Tsongmo Ultra Sikkim - The birthday month is calling in for a treat.
The goal was clear since it was the birthday month and that was to Travel to a place unexplored. The running event was an icing on the cake to have happened to fall during the said timeline. So to begin with, the agenda of giving back to the society drove myself down just a day prior to my birthday to Th Sikkim Himalayan Academy in west Sikkim at Bariokhop. It sounded doable when actually compared to the amount of travel time one may have to invest to reach such a remote destination. Guess the only driving force within me was to help the needy by extending support and doing the kind things as per once caliber.
Deeds done well in west Sikkim by celebrating my birthday month with the students of Sikkim Himalayan Academy. I was moved enough by the care takers of the school and that pushed do every bit possible in the schools favour. Be it the stationery and other essentials or just the fundraiser, I wish all the best to G s Gurung ji and his team to reach new heights of success
https://www.instagram.com/p/C4ZmE0LRFCW/?igsh=MXd6NzZjOWtsdTc3bA==
Reaching the destination was ofcourse a bit tricky but thanks to Mr Gurung who ironed it out for me in terms of transport to the village and had the assistance from Mr Nedup who meticulously planned the event and ensure I could start my onward journey to Gangtok for the next running event. We had a bunch of March students celebrate the birthday and were overly elated for an early celebration 🎈🎉. A dinner at the schools the night before followed by breakfast cooked by the dearly students was a sight to witness on how the sense of responsibility, discipline and management skills are inculcated in an early age. This was quite impressive and this continues to get pass on to the generations that graduate from this academy.
Just as I grabbed myself to board my cab, the students had me bowled over with their greetings and how, look for yourself -
Guess this made my day and fixated the most precious moments I could ever relish for lifetime.
The goodbyes are never easy, be it because of the moments you spend that move you emotionally or a long relentless state of mind you develop from any relationship that has created a niche in your livelihood. Running just does the job of multiplying such feeling of stern belief that you are not alone and we as a community look forward to promote fitness as one such ingredient that can pull you out of circumstances that you may have thought is turning your life upside down.
Hellooooo Gangtok, the city that either goes up or down in terms of roads. This answer the very question how the runners gun down the miles like no ones business.
So peeps who plan to travel to Gangtok, you can land at Bagdogra Airport till you have the airport at Sikkim fully functional which is going to be post 31st March. At Bagdogra Airport, you can board cab booked on https://www.wizzride.com/ and the best part is that you can book your seat, so better do it in advance and get picked at the airport parking lot. They run innovas that seat 5+1 only and is a far more better option than the shared rides in Sumos and Boleros that don't stop stuffing people:).
The mornings were cold and so were the evenings, so the usual routine was to either run and workout in the morning followed by good productive hours at work just before you head out to explore the culinary delights in Gangtok. To make life simpler, you can simply to choose to loiter around MG Marg that is a hub that hosts the best of the best cafes and the cafes with a view will leave you spell bound. Traveling inside the city is easy too with local shared cabs plying around the city and there are plenty of them. The stays have plenty of options and I generally prefer airbnbs hosting a kitchen to cook your own meal. Guess that's one learning when being on a specific diet with a event just round the corner.
The bib pickup a day before the race may not have fancied you as much but was sure to raise some eyebrows with the very social cause of preventing AIDs and you were up for some grabs if you wish for and was a great gesture at the raising awareness among the people.
With social bits here and there, I just happened to connect with Dharma and Nandini while Lucky's arrival was in doubt but had finally made it to the cut. A short reunion of Bangalore runners was wished for to end the day with preps for tomorrow's run.
Start time of 5am could be a chase for all, but the bus arrangement from SNT bus stop could make things easier for you but again, you may have end up getting up by 3am to board the bus at 3:45am. That would deman for an early sleep to grab the most prior to the race day. With handful runners you have a choice to arrange a private cab to the start point and is hassle free with many cabs plying around quite early in the morning.
As we gained altitude, the cold weather seemed pricking and as always not having the ability to withstand the temperature, I could only ask for some shelter before the race began.
Signed up for a 36km to a ovoid burn outs as the primary goal for the month was Ooty Ultra 60km. Hence wanted to retain the steam as much as I could. Mind you that even shorter frequent fatigue runs can burn you out and therefore the idea of tapering during the days approaching the big day is necessary. Keeping in mind the elevation gains at Ooty Run, I handled tsomgo Ultra as one of the training runs and also to tap the current potential in me post loosing 2kgs during the start of the year. The pace has definitely increased marginally and would like to retain that ways as longer as I can. So, how did I strategize the run? The less stressful part of the run was run out half the mileage and cover the same distance in return. The more stressful plan was to achieve all that elevation in the first part of the run.
A minor turn off at the start point was the delay in starting the race as we waited for the flag off guest to make the presence felt. So we continued to take shelter in the nearby cafe and only ventured out when the race start was announced.
The only goal for this run was the first half and that was to reach the peak at the U turn. A slow and steady climb till I reached the 18th km was quite a task. The painful climbs were felt at 10th km and this is where you may tend to kiss your knees on the way up. Indeed an ordeal!
The ski warmer with long sleeves dri fit and a wind proof jacket during the first half of the run did it work to keep me warm. The gloves, buff and money cap had gotten wet enough from the sweat, but the idea is to never get rid of them when you run in a weather prone to irratic conditions and in this frost bite could lead to a thing or two as you keep gaining altitude. The drifit shorts with tights didn't need much cover up as the movement in the legs were able to generate enough heat.
The aid stations were adequate and placed within 4-5kms interval and served the basics that you could expect from any ultra runs. This was not an issue and the volunteer were vigilant to guide you on the race route, cheer and offer you the nutrition.
United was on the way down. Meeting Nandini and Dharma as they enjoyed the run to the fullest.
Just when I felt comfortable with the pace down the road, I could feel the stiffness in my right leg and I much realised that the cold weather was doing its bit in making things worse. It just wasn't the pain but also changes in the weather conditions at the peak had some effects the muscle recovery. Halted for a while and had my share of stretches before I could plan on continuing the run.
The run down wasn't easy either and every bit of it just reminded me of ladakh khardungla challenge. This was indeed a mini KC that one could wish to train for the 72kms run in Ladakh. The 75km at Tsomgo Ultra guess does the justice to qualify for KC and Silk route too.
As I continued to head down, the traffic had started building as this road was often frequented by tourist to visit the Tsomgo lake followed by Nathulla pass. This is like a day trip covering both the peaks on a day of clear weather.
The kanchenjunga view from Tsomgo Lake is to die for. The cable cars can take you to yet another altitude and can prove to be journey that you always waited for.
The view
Well, this was all covered post the run as we managed to hitch a drive and down with now mutual friend and runner Parikshat who had gunned down the 36km category in a giffy.
While I continued my downhill run, I could feel the stiffness in my right leg and often felt cold leading to the developing pain too. A short halt with some stretches did the job. This helped me increase my pace to an extent as I pushed myself to reduce the altitude as much as I could to stay away from the breeze and the cold. Half way down, I could feel the heat building within too and hence decided to peel off the wind jacket off me and continued with a steady pace. Downhill are tricky at time when you fall prey to the zero effort down chase but has immense impact on the knees and will be felt with aging muscles and tendons.
As I was closer to the finish point, I witnessed the rush hour of the tourist that were waiting at the checkpoint and was quite a chaos with no road left to run as cars queued up on both sides of the road. This run does not have restrictions on traffic and well versed during the race briefing and therefore the onus is on you for safety on road. You could choose to wear a reflector on your vest for the incoming traffic to notice you and avoid any mishaps. It may also happen that you loose track of the path because there was hardly any soul on the road when the race first began and on the way back, your attention to direction of the route was a must. I did end up asking a few locals for the road to finish and guided well.
This run was entirely based on gel consumption as a majority than some natural ingredients. This was to check how well does it help me last and this being a shorter distance compared to the Ultra, was a good training ground to inculcate new technique. All in all, a good run without any hiccups. So glad!!
Ending up with my thoughts on targeting events as training runs.
Adopt a Healthy Philosophy #borrowedquote
“The advice I have for beginners is the same philosophy that I have for runners of all levels of experience and ability: consistency, a sane approach, moderation, and making your running an enjoyable, rather than dreaded, part of your life.”
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