workout was scheduled during mid-day to simulate Vineman like conditions. Stan's comment was slow down and soak in the heat. Distinctly remember feeling like chicken in a rotisserie... slow roast

Anil Rao (of the ultra fame) and my fantastic relay partner in Vineman 2009, kept a steady stream of guidance and advice coming my way, on pacing strategies, tapering suggestions, etc.


From pep talks for motivation, to cool swim moves, to a tight rein on nutrition, documenting and analyzing my past races, managing family time, scheduling time with friends, celebrating, Veena managed to juggle everything and keep us sane during the last couple of months. Now, the real secret of my training is out. Veena is my biggest strength!!!


There was a big group of people participating at the Vineman this year. Chandrika, Megha, and Reshu were doing the Barb's relay. Tandy, Jeromy and Arul the Vineman Relay and Coach Char, Stan, Doug, Vishal, Chakri and I were signed up for the Vineman.

Friday, the day before the race Megha, Chandrika, Chakri and I carpooled and Megha drove us to the expo. It was a long drive with a lot of traffic, but Chandrika kept us regaled with spymaster Gogo's exploits. Bhanu (thanks a ton) had made a big tray of pasta, which was devoured by four hungry people in matter of minutes. Perfect pre-carbo load! Perks of knowing Chakri.

Expo was a chaos with long lines of people, confusion on the use of special needs bag for the run, to run in vibrams or shoes. The Vineman shirt however was very nice, though the Barb's race had a ton of freebies.

Checked in to the extended stay (got stuck with a smoking room :( ), and headed out for the carbo load. Yes, again! I get hungry easily.
We met everyone for dinner at Mary's Pizza Shack and it was a relaxed dinner discussing swim strategies, counter attacks, wishing everyone, and pictures. Tandy got us all cookies, with a special note written for each one of us, wishing us luck for the event. Thank you Tandy.


Saturday:

Woke up at 4. After a big breakfast (yes hungry again), Chakri, Veena and I left the hotel at 5:00 a.m as we had a 6:30 race start.

T0 (Transition 0): Reached Johnson's beach only at 6:15 and by the time I set up my wardrobe, I had missed my wave and the next one. The battery in my HRM had died as well.
Thankfully met Coach Char at the start and he talked me out of my anxiety.

Swim (Wetsuit tour of the Russian River): The river is dammed upstream, so it is a calm swim. However, with 700 people in the water, after meandering for a bit, getting punched in the face, it made for a very shaky start. Bumped into Chakri at the turn-around point of the first loop. The second loop was at a much better pace.

T1: Got the strippers to help me get the wetsuit off and after changing headed off on the bike. Need to practice changing faster...

Bike (Cruise through the vineyards): The bike course is full of rolling hills, but very scenic. The weather was perfect for most of the first loop. I spent the entire ride
spinning the small gears at a conservative pace. Hardly ever rode the big gear. Met Char several times on the bike. He was cruising at a very conservative pace, singing songs :) and enjoying himself. The bike aid stations were fully stocked and the volunteers were great. They would get us anything we needed. Only issue I had was they just had 1 or 2 porta-johns at the aid stations. The lines were incredible!

T2: As, we had to set up everything the previous day. I was greeted by some really hot Vibram soles.

The run is a 3 loop out and back course, with first part being flat and second part having rolling hills. Started with the Vibrams. I had a 5-1 run/walk strategy, targeting a 12 minute pace. I got some big blisters in the heels and had to stop at the aid stations to put some bandaids on. At the end of the first loop, I ditched the Vibrams and changed to shoes. The second loop was more comfortable, though after all the gatorade, gels, my ability to eat anything was vastly diminished. After some sensible advice from Anil, I did start on the gels on the third loop. The run course was very well stocked as well. They had cookies and fruits. But after being admonished by Stan at the Giro for devouring 7 cookies, I stayed away from the cookies (they were not home made anyways). The volunteers were fantastic. Renuka volunteered at the mile 1 WS and Murali Krishna at mile 4. Tandy waited at the WS 1 as well, so we had lots of cheering on the course. Further as the course was out and back, I got to meet every one on the run. It made for faster runs and the miles were more manageable. Stan, after finishing his race, rode back on his bike to cheer us on the run course. Duh!

Nutrition worked very well thankfully. :)

The finish:
As I came down the finisher's chute, I saw a whole big group of Asha folks who had come to cheer us. The atmosphere was electrifying. Veena and I even managed a small jig before finishing together.

It was a fun race and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Everyone finished very well and very strongly.

My in-laws are however disappointed that none of us finished first!

A big thank you to the biggest cheering squad in the event - Team Asha!!!
All the wishes and emails were overwhelming. Krishna, Deepu, Anil, Rashmi, Chethan, Anand, Vinay, Swamy, Venki, Praveen, Asif, Jaya, Padma, Kiran, Dilip, thank you all for driving all the way to Santa Rosa. It meant a lot!

GGMers thank you for all the wishes and for not partying too hard without me!

(LtoR: Vishal, Arul, Chakri, Rajeev, Stan, Doug, Tandy and I, picture by Deepu/Krishna)

During the race and after finishing if I were to reflect on everything only these things come to my mind:
- We are blessed with great things around us. We need to find ways to give back even if it is in much smaller measures than what we have received.
- We can do whatever we set to achieve, but in the process it is very important that the ball is not dropped, especially for people who matter most.


May be it is time now to get that tattoo done. Orca?

Stevens Canyon Ride

26.42 - 1:58:42 - Feels like I have not climbed in a long long time. I was singing at the end, so I guess I had fun. :)

Stanford Treeathlon - My first tri

Gayathri: Dolphin?
Shetal: Seal?
Veena: Surely some animal.
Oops sorry but thats Mouli in a wetsuit....

I had not picked up the race packet till Sunday and I had to show up an
hour earlier at 5:30 am to pick the package.

With the tri there is an entire wardrobe that you have to transport to
the transition area. The wetsuit, googles, bike, pump, helmet, gloves,
biking shoes, socks, biking shorts, running shorts, towel to dry and
protect your modesty(?), running shoes, bandana/cap, sunglass, water
bottles, sports drink, gel, protein bars, puncture fix kit, spare tube,
a few bags to carry all of this, and don't forget
body glide and your favorite Asha shirt.
At the stanford treeathlon, it was close to a mile from the the parking to
the tranistion zone and we had to ride/walk the bike, carrying all these
stuff. Boy this was one complex race.

Despite coming in early, waiting in line for to collect the race packet, waiting in line to sign up, by the time I got to the transition area, people had already staked claim to their spot and each area was colorfully and clearly marked with their personal items. After some elbowing and threatening to move things around, managed to find two spots for Padma and myself.

I followed the guy next to me and laid out neatly all the accessories in
order for easy access during transition and headed out to relieve myself.
The one cool thing was people were getting their bodies marked while waiting in line for the restroom, as there was this huge guy shouting at people to clear the transition area before the race start time, despite them being in the very last wave and 50 people still waiting in line at the porta potties.

One poor dude, was already suited up when this lady asked him if he had
got his body marked. I was quite surprised to see his nimbleness in
getting out of the two-piece wetsuit. But then he did not have an ounce of
flab to worry about. As he was getting suited up, he mentioned that he was in the collegiate category. Hmm, the left calf will have to be remarked and off came the wetsuit. Once he got marked, she asked him if he
mentioned his current age or the age at the end of the year. Oh oh.. off comes the wetsuit again...

Soon Veena, Chakri and Kiran showed up and Padma and I picked up our wetsuits and got out of the transition area.

Swim:
I happened to be in an earlier wave than Padma. I got on the ramp to see the second and third waves take off and was really pumped up. Soon it was our turn and all these folks were like penguins waiting for the first one to jump. The water was extremely cold and initial shock was giving me a slight numbing headache. Swim long and easy in the beginning, I remembered Coach Tom's advice. After gulping wave after wave of water and electrolytes, I realized the importance of breathing on both sides during the swim.

I thought I could swim really really straight and I had the shock of my life when I looked up. Everyone else seems to be going in the other direction. Regrouping I resolved to lookup more often and to swim long and easy for some more time.
Once I got warmed up I threw myself on the swim and just as I was getting a little tired, I heard some one shouting to stay to the right. Managed to get to the ramps and not beached on the rocks, I started running into the transition area, exhilarated at the swim time of 14:38.

T1:
I had practiced getting of the wetsuit and it did not give me much trouble. One lesson I learned was to stay calm. There was this guy in front of me, who while dancing on one leg, managed to pull the wetsuit off with a flourish
The final tug however threw him of balance and the resulting fall was not graceful at all. :( One other thing to remember is to keep your socks together. I bought these nice black woolen socks and I could find the pair, so I ended up with a black sock on one leg and a white one on the other.

Bike:
As I was getting out of the transition area, hearing CK, Shetal, Veena, Chakri and Kiran cheering it sent me into a frenzy and I started biking hard. I got an earful for starting in the wrong lane. The guy who was giving us the directions kept saying we will talk about the lanes in the end and when he did start talking about it, it was my turn at the john. I had to tell myself to slow down and conserve. My plan was to do negative splits and not go all in the first loop. The bike ride was pretty easy, though the wind was bothering me a little. At each turnaround, when I saw these folks cheering, I would work harder.

T2:
Ah here is where the towel came in mighty handy. I decided I will not run in my "industrial grade padded" biking shorts.

Run:
Well not much needs to be said.. other than my legs were extremely jelly like and I could not move them very much in the first loop. Second and third were easy and I managed an 8:30 pace for the 5k.

Some lessons learned:
1. Listen to the coaches. Well "Ghosts of the kicks, not listen to the talks".
2. The excess water I gulped was causing a major side stitch in both the bike and the run segments.

Thanks to everyone for their wishes. I think with relentless cheering and support is what really pushed a sluggish me can across the finish line. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to work on more of them this year.

Best part was the post-race, hanging out with CK, Shetal, Veena, Chakri, Padma and Kiran and having breakfast at Franklin St. Cafe and the cream puffs from Beard Papa's... :)

Tour de Peninsula - My first bike race

Ok now that I am into biking this blog will have some bike stuff as well. Hopefully swimming events will not be too far away either...:)

It was an exhillirating moment, racing downhil after sawyer camp, riding along with Vivek, with the slight drizzle on our face and breezing through the wind...

It all started with the bike buying spree and a few rides with Chethan and a few more with Vivek and Chakri. Saw the TDP posters in Sawyer Camp and well it sure seemed fun to ride.

Vivek, Chakri and me decided to ride a few sections of the trail on tuesday (considering we did not have tracks) and carpooled to Belmont. The prize of course was food at Veena's. :)

We rode along the canada road and back. It was a nice ride and we were cold and hungry very soon. :)

I was hooked on after the ride and signed up for the TDP. The day before the race was hectic, as we had run 16 miles in the sweltering heat in Oracle trail. Anyways Rajesh, G3, CK, Veena and Geeta decided to come and cheer us and well now there is no backing out.

My biggest concern and cause of much amuse was the question as to what if u get tired after climbing half the hill. How do you start again in the middle of the hill? Coach Martina told me to keep the bike perpendicular to the hill and start off. Simple, just like if your skis come off in downhill skiing. :))

One other concern was those #$%* cleats. How do you remember to take em off in time? Well the answer is you just remember you are on cleats and even if you don't and must fall, fall graciously (like land on your butt..:)) and not scrape the skin of your knee. My poor knees have taken quite a toll, before I could perfect this.. Vivek kept pulling my leg during the ride that I should probably patent this idea..

The plan was to leave early and reach the Sequoia school by 7:30, so we pick our bibs and start at 8. Due to over eagerness, I ended up at G3's place at 6:30 and found ourselves searching for a starbucks early in the morning. Vivek and CK joined us there.

After wandering around Brewster, found parking at James Ave. Rode to the school and picked up our bibs. Guess I was a little tensed and Vivek was talking about going to the war and we need a proper send off with tilak, aarti and vijayi bahava send offs..

We were at the start of the line and the announcer was making fun of people with mountain bikes saying how fat and beautiful those tires looked. Soon we were at the head of the line and the race started with everyone click, click clicking into their pedals.

The first few miles we were conservative as the Ralston Ave Hill was looming soon. With children riding randomly and some other cyclists doing a steady pace, we managed to stay clear and keep pace. Ralston Ave was one tough hill. In my stupidity of trying to save the last gear for further uphill, my quads started to hurt and I decided I needed to do these 4 miles first and preserve the muscles for the rest of the tour. After that Ralston climb was peaceful and rode along quite well.

Atop Ralston (Mt. Neverest) was the first water stop. Had our fill and picked up a few energy bars. From here the fun started and it was all downhill. We were having fun, zipping through polyhemus and before we knew we were already at crystal springs road. Those downhils felt great but were soon over.. It was here that I was so reminded of "Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander" and the bike race. What a movie and what a ride.

Further up crystal springs road was the beginning of the sawyer camp trail and also the 21 miler shortcut. There was no doubt at all as to which way we were gonna. Considering sawyer camp was one way and we knew the trail so well, we were zipping thru the turns and enjoying the scenary. We were on top of the mile 5 and stopped to soak in the surroundings and Vivek remarks "we did it so fast - darned runners". :) I think the ride through the Sawyer camp was the best part of the course... At the top they had opened up the north gate and the ride backwards was along skyline blvd. It was a lot more hilly than sawyer camp and it had started to drizzle. It was a lot of fun riding through the rain.

Missed Chakri big time!!!

Since sawyer camp was only open to the bikers, I kind of forgot that we need to share the road and was infact riding on the wrong side of the road. Suddenly I see two bikes floating in the air and some lights. That is when it hit me, that were rack mounted on top of a car and I am in the middle of the road doing 25 mph. Oops, time to steer back to the bike lane. In the ride down skyline, there was this group of about 15 people (cyclista), who were riding together and I could not help wondering that it would be great to come down the hills in a formation with all of us in a team jersey of our own group.

After skyline, we biked a little on 35 and soon saw the signs for canada road. Great, known territory (we had biked this part of the course before) and we set off. Canada road is simply awesome and once more we found ourselves owning the whole road. CK called Vivek when they reached the intersection of canada and edgewood dr. We had just missed them and by the time the second call came through, we were on the other side of the canada road. :( Edgewood was the last big hill climb before home but then it was just a piece of cake.

The race was very very well organized with tons of volunteers, bikers, very well stocked water stops and an awesome course... I owe it to Vivek from all the bike tips, getting me to sign up for the race and riding with me through out the 33 miles. A very big thank you to G3, CK, Rajesh, Veena and Geeta for showing up early sunday morning and cheering us...

Now the interesting part - after race parties..

Lunch - Thabla.

Chai and Bourbon Biscuits - Veena's.

Rava Idlis for dinner - Ck's.

What a way to spend the sunday. Life feels great!!!

Napa to Sonoma Half

Had run this last year. Was my first long distance race and I wanted to run it again this year.

It was very simple, considering all the time I had spent it last year and the vivid memories of each turn and loop and water stop. Most importantly remembered to fuel right between water stop 7 and 10.

Was pleasantly happy with my time.  1:59:53.  Was it just me, I wonder?

MTT

It has been sometime since I last posted. Time to renew it for this years training. 

Ran the MTT with Chakri and group 1 and guess what I broke 7 minutes a mile. I know now what Roger felt like... :))

It was a major ego booster, from 8:45 beginning of last year to 7:20 end of last year to 6:58 beginning of this year, whoa the ride with Asha gets crazier each day.

All I am grateful for is "Life feels great".

My journey to Big Sur!

It all started after Chicago Marathon, when in runner's high Rajesh and me were in search of the next marathon to run. Arun higly recommended Big Sur.

Though taunting, the pictures looked extremely scenic and the very same day we registered. We talked to Chakri and Krishna and after the discussion at the party in Rajesh's place Krishna created the bigsur07 yahoo group.

The plan was to start traning in Jan, after all the december vacations. Chakri had the plan all chalked out and Chakri, Rajesh and Krishna started the runs at Rancho. After my recovery from bronchitis I joined them as well.

Each saturday morning my body would have a mini revolution. But then I would remember Chakri's email to bigsur07 and it would make me wanna be a big sur marathoner and run.
Example: Big Sur Marathoners : 10 -12 miles
Rest : :-)

The first mile at Rancho is the best part, where it is all flat and easy. We would usually stretch at the barn and then the hills would start.

The minute we started on the hills, vivid memories of running to the fallen tree (the only time I had previously run at Rancho) flooded me and I knew God did not make me to run uphills. :)
Rajesh was our hill king. He loved those hills and sometimes after reaching the top he would even come back down to run up the hill with me. Wheww!!! Soon Krishna started doing the same and of course I need not say about Chakri's strengths.....

I started realizing that if I did not do the hills, my chance of completing Big Sur was close to DnF (Did not Finish). I started walking all the uphills. If fallen tree was tough, doing the black mountain was a nightmare. Half the time I was either lost in the amazing scenary or in the constant whining going up the hills. Going down was my favourite part. After all I did not have to put effort in pushing my body. Gravity took care of that. :))

While running at Rancho, the favourite passtime was to compute the distances we did and the detailed elevation analysis. Krishna and Rajesh would have detailed discussions on the numbers and usually Rajesh sent an email with analysis of each and every section, the mileage and boy was he strict about it.

Usually the number game just makes me dread it the next time we do the hills. However, on comparing the Big Sur elevation, the realization that our training had more elevation, made me feel really happy. :))

During these runs, Chakri ran into Anil and the idea of running PCTR came up. Well believe it or not, we simply jumped into it and registered for the 30k at Pirates Cove. That run was a murder on the legs. I thought the elevation was infinite and though very beautiful, it was really tough. Between pictures and helping fainiting old ladies :)) we survived yet another milestone. We also ran into Coach Martina and Harry.

Some things I will always remember from the training:
1) When we did the 22 miler, Rajesh was away in Chicago. He comes back and completes the 22 miler at Rancho on a monday morning. Phenomenal energy and way to go Rajesh!
2) I have to definitely mention Coach Raman's infinite strength. Most saturday mornings he would do a easy 6-7 miler. Come back and do a 20 with us and go back to do some more. Thanks coach for all those runs with us.
3) The best part was the post runs. We would enjoy those delicious Sesame bagels Chakri always managed to bring, relishing the thought of conquering yet another double digit miler on the rancho hills. :)
4) Saving fainting old ladies on the hills and the fun we had.

On a final count, we had the following Asha folks running at Big Sur. Coahes Tony and Raman, Chakri, Arun, Rajesh, Krishna, Anusha, Simmy, Anush, Arul and me.

Come the race weekend, Arun and me started driving in the afternoon. Arun had decided to pace me for time. Well, though the thought of running it faster gave me a thrill when I was only hoping to finish the marathon. :( Anyways, I thought I will hang to Arun for as long as I can.

On the race day, We started at about 4:00 am, did a slow jog to get to the buses. Slept a little
on the bus. Rajesh wanted to survey the scene to decide how the hills look like. :) The race was to begin at 6:45 am.

We started slow and the plan was to do a 7 minute run and a 1 minute walk. We were cruising along until we hit the base of the hurrican point hill. My legs gave way and we walked up most of the hill. My best memory from Big Sur was coming down hurricane point (downhill, yahooo) and crossing the bixby bridge. Vast openness and sea on one side and the mountain and greenery on the other. It was simply phenomenal.

We kept going at a great pace and caught up with Karen (from Redback). Come mile 18 and my glutes caught up with me too and decided it is time to rest and went to sleep. I had real trouble getting them to run. Well, we walked miles 18 to 20. After that felt somewhat better and we did run a while. Though blurry on the detail, we crossed mile 25 (which was a mini hill). We saw the finish line and as always raced it to the end.

Some things I will remember about the race:
1) Well many times we kept passing back and forth one Mr.Gopinath, who was a 60 year old and was running big sur for the third time. He was a big inspiration for me to keep running.
2) I would want to give up and walk and Arun would constantly keep motivating me.
3) Stop eating all the food they have out there. The strawberries they had were the best I had ever eaten and they felt great.

Many times in the race, I simply wanted to get on one of those yellow buses and head home, but much thanks to Arun I run (hmmm walked?) all the way.

Last but not the least, a huge thanks to the Asha folks, Anush, Gayatri, Anurag, Arpana, Pankaj, Grishu and Rupal for showing up at Big Sur and cheering us.

Thanks Chakri for the awesome mentoring once more. I cannot put in words all that you have personally done for me. Thanks Rajesh and Krishna for everything.
Thanks Arun for making me realize yet again that moving mountains ain't so difficult after all.

My hope is I will keep running with these awesome people for the rest of my life. Well time to decide on the next marathon. Chakri, Rajesh, Krishna, Arun....????

By the way Flying Horse tasted much much better than the Sam Adams. :)