Sinhagad Epic Trail 11km - Hello Sir, Aap kahan train karte ho?

Firstup, its so good to see the trail running community growing and meeting familiar faces is a motivation in itself. That assures we are doing something that everybody vibes sure. Having raced the Great Mawla Ghati Trail short category run, this was yet another stint but pretty technical in the shorter format as the climb itself is a trek that needed all the effort upwards and downwards quite equally.

Also, having done the 30 km category in previous edition, the route was known to me to an extent and I knew the initial climb takes a lot of toll on you as the elevation changes quite drastically and this time the navigating through the crowd on these narrow trails was certainly a challenge. Requesting people to give way and being apologetic for close brushes was all a part of the effort at this stint. The fellow runners were kind enough to let us pass through and cheer us here and there as pushed harder in the treacherous trail. This a regular trekking path, however it does get technical in certain areas and need yo protect your knees from knocking the boulders.

The start line welcomed us with muck and was pretty sluggish as you can see the picture above. You cannot take a chance to mess up your shoe and had to avoid by running around it and not through it given it was just a few meters from the start line and one wrong foot landing could cost you the entire race.

With the usual competitive edge, we began the run and in no time the technical elevation could be felt in my leg. The weather wasn't of any concern at the start of the race but a few drizzle before the run start time did worry me a little as I chose not to wear any rain jacket. The only goal left now is to climb and navigate through the mixed crowd of runners and trekkers. The usual hydration strategy with electrolytes and energy gels and not having to depend on any aid station. While this run category run hosted only one aid station at the U turn at 5.5kms mark. Running faster on trails does picture ourselves as exhibits to fellow runners and as expected the cheers start pouring in. All made way for us to pass through and at times we were an inconvenience for folks who tend to stumble upon as we show up in a hurry.

In the 11km category, the trek route is the only trail terrain for about 2kms or so and the rest is the tar road. The elevation profile below couldn't be any more clearer.

You could recover the pace on the downhill on the road and during the last leg on the trail that was again the 2km of the initial climb which was being run down now. There was no stopping considering you are well aware that the endurance will be dedicated for a couple of hours or less and you had it in you to push harder. The down hill on the trail again wasn't easy and much could be felt on the knees. This was a reminder of all the leg workouts that made to your strength training and are such a must have.

With over a 1km to go, I was head on with Vardhan and we both were at it on the down run. This had to be carefully executed. An advice for new runners could be to also work on your core and back to maintain stability while thumping your foot on the downhill. In addition, the reflexes could need some training too as choosing the right ground to land your foot and keep moving without pausing your run demands for a lot of practice sessions or events that could be used training runs to plan your strategy for your category A runs.

It had gotten quite competitive and also a quest to challenge once ability and motivating each other is something we kept doing. The hustle was for real and little did we know that we were chasing the 2nd runner up position and the photo finish which didn't make it to the gallery could have witnessed the 5 second gap between us. On crossing the finish line, we rested our heels and astonishingly proud of our feat.

While we kickstarter our celebration quite early, we were bound to wait and spend sometime till our fellow warriors gunning down other category runs could make it back home.

Geetanjali being the surprise package while Shraddha making her presence felt yet again with a podium finish

Congratulations Bhushan (the tall fella)

Ronak is getting back to shorter categories too

Roshan makes it to finish line in the 30km category

Reza falling in love with trails again

Vj who wants to be there and not be there at the same time

Jinesh is now becoming a old customer too

Last but not the least, dedicate time for your recoveries and if you want to make the most of the physio facilities at any event, just show up early at the finish line :).

Now an important question thrown at me towards the end of the proceedings by a young lad curious to know where I train - Hello Sir, Aap kahan train karte ho??

Guess I took sometime and to answer the question, the numbers of runs done so far has helped me develop the endurance and retain the muscle memory in a fashion that could be executed at will. Knowing how strength plays a long lasting role in the sport of running, I am okay to compromise on my weekly mileage runs but not on the weight and strength training.

Food for thought:

If you choose to take care of yourself, you are going to get more mileage for your runs.