Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race

Friday, June 9, 2010 11:47 p.m local time. This is the third day with zero laps. I still cannot step on my right foot. Today I found that I can ride a bike almost without pain and rode a few laps with the runners. I am working up my ligament with special exercises, and biking can help to provide at least some training load. When you are in the camp and count laps, you can see all the runners more often than when you yourself run. You notice their mood, fatigue, self-transcendence… all of them are great! Almost for everybody it was a tough day: Darbashana, Sahprihanal, Ananda-Lahari and Baladev (Pavel) walked practically all day long Most runners had stomach problems. Purna- Samarpan started running again. Pranjal surpassed Ashprihanal’s mileage for the first time.

Thursday, July 8, 2010 5.48 p.m. local time. Today is my second day with zero laps. In the morning, Rupantar took me to see a Chinese physical therapist who had helped Suprabha a lot over the years. She asked me about my problems very carefully, pushed and bent my leg, talked to her colleague and said that it was probably a tear of a ligament. Not a serious one, but it would take me some time to recover. To my question about “how long” she answered that it was hard to say, but the next few days I wouldn’t be able to run for sure. Then she prescribed some procedures – electrophoresis, ultrasound, massage etc. I ‘ll go to them in a day. I feel quite good, but nevertheless I am walking on crutches This morning Asprihanal went to the course with a new energy after a one-day rest. It did not influence his position on the results board. He feels good. Surasa has some very painful corns on her feet, but she is a real warrior and runs all the time. It seems that the last year problems with his back returned to Purna-Samarpan – he did 27 laps the morning, then was lying in the van for the rest of the day and left early. Darbashana keeps surprising everybody with his speed and stability. Today in the evening he crossed the mid way mark (1550 miles) for the first time!!!

entire post by Utpal is available here Pranjal Milovnik finished running last night just before midnight. All the other runners had left earlier and he was alone on the course with just himself and an immense bright moon hanging low in the night sky above him. As he does most nights, he struggled on until there was simply no time left to run. He then pulled his small bag together and drove off on his bicycle to ride the 1/2 mile to the place where he is staying. Once there, he still had to negotiate locks, stairs and hot showers.

Archived – click Post Title to view all. Day , 25 Wednesday, July 7, 2010 It’s 11:20 p.m. At first, a few words about yesterday. Now looking backward at my knee pain, it’s clear that it was getting worse and worse day after day. The first lap in the morning of the 24th day I walked for 19 minutes, although I did it for 15 minutes on my worst day. Several times I had to stop, because my right knee just did not allow me to move… When at about 3 p.m. I decided to take pain killers to somehow move on, on my next lap I felt a great stabbing on the other side of the knee. Absolutely wet I made it to the tent. It was my last 33th lap on the 24th day. The air temperature that day was around 40 degrees Celsius plus a horrible humidity. I was sick several times from the heat. So, all eggs in one basket! Later, Pupantar and Bipin came into the trailer and we took a decision that I had to take a break my knee got better. On the 25th day I did 0 laps. Today Rupantar took me to another chiropractor for procedures. I felt better afterwards. But still I cannot walk without crutches. Tomorrow he is planning to take me to a physical therapist who had treated Suprabha. I hope she will clarify what’s wrong. On the 25th day Asprihanal was also missing from the course. He had a dehydration and inflammation of the nail . At the…

entire post by Utpal is available here When I shook Ray’s hand early this morning it was clear that it unmistakably belonged to a big guy who worked hard. It was about the size of both of my hands put together. He was driving one of the jumbo dump trucks that is currently hauling the last of the huge loads of dirt out of the nearby field. The gate was still locked, so he came by to find out who could possibly be up and working earlier than a guy like him, who made his living getting up early and working hard.

Results from the day 23, miles. Asprihanal Aalto 65.31 Total 1611.83 Pranjal Milovnik 63.12 Total 1543.23 Galya Balatsky 61.46 Total 1517.43 Petr Spacil 43.9 Total 1475.17 Pushkar C Mullauer 61.47 Total 1456.52 Ananda-Lahari Zuscin 55.98 Total 1401.09 Pavol Saraz 58.17 Total 1381.88 Dharbhasana Lynn 63.66 Total 1370.35 Stutisheel Lebedyev 37.87 Total 1368.16 Purna-Samarpan Querhammer 55.43 Total 1253.46 Surasa Maier 47.19 Total 1228.21

10:14 pm. It’s my fourth walking day. I did run in the morning for a while but after I had taken a pain-killer which lasted only 3 hours. Generally, I resort to pain-killers only in extreme situations… In the afternoon, two chiropractors tended to my knee. They both said that there was nothing seriously wrong with it, just a little swell. Looks like it’s my inner task to transcend the pain threshold and start running again. It’s always like this at the 3,100-mile race: unless you solve an inner problem, you won’t be running. The weather’s been hot – 37-38С. Today I saw Purna-Samarpan and Petya bathing in the fountain on the playground. In the early morning, Asprihanal crossed the half way mark (1,550 miles) and celebrated it with half a glass of water.