Jagannath's Juggernaut

Where do I even start my Ladakh story? Last year, I was keen on doing Khardung La challenge and had even told a couple of friends to accompany me. But as I didn't have an ultra run of 50 km under 6 hours, and I didn't have the time to do that, settled for a marathon. Finally ended up not going for that also and so my Ladakh marathon dream got pushed to this year! Ok, let me stick to race specifics here after. The two days leading to the race, I was struggling with a bad cold and runny nose and sneezing, thanks to exposure to the elements at Pangong Lake and Hanle (there will be a separate travelogue on the trip). I took a Montek LC on Saturday evening and a paracetamol at night. These tablets helped me sleep better and for once I woke up only on the alarm chime on race day! Thankfully had set up everything ready on Saturday evening. Morning rituals got completed thanks to tea provided by the hotel and I was all ready at 5 a.m. Had a couple of bread slices. The cab guy came on t...

When browsing Facebook, we get these reel suggestions and often I get songs from the show Zee Saregama (Tamil). I happened to stumble across one such reel where a guy was singing "Kaadu pottal kaadu" from Karuththamma. This song was rendered amazingly by this young singer with all sincerity that it brought a tear in my eye. I have listened to this song earlier and liked it but it was not in my "favorite songs" list ever. But after hearing that boy's voice and the clear lyrics, wanted to revisit the song as I was not sure if the rendition bought a tear in me or the lyrics literally tore me up. Thought I should spend some time writing about this (ok ok, sooriyanukke torch dhaan but still let me try)! We are transported to the milieu in the first two lines of the song itself காடு பொட்டல் காடு செங்காத்து வீசும் காடு வீடு கீத்து வீடு எலியோடு  எங்க  பாடு Imagine a barren forest where even the wind is red - there are no trees (roots) to bind the red soil, the top laye...

  The Buildup:  People who know me know that I am very selective when choosing running events. What do I as a runner look for when signing up for an "event"? Firstly the event should be conducted/managed by runners who know what it takes to conduct such an event. Event management companies who conduct races eventually end up ruining the experience. Secondly, I would want the season to be good for running, weather wise (not too hot, not in the middle of the monsoon and such). Thirdly, the route. As much as the route avoids looping around the same place and as much as a route has lesser traffic interferences, the better it is. Also, whether the route is barefoot friendly matters to me. I don't bother about the elevation profile and such. On top of all this, of course, I never travel outside Chennai for anything less than a marathon distance (42.2 km). Erode marathon ticked all the boxes above (other than the distance) and since there was wonderful word of mouth about the la...

Race Report - Big's Backyard Ultra - Oct 4/5, 2025      Ever since the first time I heard about backyard ultra, I have always felt that this was a format that I should try and see. This run has an unique concept - you have to run a loop of 6.7 km in an hour and whatever time you save in those 60 minutes, you get to rest, before starting the next loop exactly when the clock strikes the next hour. This is a "last one standing" race and is a true test of endurance and mental strength. When I saw an insta post in late February 2025 about a backyard ultra happening in Coimbatore in late March, I was very much inclined to register for it. Thankfully, good sense prevailed and I did not register then. Very soon I came to know that Chennai Runners was bringing BBU to Chennai and that too the location was going to be Tamilnadu Police Academy (TNPA) near Vandalur, and my joy knew no bounds. I had mentally registered myself for the race the moment I heard this news! Training for DRHM...

Ironman Distance at 50 (3.8 km swim, 180 km cycling and 42.2 km run) Reposting what I had posted in FB, as I am not sure if I will retain FB forever! When I was just getting "active" around 2017, I read about Milind Soman finishing an Ultraman Triathlon at 50. Had thought at that time that I should do a full IronMan triathlon by 50. I had no specific event in mind and I didn't even know how tough it would be. Once I became good at running and better at cycling, I realised that this was a Herculean task. So the thought of doing an IronMan (140.6) was pushed to the backburner. The spark was suddenly lit around March when Eswari shared a post about some friend of hers finishing a "self-supported IronMan". I was amazed and thought it would be great for me to do so for my 50th birthday. Just as I was thinking aloud, Eswari, Sudo and others encouraged me and so I fixed up on the plan. The date that I set was Jun 21, Saturday! I was supposed to train for this from Mar...

If you are reading this, you probably know by now that I did not finish my first IronMan attempt at Goa on October 27, 2024! This post is more about chronicling the event and a self-assessment of what went wrong, and I will stick to the swim leg only, which is where my race started and ended. This may be a long one. I hope I will read this before every stage of my next triathlon (whenever it happens) - the registration stage, the training stage, and the final stage just before the event. The Buildup The training leading up to the event was not at all sufficient in the swim aspect. One thing I had decided after a similar distance triathlon last year at Malpe (albeit supported in the swim with buoy and a rope tied all the way in the sea marking the route) was that I would clock at least 3000 km mileage on my cycle in the 11-month period between Malpe and Goa. My running mileage anyhow was in the 150-200 km per month range. From April, I thought I should ...