Interaction with runners at Wipro Bangalore campus on Sept 7, 20013

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Interaction with runners organised by Puma, build up to the Spirit of Wipro run on September 22, 2013. Over 50,000 Wiproites, their friends and families will run on September 22 across the world.

Some of the things which made MDS unique and special for me -

The mix of participants, 1000 odd runners comprised of people from different geographies, if I remember correctly about 50 different countries. Big chunk of runners from France and Britian, about 300 each and its capped at that, participants from these two countries have a two year waiting list. Most other geographies have it lot easier as they have country/territorywise quotas, this is a conscious effort to make it a truly global event. I had registered about 9 months before the race and got in quite easily.

I met some very interesting people, from different walks of life, an electrician, business man (similar to an Indian baniya), commodities broker, economics student, nurse, hobby photographer, printing technologist, professional athletes  and retired professional athletes from different sports. Another interesting fact was the various shapes and sizes of participants,  some who would consider as obese, they were visibly overweight but were tough enough and trained adequately to successfully complete the race. This was new to me, I could never have imagined such participants in a grueling race like MDS.

We had one runner without a leg and using blade instead. It's really hard to imagine how he managed those steep hills and the really soft sand dune downhills. Remarkable indeed. We also had two blind runners who were running with guides. All of them successfully completed each stage within the allotted time and were not given any extra concessions, they were treated as equals. And given the terrain, the race would have been extremely demanding for them.

About 50% of the runners are repeat customers of this race, this has been the biggest unresolved puzzle from the race. There is something addictive about this race, all I have come back with are a few observations which could provide pointers. Almost all those who come again are Europeans or professional runners. Most of them are runners in the top 100, who want to come back and improve on their performance, the second or third time, each having a target of top 30 or 20 or 15 or 10.  The second set is Europeans, these are usually regular people in all shapes and sizes, for whom it's some sort of pilgrimage, like people who go for Haj on multiple occasions coz they can afford to or like attending an art of living workshop of sorts. these people are fascinated by the location, the pain, the minimalist bare basics lifestyle in the desert, it sort of helps them get in touch with their inner being. I definitely liked it as a one time activity, it totally live upto expectations but the soul searching bit did not happen to me, maybe coz I have lived for a few days in a desert already (Jaisalmer), I have experienced better and more stark landscape in Ladakh, Lahul n Spiti valley and sleeping on floor and leading a basic life is something which most Indians have already experienced at some point in their life. The only reason I would ever go again for this race is to enjoy the organizational marvel, a quick reality check just to ensure if I have still got it in me to push my limits and for enjoying the cultural marvel of interacting with people from different nationalities. Or maybe I turn into an India and South Asia & south east Asia rep for the organisers of the MDS at a future date :P

Another thing which made this trip enjoyable for me is the special me time I got while engaging in my favorite activity, running and extreme sports. I was in a tent with Austrians, Germans and Swiss, all of them conversing in German, and I had absolute peace, as none of it disturbed me. I was just purely able to indulge in my favorite sport, since running is usually a lone sport for me, this felt blissful. It was my sort of art of living, and no I don't believe something is missing or I was looking for answers of any kind. It was just pure indulgence of the highest order.

I also realised that is that I used case study style worthy methodology to fulfill my dream of running the MDS, goal setting 5yrs back, planning, resource mobilization and training, extensive homework, practical field trials, bringing lifestyle changes without making undue compromises, all without realizing what I was doing at a sub conscious level.

Reaching out…My sponsorship hunt for MDS and support from twitter community

Running is a rich man’s sport. Gear, time and resources ssimply to participate in races, is a luxury many cannot afford. Yet, these are the very things that drive a runner. Better shoes; a lighter, even lighter backpack; tougher races… ultras…

The MDS is slated to be the toughest foot race on the planet. Undoubtedly, runners across the globe strive to participate and complete it. Needless to say, as a runner for over a decade, it was my dream too! And an expensive one at that!

The total cost of the race is about Rs 4 lacs (Euro 3,700 race registration fee ex-Frankfurt, Euro 1,000 for Bom-Fra-Bom, visas and transit hotels and about Euro 700 for specialty gear, food and accessories).

I started looking for sponsors in Jan 2013, using a presentation via social media http://www.slideshare.net/GirishMallya1/sponsor-girish-for-mds. I intentionally decided against using any of my professional media contacts, to avoid potential conflict of interest. I managed two sponsors - Sportizen (a sports ecosystem company) and Apollo Tyres, which helped cover a significant part of my cost. Given limited time and the state of economy, I was quite happy with this turnout. Sportizen happened purely due to social media (mainly Twitter), while Apollo Tyres cme about due to an offline lead. Fortunately for me, both my sponsors have been very supportive and reasonable with their requests.

These were two companies who knew nothing about me, expect the presentation I had put together and one telecon/meeting I had with them. In case of Apollo (they are based in Delhi), they had not even met me in person. So if you have a compelling story and present it well, there are a lot of people who are willing to back you.

I received a lot of help and support from social media for my sponsorship effort, especially from @surekhapillai, who went out of her way to help me at each stage (including http://surekha.posterous.com/for-the-love-of-passion-a-corporate-sponsorsh) The link is no longer available as Posterous does not exist anymore :(

Srini Swaminathan, my good friend and fellow runner helped me with a lot of the gear. His assistance in procuring things like the trekking spoon, dri-fit cloth as a towel, hooks, Petzel headlamp, etc as gear for my backpack made life a lot simpler J.

Maximum time was spent on contacting various sponsor leads and sending proposal letters. I used online and offline contacts to get these leads. All of this required a lot of follow ups via email and phone calls. This can quite demanding when you have a day job to keep.

Getting the gear in place

I always assumed that some compulsory items would be easy to put together. The anti venom kit was very difficult to procure and had to be shipped from a wholesaler in Delhi (We are a tropical country with lotsa snakes for crying out loud!). Or a compass with high accuracy (All I could find were very basic compasses). I was hunting for alcohol pellets for heating water in the desert, but this was impossible to find anywhere in Bombay or outside. And I had people going out of their way (online and local runner friends) to help me. The compass availability was suggested by someone on Twitter, and I found it at Wildcraft store in Bandra. The Shivaji Park running group members went all out to help me with my gear. One of them volunteered to assemble a suction pump as anti-venom. Another got me burning fuel in wax format for heating at MDS. An online contact (he is ex-Airport security) advised that this wax based fuel will not be allowed on the flight, and also mentioned alcohol based fuel is not allowed either. Another offered his specialty case for my iphone, to protect it from dust and falls.

Apart from this, the most heart-warming messages during the race came from my Twitter family. They  kept me going each day, knowing that many are gunning for me…

On your mark… How to prepare for MDS Ultra

Tips, tricks and advice to those who want to take part in one

Before participating in an international multi stage ultra marathon like the MDS, one needs to be physically and more importantly mentally prepared.

Some must dos:
-        Should run a few full marathons under different conditions (trail, city, hills, tropical), at least one ultra marathon of 75k or more
-        Should be in endurance running for at least three years
-        Practice walking for long hours as it is impossible to run on some days and stages
-        Practice running with a backpack for a few months (ideally, up to 5kgs for 8months and 10kgs for the last two months)


Some other recommendations:
-        In this case, older the better. A 35yrs plus runner is mentally a lot tougher than an Average 20-25yr old. The average age of a multi stage ultra runner is ~45Yrs. This is so for two reasons: he/she is mentally tougher, and has the financial resources to afford this expensive sport/hobby. One needs to save money for this event or have the ability to raise sponsorship.

-        To stay injury free, combining running with strength training and cross training is critical. Running and cycling combo goes quite well too. If you are into gymming, circuit training works very well with running.

-        Another good test of your endurance ability is to do one half marathon a day for 7-10 successive days in preparation. This, preferably with a backpack - heavier the better. If time is a constraint, split them into two 10k runs a day.

-        Plan and register for a multi stage ultra ideally one year in advance, minimum of nine months before your first one, assuming one is already a seasoned ultra marathoner.

-        Ideally, register for a local (usually cheaper) self sustaining multi stage ultra before going for exotic or tougher multi stage ultras like MDS or jungle ultra marathon in Amazon. Eg. Kerala multi stage ultra in Jan every year would be a good starting point, they have special pricing for local (Indian) runners

Chicken Scurry anyone?..... Food & water at MDS Ultra

Managing rationed food and water can be tough in a self-sustaining ultra marathon like the MDS…

Food was always going to be an issue. In order to run for that many hours and with that kind of climate, the calories were critical. The challenge was to be able to carry all that I needed to eat for the whole seven days, on the back!

It was indicated that we were to carry a minimum of 2000 calories a day (there was no maximum limit) and this could not be put together just with powdered stuff (shakes, gels & complex sugars). The only way this could be achieved was to carry freeze dried food. A friend helped in securing food packets from Germany, I got 7packets of ~1000calories each, costing me about Rs.700 per packet of double serve meal. Freeze dried stuff is easy to cook, all one needs is boiling water 500-700ml and its ready eat in about 7minutes. I also picked some granola bars, cereal and digestive biscuits for snacking. I bought some packaged nuts (which was important ‘cos anything that I carried had to have nutritive value printed on it. Every calorie counts!).

I could have also taken Indian packaged instant food, but most of them require different cooking style (packet needs to be dipped in boling water), they are more volumious and there aren't any non-veg (high protein) options. And taking something like maggi is not practical or healthy enough.

Another important thing to pack was electrolytes with sugar (Gatorade), this added to my daily sugar and calory requirement and also some flavour the regular doze of salts and water. I had kept four packets electrolytes for each day (to make 2litre of drink from it), I was having them during the first half of the stage each day, and then moved completely to salt tablets which were given by the organisers, I was having about 2salt tablets every hour of the race after that.

Though we would be allowed to light up a fire for cooking purposes at the bivouac (temp camps), firewood in the dessert would be difficult to procure.

This was really bothering me as I needed at least my cup of green tea to unwind to help with the drop in evening temperatures. The one big hot meal is important for me to feel satiated. My hunt for alcohol pellets was almost about to get somewhere when a friend suggested that airlines won’t allow them. Sure enough. Back to square one then. It was going to be a hunt for wood in the dessert then!

I was in for a pleasant surprise when I discovered they were selling pellets at the portable gift shop which went with us everywhere! The alcohol pellets come with their set of challenges though. With these pallets life was lot easier and it took care of the one freeze dried hot meal of the day. But the day I had to Jasmine green tea and the chicken soup, I had to use a real fire with fire wood, this was enjoyable but a time consuming affair, as the strong desert wind/breeze made things quite difficult, plus given the driness of wood in the desert, it burnt very quickly and then increased the requirement of fire wood. It would take us about 8-10 minutes to heat water with about 4-5 alcohol pellets, and on a live wood fired setup it would take us 5minutes to boil water. 

In short cooking even pre cooked food was not easy :(


I started my day by eating a hand full of roast mixed nuts at 6.30am, followed by museli (dry without any water or milk) and about 6 diskets of Threptin. During the run I would have 2granola bars, mixed roast nuts, raisins and dates and 5 more threptins. Post the stage I would eat my double serve free dried meal of 1000calories. I was eating a little over 2k calories per day but burning about 5k calories a day!


Most participants were using free dried food, thick soups, porridge, protein shakes and powdered carbs. 


During the race, we were given between 10-12 litres of water for our daily requirement. Water distribution was split across five sessions at various checkpoints. Each morning before the start of the stage, we usually received about 1.5l. During the day, we had two-three stages and we were given 1.5 or 3l at a time depending on the difficultly of the stage and next check point. After the end of each stage, we were given 3l for the evening. Given this limited supply of water, we barely had any water for anything other than drinking. Only luxury was brushing our teeth in the morning and a 300ml water sponge bath on most days! 

My food plan for the 6day self-sustaining race.

Final food in backpack before control check -

Snickers - 32gm,  160 x 5 = 800 cals

Granola chewy bar - 25gm, 103 x12 = 1236 cals

Gatorade - 35gm, 126 x18 = 2268

Freeze dried - 357 x 2.5, 391x2.5, 428x 2.5, 418x 2.5, 357x2.5, 392 x 2.5 = 5857cals, total of six double serve meals as the big meal of the day, dinner at 6.30pm

Dates - 200gm without seeds = 616cals

Dried mixed nuts - 7oz, 168 x 7 = 1200cals

Threptin - 438 x 2.5 = 1200

Muesli - 438 cals per 100gm X 2 = 800cals

Soups - 300cals

New total = 14300cals

Total weight of food about 6.5kgs

Balance would be gear about 3.5kgs

And about 2litres of water at a time on an average.

Food for thought…

We were treated to some very good gourmand food by the organisers during the two days of acclimatization before the actual race. This included cold cuts, freshly cooked veggies and meat, plus a selection of desert and flavoured yogurt, all flown in specifically for our needs from France. In 2addition, we could choose from red wine, beer and coke, all served chilled during dinners. Quantities for all of the above were limited but enough for an average person. We were served three meals a day for these two days, ie, breakfast, lunch and dinner, all of which was French, except for the local bread and couscous.

The last day was repeat performance of the first two days and trust me, food never tasted more divine! The only thing we needed now, was an unlimited buffet!

Prepping up! ..... for MDS (Marathon Des Sables)

From the day I set my eyes on MDS 2013, I knew that everything I did from that moment on will be to bring get a little more closer to achieving that dream…

It was during one of the adventure marathons that I first heard of MDS. In 2007, when I was running the Great Tibetan marathon in Ladakh, a runner friend, Brigid mentioned that the Marathon De Sables was the toughest foot race on earth and she felt that I had it in me to participate in it. A very encouraging thought, it compelled me to read all about the race, which further fuelled my interest.

It was then, five years from now, that I set my eyes on MDS. And it was then, five years from now, that I started preparing for it. I started running with a backpack from that day on, during all my training runs and marathons. Till date, I run with 3kg backpack! I came to realise that not only will this train me to run with weight on my back, but it is also very convenient as I can carry my change of clothes, 1-1.5litres of water, some food and change of footware.

I was mentally prepared for this race and it’s something I really wanted to do. I have had this dream of running this race for nearly five years, and, I repeat, everything I did over this time was geared to prepare me for MDS. I moved to ultra marathons, so that I was prepared for the long stage of this race. I took up endurance cycling of 200 and 300km races, so that I could be ready for all day running. I even did one 19hr bike ride as prep for one of the endurance races!

I figured that if I have to train for ultra marathons, AND keep a day job, AND keep up with my hectic social life – on and offline, I would have to incorporate running into my schedule in a way that is least disruptive. So, I run to work twice a week so that I don't have to wake up too early on week days. And if early morning was a problem on some days, I would run back home post work and evening coffee. My weekend runs are more leisurely and allow me to catch up with my weekly dose of celluloid! Since getting anywhere in the city takes up most time, I run the distance, rather, get to my destination.

The difficult thing about endurance running is the time that one needs to set aside for it. My usual weekday runs are between 11-14kms and weekend runs are longer. The days I am running I need to set aside a minimum of seven hours of sleep, as the body needs to be fresh and well rested.

I try to run about 50-60km per week all year round. I don't believe in overtraining and am very careful about not going overboard with running. I have stayed relatively injury free for the last three-four years. Even before big multi stage marathons like the Kerala ultra, I ensured that I do a max of 150km in seven days or 300km in 15 days about 45 days before any big event. This is to ensure that my body is adequately prepared for it, and that I don’t carry any injury into the race (should something happen).

Though many people do more runs to train before a big race, my take is different. Having said that, each runner has his/her distinct style of training, and it is best to listen to what your body is telling you.

Most importantly, it is critical to remember that when one is participating in a race which involves difficult conditions, some sort of isolation, and several days, there is more than just the body that one needs to prepare!

On your mark… A day-wise lowdown on what life at MDS was all about

We got to the campsite on day minus 1. It was a 6-hour drive from Ouarzazate, the nearest town and airport. We had to undergo two days of acclimatization in the desert, before we started with our race on day 1. We reached the desert at around 5pm in the evening. It took longer than expected and involved a lot of waiting as we had to take open military trucks from the single lane highway, where the luxury Volvo bus dropped us. These trucks were required for the last few miles through a stony trail and sand sections.

The first night was very cold – with temperatures dropping to single digits – making things quite difficult for everyone, especially me, as I was carrying a sleeping bag which is good enough only for 15d Celsius. Thankfully, I was carrying my poncho (rain wear) as backup in case it got too cold inside the sleeping bag; it would add another synthetic layer to keep the cold away. I was also carrying a sleeping mat this time, so as to insulate the cold. Under real conditions, the floor was not cold at all but it was very stony, so the mat helped protect my back from the uneven surface.

On day 0, we had to go through our technical and medical report checks, to ensure that our calories were in place. We had to carry a minimum of 12k calories of food for the six days. I had budgeted for more, as 12k would never be enough! We would be burning about 5k+ cals a day. Having said that, each extra kilo cal means that little extra weight on my back! I settled for about 14.3k cals in my backpack. Along with checks, we had to surrender all our belongings other than our backpack. All of this was sent back to Ouazazat. From then on, it was just us with our packs, before race day, stage 1.

I surrendered my extra clothes and big backpack and managed to clear all the technical controls (They check if we are carrying all the compulsory gear like compass, anti venom kit, torch, headlamp, lighter… Additionally, they give us an emergency flair, road book – to show the path and route for each stage, and a big packet of salt tablets). I was also able to buy alcohol pellets from the gift shop, which was selling MDS merchandise like scarves, MDS tees, backpacks etc. This was a huge relief as I would no longer have to hunt for wood each day after running a tiring stage. But these alcohol pellets don’t generate lot of heat, so one needs to be patient and burn 4-5 pellets to heat a 500gm container of water in an aluminium can.

My first Man v/s Wild moment happened on day 0. One of the Austrian runners, who had lost his checked-in baggage walked into our tent to check if we had an extra pair of gaiters. Gaiters are very helpful in keeping sand out of your shoes, and are especially helpful if one is blister prone. He tried hard but could not source them. While pondering on alternate solutions, I got an idea to actually stitch one pair for him with cloth as I was carrying spare Velcro as back up for my used pair of gaiters. My tent-mate Felix suggested one better: he asked this Austrian runner to buy two buffs from the MDS gear shop, and I stitched Velcro on them and prepared gaiters for him. Starting off by helping a fellow runner, the resourcefulness, and the sense of camaraderie was a great feel-good factor and helped boost my confidence further.

The second night in the dessert was better, as in not so cold and based on weather reports, things were likely to stay that way. I was feeling quite confident after reading the road book and the distances mentioned in it. However, as you will read my posts, you will realise how shocked I was.

Day 1
Start of day 1, I was pretty gung ho, sure that I could manage the 40km average per day in about 6hrs or so on most days and the long stage (overnight) would be the only real hurdle I would encounter. My ego and confidence was crushed pretty quickly at stage 1 as I found it almost impossible to run during the day. I had to walk almost all of it and I took 7hrs+. It was far more difficult and 12kg backpack felt overwhelming. I remember telling my friend and only contact to the outside world – who was relaying my daily updates via twitter and FB – that it was far tougher than what I expected and it really shook me on at first stage.

This got me thinking about how to reduce the weight. That night, I realised that the only thing that was getting reduced was less than 400gm of food. Everything else would stay with me till the end of the race. Thankfully, the weather was quite comfortable in the night and I was able to pack in good amount of rest, 9hrs+ of sleep.


 Day 2
The second day was equally tough with three hills to conquer. Yet, the climbs were very rewarding and fulfilling, I really felt challenged and things started to fall in place in my head. Even though I was again walking almost all of the stage, these 30kms were very demanding and everybody was slow. This stage also saw a very high number of drop outs. It took me nearly 7hr 40mins to complete stage 2. This was the slowest and the most difficult 30km of my life. Also, one of the most fulfilling ones perhaps. This marked the turnaround. For the first time in two days, I was enjoying the race; it had stopped being a burden. The backpack also started feeling more comfortable. I was feeling a little feverish that evening, which is normal during these races; I took a Crocin and all was well with the world again. I slept well. I have specifically avoided pain killers – cream or oral medication – during all my runs, as I prefer dealing with pain instead of merely masking it!

Day 3
Things were much better now. I was getting used to the weight on my back. My confidence and enthusiasm had returned and I was finally well trained and ready to take MDS on! I realised that this should have been my condition before I started the race, but well, what is it that they say about better being late? ;)

I was finally able to run certain stretches with flat ground (read stony trails) and downhills. My pace was improving and I was exploiting the first 10-12km before the first check point when my legs were fresh and was carrying less water. After the first stage, they would usually give us three litres, which would again make the pack quite heavy.

I started talking to more runners. A li’l difficult to remember names though. Being the only runner from India, I was spotted and noticed. Other countries had significant representation, about 300 each from France and Britain, and most other countries had 10-40runners each. People found it very surprising that a country of one billion plus produced only one runner at MDS! The usual India references were Kerala, Goa, IT industry, Shantaram, tropical weather and rich Indian culture. There were no ‘elephant on road’, poverty, noise, pollution references, even though quite a few of them had visited some parts of India on a holiday or a work trip.

By now, I was enjoying and feeling very comfortable. The long stage no longer seemed intimidating and I was actually looking forward to it. My position on the leader board as well as average pace was improving with each stage, all of this added to my confidence for the long stage.

Day 4 – The overnight stage
The long stage was something I had mentally prepared for and by now, I had a definite strategy in place. Given my pace of run-walk and energy levels, I was actually getting each passing day, both mentally and physcially and the conditions (the hard sun and terrain). The heat stopped bothering me and I discovered a rhythm: I was poppping two salt tablets every hour along with my rationed water and drinking about 3-4 half a litre packs of Gatorade, to bring some variety and add some calories to my diet (as Gatorade are full of sugar, in addition to basic salts/electrolyte).

It was during the last 20k of the race that I experienced my second Man vs Wild moment. We were going mainly through stony trails, which made footing a huge issue as one is tired and sleepy, and visibility is quite low with our headlamps. Suddenly, I noticed my tent-mate Felix walking next to me. Otherwise a very strong young fellow (he has completed two full Ironmans), I saw him frail and extremely tired. The worrying bit was the fact that his eyes were not able to focus, which clearly displayed his disorientation. Thankfully, he was able to speak properly and was coherent. I knew that the only way he would complete the last 20k at one go would be if I accompanied him all through. I kept a close watch and pushed him to complete the stage with me. He would otherwise have had to take a break for a few hours at the last checkpoint about 10k before finish, to regain strength and energy.

This was a huge blessing for both of us, as I got an opportunity to actually focus on how to help him and push him to complete the stage, instead of worrying about my pains and sleep deprivation. This made me stronger, as now I was not just responsible for my own long stage completion, but also his. And it is situations like these which bring out the best in me, when my mind is working hyperactive. I started keeping small milestones for him to complete, I included short 10sec breaks in between, gave him my stock of GU gels and Snickers, which I had specifically kept for myself for the last few kilometres of the long stage, as I was sure my energy levels would dip towards the end of the long stage. I was hoping for a 15-16hr finish for this long stage (It had a 34hr cut off for completion) and had kept an 18hr target for myself. Anything beyond this would mean that water provided for the stage would not be enough and I would need to take extra water, incurring huge time penalties, and not living to my own expectations (I wanted to complete it with the rationed water).

We pushed and we pushed and finally, completed the stage a little after midnight, taking about 15hr 43minutes to complete the stage!

Day 5
After the long stage, when I woke up at 6.30am in the morning, I was feeling fit enough to run again on the rest day! The day was otherwise slow and sluggish, very sunny and nothing much to do. My otherwise alert mind was on a forced holiday, even though the body and mind were ready for more. Given this state of mind, I managed to forget my iPhone 4S in the makeshift toilet for runners (which is basically is a small cubicle made of flex with a grill frame). In my rush to get back to the tent given the afternoon heat, I forgot the phone in the toilet cubicle, I took a short nap in the tent and only after I woke up did I realise the loss. I rushed to the toilet about 45mins afterwards only to realise that the phone was no longer there. I complained and registered at the lost and found counter. I was quite hopeful of getting it back as it was a toilet only used by runners, but that did not happen.

I am quite good at accepting this kind of loss, as I am quite absent minded and have lost similar stuff in the past. So, I quickly decided to put this behind me and focus on my race.

We had a surprise that evening: all the runners were offered a can of nicely refrigerated Coke. This was the best and most delightful bottle of soda I have ever had! After all, we had earned it after our tough and mentally demanding long stage!

Day 6
I was feeling super fit and good and was ready to smoke the last stage of timed race. It’s the marathon stage. I managed to complete the long stage and marathon stage before everyone else in my tent, except Timon from Austria, who was a top 60 finisher (and in a different league altogether). Timon was disqualified in the 2012 edition, as he was too slow to complete one of the stages. And the organizers have a firm policy to disqualify anyone who does not complete any of the stages within the designated time.

After the marathon stage, the race was over for all practical reasons and we were all delighted to say the least. All we could think of was the gourmand meal awaiting us that evening. This was followed by a special screening of MDS 2013 and then an all-night rock concert performed by an Irish band. Most runners were tired and decided to skip the concert. This was the first time the organisers had a rock band. On previous occasions, the organisers stuck to western classical by flying down a Philharmoic orchestra.

Day 7
Day 7 was the charity race day, non timed run, to support UNICEF. We were taking on the famous dunes of Merzouga, which can be as high as 150 meters. They have one of the highest dunes in the world! This was the place we experienced our first small sandstorm, which blew away a few tents and had us scurrying for cover inside our tents to protect our belongings from flying away. We saw one sleeping mat blown away by the wind and sand flying in the air for quite some time! It’s a pity none of us could capture that moment!

Soon, we were all shipped back to our hotels through luxury buses. The 6hr + long drive was tiring but something we were all looking forward to, for that long awaited shower after nine long days in the desert. And yes some unlimited supply of buffet food – the food at the camp even during the rest days was not unlimited, though a decent potion.

Interesting marathons in 2011

23 April: Two Oceans ultramarathon, Cape Town
1 May: Big Sur, California, USA
8 May: Prague marathon
15 May: Geneva marathon
21 May: Great Wall marathon, Beijing
22 May: Edinburgh marathon, UK
29 May: Comrades ultramarathon, South Africa
25 June: Midnight Sun Marathon, Tromso, Norway
26 June: Mt Kilimanjaro marathon
20 July: Helsinki marathon
31 July: San Francisco marathon
11 August: La High Ultramarathon, Leh, India
10 September: Medoc marathon, France
18 September: Sydney marathon
25 September: Berlin marathon
9 October: Chicago marathon
31 October: Dublin marathon
6 November: New York City marathon
13 November: Athens Classic marathon
27 November: Florence marathon
4 December: Singapore marathon

Goa River Marathon Dec 19, 2010

Its been a really long time since I last posted. I guess blogging is dying a slow death and micro blogging has completely taken over (atleast for me).

Been through two rounds of malaria over the last 2-3 months and now some ligament/tissue damage near the knee. Have had lotsa starts, 3-4runs a week with 40km odd weekly mileage but have been trying to ramp up too quickly post my malaria episodes, and I have a feeling the injury is due to this quick ramp up. Will be taking the next few weeks easy with short runs, so that I am fit for my Goa marathon.

I have a long 15day holiday down south before the Goa marathon, so it will give me a lot of time to train and get back in shape for the Dec 19 half marathon.

An open letter to Facebook (Privacy policy department)

I refer to the article that was published on Sunday (May 23, 2010) in the Bombay edition of The Sunday Times. The article carried some pictures of the late Ms. Sujata Survase, who was an air hostess on the ill-fated Air India Express flight IX 812 that crashed in Mangalore on Saturday morning. I had some questions to ask you with regards to use of personal pictures of Facebook user late Ms. Sujata Survase (http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=582633584&ref=ts) by Times Of India, India's largest selling newspaper.

Here is the relevant link: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=393807774036&comments#!/profile.php?id=582633584&ref=ts.

Please also refer to the Epaper link: http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW&GZ=T&AW=1274760466421

Specific reference is drawn to pages 1 and 7 of the Bombay edition of the Sunday Times published on May 23, 2010 [article on Ms.Sujata Survase (Airhostess on flight IX812)]. On page 7 Times of India has given credit to Facebook for allowing them to use these pictures of late Ms. Sujata Survase. Please find attached the pictures for your ready reference.

In relation to the above, I had some questions for you and was wondering if you could help me out with them:

1. Have you indeed granted permission to Times of India for publishing the personal pictures of late Ms. Sujata Survase? If yes, can you please share the same with me.

2. Which clause of the terms and conditions of Facebook requires Times of India to take permission from Facebook for use of personal pictures uploaded by its users?

3. Does Facebook own the photos that have been uploaded by users on its website?

4. Is Times of India required to seek any permission from the family members of late Ms. Sujata Survase for the use of pictures uploaded by her? Are you aware if such a permission was indeed sought? If yes, do you have a copy of the same and can you please share the same?

5. Who the ‘lawful owner’ of the photos uploaded by late Ms. Sujata Survase on Facebook?

Hoping to get a positive response from you at the earliest.


Yours truly,


Girish Mallya
www.facebook.com/girishmallya
@girishmallya (twitter handle)

An Open Letter to the Editor of Times of India

Dear Jaideep Bose,

I refer to the article you wrote that was published on Sunday (May 23, 2010) in the Bombay edition of The Sunday Times. The article also carried some pictures of the late Ms. Sujata Survase, who was an air hostess on the ill-fated Air India Express flight IX 812 that crashed in Mangalore on Saturday morning. On reading your article and especially on the publication of the pictures of Ms. Sujata Survase, I had some questions for you and was wondering if you could help me out with them:

1. You have credited Facebook for the pictures of Ms. Sujata Survase. Can you let me know which clause of the terms and conditions of Facebook requires you to take permission from Facebook for use of personal pictures of the users? If its not too much of a hassle, can you also please share the permission given to you by Facebook.

2. Does Facebook own the photos that have been uploaded by users on its website?

3. Are you required to seek any permission from the family members of Ms. Sujata Survase? Have you in fact sought any permission from the family members of late Ms. Sujata Survase? If yes, can you please share the same.

4. Since you work for a national newspaper I assume that that you would have adequate in house legal support. Can you please also get some clarity on who the ‘lawful owner’ of the photos uploaded by late Ms. Sujata Survase on Facebook?

5. I was wondering if you had acquainted yourself with the norms of journalistic conduct prescribed by the Press Council of India with specific reference to Clause 6 of these norms that deal with the Rights to Privacy. Here is the link to the same for your ready reference: http://presscouncil.nic.in/norms.htm

I am looking forward to hearing from you on the above. Please note that your response to these have a direct bearing on the reputation of your newspaper as a national newspaper or for that matter a newspaper at all.

Yours truly

Girish Mallya
@girishmallya (twitter handle)

Home away from home..

Its been a good weekend break so far. Managed some good runs in Kamati garden Baroda, I was focused on improving my pace, as this garden provides me 1k and 2k loops where I can run at a constant pace without breaks.

But yes there is no getting away from stray dogs in India, they are omnipresent. But thankfully these were very friendly and non violent stray dogs, who mind their own business.






Over the last couple of weeks I have been asked quite a few questions on Micoach, so I decided to click some pictures, to help explain my answers in a better manner. So here go the FAQs on Micoach gathered from Twitter & Buzz.


this give you an idea on the size of the devices. I have used my regular running glasses to help put things in context.


The main micoach device (the heart of the device) can be clipped easily to your shorts or to the arm band carrying the Ipod/Mp3 player.



This is to explain how the HRM is strapped on. It has two buttons to strap the elastic (which includes the Heart rate readering sensor).


The stride sensor (pedometer) is clipped onto the shoe lace (one does not need to remove the laces to install them), this sensor can also be installed into the cavity of certain Adidas shoe models (similar to how Nike+ works)

back to regular running

Managed over half a dozen runs over the past two weeks. Its been quite a task juggling cycling and running. I definitely like and enjoy running more, but cycling is so much convenient for getting to work (plus the fact that I can sleep that extra 30mins if I am cycling), makes it really hard to run to work on weekdays. Weekends are a different story as I don't have any deadline and can wake up comfortably (plus lounge & laze around) and still manage a comfortable run.

Micoach provided the required extra excitement and motivation. For starters I was able to get my discipline back, trust me it’s really hard to bring forward your morning wakeup time by an hour. It affect the entire day both ways, your morning work productivity and night sleep time and hours of sleep.

Being a gadget freak, I can be quite activity engaged with a gadget for more than a few days and Micoach has lived up to expectations. For starters it provides more inputs and features than its direct competitor Nike+ and provides accuracy in terms of distance which comes close to a Garmin and Iphone Runkeeper app. I hope Nike wakes up and launches the advanced version of Nike+ which currently only has a stride sensor integrated to an Iphone/Itouch app.

I have never really understood the way the Polar or Micoach calculates the exact distance (my assumption - the stride sensor provides the number of strides, they have my height as a parameter which assumes the length of my legs & length of strides from some research report) and calculates the distance travelled), this sort of approximation is more than enough for a distance runner, though a GPS based calculation will obviously be more accurate.

I have synced all my runs to the online module of Micoach on www.adidas.com/mycoach and analysed my performance on various parameter. The obvious irritant is the short break I have to take due to stray dogs and signals (as I run on a highway with intersections), this not only disturbs my rhythm but also messes up my average on most parameter (avg speed, heart rate, stride per minute, etc)

I have also found the heart rate monitor reading quite insightful, though I am not sure what I should do to correct or improve it. I manage to hit the red zone quite often, its when the heart rates goes beyond 168 in my case (find it hard to believe that I manage to hit 180 quite comfortably!), I need to monitor my heartrate over a longer run preferably something around 20km. I have a feeling on longer run I will tend to be on the yellow zone.

The graph on the link below will explain what I am trying to say, wrt the Red zone issue.







Micoach stride sensor, strapped to my shoe laces

25th Anniversary of MDS

I was recently talking to a friend of mine (Brigid) wrt her upcoming MDS in Sahara. This will be the 25th anniversary. She has participated in MDS 3 times already and this will be her fourth visit. MDS is the toughest multi stage ultra in the world.

My first question to her was - what has changed between the 1st and the 4th time. Since we are both endurance runners, there is no need to explain the mental toughness, familiarity with course, conditions etc. These were some practical points which stayed with me.... in her words -


"I started with 14 kgs the first time, had half a household on my back - was more than tough. Now I have a new Rucksack which spreads the weight on the back AND the front. I have managed to get incredibly light weight stuff like sleeping bag, matt, clothes for the night and this makes an enormous difference. The emphasis has to be on food. If you have enough food, you can move better. Plus salt tablets to keep the water in your body, managing your water...
I also now have everything I need in absolute mini-portions, as I know now how much stuff, like sun cream, emergency kit, wipes, bandages etc i will need. In addition, by getting a light-weight sleeping bag and matt, I've saved about 1.5 kgs. Plus taking more high-calorie but lighter weight stuff, like parmesan cheese instead of 800 grams of power bars (which I can't eat after a day anyways)........."

Anyway, here's the link to the Marathon des Sables homepage, where you can send email to a competitor from April 4 to 9: www.darbaroud.com

Brigid Wefelnberg, Germany, Bib no. 537

Do try and drop in a line on the dates mentioned above.

Detailed review - Micoach

After my weeklong break post March 7, 2010 BRM of 300km, I finally returned to running. This was my first run in March and I was missing it a lot. Plus I was super excited to check out and test my new running gear/aid - Adidas Micoach.

It took my about an hour to register on the www.adidas.com/micoach website, with my contact details, download and transfer the details to my PC and to my device (age, height, weight, etc to calculate distance, calories, max heart rate etc). After that I had to pair my Micoach pacer to the heart rate monitor (which was strapped on my chest)and to the stride sensor device (which is strapped to my shoe laces). Once paired its quite simple as the voice activated commands instructs you to do the rest (headphone is connected to the Micoach pacer device).

I don't believe in having specific pre programmed workouts, so I choose the free mode which allows me to do my own thing and the voice activated coach, informs me about my stride frequency, average speed, distance completed, Time taken, current heart rate, heart rate zone, etc, at the push of a button.

I run on the same route everyday, so I got to test the Micoach pacer over 2 days on the same route. It was nice to find that the readings were almost identical.

I am very new to the concept of having an heart rate monitor strapped on me, plus the readings that come off it. Strapping something on your chest while running is not really a nice feeling as one has to take deep breaths and this just gives you that claustrophobic feeling. On the second day I managed to get used to it, I also realised that the strap was adjustable. Now the most interesting bit, there are three zones, green, yellow and Red. Red being the danger zone. I realised that I was hitting the red zone quite a few times during the run, which might be for quite a few reasons, I was returning to running after a break, was yet to find my rhythm, the heat/sun and resultant discomfort due to late starts, etc. So I will have to give is a few more runs and somehow manage my runs while sticking to the Yellow zone.

Some interesting numbers which I discovered is that my average strides per minute is about 177, Now I need to check how good or bad is that. I remember watching a video called evolution running which had suggested the ideal stride rate for a long distance runner (and height of a person has no impact on stride per minute)


The device at the bottom is the heart rate monitor (which needs to be strapped on the chest with a elastic band, with plastic coated metal strips as sensors), on the left is the stride sensor and on the right is the main device (primary device which drives and collects data from the other two devices, and also connects with the PC for data upload and download).

Cyclothon - Tour de Bombay, February 21, 2010

The Bombay Cyclothon was another memorable event. It was also the first time I had a flat tyre (in a race) and had to travel half the distance running/walking with my bike (I was using a regular road bike without quick release, plus i did not have a spare tube, pump).

http://mumbaicyclothon.com/ had different race categories, but the only one I was eligible for was the 24km ride (sorta the biking equivalent of the dream run), I was not really keen on participating in this 24km ride as I had just completed a 200km BRM a couple of weeks before this event. The sea link ride made it all worthwhile (inspite of the 24km distance) and I was really looking forward to the event.

The 24k ride started very well and I really enjoyed riding my bike at 30km plus, on the streets of Bandra (without any vehicular traffic), reminded me of the first time I watch Tour de France on TV and used to marvel at the way those riders rode so close to one another without ever bumping into one another and having crowds (locals) line up on both sides. This bike ride through Bandra during the cyclothon recreated that experience for me. This experience was bigger than what I experienced running or cycling on the Bandra Worli Sea link.

The flat tyre only added to my memorable experience, it will ensure that I remember this for a long long time. Not many people understood why I was running with my bike, wouldn't it be more sensible to just hop onto the support vehicle and return to safety. I have never understood how people can give up on anything, even if it looks/sounds impossible, isn't it the obvious thing to do - to just go and get what you have aimed for, irrespective the variables (internal and external) thrown at you? I have always finished any race that I have started and even those I have not been able to finish (like my 2nd Bangalore Ultra) due to time limits, I have tried to do it till the very last minute.

I hope next year the cyclathon organised have atleast a 50k bike ride for regular cyclists.


this is the nasty nail which gave me a lot of grief

Running to reviewing running gear

I was recently approached by Adidas to review their product - Micoach PacerB. Its basically a device which helps a runner accurately monitor his progress, wrt no. of strides, calories burnt, monitor heart rate, distance covered, speed, etc.

I am a big gadget freak and have experimented with quite a few timing devices in the past, but most have not been very accurate, but have been good fun to use. My first tracking device was the Nokia 5500 sport phone (which I believe has been the only true sports phone from Nokia), I have also tried the Iphone GPS based run keeper application and I use a cat-eye cyclocomputer on my bike.

So far I have not yet got down to testing Micoach, but my initial homework tells me that it will help me monitor my progress better and also help me improve my avg speed. I am a little sceptical about the max heart rate numbers theory and their relation to running, but I do believe that its definitely better to do higher speeds without pushing your heart beyond reasonable limits. I hope Micoach will help me firm up my opinion on the max heart rate confusion I have in my head (will the theoretical max be different from what I experience myself).



Looking forward to putting Micoach to test this weekend, after my week long break post last Sundays 300km bike race.

After ultra running its also ultra cycling now

Its been a long break from blogging. But now I am back for good, hopefully :P

The last few months have been quite interesting, in addition to doing the regular Bombay marathon (my 7th successive full marathon, since inception of the event) in Jan 2010, I completed it in 4hrs 43mins. Which was quite good, given my level of preparation and the weather conditions in Bombay.

I also did the 200km and 300km BRM in India. These BRMs are organised http://randonneursindia.blogspot.com/ the Indian Chapter of Audax Club Parisien (France). Randonneurs India has been formed to get together the Hypermiler cyclists, with a view of participating in Paris - Brest - Paris 2011.

I hope to do the 1000km race in 2011 in France, If I can get everything else in place for it. I need to do four races in one year to qualify for it - 200k (in under 13.5hrs), 300k (under 20hrs), 400k (under 27hrs) and the 600k (under 40hrs). I am not really a natural cyclist, which means I can't just go for really long rides on my own (for training) and that in turn means doing longer distances in races is going to get increasingly difficult. My training - I use the cycle for commuting to work (about once or twice a week) and try to ride with friends over weekends. On the other hand running is something I really enjoy and can easily train for it alone, plus running (training) does not take up that much of time.

For more on randonneruring visit this link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randonneuring

I started cycling primarily to get the biking going for my Ironman preparation, which requires 180kms of Biking and there is no way I can train for it in a Gym or on the streets of Bombay. The only option was to participate in group rides and races, Randonneruring was the obvious solution given by limitations and interest levels wrt. cycling.

Another very big plus for this sort of endurance cycling has been the benefits of cross training. I have not had any running related injury for over a year now, which is a very big achievement for me (as I don't like gyms and hence was lacking strength training).

Delhi Half marathon November 1, 2009

I had stopped participating in the Airtel Delhi Half marathons for the last 2 years as its just way too much effort to run just 21kms. This year it so happened that I was scheduled to attend a wedding in Delhi, in the last week of October (and I had booked for it 3 months in advance). During the second week of November when i actually got down to writing to friends in Delhi, about catching up with them, I realised that I would be in Delhi during the Delhi marathon.

Once I realised this, it would be stupid and impossible for me not to participate. I had to pull a few strings to get my registration done, as the last date for online registration was already over.

I did a 20k run two weeks before the delhi half marathon and was reasonably sure that i should be able to do a decent time at Delhi (ie a sub 2hr time).

I reached Delhi on a Thursday morning and was having a blast attending a traditional Indian wedding which takes place over 3-4 days, which means lotsa food and wine. But I did take the tough decision of going on a healthy high carb diet on Saturday evening to ensure that I have enough good calories for the run but could not manage enough sleep (barely had 3hrs of sleep that night before the run, as we were attending the marriage reception till 2am).

Sunday started well, the weather was good and I was able to find my way to the start point quite easily (Nehru Park), met up with lotsa old colleagues at the start as well as post finish in the holding area. I also met some runners from Bombay who recognised me, esp. one of them who runs regularly at Shivaji park.

Organiser Procam had done a decent job, much better than the what I had experienced 2yrs back, but it was nothing exceptional. I wish they do a lot more to make things better and special for the real runners, instead of worrying purely about the sponsors, TV partners and celebs.

My 21k went exactly as per plan, i did the first 10k in about 55mins and after that I was quite sure about doing a sub 2hr time. I kept the same pace and tried to accelerate during the last few kms and managed a decent time of 1hr 56min 53secs.

Split @ 7.5K 00:41:02
Split @ 10K 00:54:52
Split @ 19.35K 01:47:07
Split @ 20K 01:50:58
Finish Time 01:56:53
http://www.timingindia.com/results_page.php?keyword=8948

Managed to click just two pics from the marathon

#mmmm and self styled Triathlon.

I did my first triathlon last Sunday and it was a lot of fun. Since it was self style and personalised one, there was only one participant! India does not have any Triathalons (not even 70.3 ones), so you have do your own thing to train for one.

I got up at 3.30am in the morning and took a 4.15am start for my bike ride. It was a 27/28km bike ride from home to NCPA, Nariman point. It took me about 1hr 20mins, which is not bad given the road conditions. I parked my bike at a secure place in Churchgate, just in time for the 6am start from NCPA for the Mumbai monsoon mini marathon (#mmmm). This #mmmm was organised by local congress party politicians & workers, to protest against terrorism & to support peace. To my horror the planned (not publicised) start time turned out to be 7am and the final start time was close to 7.30am.

But the spirit was very good and the turnout was lot higher than what I had expected it to be, so things improved as soon as the run started (since it was a very short run of 5k, the delay did not really make much of a difference). I finished the distance in about 25minutes and then headed by to Churchgate for my swim. So I ended up doing about 8k or so that day (3k on my return to Churchgate)

I had originally planned a 1k swim as I was hoping that the mini marathon would be somewhere around 12km or so (which turned out to be just 5k). So I decided to make up for the distance by doubling my swim, to 2kms.

After that I had some yummy breakfast and then the bike ride back home (another 28km). With that I completed a 55km bike ride, 8km run and 2km swim. The only thing I need to really improve upon is the run for my next triathlon, need to take that to atleast 20km, and that will take be very close to the 70.3 Triathlon or half Ironman or Olympic Triathlon.

This triathlon has given my confidence a big boost and Ironman no longer looks so difficult. I was also inspired by a friend who recently completed his first Ironman (he did it in a little over 13hrs, a super effort indeed). Do catch his blog www.bedders.blogspot.com for more ...