Chapter-1: Registration for Satara Hill Half Marathon
In the runners' community, one of the "to-do" Marathon events in India is Satara Hill Half Marathon (SHHM). The reason for this selection is simply because it's one of the very few Hill Run events in India, it's quite challenging at the same time;  has some great views of the lovely mountain & is organized really well. Registrations for outstation runners for participation in the SHHM scheduled on 25th Aug, 2019 opened on 7th April, 2019 (6 AM). I was told that within a few hours of the launch, the registration gets over and therefore, I'd set an alarm for 5.30 AM that day to complete my registration and later checked that it was a Housefull by 7 AM itself. In order to conduct the event effectively in the Satara Hill and to avoid chaos, the organizers accept not more than ~5,000 registrations every year. While doing the registrations, it is important to note that they ask for completion certificate as proof of previously completed 10k or 21k running event  and you need to upload the scanned copy of your photo ID card along with payment of INR 1800+18%GST

Chapter-2: Preparation

The good part about SHHM is that you get a fair amount of time for preparation after the registrations are done. I had more than 3 months for preparation for my first ever Hill Half Marathon and overall second Half Marathon. Having done a half marathon in 2 hour 09min earlier in Apr 2019, I was targeting similar timings for SHHM considering its tougher as compared to running on a flat track.

Later in 2018 when I took running seriously, I joined a running group called Gurgaon Road Runners (GRR), and even though, not very regular in their group runs, still I tried to follow their training schedule and show-up in group runs once in a while since GRR as a group was participating in SHHM. I made sure that I was doing 2-3 runs a week, and an LSD run on Sunday. So, my Sunday runs were usually 10k or more. I included interval and tempo runs as well in my weekly routines. As far as hill runs are concerned, there are not many hills where I could train in Gurgaon, but there were a couple of locations with small inclines ranging between 100m to 1 km, where I practiced Hill Interval workout. I also followed the training calendar created by the SHHM organizers which was really well prepared. Although, I could follow it for initially 3 weeks, after which, I lost track & could no longer follow it, still it gave me a good sense of training and getting ready for running in SHHM. As mentioned in their training calendar, I used to cross train as well every week, either by doing cycling or gym or an HIIT workout. To add to the running schedule, I undertook 100 days of running challenge (HDOR), to which I was loyal for 50 days, without fail, but lost track in the later half of the challenge.

To learn about running techniques, I downloaded a book called "Chi Running" which is about effortless running. The book is interesting & I could feel the improvement in my overall performance by following the running techniques mentioned in the book. I would highly recommend the Chi Running style which was also promoted by the SHHM & HDOR organizers. SHHM even organized Chi running workshops in Satara which I saw on their FB Page.

I had a moderate level of training till July-end and in the beginning of August when SHHM was approaching closer, I got anxious, since, I did not have enough experience of hill running. Forget about hill, I had run HM distance (21.1 km) at a stretch, only once, earlier in Tuffman Gurgaon Marathon (April-2019). After that, the maximum distance at a stretch I had  run was only between 10-15km during the Sunday LSDs. Upon discussing about SHHM with the Jatin Arora, Head Coach of Reebok Running Squad Gurgaon, which I had joined for a weekly/bi-weekly core-cum-running session, it was good to know that some runners even achieve their PB in SHHM since downhill makes them run at an insane pace. Given the limited time left for D day, I made sure I incorporate few more hill runs/repeats, in order to get comfortable with running uphill and increasing pace downhill.

The turning point in my training came when GRR organized a "Similar to Satara Hill HM run"  on 4th & 11th August at Sohna Hill which was around 20km from my residence in Gurgaon. I never knew there was such a hill ever existed, so close to Gurgaon.  I decided to join the group run on 11th August and I completed 21km hill run comprising of uphill (3k x 3repeats) /downhill (3k x 3repeats)/flat suface (1.5k x 2) in 2 hour 22 mins. GRR coach, Siddharth Chaudhary announced that one can  expect 10 minutes faster timing in SHHM based on the Sohna Hill performance.

Last 2 weeks were meant for tapering but unfortunately, tapering, for me, was further down to no workout/run for at least a week  because of a small accident (I fell down while riding Activa as I was looking at the phone 🙈)  which caused superficial injury on my palm and to my right foot's thumb. I was totally off-workout for a week as I could barely walk while wearing the shoes. Fellow runner, Dr. Ramit Wadhwa, who is a doctor as well suggested an Antibiotic Powder which I applied on the wound to dry it up and thankfully, I was fine a week before the event and did a 10 km easy run on Sunday & a 4k tempo-run later on Thursday. By then, I was confident about performing as per my expectations in the event and had even prepared various versions of pacing plan considering 2:10 as my target. I must admit the article from one of the ex-SHHM runners was very useful for visualizing the uphill/downhill in SHHM. The link to the article is http://mrjitendrapatel.blogspot.com/2017/07/a-contrarian-approach-to-satara-hill.html

Chapter-3: Reaching Satara

Around 40 runners from the running group GRR had registered for the event and we were more than 30 in the same morning flight of 24.08.2019 from Delhi to Pune, all wearing the signature Orange  coloured T shirt of GRR due to which we could be spotted easily. We hired a bus from Pune, and it took almost 3 hours to reach Satara. I even won a specially designed SHHM GRR T-shirt, as the tagline I suggested was selected in their fun contest. The T-shirt bore the tagline "Kasakai Satara" which was suggested by me.  We had a great lunch at Kamat, just few kms before the Bib collection venue in Satara. This was the biggest Bib collection venue I had ever seen with so many kiosks ranging from fitness wear to shoes and accessories for running. It felt like a festival in Satara and there were hoardings of SHHM all around.

Enroute entertainment - playing harmonica

To keep my stomach safe from any infection, I was on a Khichdi diet for the lunch & the  dinner. We stayed at the Hotel Manasi Inn, 2-3 kms away from the Police Parade Ground - the start point of SHHM. After discussing the race day strategy with fellow runners - Madhukar & Aditya, I went to sleep around 10 PM and had set alarm of 4 AM, to have at least a 6 hour sleep for the run. Usually, because of the race anxiety, it is difficult to have a proper sleep a night before the race, but this time because of the hectic travelling day, thankfully, it didn't take me long to go to sleep and I had a sound sleep.

The bus reached our hotel at 5 AM and we reached the venue in 15 minutes. After getting a group photo, we approached our respective Lineup Section. I was given Lineup Section B (based on the timing certificate submitted by me during registration), which meant our flag off was few minutes later to the runners placed in Linuep Section A. Flag-off for Section A was at 6 AM and our flag-off was 1-2 minutes later. There are three medal categories of SHHM (based on Gun time & not chip time):
First one is Hill Champion who manages to cross the finish line before 8 AM;
Second-one is Hill Conquerer - those who cross the finish line before 8:30 AM
And finally Hill Challenger who crosses after 830 AM but before 10 AM.

The energy level at the start line was electrifying. National Anthem was played before the flag-off. There were runners all around & sounds of Maharahtrian/Nashik drums were very impressive. My strategy was to start slow and preserve energy for the downhill stretch later. I was supposed to start at the pace of 7 min/km but I could run easily at 5:30 min/km for initial 3 km, after which, the uphill stretch of SHHM began. On the way, it was really nice to see localites coming out from their houses and cheering the runners. At many places, the organizers had setup beautiful stage for performance of school kids, which was a delight to watch. The cheer and claps, really helps the runners to keep on running strongly with a smile.

Contrary to my planned uphill pace of 6:45-7:00 min/km, I was around 7:30 min/km pace for the entire uphill which lasted from 3 km till 7-8 km mark- the uphill run was difficult and my strategy was to take small steps and not stop or walk in between. I kept on hydrating myself throughout the run and the hydration points were appropriately placed. After crossing the uphill, my pace gradually picked up & few kms after the u-turn at 10.5 km mark, I took advantage of the downhill and could improve my planned pace of 5:00 -5:30 min/km. To my surprise, I was pacing around 4:30 min/km during the downhill, which lasted from 11.5 km mark till 18km. 3 to 4 kms before the finish line, I could make out upon doing the calculation that even if I pushed myself really hard,  I would finish at 8:03AM or 8:02 AM at best, but not in any case before 8:00 AM in order to get the first category medal. Therefore, I took it moderately easy thereafter and did not push myself much.

After 18km, there were a couple of spots where water-sprays were placed & were a great relief.  Last km, as per my experience, is the toughest in any race, when your mind keeps on fighting for the last few marks. Reaching the finish line always gives goosebumps and is a special feeling. I finished the race around 8:05 AM and my chip timing was 2:04:57. I was happy with the results as I was targeting around 2:10. I directly went to the recovery area as I didn't feel like doing stretching on my own right away. There was a team which was doing acupressure, while another one was the stretching team. I went to both the teams, and definitely preferred the stretches the volunteer performed on my back, shoulder & legs after asking me to lie down flat on the bed. The best part was the wet sponge which was a relief to the soreness. Overall, I really enjoyed the whole event since, unlike, my previous Half Marathon event, I crossed the finish line strongly without complains of any knee pain. Leg muscles soreness was bound to happen after a Half Marathon which is not to be complained about. I finished third in my running group - all the three runners had a difference of few seconds :) GRR even gifted a trophy later for my performance. Adding to the excitement, the other group Reebok Running Squad gifted a Reebok Tee  - these gestures really made me feel special :)