The Last Tiger of Ajanta

An edited version of this blog was published by Mongabay-India

On an unusually cold night in October 1964, Jalambaba sat in a cowshed at the edge of Mukpat village, barely two kilometres from the Ajanta caves of yore. Through a hole in the wall, he could just about see the outline of the dead cow, which was less than ten feet away. A single-bore, country-made shotgun in hand, he was waiting for the perpetrator to return.

“When clouds parted, moonlight revealed a tiger feeding on the carcass of the dead cow. Jalambaba, your grandfather, squeezed the trigger and there was a loud bang. The whole village heard it and people started gathering near the Hanuman temple. Everybody wanted to know if the tiger was dead, but nobody had the courage to approach the cowshed where Jalambaba sat all night waiting for the tiger.”

I was eight years old when my grandmother first told me this story. For several years I made her retell this story asking for more details each time.

Nobody ever saw a tiger in the forests of Ajanta after that night. Would it be the last tiger of Ajanta?

I never met Jalambaba, my grandfather, for he had passed away long before I was born, but he was my hero. He was the bravest person I knew.

This changed a little when I learned in school that we must protect wildlife for the benefit of future generations. I was told that people who kill tigers were poachers – “bad people”. I wondered if my grandfather was the reason that I will never see a tiger in Ajanta. I knew that Jalambaba had killed two tigers in his lifetime – both of them right at the edge of our village where they had killed cows. But it bothered me that he had probably killed the last tiger of Ajanta. As a kid, I remained proud of my grandfather’s bravery, but I never told the story to my friends. I was ashamed of it.

Ajanta caves in the western state of Maharashtra are carved in basalt rock on the banks of the Waghur (Tiger) river. They are surrounded by ravines covered in deciduous forest and dotted with small villages. Photo by Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi.

Jalambaba was a hero not only for me but also for all the older people of my village. To them, the tiger was like the Razakars – the militia of the Nizam State that violently resisted the integration of Hyderabad in the Dominion of India. They said that the tiger would steal cattle, and kill people, just like the Razakar. The people of my village displayed the dead tiger just like the Indian military had done with the local Razakar commander during the Hyderabad Police Action of 1948. My grandmother told me that the only difference between the tiger and the Razakar was that the villagers ran to the hills when the Razakar came and ran to the village when the tiger came.

The tales of tigers and Razakars are fading from the memory of my village. There is now the occasional leopard that prowls the fields at the edges of the village. My father, who still works the same fields as my grandfather, has seen the leopard a few times. My luck has been restricted to seeing the occasional jungle cat. I sometimes wonder if my daughter, who is four years old now, will have the opportunity to see at least a jungle cat, or will they also go the tigers’ way.

Return of the tiger

Unexpectedly, on a cold December morning in 2019, more than 50 years after the death of the ‘last’ tiger of Ajanta, a young tiger walked into Ajanta. The tiger had returned. Newspapers were flooded with reports of a three-year-old tiger that had wandered into the forests of Ajanta and stayed there for eight days. The forest department had kept the news under wraps so that people do not panic and the now-famous UNESCO world heritage site of Ajanta caves does not get bad publicity.

This tiger was a known individual, that had been radio-collared in Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in Yavatmal district and had been named TPWL-T1C1. Thanks to the radio collar, the forest department could closely monitor the movements of the tiger. A big thanks to the tiger – for he did not go near human habitation and fed entirely on wild animals. After eight days and nights, he moved away toward the Dyanganga Wildlife Sanctuary in Buldhana district and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, especially the forest department.

This eight-day event is significant, for he shows the resilience of the forest and the tiger. Several crores of rupees are needed to conduct reintroduction programs to repopulate the tiger’s former distribution range. Despite spending large amounts of money, success is often elusive. This need to bring back lost megafauna is now becoming a buzzword in conservation – “re-wildling.” The idea here is to restore populations of large charismatic animals like the rhino, elephant, lion and tiger to parts of their former distribution range where they have gone extinct in recent times.

Such efforts are usually expensive and, more importantly, often force the local people to re-adapt to living with animals that have been absent from their memory for at least a few generations. This eight-day event suggests that if the connectivity of forests is maintained, then tigers will reoccupy their former distribution range wherever there is enough prey for them to persist.

Ajanta caves are surrounded by villages with patches of dry deciduous forests. A herd of Nilgai walks past a few houses next to wheat fields. Photo by Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi.

This is unlikely to be the last time that a tiger walks to the Waghur river gorge of Ajanta. The forests of Ajanta are contiguous with the Gautala and Autramghat Wildlife Sanctuary. If prey densities remain high and connectivity remains intact, then this region can potentially harbour a few tigers shortly. The real question is – if tigers return to Ajanta after an absence of over 60 years – what will be the relationship of the local people with the tiger and the forest department? How do we ensure that local people do not perceive the return of the tiger as the return of the Razakars?

After Indian independence, people like my grandfather hunted tigers not only because they preyed on the precious livestock of the villagers but also because tigers symbolised oppression – by the British officers and the royals and their courtiers who cared more for their hunting trophies than for the people. The brief period of brutalities by the Razakars was like salt in the wounds of the farmers.

Forcing conservation of large and potentially dangerous species on the marginalised farmer of today is similarly oppressive. Reintroduced or relocated tigers have killed people in this country on multiple occasions. Naturally dispersing individuals like TPWL-T1C1 could also pose a threat to people. Prioritising conservation of potentially dangerous animals over human safety needs a great amount of trust between the people who want to see these animals protected, and the people who will live with the animals that have been protected. In the absence of such trust, the protectors of animals can also be the oppressors of people.

The mental game behind my DNF at Malnad Ultra 110 km

After having done well at several 50k, 50 mile and one 12 hour race, I thought, I was ready to take-on a big trail 100k. The obvious race was the Malnad Ultra 110K 2019. It is close to where I live; it is prestigious, a UTMB points race and a Western States qualifier. I had had a good season of training. Physically and mentally I was in great shape, so what went wrong during the Malnad ultra 110K 2019?

Me doing great somewhere around 30K. Here is me with Kay at an aid station. 

I was prepared for running the distance, climbing the elevation, handling the technical sections, managing hydration and nutrition and getting over mental low points. I had experienced bouncing back from severe bonks. 

During the race, as planned, I completed the first 50 km in about seven hours. I had accomplished it without a serious effort. I felt confident about finishing the remaining 60 km. That was when the first surprise occurred. I found the entire lead pack waiting at the 50 km mark. They said that there was a problem with the markings ahead and so they had turned back a couple of times from the 55 km mark. They were obviously very annoyed. This was the first time I lost focus during the race. My attention started to shift from my race to how others were doing, what the race director was going to do about the situation. I started worrying about things that others were responsible for. 

That was fixed in some time and we all headed out again. This time I started with the lead pack but then they ran ahead with a vengeance. That was when the second surprise came, there were small loops of 1-3 km along the course. These were sections where one came back to the same point and continued along the main course. Unfortunately these were not manned. I saw several people cut the course at such loops. One can still see this on people's strava uploads. They were either accidental or purposeful. This was a severe blow to my morale. It made me ask the wrong question. Why am I doing this? I don't want to run with people who are cheating on the course! 

Then the hardest question. How does it matter if I skip one of these tiny short loops on the side? A lot of people were doing it (and hats off to those who were not doing it). This is when I panicked. The circumstance were testing my integrity. This was something that I was not prepared for. My mind went on a repeat-mode, "This is ridiculous - the race is not designed well and everyone is cutting corners - if I don't do the same then I will find myself slipping back to the back." 

If I fell to the temptation of cutting on of the loops then I would have to live with it for the rest of my life. I knew it was easier to deal with a DNF than having to live with such a lie. That is when I pressed the eject button. It was 74 km when one of these tiny loops came around the start finish area. I was suffering like everyone else at this point in the race. It was about 12 hours since the start so I was doing well in terms of the 24 hour cutoff but I knew my race was over. 

I a, glad that I pulled the plug. It would have been hard for me to not skip one of the many side loops. It is easy to cheat when you can justify it. I had good justification -- I had been wronged by the race with poor route marking, and competitors cutting corners. I could have easily justified my cheating to myself but I would not have been able to live with it. My biggest respect to the many runners who had the mental resolve to complete the whole course without cutting the side loops. You know who you are. I aspire to your level of mental strength. 

Was I mentally prepared for this race? Yes and no. The problem is that, mental fitness is hard to measure. It is also hard to say what the race will throw at you? I remember when the HURT100 was threatened mid-race with a missile strike and people still completed the race. My excuse of poor course markings and cheating competitors is not enough, so I guess, I will have to do the race all over again.  

Running a historic route: Sinhagad-Rajgad-Torna 50 km

The History:

Together, Sinhagad, Rajgad and Torna make the most significant cluster of historic forts anywhere in Maharashtra. Rajgad served as the capital of the Maratha empire during the early years of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's life. This was the first capital of his idea of Swaraj. Torna, was the first fort that Shivaji conquered at the young age of 16 years and thus the seed of the Maratha empire. Sinhagad, originally known as Kondhana is the third and the most significant fort of this trio. It saw more battles and attacks than most forts in the history of the Maratha empire. Most notable of them was the battle of Sinhagad in 1670 when Tanaji Malusure recaptured this fort from the Mughals and brought it back to the Maratha empire. He famously used his pet monitor lizard 'Yashwanti' to scale the steep walls of this fort. He lost his life in this battle and became immortal in the annals of History.

I have been a history buff about the Maratha forts, thanks to my uncle who took me on treks to various forts from a very young age. He had set-up his own trekking club in Pune and I was the youngest member. Many years went by and I took up ultra running more seriously. Now imagine my joy when I heard that there was going to be an ultra marathon connecting these three historic forts in Maharashtra. The distance was a full fifty kilometres with an estimated 2,500 meters of elevation gain and an almost similar amount of decent. I was not trained at my peak level but I was not going to leave this opportunity. I registered and trained my level best.

The Route:

The race was to start at the foot of the Sinhagad fort towards Pune city. The route would then climb straight up 700 meters to Sinhagad fort. It then went toward Kalyan Darwaja and went over the ridge connecting it to the Nagphani cliff. From there it descended to Vinzar village. A flat ten odd kilometres from here brought the runners to the base of Rajgad fort. This is the first 25 km. Another steep climb up six hundred meters took the runners up to the first Machi of Rajgad. The route did not climb up the Bale-Killa, instead headed down to the ridge that connects Rajgad with Torna. This is the famous 14 km trek between Torna and Rajgad. The final climb to Torna is full of steep basalt rock faces and ladders. The last stretch was a steep decent down the main trail leading up to Torna and the last 5 km were on a tar road to a village school where the race would end.

This race had the most amount of elevation that I had ever done in a single race. In fact, this was the most elevation that I had climbed in a single day ever. I was looking forward to it. I had done well over this distance in my past outings. I also believed that that the years of working in the high Himalaya and Central Asian mountains had made me a better climber. So I was expecting a lot from this race. I also thought that I now had the necessary experience. I was going to go slow but stay ahead of the crowd because the single trail and steep terrain could be difficult if one got caught in the traffic.

At the finish line of the SRT 50km

Race report:

I started at a moderate pace from the starting line to the base of Sinhagad. It was a flat 2.5 km on the road. Within this distance along I had gone past all the early sprinters. I had my head lamp on; many other runners did not bother with a head lamp because it was a 5am start. It would be day break after the first hour itself. I was wearing my head lamp because the risk of stepping on a loose rock and twisting an ankle was real. It was worth carrying the flash light for the fifty kilometres. The climb up Sinhagad is a steep one and a tough one at that. I was hoping to overtake a lot of runners here. But I was surprised. I barely overtook one person on this stretch (after the race I found out that I was still the fastest on this climb and still hold the CR for it on strava at the time this blog was written). I came up to the first aid station on top of the Sinhagad. I was informed that I was within the top ten. I was happy with that. On my descent past the Kalyan Darwaja the terrain got tricky. It was a poor hiking trail with steep drops and loose gravel. I had to focus on every step.

When I came to the ridgeline connecting Sinhagad to Nagphani peak the views were utterly breath-taking. The sun was peeking out in the distance on my left. The slopes of the ridgeline sharply dropped on both sides leading to thick forests everywhere. Rajgad and Torna seem far away on the horizon. They looked like sleeping giants. Rising up with every step that I took in their direction. Small villages were nestled inside the thick forest and slivers of white smoke coming from huts broke the monotony of the green canopy. I felt I could keep running on this ridgeline for ever.

This is when I caught up to the next runner. He was a Junior Office from the India Navy. He did something with their signals. I could see that he was a stronger runner than me but he was not as sure-footed in the mountains as I was. The cliffs of Nagphani are daunting. There are 500 foot drops by the trails at several places. I knew that the only way I was going to go past him was by using my sure-footedness in this section. I sped up after spending a few minutes chatting with him.

The descent from Nagphani to Vinzar was a steep one. I was flying down but also careful not to blow away my quads. I caught up with two more runners. Again I could see that they were better runners but struggled with the steep descend on trails. Once I went past them they stuck to me stepping in the foot holds that I vacated. We got to the base and both of them flew past me. I was a little shocked. But I learned that I could make up ground on the technical and hilly sections while most people will drop me on the flat runnable sections. The next ten kilometres were flat and this is where I made my first mistake. I started chasing the two people who had flown past me. During this stretch we went past 2-3 villages. And despite it being a Sunday, school students lined the roads to welcome us. I was not sure if the were forced by their teachers but their smiles said otherwise. I had picked up a few chocolates at the aid station that I handed over to these kids. After five kilometres, I caught up with one of the two runners. He was struggling with some knee pain. I spoke to him for a few minutes and then headed on my way. Soon enough I caught up with the other runner who had gone past me. He was a 19 year old young guy. His longest race before this was a half Marathon but what he lacked in experience, he made up very well in his athletic ability. He was a strong runner. Not only had I made the mistake of catching him up, I also stayed with him for the next five kilometres. The heat and the fast pace lead me to my fist bonk even before I had started the climb on Rajgad. On the climb up, there was no breeze, very little shade and I was already running on empty. The next kilometre (which was steep uphill) took me a good 20+ minutes. This was my slowest in the entire race and all races that I had ever done. I used all my experience to come out of it. I tried to get my breath under control, ate a couple of gels, hydrated well, poured some water on my head to cool off and stopped thinking about the race. Now, I was thinking only about the problem at hand. How to get up over Rajgad. I knew I had to be slow but steady. I put my head down and set a slow, steady but strong stride.

My strength started to come back. Before I knew I was up on the first Machi of Rajgad. The descent towards Torna ridge was tricky with a lot of loose gravel and large rocks that could hurt my ankles really bad. A few stretches were roped and if one got delirious, then you could even fall to your death. This was exactly what I needed to make up time on the other good runners. I zipped down it like on a zipline in an amusement park. The ridgeline connecting the two big forts is long and rolling. I did it at a steady pace. As I came close to Torna, I could see the next challenge that was coming up. The climb up to Torna was completely denuded of any tree cover. The grass had burned-off and the black basalt rock absorbed the mid day heat. It was going to be like running on a frying pan! I gave up all pretext of running and set into a steading power hiking mode until I reached the summit of Torna. To stave off another bonk, I was eating regularly. On the last section I had a gel in my hand when a Bonnet macaque (a monkey) jumped on my shoulder and stole it away!

The climb up to Torna is completely devoid of any shade. Image by Amogh Sarpotdar (wikimedia commons)

Once on the summit of Torna, I knew the climbing was done. There was still over eight hundred meters of downhill in the last 8-9 kilometres. This was a quad buster. Also, as I lost altitude, the heat started getting bad. I laid down next to a parked car near the last aid station because that was the only place with some shade. The aid station volunteers helped me cool down and cheered me up by pointing to the finish line (which only they could see) just five kilometres away. The last five kilometres were a grind. It was tar roads in the middle of the day. The temperature was in the thirties (Celsius). I reached the finishline in 7 hours and 45 minutes covering fifty kilimetres and three historic forts. There was little fanfare at the finish line. A few school kids and two volunteers who recorded my time from the timing chip and congratulated me on my fifth place finish. When I corrected them that I was sixth, they said that two of the earlier runners had finish together and insisted that I 'accept' the fifth place. Which I did gladly.

Post race:

Just as I thought that there was no fanfare at the finish-line, I entered the school premise next to the finish line and I was surrounded by volunteers. They helped me get rid of my wet shoes. A physio looked me up for injuries. He also helped me with some key stretches. They had prepared a place for a shower. I did not have spare clothes so I was lent some clothes by another volunteer. The food that was served was the tastiest that I had had in a long time. This is when I found out that the runners in 4th, 5th and 6th (me) place had all finished within 5 minutes of each other. Now suddenly five minutes felt like very little time but back on the road it felt like a very long shot.

Race organisation:

This was the first edition of the SRT ultramarathon. I must congratulate the race director and all the volunteers for putting together a world class race in my home state of Maharashtra. Hats-off to the volunteers who managed the aid stations in inaccessible areas, high up in the Western Ghats. I saw some of them hiking up with 20 litres of water; Thank you. Some of them camped overnight in these areas. The aid stations were very well stocked. They had everything one could think of, coke, bananas, oranges, candies, chips, chocolates, lemon, salt. I could not think of anything that was not available. Aid stations were well spread out and volunteers also handed out water in between aid stations during the hottest part of the day. After the race, I had some very good conversations with the race organisers. They wanted feedback and I only had praises for them. For me, this race was made special by the warmth of the volunteers and the school kids who practically lined the entire route.    

Sinhagad - Rajgad - Torna ultra is an experience. I foresee this race growing by leaps and bounds. It is a race that will become part of every ultra runners bucket-list. I hope they add a 100k soon. I feel luck to have become part of it in the first edition itself.      

10 things my PhD taught me about Ultra Distance running

I am not suggesting that a PhD is needed for ultra running. I am only trying to squeeze-out every last drop out of my PhD experience. There were some clear lessons that I learned when doing my PhD and here is how I have applied them to my ultra running. 

Ultra running is any distances significantly longer than a marathon which is 42.2 kilometres. Is 42.3 significantly larger than 42.2? No, 'significantly longer' implies that this distance is large enough for a runner to have to use different strategies for pacing and training and that this distance will need to be 'run' differently. Typical everything from 50km onwards is considered Ultra. The worlds longest known ultra race is 4,989 kilometre long and it goes in loops around just one block in New York. I have tried to apply these lessons to the 4 ultras - two 50 km distances and one 72 and 84 km each - that I have run so far. 
  
For my PhD I studied the predator-prey dynamics between the snow leopard its wild herbivore prey and livestock across seven sites; 5 in Himachal Pradesh, one in Ladakh and one in Mongolia. Contrary to popular belief that carnivores kill livestock when there is not enough wild herbivore prey, I found that when there is more wild prey, there are more snow leopards and that leads to greater amount of livestock killing in that area!

Me at one of my low points in Malnad Ultra 50K. Then, I thought that was bad. Today, I know how much worse it can get. I am sure I have much worse to see in the future.

Back to Ultra running, what could a PhD in Ecology and conservation teach about Ultra running?  

1. Don't sign up under peer pressure: Do I need to say more about this? A PhD or an Ultra run are hugely demanding. You alone are the judge of your mental and physical preparedness to undertake such an endeavour. When one is forced to give-up mid-way, it can be a major setback for self-confidence. 

2. Surround yourself with people you like and people who like you and support you: PhD and Ultra running are often thought to be very solitary pursuits. Which might be true. But they are surely more bearable if you have friends to support you in this long Journey. I had my family, friends and mentors supporting me in my PhD Journey. My mentor continues to support me through my Ultra running together with my friends and family who are often on the side of the course cheering for me. Those bits of encouragement go a long way to forget the pain inflicted by the repetitive stress of PhD and distance running.    

3. There is no Eureka moment: My PhD taught be that even the most fascinating discoveries take years of working on solving smaller problems one at a time. As a scientist, you can visualise the resulting picture much before it appears, but until then you put your head down and work until you can show that picture to the rest of the world. Ultra running is a bit like that. I did not wake up one morning and said that I want to run ultras. After years of running shorter distances of 10, 21 and 42.2 km, I could see that I was now ready for the ultra distance. 

4. Break it down into bite-sized chunk: It is too much to think of the entire PhD or a 80 km run at one go. It helps to break it down into chapter, and objectives within those chapters and the data required for each of those objectives. Similarly, I break down an 80 kilometre run into sections between each aid-station and each of those sections into mini-sections depending on the route and terrain.  

5. Make the most of the momentum: There were times during my PhD when writing did not feel so difficult. That was the best time to write. Write when writing comes easy because then there will be times, when it will be hard to write even one sentence. There are times in an Ultra when it is not so difficult to run harder, that is the time to run. Because there will be times when just putting one foot in front of the other will seem like an impossible task.  

6. When you hit the low, 'survive today fight tomorrow': There are low points during a PhD. An impending deadline for a proposal or a talk, or a meeting and you are in the pits. That is the time to prioritise survival. Just find a way to survive it. Your PhD will not be defined by those lowest points. Wait it out and things will improve. Surprisingly, when you feel like quitting an ultra run, just hang in there for a few more kilometres and chances are that you will again feel better. I was on the verge of quitting after 32 km of my most recent ultra. I walked for a few kilometres, had a friend on my side to talk, and then went on to run 84 kilometres that day! 

7. Plan for the short-term and for the long-term: My PhD taught me to plan. I planned my work for the day, for the week, for the month, for the year and for the entire duration of the PhD. When conditions changed, I updated my work plans. That is exactly how I run the Ultras. I have a plan for the next stretch of the road until the next bend. Then a plan for the next kilometre (eg. I want to run this kilometre at a 6:00 min pace). Then a plan to get to the next aid station (eg. I would like to be at that aid station by 10am). Then a plan for the entire race distance. As the conditions change, I change my plans. In one of my ultra, I had IT band pain at 50 km and I had 22 km to go, so I used an anti-inflamatory spray on my knee, reduced my pace and carried on with a new timing goal which was slower than my original goal. 

8. Do your own PhD (Run your own race): I learned to focus on my own research. There were others who had published their first paper while I was still struggling with my proposal. In an ultra, Run your own race, don't start chasing the leader from from the gun. I am told that a 100 mile race starts at the 80th mile. I am yet to experience that. 

9. Learn from experiences of others: Science builds on existing learnings. As a PhD students, I read what others before me had done and I built on it. The same is true for ultra distance running. I have read most books out there on Ultra running. I have watched all the decent youtube videos about ultra running. I try to learn from the mistakes and successes of others.  

10. No problem asking "Why am I doing this?". The correct answer is "You signed up for it": This only works if you followed advice number one. 

Munnar Ultra Marathon 71km

Ultra runners are not 'crazy'. They are anything but crazy. These are people who have trained for years and planned for months to do something that only few can imagine. Yes they are 'crazy' as in they are extremely enthusiastic about running. I am one of those! The idea of running long long distances seems crazy in today's world where walking a few blocks down the road seems like a waste of time and effort. I will not try to answer the 'why' question but make an attempt at the 'How' question. How do people run these long long distance?

I have been running for fun for many years. It started with running for morning PT in my school. I realized that I enjoyed it a little more than many of my friends but I also had friends who were much better at it than me. I was in that spot where I was better and more enthusiastic than the average kids in the class but not fast enough to represent the school or my college. Time went by and I kept running for my fitness. When I was doing my PhD I kept running in the evenings because that helped me gather my thoughts and recover from tiring days of data analysis and writing. I kept running after my PhD because I was worried that I would end up with an unhealthy lifestyle. In all these years I rarely ran longer than 10 km and never ran longer than 17 km.

So what has changed now? After I registered for my first race - the Cauvery River Run - there has been no looking back. First I wanted to run a faster 10K, then I wanted to run a half marathon and in my enthusiasm I did not think much about a full marathon but jumped right into the world of Ultra running. I did run one full marathon (TRORT 2017) as a qualifier for my first ultra - The Malnad Ultra 50K. The years of consistent running provided me a good base to build on. I had my fair share of injuries along the way (you can read more about that here). For the past 5 years I have been setting 6 monthly and yearly running goals. In 2017, I wanted to complete one full marathon. I over shot this goal by miles, literally! I ran one full marathon and finished on the podium of the Malnad Ultra 50K. By Febreary 2018 I gained a 2nd place at Munnar Ultra 71K.

At first, I thought that I don't have the time to train for an Ultra marathon. I have a family and a full time job. I have a little kid who is less than 3 years old and my wife is studying/working full time. How was I to find the time to log 50 to 80 km every week? The answer was simple; I ran whenever and wherever I could. My job requires me to travel a lot. I did hill workouts when I was in Shimla for work meetings. I hiked when I was doing field work (it is a great way to recover from long and hard races). I was surveying the Argali and Ibex in the Tienshan mountains of Kyrgyzstan withing a week of running the Malnad Ultra and the hiking was a great way to recover from the race. I did night workouts on the treadmill when I could not run during the day. It helps that my colleagues and friends also like to run. It is not unusual for us to discuss work over a long run.

The racing season in the southern part of India is fairly short. The races start toward in August and end before the summer heat starts in March. I had already done the Malnad Ultra in October 2017 and I was looking to run another ultra as a stepping stone towards my goal of running a 100K race in 2018. I needed something close to Bangalore so I wont loose much time and money traveling to the race venue. Munnar Ultra seemed perfectly suited for it. The only problem was that Munnar Ultra is not a ITRA event so I knew I wont get any points that I can use to qualify for some of the big international races but the goal of the season was to move another step closer towards to goal of training for a 100K run. Munnar Ultra promised the right right distance (71K), the right elevation (2200m), the right weather and scenic route. It did not disappoint me on any of those accounts.

Toeing the starting line of Munnar Ultra Marathon 71 km

The Munnar Ultra started at the SAI training centre in Munnar town. It is a long jeep road that winds through tea estates, gardens and forests to finish back in the town. My goal in this race was to finish strong. That meant I had to get my hydration and fueling right. I needed to start slow (6 min per km pace) and keep getting 300-400 calories every hour. I was going to rely on sports gels for 200 calories per hour and hoped to make up the remaining 150 through the food available at the aid stations.

The race started well. The first hour was run in the dark. Almost none of the runners were carrying headlamps. Some of us used our cellphone light to see the road. I know that some of you are very surprised but the organizers did a great job of lighting the way using motorbikes and support vehicles. I cannot complain. At the crack of dawn I realized that this was going to be one of the most scenic races I had ever done. We saw a beautiful sun rise at around 15-17 kilometers into the race. I was running with Nagaraj. We knew that there were two other runners ahead of us. At the 25k mark we passed the second place runner. He has made the mistake of going out too fast and was paying for it already.

The next step of my plan was to keep a steady pace until the 40th kilometer when we would begin the long climb of 1500m and reach the summit at around kilometer 52. After that it was a long 20k descent. I had no plans for this descent. Nagaraj and I hit the base of the climb together but then he slowed down immediately. I still felt strong so I decided to push on. Now I was in second place. When I asked about the first place runner at the aid station, I was told that he was 30 min ahead of me. with only 30km to go I knew I wont be able to catch him. Also, I had learned that I had to run my own race. I continued up the hill at a steady power-hike pace. I was eating well and hydrating well. The race was very well organized and there was a hydration point every 4km with some food like bananas and oranges. I was able to steadily take 200 calories per hour from the gels that I was carrying and eat a banana or two and some oranges every hour. I was feeling strong.

Nagaraj and I running together. We ran together from the 10K mark to almost the 40K mark.

I was worried about my IT-band when I began my descent. But I was very happy to see that it gave me almost no trouble. I descended the entire 20km at a pace of 5.30 min per km. I entered the town at around 1pm. The sun was blazing and it was hot but the cheers of the local people carried me through. I finished the 72km in 2nd place in 7hr 20 min. I was very happy. At the finishline there were several people waiting for us to finish. The organizers had also arranged for the traditional Kerala massage at the finish line. By the end of the massage session an hour after the race, I already felt ready for another one.

I came home very pleased with my performance at Munnar Ultra. I had finished strong and come back without any injury. I was already planning my next race - potentially a 100k - while I was driving back to Bangalore from Munnar. The biggest take home from this race was that it pays to plan your training, race nutrition and mental readiness for ultra events. This race was, in many ways, easier for me than many of the shorter races that I had attempted without adequate planning even though the training may have been similar. Hence, ultra runners are not crazy, they are good planners! 

From IT-band injury to the podium of Malnad Ultra 50K

Stories from a Long Run

Two years ago I was suffering from a severe IT band pain after finishing a hilly 10K at the Goa River Marathon. Back then I know nothing about IT band tightening and the problems it could cause and how to solve these problems. There was a ton of information on the internet but little was reliable. I could not afford the sports physios and the doctors that I could afford knew very little about IT band stress. For nearly six months, all my attempts at running were thwarted by this IT band pain. That is when I decided to deal with it in my own way. The only advice that seemed to make sense was 'take it slow'. The rest of my body and mind were ready for a full 42.2 km marathon but my IT-band could not handle even a 5 km slow run. It was the ironic place where the rest of my body wanted to run but the pain cause by the IT band on the outside of my knee was unbearable. I decided to limit my daily runs to only 2 km and not increase the weekly miles by more than 10%. This is the classic advice for anyone starting long-distance running. I decided to apply it to my IT-band hacked running career.

This restrain was hard. To someone who does not run this might seemed like a no-brainer but to a seasoned runner who is hooked to the runners high this was a hard thing to implement. It was hard to stop at 2 km when my IT-band was not hurting but I know that pushing this limit will bring it back. In six month, my mileage was back to 60 km per week and I was again planning a half marathon. I was also dabbling in traithlons for cross training. I was very scared of increasing my running mileage too quickly. This is when I did the Thonnur Triathlon. But traithlon are no substitute to good long runs. After a few more half marathons I felt ready for a full marathon. I felt that my IT band could handle the increased miles.

This is when I realized the important of goal setting in long-distance running. I wanted to run my first full marathon but setting a purely timing based goal was very difficult. Any time that I aimed for would feel 'too difficult' when I was going through a low and feel 'too easy' when I was going through a high. I needed something less numeric and more experiential. Around this time I was also enjoying running on trails. The uniqueness of each trail made every run interesting. Running on the same trail felt like a different experience with season. I was enjoying the beautiful surroundings of lakes and mountains. This is when I finally decided to side stop my first full marathon and set my eyes ona mountain ultra trail race.

I chose the Malnad Ultra 50K. It promised 1500 m of mountainous uphills through the picturesque western ghats - a biodiversity hotspot. I was stepping up from my best racing distance of 21km and best training distance of 33 km to a 50 km trail race. But somehow the 50km in the hills felt the right amount of challenge. When I registered, the race organizers wanted me to have done a full marathon to be considered eligible for the 50k. I needed a race that was not too close to the Malnad Ultra and not too far out. I ran the TRORT full marathon as my qualifier for Malnad Ultra. This is a hilly full marathon on the outskirts of Bangalore. My goal was to finish this race strong. The fact that I finished in 3rd place was pure bonus and confidence booster.

Malnad Ultra 50K (Watch video)

This race is truely an experience. It is nestled in the midst of the lush green western ghats. This is a perfect setting for a mountain ultra trail race. The ultra running community is very special. I was embraced by fellow runners and I made several new friends. Toeing the starting line with the likes of Paul Giblin did not feel intimidating. It felt very inclusive and friendly. I started the race modestly. I was eating regularly at each aid station but I was running the uphills as well. Most people would walk the uphills. Somehow I felt easy running uphill. I was surprised when I caught up to the race lead around the 21st km. This was 'the peak' the highest point along the race. I was now running with Kieren and Sandeep. Together the three of us pushed the pace at the front. It went till the 38th Km when I found the pace too hot to handle. I dropped my pace but it was too late. The hard pushing in the front had taken its toll and I was bonking around the 40th km. Even walking felt hard but a gel and a few potato chips later I was ready to push through the bonk. I kept repeating to myself that this is an ultra and things go up and down all the time. This too shall pass. I was ready to push through the bonk but the last 10km was a steep uphill. The hardest of the race. Mentally I needed to get to terms with everything that was happening. I knew the race leaders were somewhere ahead of me but I did not know how far behind was the 4th place runner. I tried to listed to the cheer of the aid station behind me but no sounds came. Perhaps I was comfortably ahead. I was in the no mans land. Not a soul around me except the birds chirping in the canopy of the trees.

"I caught up with the race leaders at 'the peak', the highest point in the race"

It was here that I discovered what all other ultra runners know as 'a dark place' in the race. I found myself contemplating things like 'existentialism' and our place in the universe. I never thought I was capable of such thought but it helped get through the last few kilometers. The final few kilometers were spent thinking how it would feel to be crossing the finish line in 3rd place. To say I was suffering, both mentally and physically, is an understatement. 

Crossing the finish line in 3rd place in one the most prestigious ultra in the country felt amazing. there was an immediate high that I experienced at the finish line which was quickly replaced by a calm that I had never felt before. I spent the evening with fellow runners from my dormitory and a barbecue. We all shared stories from the day and the stories from the middle and the back of the race were as exciting as from the front of the race. The evening made the experience even more memorable.

It was only on the train ride back to Bangalore that I remembered my IT-Band Injury!  

At the 40 km mark during the Malnad Ultra

Birding in Cambodia!

"Depressing!" That was my first reaction on being asked about birding in Cambodia.

This is not a birding trip report with a long check-list and details on where to see some of the exciting bird species. This is a description of the experience of birding in a new place. Bhagya and I were very happy to be going to Cambodia for our first international holiday. I had wanted to go to Cambodia every since I was a little kid. Still in school I had read a lot about Ankor Wat. Then when I had started birding going to a south-east Asia meant a treasure of bird species. I could not have been more wrong about birding in Cambodia and more right about my fascination with the temples of Ankor Wat.

The first sign that this was going to be a rather dull experience was the lack of birds around the airport when we landed in Phnom penh. All I saw was a few sparrows in a small garden. But no pigeons, myna or crows around. Phnom Penh was a sad place. It was more crowded than Delhi's Chandni Chowk. We immediately moved to Siem Reap to be closer to the Ankor Wat. It was a long 10 hour journey by road. I was hoping to get glimpses of at least a few species of birds and again I was left high and dry. The only moving life that I saw was at the lunch break when scorpions, spiders and unknown birds were on the menu. Not a single chirp nor a single movement in the canopy.

Siem reap was only a notch better. The town is very touristy. Beautiful and clean with a river passing right through the middle. There was a large roost of flying foxes in the middle of the city. These were promising signs. I did spot a zebra dove somewhere on an electric cable. Then to my shock we found a series of bird cages along the walk way. Most had native bird species in them. They had doves, Mynas, Sparrows, Weaver. But the most shocking was the cage with two oriental pied hornbills! These cages were on public display by the authorities. After three days of wandering around parks, rivers and canals I had seen more local birds in public cages than I had seen outside.

Bhagyashree standing next to a bird cage n public display next to the river in Siem reap

For the next seven days, we cycled from Siem Reap to a different temple in the Larger Ankor Wat Complex. It was in this complex that I finally saw a few birds. The most notable was a Black Baza right next to the main Ankor Wat Temple. It was really a stark difference inside and outside the Ankor Wat tample complex. Inside one would see drongos, flycatchers and squirrels but outside was completely silent.

This is when I realized that I enjoyed birding but I am not a birder who goes to protected areas and birds for rare endemics. I am a birder who enjoys watching birds that are all around me as I go about my life. I bird from my balcony, outside my office, at the airport or train-station, the occasional boat ride, on a bicycle ride, on a long run.

The place was abundant with trees but there was no chirping to be heard

We went on the Tonle Sap lake. One of the biggest lakes in south-east Asia and all we saw was 3 spot-billed pelicans and a few pacific swallows. I was told that I should visit the bird sanctuary and that is where I can find the storks and ibises. This place is home to the giant ibis and greater adjutant stork. Both are critically endangered species. But then we decided against it. It would cost us a few hundred dollars to visit the sanctuary to see these species. For me there was no point in going to a sanctuary to watch a rare species when the ones outside had no future.

Back in India, my home, I enjoy watching the shikra hunt the sunbird at my window. I love watching the cinereous tit dance on the electric cable. I get distracted by the deep cooh of the coucal or the loud whistle of the koel; the chatter of the mynas; the acrobatics of the kites and the occasional falcon. I rarely travel to protected areas for birding. I feel that I enjoy the rare species in the protected areas only when I see their commoner cousins doing well outside.       

Tired after a spending a full day of looking for birds and not finding any!

The entire trip list can be seen on my eBird Profile page here: