Oxfam 2017

 

When I decided to do the Oxfam Trailwalker 100 kms walking challenge again, I knew what I was signing up for. It would not be easy and added to that, we had less than 1 month to prepare and only one practice walk of about 30 kms was the maximum that we had walked as a team. Though we all are neighbours and knew each other well, we did not know how each one of us would be during the walk.

But Chintan Singh, Neha Gupta, Rajani Durbha and I decided to take the plunge.

As the day of the walk came closer, I had butterflies in my stomach. I could not eat or sleep and had weird dreams of my legs sticking to the ground during the walk. On the flight to Bangalore, I was quite tense. I had not been doing any walking or running for 3 months and now I will be attempting 100 kms. It was not a pleasant feeling.

As a team we had decided to set ourselves a target of competing it within 35 hours. It was difficult but not impossible. We had planned and strategized and fixed how much time we should take to walk and how long our breaks should be. The planning was perfect. Now all we had to do was to execute the plan.

The first day things went as planned. Though we were battling injuries, pains, blisters and fatigue by the end of the day, we slept feeling fully satisfied as we had managed to complete 60 kms by then. Here Chintan's friend Neeraj helped us by motivating us through the last 12 kms. He made sure we completed the stretch on time....

The next day was when we lagged behind a little. We started late and the first stretch of 6 odd kms was feeling tough. We took much longer than expected to complete that stretch.

The next 10 kms was done at a decent speed and we completed it quite soon. It was a very picturesque trail and we stopped several times to take pictures…. and by the end of this stretch we had finished 75 kms. the next two stretches were smaller and comparatively easy. And finally we were left with the final stretch.

The final stretch is the most difficult one. You are so near the target. You want to finish it as soon as possible. And your legs are dragging by that time. We had already over shot our target time. We wanted to finish it at least in 37 hours. And we all walked like someone possessed. Each step was painful but somehow we kept going and finally after all the excitement, preparation, pain, tears, motivation, encouragement we finally reached the finish line. We had taken 36 hours 41 minutes to complete the 100 kms walk. We overshot our target time by 1 hour 41 minutes. But that did not keep the joy and satisfaction and pride away as we went on stage and were presented with the Medals. It was a great moment for all of us. We had finally done it.

But nothing can be achieved in isolation. We were doing the walking but we had the support of many without whom we could not have achieved this.

The running community at Pbel City, the ‘Peerumcheruvu Runners’, were always motivating and encouraging us. I doubt if we could ever have even dreamt of doing this without those guys supporting us.

Our girl gang, with some of whom I had done the walk last year, was the backbone of our planning and practise.

Our families, who supported us through crazy practice sessions and crazy practice timings, for understanding our need to do this and for being there whenever we needed them. A special mention of Rajani’s parents needs to be made here as they put up with all of us before and after the walk. And of course, the celebrations after with the wine was the icing on the cake.

A special mention of our support Chaitanya Burgupalli, Anshul Porwal and Anupama Karthik. They made sure we were always hydrated, our tummies were full and we stayed motivated. Whether it was the physiotherapy given by Chaitanya, fruits and juices being fed by Anshul or Anupama walking and singing along with us, it was absolutely fantastic having them along side us especially in the last stretch which was, personally for me, the most difficult. Every time we saw Chaitanya walk towards us we would be relieved to know the checkpoint was near. Anshul made sure I did not pause for a single moment in the last stretch and completed it in record time.

Oxfam 2016

 

For almost 3 months, my team and I were preparing for the 100 kms Oxfam Trailwalker challenge in which we were required to walk 100 kms within a time period of 48 hours. We steadily increased our walking capacity from 15kms to 20 kms to 27 kms to 42 kms.... the last we completed in 13 hours. We always knew that it was not going to be easy but all our preparations did not prepare us for the actual walk.

On the morning of 21st January, 2016, we set off from Hyderabad. My husband, Bala, drove us to Bangalore and was our support throughout the walk. 22nd January, we woke up at 2.30 am and reached the start point by 4.00 am. After completing the formalities, we waited with butterflies in our stomachs for the walk to be flagged off. Milind Soman, Model and Actor, flagged off the event.

The initial couple of stretches were a breeze and we completed it within the time frame we had planned. The third stretch was a difficult one but we kept moving. Bala met us at every checkpoint and kept us motivated.

Our feet had developed blisters so we taped them and kept going. The 4th and 5th stretches were again good. We had completed 46 kms by then. It was late night by then. We decided to sleep for a couple of hours. We got up at 2 am and started walking at 2.30 am. Atin, Anjali's brother, joined us for the 6th and 7th stretch. Having him walk with us gave us greater motivation.

Then came the 8th stretch which was a killer. While the first day was cloudy and comfortable, the 2nd day was hot and dry. The sun scorched down on us and we felt the heat especially in the 8th stretch. we completed 9 kms in 3 and 1/2 hours. We were so exhausted when we checked into the 8th Checkpoint. And then came the big surprise. We walked in to see our mentor and Anuradha's husband, Satish, sitting there. He had flown down from Hyderabad to walk the last stretch with us. All our pain was forgotten. After getting the required medical attention and physiotherapy done, we set off for the 9th stretch along with Satish. It was a breeze. We walked 9.5 kms in 2 hours.

After checking into the last checkpoint before the 100 kms mark, we got physiotherapy done and then set off for the final 6.5 kms stretch. It was 8 pm when we started.

The last stretch was the most difficult in terms of the terrain. We had to walk over some very steep inclines which were filled with loose sand and rocks of all shapes and sizes. With a lot of "ohs" and "aahs" we reached the 97 kms mark.

In the meanwhile, Chintan, another friend, was supporting us from Hyderabad. She was sending us motivational quotes. She got all our kids together and made videos of them cheering us on which she messaged us on WhatsApp. It was the icing on the cake. Seeing our kids cheer us made the last stretch the most memorable one.

 

The km between 97 and 98 was again very difficult with a climb down on a rock face. We did this stretch in 25 minutes. Then came the search for the 98th km mark which was not to be found. After walking for what seemed like an eternity, we finally located the 98th km mark. The next 2 kms seemed the longest. Finally, at 10:11 pm, we walking past the 100 kms mark.

It was the greatest moment of our lives.

Bala and Atin were waiting eagerly for us.

We had done it. After months of planning and preparation, we completed the 100 kms walk in 40 hours and 11 minutes.

For all of us it was the single greatest achievement of our lives so far.

We came back with mixed feeling and a great deal of learning.

We learned that the mind is more important than the body. If one makes up his or her mind, body does not matter. A strong mind can make the weakest body do wonders.

We also realised that we made a strong team. Though we were 5 of us, we thought as one and that became our strength.

When we got off the plane, we were greeted by our children who had come with a wonderful chart and lots of hugs and kisses and smiles.

We drove home and met up with Chintan. The team was finally complete. We had missed Chintan during our walk though she was there with us in spirit.

In the words of Anjali, "We can dust off the 100 kms walk from our shoulders."

Well, we can all say, "Been there... Done that"... until the next madness takes over.....;-)