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To those who have already made a contribution, a big thank you from Asha Bangalore. Do remember to check if your employer has a donation matching program. If you want to make a contribution, and need no convincing, click here.

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In case you haven't noticed, I'm training for my first ultra marathon: a 50K at the Annapurna100 on Jan 1 2012, to raise funds for Asha For Education, which works on providing holistic education to disadvantaged children. I reached my training peak this morning, with 2 weeks to go before race day. By Jan 1, I will have run over 800KM over the second half of 2011. So although I am feeling pretty good about where I am physically, nothing is certain, since the Annapurna route involves many more challenges than city trails in Bangalore.

All this seeming craziness is to draw attention to the efforts of Asha Bangalore. For my part, I will

1. Make my own financial contribution towards Asha
2. Visit project sites and get to know the children who's lives we touch.
3. I will do my best at the Annapurna 50K.

Your part is no less crucial though. So please do make your contribution. 100% of your donation will go towards projects supported by Asha Bangalore.

Preparing for the Annapurna 50K

Annapurna South from Ghandruk, part of the route for the Annapurna 100

Change of plans. For the Bangalore Ultra, I will stop at 25K. I am treating the Ultra as a stepping stone to  what will probably be the most physically and mentally demanding day of my life: Jan 1, 2012. If all goes well, I will attempt my first ultra marathon on that day. While I've chosen the lowest distance you can run that qualifies you as an ultra runner (50K), I ended up choosing a course that's in the Himalayas of Central Nepal at the Annapurna 100. I'm excited at the prospect of an incredible day in the mountains, but have little sense of how my body and mind will hold up when trail-running across varied elevations, trail & climatic conditions. I'm deriving inspiration from two other Asha runners (one of whom is running the 100), and the support, both financial and moral, from all of you.

This is the centerpiece of my fund raising effort as part of Team Asha for 2011. It's strange how the mind works when you're at the limit of exhaustion. The smallest things can turn into huge dollops of motivation. A smile from a stranger on the trail. A shout out. A $100 donation from an old friend. It all adds up. So please be generous in your support. Click on the orange "DONATE" button on the top right of this page. 

Kaveri Trail Marathon, 2011: Check

Completed the Kaveri Trail (Half) Marathon in 2:14:01. It was a tough run, as expected. I was better prepared this time though, both physically and mentally, which enabled me to improve my time on this course by over 15 min (I had a poorly 2:30 finish here back in 2009). With this, I've successfully completed two of the three goals I had set for myself this year.

I'm still short of my fund raising goal for this race, so any contribution you make will be highly appreciated, and impactful! Please click here or use the orange button on the top right.

The weather this year was a shade kinder, though the last few KMs had the sun beating down mercilessly. But my improved showing was largely thanks to the amazing work by Runners High and TeamAsha.

Thanks for all the support!

Team Asha Challenge: 2011

If you've made up your mind to contribute to Asha, head on directly to my Team Asha running page, or use the orange "DONATE" button on the top-right..


Here's the longer winded version of what's going on. I believe there's no point asking folks to support your run unless you're pushing yourself beyond your known limits. Since I've run half and full marathons in the past in order to raise funds for AID and Asha, this year, I decided to do something different. My three goals for this year are:

• Help train a group of newbie runners for the Bangalore 10K, and assist them in raising funds for Asha Bangalore. Over the summer, Team AMD achieved their running and fund raising goals with flying colors, raising over Rs 3 lakhs.
• Run a half marathon at the Kaveri Trail Marathon, one of the harder courses in South India as part of Team Asha. My goal is to improve my last showing at that race by at least 15 minutes. This means I need to complete the race in 2:15. The marathon is this weekend, and I think I'm well prepared, but anything can happen on race day, so keeping my fingers crossed. 
• Run the Bangalore Ultra for the first time, and set a personal distance record. I haven't decided what distance to do yet, but 50K seems like the logical distance to try. 

Asha Bangalore works on several projects that seek to correct imbalances faced by underserved children. Asha Bangalore supported projects are special in that Asha volunteers are physically and intellectually involved with each of these projects at a deep level.

However, it is critical to realize that they cannot work in isolation, either from you, or me. My part in this is to train hard, and meet a commitment that I have made in public. You can be an equally important part of the amazing work done by Asha by supporting my effort.