The beauty of the un(der)explored forest-Satpura Tiger Reserve

There are times when things you love take a back-seat because something else is taking up your time. After the monsoons of 2022, my love for being out in the lap of nature, watching wild animals in their natural habitat took a back seat as I prepared for my second full marathon. There was a trip to Kanha in November which had to be cancelled due to some work-related exigencies. The safari drought looked destined to end at Ranthambore in February 2023. However, a plan came beckoning, to explore Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. This seemed like the best choice to overcome the missed opportunity of being in Kanha. I had heard that it had a beautiful forest and was frequented by very few persons. To make things even more tempting, it was a trip which didn't require a holiday (God bless the 5 days working week). So I jumped at the opportunity of visiting a new, relatively less explored forest, the weekend after the Mumbai Marathon.

Post marathon glow

 The build-up:

The build-up as always starts with checking out photos, videos, reviews etc. from social media platforms. There were very few people in my safari loving circles who had been there. Thankfully they had the right contacts and suggestions for planning the trip. We were hoping to stay in the forest rest house inside the reserve, but unfortunately, we didn't get a booking for the weekend. We had to be content with an amazing resort just 5km from the Bhimkund gate, called Goldmark resort. The resort had amazing rooms, great food and extremely friendly and helpful staff. The permit booking was extremely simple (Kudos to the MP forest department for that) as was the travel. A 9 hour train ride from Mumbai lies the city of Itarsi, which is 50km from the reserve and we took one of the ample cabs from Itarsi to Bhimkund. We reached Goldmark Resort at 5am. We headed to the gate and met our co-travelers who had driven down from Nagpur. At the gate, we need to fill up a form to release a gypsy for the safari. The gate opened at 6:15 and we entered the wonderful world of Satpura Tiger Reserve

Day 1:

Entering a forest before dawn has its pros and cons. The weather as we entered the reserve was superb! It was nice and cold, perfect weather for warm blooded animals to walk around without overheating. With the sun still close to 45 minutes from rising, it was hard to see anything off the road which was lit by the headlights of our gypsy. The road was bumpy like any unpaved road. We were a good 32km away from the Churna zone. Churna was a village within the reserve which was relocated as recently as 2013. It is the region in the park with the best chances of spotting the main attractions of the reserve. 

As we traversed the road to Churna, we were entranced by the beauty of the forest. The lovely mist cover over the tall trees made the forest look even more beautiful. The many streams we traversed looked like scenes from a postcard collection. The sky was bright enough by the time we reached the Churna Forest Rest House, the place we were hoping to stay. This is a fenced area right in the lap of the core of the forest. After a quick bio-break, we proceeded further. 

A few minutes later, we encountered a gypsy standing on the side of the trail. The six occupants were staying in the FRH, a clear result of having some political connections. They had the look anyone would have on seeing a tiger in the wild for the first tie. They enthusiastically showed us a video on their mobile phones, where we saw a huge male tiger walking down the trail and turning away towards the canal. We had missed him by a few minutes. What commenced was a long search operation, looking for alarm calls, pug-marks etc. The chase was not leading us to the tiger but we were able to explore the beauty of the forest. The tall trees, the many lakes and rivers, the other mammals and birds all going about their business. It was wonderful to experience the forest. But alas, no tiger. At around 11am, we were supposed to not exit the forest but report at the Forest Rest House. We could spend the afternoon time there, have lunch and then resume for the next safari, avoiding the 32km drive to and from the gate. 

At the FRH, there was a Malabar Giant Squirrel aka Indian Giant Squirrel who had come down to check on the visitors there. Nanhi the squirrel, was an orphan who was raised by the FRH staff and rewilded. Despite being shy typically, she is extremely comfortable around people and was happily moving around like a celebrity, posing for photos and coming close to see her fans.

The beauty of being in a forest with few visitors is that generally, only people having an understanding and deep love for nature and wildlife funnel through the gates. Thus nobody was seen feeding the wild animals, birds etc. Even the 'notorious' langurs were docile and were uninterested in people eating in the FRH. We had an awesome time having the lovely food prepared at the FRH. We also had a few rounds of Uno with some Spanish co-travelers. It was clear that Uno is a globally popular game and time just flew while playing

The afternoon safari started at 3pm. To exit the gate at 6pm, we only had till 5pm to explore Churna, before the hour-long drive to Bhimkund gate. 

It started pretty much like how the morning session ended, with us hunting for any signs of movement of big cats. With almost 90 minutes of the safari done, we were busy admiring a racket-tailed drongo near the Mahuapani dam. All of a sudden, the silence of the jungle was shattered by frantic alarm calls by spotted deer and some sounds of them running helter skelter. We presumed that someone had made a kill and went towards the plantation road which was the direction in which the calls were heading. And before long, we saw the cause of the commotion. A lovely leopard emerged from the bushes on the left and ran across the road. It seemed like it looked at us, acknowledged our presence and vanished. The calls continued and we caught a glimpse of him on the next road too (Forgot the name of the road..Note to self: you can consider typing these a little more promptly next time).

The lean and mean leopard

Right then, the silence was shattered again. Not by deer but by their worst nightmare. We heard the roar of a tiger sending shockwaves through the jungle. We headed straight back to the Plantation road where we were joined by two more gypsies. One of them had just come in from Mahuapani Dam road. We thought that any movement would happen towards the Plantation Road and plus the third gypsy had already seen that the road was clear. Still, our driver took us on the road for one last check before leaving. And voila! There was the most magnificent looking male tiger, bathing in golden sunlight, sitting on what looked like a carpet. His name was Rudra and we had missed meeting him in the morning by just a few minutes. He saw us nonchalantly and acknowledged our presence by rolling on his back. It was as though he had called us to click his photo and was playing with the lights like a seasoned model. When he knew that we had to leave, he too vanished. After almost 7 hours of no action, we had the most amazing 30 odd minutes! And we were the only gyspy to have seen either of these beauties. Two brilliant solo sightings to cap off the day

The massive Rudra!! The glow was real!!

The resort was wonderful with a nice bonfire, great snacks and dinner. Considering how sleep deprived I was, I quickly had my meal and retired for the night

 

Day 2:

Day 2 again commenced with the hour long drive from the gate till the FRH and then into the Churna zone. On the way we spotted a jungle cat just beside the road. The previous evening, our driver told us after our photoshoot with Rudra that every time he had seen a jungle cat in the past, he had seen a tiger. That definitely raised our hopes for day 2. A little further, just as the suns rays were barely making their presence felt, we saw another racket tailed drongo, our messiah from day 1. We went on the Sendalbaba road, following the pugmarks of a male tiger(Male pugmarks are much bigger than those of females). The pugmarks looked fresh. All signs seemed to point towards another rendezvous with Rudra. Within a few minutes, we saw a gypsy going slowly, with hands out asking us to slow down. And there was a giant tiger walking on the trail, leading the gypsy. What a sight it was! The guy was just ambling along the road, sniffing his territory and scent marking wherever he deemed necessary. We later understood that this wasn’t Rudra but his father, the mighty R2. After a short while, the gypsy let us through. They let us go ahead of them and they were happy to have us between them and the tiger. At a point, R2 stood up on his hind legs and scratched a tree to serve the dual purpose of showing who is boss and cleaning his claws. It was amazing to just watch this big guy go about his business, without the chatter which normally comes with the huge number of vehicles seen commonly at most national parks.

After trailing R2 for some distance, there was a branch in the road. Our driver figured that we could take that diversion and come out ahead of R2. What a drive it was! It was an amazing exhibition of car control and navigation on rugged terrain. We got back onto the main trail and after a few minutes, had the majestic beast walking right towards us. The driver ensured that the tiger had sufficient space, the simplest technique to ensure that a tiger keeps walking towards you. He walked along with us for almost an hour before entering the woods, giving us ample time to just admire and watch the behaviour of a wild tiger on his own turf. We saw him again a short while later, but the exhilaration paled in comparison with the hour long walk.

The mighty R2

Post lunch we continued searching for other tigers like Machli, Katy and Heart-face, exploring some amazingly beautiful parts of the forest. But there was no sign of any of them. We did however see the pugmarks of a leopard going along the trail for a very long distance. Happy with our haul, we started our 32km drive back to Bhimkund a little before 5. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the vultures on the tree which we had seen the previous evening and at dawn, but they were nowhere to be seen. A little further ahead, we saw a rock like shape, suddenly materialize into the form of a leopard and flash across the road. The langurs continued their alarm calls. But it was amazing to see how masterfully camouflaged the leopard was. We had heard about the boldness of the leopards at Satpura, but seeing two leopards in two days was a bonus! And as we headed towards the gate, we also saw a nice big sloth bear, capping the list of rare and beautiful animals we saw, who call the forests of Satpura Tiger Reserve, home

What a beautiful forest Satpura is! It is still largely unexplored by people. The people who make it there are ones who truly love and appreciate wildlife and it is great to experience a forest without the noise and trash brought in by crowds

The only thing which pinched a little was the almost non-existence of  digital payment methods at the gate for meals, the gypsy charges, etc. You will have to carry cash with you

Being so close to Mumbai, I am sure I will be heading there more often and enjoy being totally immersed in the beauty of nature

The joy of the Full Marathon returns!

On 19 January 2020, I crossed the finish line of the Tata Mumbai Marathon to complete my first ever full marathon. With a lot of runners, it is just an item to check off their bucket list. Perhaps it was for me too. But in the months leading up to the race, I fell in love with running all over again. You can read more about my first full marathon and its training journey here:

https://kartikiyer747.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-journey-towards-marathon.html

https://kartikiyer747.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-tata-mumbai-marathon-2020-my-first.html

Thanks to COVID, there had been a nice and long break in a lot of races, especially big ones like TMM. In this period I had thought to myself that I would register for the full marathon only when I am able to devote so much time in a week, only when I will run some mileage every week, only when I can get a particular timing in the full marathon, etc. When the teasers came out about the Tata Mumbai Marathon coming back on the 3rd Sunday of 2023, I jumped with joy, excited about the return of the event which had kindled the fiery love for running way back in 2007 (though it manifested only after 10 years). One of the important aspects of training for something as time intensive as a full marathon is to have your support system aligned with your decision, preferably before making it. So I did an encore, having a heart to heart discussion with my wife. I told her that if I register for the full marathon, it would be only if I am able to hit a time target and that it would be extremely tough and intense. I told her that if the time I spend running would be too much, I am okay with registering for the half marathon too. 

Post-registration travel with the better half

This was when she reminded me about how much I enjoyed running. She asked me why I was taking away the joy, by adding such an obsession for timing. That struck me like a bolt of lightning. Next morning, I registered for the full marathon. I did have a target in my mind, but the focus was on working on the little building blocks like mileage, endurance and speed and also devote more time for strength and flexibility. 

Not exactly a yoga pose. But better balanced through practice of yoga

Having the right people to teach you the right thing at the right time is worth its weight in gold. TimTim Sharma had helped me train for my first full marathon back in 2019. This time, all the knowledge I gained from 1 year of attending her morning yoga sessions helped build the blocks to combat my Achilles heel from the 2020 edition. I got regular with short yoga sessions and I could see and feel the improvement in both strength and flexibility. My resistance bands and dumbbells too were put to good use. 

After a 32k run on a hot November morning

On the running front, the mileage ramp up commenced after the Satara Hill Half Marathon. Fewer hills, and more easy runs. The hot and humid weather through September and October continued well into November. TimTim again guided me with the running workouts similar to 2019. But thanks to the time target this time, the pace and effort level in all of them were much higher. And guess what! My body showed how much fitter it had gotten over time. The love showered on it through the seemingly innocuous short yoga sessions, strength sessions and slow paced runs, showed their worth through some amazing results in the faster workouts. 

In action at Vasai-Virar

This time, I had the solitary half marathon intermediate exam at the Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation Marathon. TimTim had told me that I was supposed to hit a half marathon time of 1:50 and a 10k time of 50 minutes. And I almost did both in the same race. A 1:48:25 half marathon with a 10k segment of 00:50:29 in between. It showed that the training was bearing fruit. But after this came a twist. 

A nostalgic run to my old office

A run to the best milkshake waala in Marine Lines

The best rehydration drink in hot weather

With the mileage  and intensity both peaking in December, to a nice taper down till raceday, the journey has been amazing. A big thank you to all friends who made the runs fun, my family who endured my antics again, all the metro stations, petrol pumps etc. which served as pit-stops and also the mind and body for staying fit and fine through the journey. Tomorrow's race is for all of you!!

Racing again!!!

8 December 2019. I crossed the finish line outside Viva College in Virar, crushing my personal best in the half marathon. On 18 September 2022, I lined up at the start line of the Satara Hill Half Marathon. 3 minutes before the start, the crowd of 5000+ runners started singing the National Anthem. As my chest swelled with pride, my eyes started welling up with joy. The joy of being with so many like minded people after so long. I was ready to run a half marathon after almost 3 years, after having gone through several crests and troughs of fitness through the pandemic. 

When the registration for the race was announced, I wasn’t very sure about running it. But Sushma(my dear elder sister) prodded me a little, I thought, “hmmm this time I could attempt to get the Gold Hill Champion Medal there”. So the instant registrations opened, I was in the registration page and tadaa….I had registered for this scenic, challenging run which I had done twice before and witnessed once as a spectator/cheerleader.

The training was very different from the last two times, with enough emphasis laid to easy flat ground running, strength training and yoga! The MAF Block this year was slower than last year due to several factors, including weather, start time, etc. After that, both the distances and elevation gain on weekly runs ramped up. The last week before the one leading up to the race had me running up Mount Mary and also Katherine caves at BNP. And I was not dying at the end of these runs. With minimal running over the last week due to the weather, I reached the start line of the Satara Hill Half Marathon better prepared than ever before. I had met the 2 hours pacer at the expo and had got a good idea of the strategy to be followed through the run. Being in line-up A was a big advantage to get the Hill Champion medal since the medal colour was decided by the gun time and not net time. 

Bathing in sunshine atop the hill

A little after the national anthem, the race was flagged off and I crossed the start line in less than half a minute. A good start. Then the first separator slope started immediately, sieving out the people who had managed to train well and the ones who could not. It is quite chaotic to go up a slope where there are slow people in front of you and fast people coming up from behind you. The first 3.5km through the city were good fun, the slopes giving a warmup session before the main Nivant slope. Being my normal chatty self, I managed to befriend quite a few runners, including a long haired guy running barefoot. We were both just a short distance behind the 2 hours pacer and the conversations made it clear that we were quite comfortable with the pace and effort. 

Then came the Kaas Road with its famous/infamous slopes. I remember the first time I had run Satara, a description online said that from kilometre 3 to 7, the slope goes from steep to ridiculously steep. They weren’t joking. The slope goes on for almost 4km and it just keeps climbing. These 4km magically feel like a lot more. A few hundred metres into the climb, I realised that running continuously up the slope may not be the best way to proceed. The pacer had told me that the best way to ascend for a sub2 finish was to maintain a pace of 7-7:15/km. I figured out that seasoning the run with some walk breaks for recovery would be the best way to proceed. And so I started running for 40 seconds and walking for 20seconds, over and over and over again. And voila! I went past one of the two hours pacer who seemed to be struggling and then reached the pacer I had spoken to the previous day. 

One of the 20 second walks

This was when I made the mistake of boarding the bus which was walking forward. Little did I know that this was a long walk, a far cry from my strategy of rewarding myself with a walk break for 20s after every 40s of running. When their walk break ended, the bus started moving up continuously and managed to build up a lead. I went back to my more rewarding strategy and kept moving up at an average lap pace of 7:30/km. When the slope ended and the route flattened out, the pace quite effortlessly got a lot faster. I reached the u-turn point in 1:07:55, giving me 52 minutes to cover the rest of the distance. The sun was up, beating down in all its glory, making the route even more beautiful. Blue skies with grey clouds, green hills and a lake down below! It was beautiful!

The return leg had a few short and sweet uphills, but I somehow felt I may get to conserve energy for the downhill with the same 40-20 strategy. In retrospect, that was probably not the best decision but knowing that I had reached that point faster than ever before made me just want to enjoy the course, without fretting too much about the timing. I saw the board which said ‘Ghat road starts here’ approaching. There was a live music station where the band was playing ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’. Just as I went past them, I saw the person who got me to register for the run (scroll up to read who it was if you missed it) with her phone out, and she recorded a video clip of me being me on a run. She was initially planning to come up to the waterfall and turn back but I was hoping that she would go ahead and complete the entire course. We were both enjoying being where we were, doing what we were doing. And that is the beauty of running. However fast or slow you are, there is almost always someone faster or slower than you on a different journey. Comparing your journey with that of others just sabotages your happiness 

Flying downhill!!!

The ghat while going downhill! It was so lovely! I just switched off my engine and let gravity do its work. Effortlessly gliding past people, enjoying the views of Satara and the entire landscape, enjoying just picking my feet off the ground the moment they landed, I felt like I was running in heaven. I finished the first km of the downhill in a little under 5 minutes. I asked myself if I wanted to push and the answer was a resounding NO. So I flew on, making some friends along the way. All this while clocking 4:45/km consistently. 

Where I realised how well I had trained was after the ghat. I was still being kind to myself, not forcing myself through pain, walking whenever I felt like, yet I was clocking a good pace. I met Biriyani Badshah Saurav Chakravarthy around 3km from the finish and it felt good to have a familiar face to run with in the closing stages. On the last kilometre, I was running alongside my downhill running friends from Belgaum and a lady who was also on the 2hour bus and had dropped off. With a final push, we turned into the police parade ground and sprinted towards the finish line. I subconsciously finished with a huge smile on my face, underscoring how happy I was to have done the run. And the personal best at Satara was an added bonus.

The joy of finishing!!

Thank you Satara for being an awesome race venue again! Thanks for making me fall in love with you! I will be back soon!

Rendezvous with Riddhi

Almost every wildlife lover in India would at some point of time have heard about Machli aka T-16 the queen of Ranthambhore. She is said to have contributed immensely to tiger conservation in India. She created a gene pool of about 50 tigers in Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve. She is also widely regarded as the most photographed or most famous tiger in the world. She was a fierce tiger who held on to arguably the most picturesque territory of Ranthambhore, the Rajbagh, Padam and Malik lake area. She had often fought off bigger male tigers too protect her cubs. She once wrestled a 14ft long crocodile on the banks of one of the lakes. Such acts are just a small part of what made her a legend. Ask any guide of Ranthambhore about Machli and you'll hear the line, "her personality was different" or "uski baat hi kuch aur thi".

By Bhavik Thaker - https://www.flickr.com/photos/24592211@N05/7313557652/

I've never had a chance to see her even though I had been to Ranthambhore when she was alive. But documentaries and guides all continue to echo the same traits. She was extremely tourist friendly and wouldn't get flustered with the hordes of gypsies around her. She was seen regularly in the lake area and people who visited Ranthambhore were almost always sure to meet her. Most tigers are known to be sedentary during the afternoon since it's quite hot that time. Machli on the other hand would move during those afternoon hours too. She was just in her element and that made the world her fan. People who saw her often said that they forged a bond with her.

I visited Ranthambhore in 2021 after a long gap of almost 5 years. In the build-up, I'd heard stories and seen videos about the power struggles for the crown jewel of Ranthambhore, the lake area which was ruled by Machli. The power struggles involved fights between Arrowhead and her two daughters, Riddhi and Siddhi. The mother had been displaced and was far from the lake area. When we were on our first safari, our guide told us how bloody these fights had been. He said that Siddhi has a cut on her right ear and Riddhi on her left ear. Also, Riddhi had once so badly injured her tongue in a fight that the forest officials had to give her surgical stitches.

Siddhi at Malik lake

The first two safaris got us a sight of Arrowhead and Siddhi, the latter on the banks of the disputed Malik lake. A road bisects Malik lake into two sections. One is bigger than the other and dotted with a lot of dry tree trunks in the middle of the water. The other is smaller and has lesser water, with tall grass on its banks. We saw Siddhi on the bigger part of the lake she was stalking sambar deer for an evening snack.

Love at first sight

First sight of Riddhi

On the third safari, we were exploring zone 4 when we heard a solitary spotted deer alarm call from near the lake. Knowing that tigers are generally on the move at that time, we rushed to the area and happened to see a lovely full grown tiger on the smaller, drier section of the lake. She walked up onto the road and straight towards us. We had an unbelievable one on one session with her for almost 10 minutes before other vehicles reached the scene. It was so awesome!! Her wonderful eyes were twinkling in the 7am sunlight. She was relaxed while strolling and marking her scent on trees. She was patrolling the borders and marking them as well. She walked, yawned(showing us her battle scarred tongue) and went about her own business. After a while when a lot of vehicles had made it to the area where she was, she took a break and decided to take a nap. We couldn't have asked for more in terms of a tiger experience.

A second tryst with Riddhi

Riddhi surveying her kingdom

Turning the clock forward to Feb 2022, I planned a trip to Ranthambhore with my family to make them experience the beauty of this legendary tiger reserve. On our first safari guess whom we met. It was Riddhi on a morning stroll. Her distinctive trident patterns over her eyes and the triangle on her right cheek are dead giveaways of her identity. She traversed a wide open expanse, marked her territory, crossed the trail and then saw some deer. She paused for a while and judged that they were too far. She realised that the odds were stacked against her and then decided to take a little cat nap. Her slumber was disturbed by some peafowl. The result was her showing her displeasure by roaring! It was the first time ever that I heard a tiger roaring. What an experience it was! I was so glad that even my folks got to experience the regal beauty of this wonderful tigress.

Riddhi on an afternoon stroll

In the afternoon, we headed back towards the area where we had left her last. On hearing some langurs give an alarm call, we rushed straight there and out of the tall green grass emerged Riddhi!!! This time she wore a serious, angry expression on her face and seemed to be walking with a purpose. This was at 3:15pm, a time when most tigers take a siesta. She again walked past us and followed the path which would have led her to Malik lake. Our guides told us that this trait of Machli of being on the move at all times had come down to Krishna(T-19), then Arrowhead (T-84) and now Riddhi(T-124). This boldness of such tigers is what makes these National parks so popular and a favourite destination for wildlife lovers from across the world.

Riddhi baring her teeth

The next time we saw Riddhi was the following afternoon where she was seated on edge of the road dividing Malik lake, surveying the lake and perhaps scouting for lunch. Our guide confirmed that she hadn't made a kill for 3-4 days and she was hungry. After a while, she yawned, stood and walked straight down into the lake. She was literally touching distance from one of the gypsies as she headed towards the lake. Most of the vehicles went along the road in the direction where she was headed, hoping to see her come out from there. We waited right there, getting a grandstand view of Riddhi, the apex predator queen of the lake in action.

The climax

There was a sense of excitement as we saw her go through the tall grass, carefully staying out of view of the sambar deer and surreptitiously creeping up within striking distance. Being an ambush hunter sure needs patience. She waited for the deer to get closer. We too waited and watched with bated breath. The minutes kept ticking by.

The chase continues

After about 15 minutes, she pulled the trigger. She charged towards her nearest quarry in the water and all hell broke loose. The sambar deer started the alarm calls. Despite the distance, we could see Riddhi's muscles push her towards her meal. Her 100kg frame was splashing water with every step. The sounds of the alarm calls and the water splashing drowned everything else. The deer could move in any direction but seeing death coming towards them got them running helter skelter. I had my camera going up and down just to watch the sights unfolding through the viewfinder and through naked eyes. Riddhi was putting in 100% efforts. She got close to one deer who got away, then close to another. Riddhi was looking to cut off angles while the deer were looking to get to solid ground and hopefully escape. In this game of big cat and deer, finally all the deer managed to get away with their lives. Till the last one managed to flee, Riddhi tried her best. Hungry, tired and wet, she walked into the grass near us and took a nap to recharge her batteries

The calm after the storm

The three gypsies who had waited had the best view of the entire scene. Our hearts were in our mouths, marvelling at the beauty of nature's creations playing the game of Life and death. The tiger despite being the most amazing predator, fails in 9 out of 10 attempts. We were a little disappointed for Riddhi but were reminded of how beautifully nature balances things out. The sambar deer who survived were the fittest of the lot and were able to stay away from her grasp. We felt assured that she will make a kill soon enough and stay energized to rule her Kingdom!

Just as our time for the evening safari was coming to a close, we heard some sambar deer alarm calls again. That's when we realised that Riddhi had sneaked up without us noticing that she'd woken up and moved through the tall grass. Knowing that the hunt won't be possible, she walked towards us for one last photo op for the trip. It was as though she came towards us to say see you soon/ Au revoir/auf wiedersehen/phir milenge.

My most viewed and downloaded photo of Riddhi

The beauty of all these experiences with Riddhi at RTR are bound to keep me going back from time to time to say a casual hello

Breakfast ideas number1

Like I mentioned in my previous post, one challenge which people often encounter while eating healthy is the lack of time to prepare a wholesome meal and sometimes, the lack of time to consume one. One of my favourite ways of ensuring that I can have a heavy, fulfilling and extremely healthy meal at the start of a day is to prepare a smoothie. The Google definition of a smoothie is a drink prepared by blending pureed raw fruits and or vegetables. They are extremely easy to prepare and one can easily control the macro nutrients in a single serving. And yes one can control the flavour and thus the taste. 

A plant based vegan friendly, high protein smoothie bowl

One often understated advantage for amateur (or professional) endurance athletes of having smoothies after a workout like a long run is that in addition to the great deal of control over the macros, smoothies are extremely easy to digest. You even save on the effort of having to chew what you are consuming. 

In order to make these smoothies rich in proteins and high in energy content, I tend to use two of my favourite ingredients in most of my smoothies: Oats and a mix of nuts. Its always preferable to soak both the oats and the nuts in water or milk for at least a few hours since it makes the oats a lot easier to digest. A few scoops of oats (about 50g) would give around 6g of proteins, 34g of carbs and 4.8g of fats. This adds up to about 200 kCals which is about what a 70kg person would burn in an easy, low effort run lasting about half an hour. The nuts depending on what you add will give you some more proteins (around 10g of almonds or peanuts give around 2-2.5g of proteins) and a good deal of fats (10g of almonds or peanuts yield around 5g of fats). These fats act as a source of fuel which can sustain you through a long period of time. Another macro the oats and nuts add is the dietary fiber. The dietary fiber helps stabilise the glucose levels in the body and thus help us feel full once we eat something. 

A high power smoothie with a dash of the king of fruits

To supplement the carbs and fiber from the above combination, I tend to add fruits like bananas, a few dates and blend them all together. After some particularly hard workouts, I often add milk or whey protein to the mix too to add some more proteins which are essential to improve recovery. To make them even more delightful to eat/drink, I like to add seasonal fruits to the mix along with some more nuts to add the crunch. And voila!!! I have enough in my bowl/mug to sustain me through the most productive hours of work and also help me recover after my run/workout. 

To dial in the macros in the smoothies, its a great idea to invest in a small kitchen scale. There are several apps one can download to get the exact content of each of the ingredients which enter and exit your blender jar. 

PS: I could have titled this post number 1 breakfast idea since this is my favourite option for breakfast!!! :)

Control what you can control-The love for breakfast

"There is no way I can eat healthy!" and "I am forced to eat unhealthy food" are statements we end up hearing way too often. Eating healthy doesn't mean popping pills, supplements before and after workouts etc. The essence of eating healthy is to have a balanced meal. It is something we may have read about even back in school but somehow we may have forgotten its relevance in today's day and age. This leads to a growing number of people following fad diets or just end up going in the wrong direction.

It is no rocket science to figure out that one needs energy to sustain their body, no matter how active or inactive he/she is. One also needs their food to supply all the macro and micro nutrients in the right quantities. The timing of ingesting these nutrients which so many people give paramount importance is not as important as getting those nutrients into your system. The proteins are basic building blocks and ensure that the body is able to repair itself. The carbs are the fuel cells which power the body. The fats serve many purposes which include being a reserve source of energy, transport medium for some vitamins, etc. Getting the right amount of macros is key to good health. That is the beauty of a "Balanced Meal" 

Is healthy eating like walking a tight-rope?

When I started working, I was told that I was too dependent on making a plan and then implementing it. Not sticking to the plan would shake me up. I was told to just do things, be prepared for emergencies. However, always being on the lookout for emergencies made me miss out on vital chunks of time which could have been used more productively. That's when I started following the principle, "Control what you can control". I would plan my activities, being flexible enough to modify them, yet sticking to the plan as much as possible. I magically had way more time to get way more productive and thus develop myself further. I only controlled what I could in the best way possible. 

The same principle holds true for food. The best way to ensure that you are getting the balance in your meal is by creating a framework which easily allows you to eat what you love. Having complete control over even a single meal in the day, preferably your breakfast can help you ensure that you stay on track for eating healthy, stay energised and well-fueled through the day and not feel the urge to eat whatever you lay your eyes on. Whether you are home with family or home alone or waking up in a hotel room on an official tour, you can always give yourself a few minutes to prepare or just consume a wholesome meal which contains the macros you need to power you through the day. Time need not be an obstacle towards eating and living healthy.

The key to good health is balance

Over the next few posts, I will be sharing a few more insights and recipes which I have discovered and have helped me enjoy my food experience!!

Picture Credits: 

Photo by Loic Leray on Unsplash

Photo by Дмитрий Хрусталев-Григорьев on Unsplash

The switch from TomTom to Garmin

Like a lot of runners, I started running using a variety of applications on my phone. Over time, I realised that it would be a lot easier and better to track my runs with a GPS watch. There were two main names back then, TomTom and Garmin. As a first time GPS watch buyer, the features I needed were pretty straightforward. Price was an important factor and finally the balance tilted in favour of the TomTom Spark 3 Cardio. Over time I used the TomTom to its potential for running. But over time as with any electronic appliance, the watch needed to be connected to the charger a lot more often than before. Also, it had certain issues like difficulties in connecting to GPS without quick GPS, a terrible current pace display, etc. After three years of togetherness, it was time to part ways and go for an upgrade. With a lot of research largely through blogs and YouTube reviews, I decided to go for the Garmin Forerunner 245 with the Garmin HRM Run. 

I got the FR245 a few days after my first full marathon at the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2020. The HRM Run joined in a week later. Since the first interaction with the Garmin connect app and the first run, it was clear that this is a totally different ecosystem, with a lot more data, a lot of detailed visual representations and a lot more flexibility. This is absolutely amazing for people who love seeing numbers, or graphs. Plus most of the data points can be seen real time. Here are a few highlights which struck me on making the switch from TomTom to Garmin

The interface and controls: Most Garmin watches (at least from the Forerunner series) have a 5 button operation. A nice round dial with a start/stop, lap, down, up and light buttons (going clockwise from the top). It was extremely easy to get a hang of these controls. While on the Garmin I can start/stop a lap as I wish, the TomTom had a cumbersome manual lap mode which firstly required you to select a manual lap activity in training, and you had to touch the screen to start a new lap. To put it plainly, it required one to plan in advance and sweaty palms would make the lap change almost impossible

On the home screen, one can customise their watch-faces, download what one likes from the Garmin ConnectIQ store. On going up and down, one can use the various widgets on offer, again with options available to make it a great fitness tracker/companion. The optical heart rate monitor is always on and measures your heart rate, stress level and body battery. The FR245 also has a built in  pulse oximeter which is far from reliable. My readings have always come as 95% even if a fingertip pulse oximeter showed 99%

Data screens: The data screens in any activity can be customised, with up to 4 metrics on standard faces and more possible on data screens which you can download from the Garmin Connect IQ store. This itself is a huge change from TomTom where one has a single control panel with up/down/sides buttons and fixed ways the data screens appear, with 3 metrics on a single screen. I will share more details on my favourite data screens, how Garmin helps me with different parameters, how I get a workout analysis, etc in future blogs.

The Ecosystem: One of the most holistic changes one would experience with a Garmin would be the entire Garmin ecosystem. The Garmin Connect app is nice and clean with all the data you are tracking and would want to see. One can create workouts, find workouts and get them on one's watch directly from the app, not having to go through the web based interface like in case of TomTom. One can download apps, widgets, etc from the Garmin Connect IQ store which can be used for fun, for tracking things like your hydration, menstrual cycle for women, etc. Garmin sports is full of challenges, articles etc which can help you get more insights on training and make it more fun!! 

In the last one and half years of using my Garmin FR245, I have been delighted with the change to this family of watches. I will continue to post about how Garmin has helped me train and get faster and stronger over time