This is an article by invitation. Taru Mateti started running in her 50th year in 2013. A senior IT professional, she quit her job as a Delivery Head (Department Head, eLearning and Documentation) in 2017 to pursue her passion for running and fitness. Her hobbies include dot mandala painting, learning Spanish and reading. Her fitness regime includes running, strength training, yoga, spinning and occasionally, Pilates. Her fitness mantra is “Age no Bar.’’ She has run a 100-miler, two 100k ultramarathons, three 12-hour stadium runs (85k, 90k and 95k), back-to-back Comrades Marathon (90.2k and 87.4k), two 80k ultras, one 60k ultra, eleven 50k ultramarathons and one 12-hour Mumbai Ultra. She has also run sixteen full marathons and more than 100 other races of shorter distances. She has secured over 75 podium finishes (including wins in her age category). Herein, she writes about her first 100-miler, completed in splendid fashion in December 2023.

My first ultra was in 2015; a 50 kilometre-run (50k) at Pune Ultramarathon. In 2017, I ran a 100k at the same event.

Four years later, in December 2021, I ran the 100k at Border Ultra in Rajasthan. It was a good experience and I was charmed by the route and its challenges including the change in weather conditions (over the duration of the race) and the aid stations set 10 kilometres apart. I also met some inspiring runners who were running the longer 100 mile-race. My conversations with them sowed the seeds of attempting the 100-miler exceptional for being a run from one point to another and not a loop. The run also had a link to history. It was a tribute to the 120 jawans of the 23rd Battalion Punjab Regiment who held their post successfully the entire night of December 4, 1971 (Battle of Longewala) till they were reinforced the next day. The Indian side had 120 soldiers and the support of four Hunter aircraft; the Pakistanis had 2000-3000 men and 30-40 tanks. To my mind, if we (my husband and I) were to attempt a 100-miler, it had to be this one.

Although I had run 100 kilometres at the same place, the route was set to change a lot in 2023. Besides, even as I had trained earlier for the 100K on my own, I had no clue how to train for a 100-miler. So, I consulted Subham Mishra from Hyderabad who had already done the 100-miler of Border Ultra three times. He was one of the persons who influenced me to try the event. I had a bad August with some downtime followed by a vacation in September. My training for the 2023 edition of the 100-miler at Border Ultra, therefore started only from September 15 and Subham sent me a training plan from October 1 leading up to the actual event on December 16.

A few things changed from the training phase itself. I started running five days a week instead of four earlier. Also, the week day runs became longer. The mileage progressively peaked to about 130 kilometres in a week. I ran through all times of the day to get exposed to the sun and learn to cope with sleep deprivation. The longest run was a 12-hour stadium run at night, three weeks before the event. Yoga and strength training were also an important part of the preparations.

For nutrition, I followed what I generally do for long runs, dates and gels alternated at 5-6 kilometres, salt tabs every 12 kilometres or so besides water and electrolyte. I mostly run solo; so, relied on my hydration pack and roadside teashops for water. A couple of times, I also took bananas and potatoes to get used to them because I knew that a 100-miler is a totally different ballgame from a 100k, wherein I could survive on dates, gels, and oranges. For pre-run nutrition I experimented more with peanut butter and toast and not just banana / sweet potato (during the actual race, I even had a few spoons of rice, dal and potatoes at 50 kilometres and a few spoons of Maggi noodles at 130 kilometres as advised by Subham. It was something I had never done in any run before).

Mental preparation was a by-product of the excellent training plan. Strides after long runs mid-week were a new thing for me in my training plan and they helped not just physically but also mentally. I also read many blog posts by other runners. Subham kept encouraging me with his timely messages along with the weekly / biweekly training program. Pushing through the very long runs on weekends, especially the ultras that I ran as part of training helped considerably in mental preparation. Positive self-talk and affirmations in yoga classes as well as pranayam in each yoga class helped both physically and mentally.

I was nervous about running five days a week because I believed it would take me longer to recover. But it is amazing how the human body adapts. It wasn’t easy, but by rehashing my other activities, I could get started with the new agenda. Slowly, as the mileage increased, the fatigue also increased. To handle this, I became more regular with yoga and also got massages and physiotherapy for my hamstring every fortnight and did foam rolling every alternate day. Food and especially sleep are always a challenge for me. So, I consciously developed practices to have better control on them. I had to make a lot of sacrifices on the personal front, but that’s what it takes to achieve something like this.

Some days I just didn’t feel like getting out of bed. I would then pull myself up thinking I would do as much as possible and finally end up completing the run or any other session. Doing two of the longest training runs at organized events also helped. I followed the training plan 99 per cent and that is what gave me a lot of confidence.

On Saturday, December 16, the 100 mile-race started at noon in extreme heat, under a harsh sun. The course for the first 50 kilometres was more of a rolling one and with the route changed this year, there were headwinds too! I kept a steady pattern of running three kilometres and then walking 100 metres. For steep inclines, the mix was 80 metres of running followed by 20 steps walked. The Border Ultra 100-miler is an engaging package. You get photo-worthy beautiful sunsets, stretches on the road with sand blown over, a rolling route that is pronouncedly so towards the final phase, harsh sun, headwinds and extreme cold at night with total darkness and just one’s headlamp to show the way.

I had taped a corn on my toes. The first issue I faced was that the tape started blistering the adjoining toe. I had to stop by the roadside and remove the tape. I continued to run in a rhythmic run-walk pattern that changed as the distance progressed. The break at the 50 kilometre-aid station was a long one because it took time to change in the dark although just having a tent to change in was really helpful. I had got one blister by then despite my special shoes and it kept getting worse until the end! I thought positively at each step, remembering the training runs that I had done to tackle each problem that I was facing and that gave me strength. The mantra was – one step after the other and keep moving with focus on the markings on the road denoting route to take. At about 70 kilometres, my left hip flexor started becoming tight and gradually the pain increased. So off and on, while walking, I hit it with my fists to release the tightness a little. The pain however increased and until the end of the run, this was the only bothersome thing for me. I even took a pain killer at 100 kilometres, something I neither do normally nor advocate.

I continued to run conservatively because there are so many unknowns in such a long ultra. Fortunately, because of the rhythm that I set, the going felt easy. Singing songs, talking to myself, and most of all, counting steps helped. I looked at the watch when it buzzed at the end of each kilometre. The criterion after 110 kilometres was that each kilometre should be at a pace lesser than 10 minutes per kilometre, other than the aid station stops, of course. I was happy to see the bank of time that I was building with my pace being around 8:30. After 130 kilometres, I revised that to 12 minutes per kilometre but to my surprise, I could continue the same way as before.

Then suddenly after 141 kilometres my watch buzzed; it said: saving something, something…, and died. I took out my mobile phone but that was already dead. I continued running by feel. I had no clue about the total time I had taken to get where I was because I had last checked total time at 100 kilometres and mentally registered that it was my personal best so far, for the 100k. Also, I knew in advance that 140 kilometres was where one hit the extremely rolling section of the course, which continued till the end. I kept on running by feel, not having a clue about my pace or the anticipated time to finish. I wasn’t even sure I would do a sub-24-hours, which anyway wasn’t a target. In my mind, I just wanted to finish sub-26 after doing well until 100 kilometres. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had finished in 23:29:04, less than six minutes short of the course record! And I had done it by running conservatively and enjoying the ultra without the desire to give up or curse myself even once. Happy to have finished strong and injury-free. It was a dream come true in my sixtieth year on the planet and an outcome I hadn’t expected – an overall win in the women’s category at my first-ever 100-miler at The Hell Race Border Ultra!

After the run, I waited at the finish line for my husband, Col Chandan Kumar Mateti (retd), to finish. I kept walking around and cheering other finishers as well as meeting those stationed at the finish line. I can’t eat much after a run but had a bit of rice, dal and paneer. Then I walked some more to see the Longewala memorial and Tanot temple. The following four days were spent running and climbing forts, doing touristy stuff and other short walks. Sleep was much needed, but despite one full missed night of sleep, I could sleep less than five hours the next three nights…I was probably still on a high. One thing I missed was bringing along my protein supplement. But I made up for it by eating chicken and eggs, something I normally avoid. I also took my regular supplements and a boosted dose of Vitamin C and soaked my feet in Epsom salt once.

Two days after the run, I did a five kilometre-walk and did extensive stretches. The Friday after the ultra, I did a 7.5 kilometre-recovery run and found that all systems were okay. Recovery was thus basically a lot of movement, rest, and good food. Strength training and yoga from Monday and easy, short runs for another week and I was ready to slowly get back to my regular life.

(The author, Taru Mateti, is an ultrarunner based in Pune. For more on Col Chandan Kumar Mateti, please click on this link: https://shyamgopan.com/2022/05/01/how-i-ran-my-first-100k/)