(The group at Big Sur - prerace dinner)
BIG SUR Marathon - probably one of the most beautiful courses around. We get to run north on Highway 1 from Big Sur to Carmel - 26.2 miles of beautiful coastline. Arun Simha and I had run this in 2006 and he wanted to do it again in 2010. Having signed up for the race very early I forgot and also signed up for the Wildflower Half Ironman the week after Big Sur! With a 3 week trip out of the country just before the race I was in absolutely no shape to run this race. But hey! it is BIG SUR...you don't have to 'run' this you just enjoy the experience. We were really lucky to have a perfect day - clear sky, blue ocean and just superb views. Anil Rao, Arun & I ran together. Arun is great shape and he just eased through this race with virtually no issues at all. We had Chandrika, Balu, Vinita, Gargi, Kini brothers, Anup - runing the full Gayathri (21 miler) and a bunch of folks running the relay (Arul, Shishir, Roli, Anil, Meenakshi, Rahul, Deepa....the list goes on)
We took a bunch of photographs and just enjoyed the race.
(Arun, Rajeev, Anil)
(Bixby Bridge - Big Sur marathon 4/25/10))
(The Jagged Edge of the world - Big Sur marathon 4/25/10)
WILDFLOWER half Ironman distance Triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run)- May 1, 2010I've heard about Wildflower triathlon for years. I was told that it is a 'must do race'. It’s the 'Woodstock' of triathlons. The thought of camping the night before the race always put me off from participating. I like my creature comforts on race morning. However, this year was different...I finally signed up and after a lot of back and forth I decided to camp with the others before the race. We left the Bay Area around 1:30 in the afternoon on Friday and by the time we got there all the campsites looked full! Luckily Vinod Herur had done the race in 2007 and he knew the layout of the campsites, we drove about 1.5 miles out to the other end of the park and found a decent spot to pitch our tents. Rajeev Shankar & Chakri were doing their first half, Rajendra Kadam, Vinod and Swamy were doing the relay. Mouli & Veena had come in earlier and picked their own campsite. With registration done we headed back for a dinner of pasta and curd rice (yea! South Indians in the house Yo!) – We settled in for a cold cold night. We had a bit of a slope and I kept sliding down during the night, I did not get much sleep.
(The Indian Flag at the finish line)
(the group - after registration)We were up at 5:00am – packed up the tents, Chakri helped in setting up the stove and we had a cup of coffee…hmmm good! We rode a couple of miles to the start line. It was a sea of bikes! What a sight! Lots of people and lots of energy. My wave was at 9:00am – the lake looked beautiful – BLUE water and calm. The swim was great, took my time at the transition – got on to the bike – the legs felt a bit tired, but within a few miles I was fine. The ride was fun – chatted with a lot of folks along the way, met Chakri and Rajeev Shankar – the last 10-15 miles of the ride was challenging (I remembered most of the ride from having done it with Rajesh back in 2006). Coming into the transition I was feeling great, but I had no idea what the run course was like.
(My tent - the morning getting ready)
(
Lake San Antonio)The run is a mixture of road and off road (more off road) and man was it hilly! I met Mouli at the start and he was struggling with severe stomach issues, we ran together for a bit and then I took off (Mouli dropped out at mile 7, his stomach issue was getting worse). Rajeev Shankar was in fine form and he was running well. As we hit the hills I was walking the hills and jogging the down hills – the trail dust was a bit thick in places – but the views were beautiful. The CalPoly volunteers were full of life and were constantly cheering. I started cramping at mile 6, after borrowing a few salt tabs from a runner managed to get a few more miles of running before beginning to cramp again around mile 10. I walked / jogged the rest and finished felling good but a bit irritated that I had forgotten to carry my salt tabs! Doug, Rajeev Shankar and I had finished around the same time. We met up with Mouli, Veena, Vinod, and settled in to wait for Chakri and Swamy to come in.
(Bike transition)Chakri finished his first half Ironman distance race - and as he ran in we heard the announcer calling out his name and adding "Representing Team Asha" good show Chakri - you picked a tough race and finished it in style. Big congrats to both Rajeev Shankar and Chakri on their first Half Ironman finish.
The next day Murali Krishna (Asha SF), Venkat Subbiah (Asha SV) & Tandy finished the Wildflower Olympic dist race. CONGRATS!!
(Post race)
