Tuesday, November 9, 2010

My first "DNF (did not finish)" trail run :)

I started for a place called Tarlac at 3 am on Saturday (9th Oct.) and reached the start point of the run at 4 am. Registered myself and got ready with the gear (basically hydration belt &
first aid kit). The run started at 5 am and it was still quite dark.

The first 7k was easy run but the terrain started getting tougher after that. The next 9k was on absolutely loose earth (lahar) and very difficult to run on. But the next 9k was the toughest as it was just rocks. It was impossible to run on rocks. There were a lot of streams we had to cross. So every time we would cross one, the

shoes would become heavy and the lahar would stick to it.
I got sucked in to quick sand at one of the streams and so did a couple of other runners. The trail to the top was supposed to be only 25k, but due to the fact that trail kept on changing, it must easily have been 35k (as per the more experienced runners).
It took me 5 hours to reach the Mt Pinatubo*, crater lake. I took a break of about 15-20 minutes before descending. I thought that the descend would be quicker and easier but no I was completely wrong. The trail had completely changed and so had the flow of all streams.
It was
terribly hot, the trail looked rockier than before and I felt like a mere speck on that vast harsh land.

By the time I reached near the second last aid/water station which was about 13k away from the finish line, I decided to give up. I know I should not have. I should have pushed myself a little more but I was scared of getting injured. May be next time with more training I would do better. It took me a day and a half to recover. I'm completely sun burnt :) I also have about 25-30 insect bites which the doctor said would heal in 1 or 2 weeks.

*Mt Pinatubo is an active volcano in the Philippines, which last erupted in 1991.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Great going Anu, didnt know u had taken to blogging about your experiences...but good!! Great, i should say!! Keep it up!!

Sahana said...

Like I said before: Bravo, Superwoman!!
And welcome to the world of blogging!!
Cheers!!!

Anupriya Kapur said...

Thanks Shurti and Sahana....I had sent a mail to my family (with the same content) and just thought of putting this up on a blog. Hopefully I will continue blogging :)

Shweta said...

good going Anu..its great that you are enriching your life with experiences other than motherhood!!keep them coming!

Devika said...

Anu it looked me like an overwhelming trail run. I wonder how difficult n exciting experience u might have had, and when u said that there was a point when u got sucked into a quicksand ….. O my God it might have been sooooo scary, but u soooo brave, that u still didn’t give up, even after you came out of it… so I guess lady be proud of what u did n got great experience. N I wonder what more would u do after more training……He He He ----- just can say happy 4 u : -)

Gurava Reddy said...

Wow.. awesome madam !
Good inspiration to lazy guys like me at least .. who was athlet once upon a time :)

mockingbird80 said...

Way to go woman....! Its a fantastic feeling to challenge ones own self...whatever the way might be..! Am really happy for you girl...! :-)

Anupriya Kapur said...

Thank you Shweta and Devika...Your appreciation means a lot to me :)

Thank you Gurava and mockingbird80 for taking time out to read my blog :)