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In this episode, I talk to Ganesh Kumar. Ganesh is an ultra cyclist and ultra trail runner par excellence. I first met Ganesh in Tour of Nilgiris and have been fascinated by his passion and penchant for endurance ever since. One year, he rode his bicycle from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, then Tour of Nilgiris and Tour of Tamilnadu back to back without any break in between. He has done many month long self supported tours up to 5000kms. He got into running by accident and turned to ultra trail running and started winning many trail Ultra marathons in India. When I was in Ooty/Coonoor recently for a cycling trip with friends, he joined us for a couple of days of riding and I used this opportunity to sit down with him and learn more about his endurance journey. It was inspiring to listen to his journey and all the stories from his many tours. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
0:00:00 Intro
0:05:15 His relationship with sport growing up
0:08:00 A friend's cycling touring book that sparked a thought
0:10:20 His cycling tour experiences
0:18:30 Health scare and starting his fitness journey
0:24:50 2014 Tour of Nilgiris
0:29:00 Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Tour of Nilgiris and Tour of Tamilnadu back to back
0:36:00 Touring across America, 5000km
0:44:00 A case against Xenophobia
0:49:25 India to Singapore tour
0:53:00 Dislike of running and becoming a runner
1:02:00 Discovering trails around Coimbatore
1:09:10 Taking part in UTMB 2021
1:20:00 Solang Sky Ultra, Hell Race; other ultra trail races in India
1:27:20 Enjoying the time racing than focusing on results
1:34:10 Tips for working athletes, we all have time
1:39:10 Closing
About the podcast:
The working athlete podcast is a podcast with and for working athletes from all walks of life and various sports. The goal is to provide inspiration, training tips, mental hacks, time management and life-style advice through conversations with some of the best in sport, from athletes to coaches. If you think you can benefit from this, please consider subscribing and hitting the bell icon so that you don't miss the weekly episodes in future.
Who is a working athlete? Someone working fulltime/part-time, entrepreneur or anyone who has to work to make ends meet and doesn't let being busy to stop him/her from pursuing an active lifestyle is a working athlete. I consider stay at home moms/dads who pursue a sport, as working athletes because homemaking is a full-time job.
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A bit about myself:
I'm Venkat/Venkateswara Rao in my work avatar, working as a Chief Data Analyst in the IT industry in Bangalore. I'm Venky/Bikeyvenky for my friends in the cycling community.
All through my life I struggled with weight and health issues. After multiple failed attempts through the life to get fit and healthy, in 2008, I managed to lose 16kgs. My motivation was to be able to take care of my unborn son with the thought that "if I'm not able to take care of myself, how am I going to take care of my family?". When my son was 6 months old, having lost 16kgs, I picked up a bike to keep that weight off and stay fit. That became a passion and lost more weight and became better at it. I continue to train myself not just to stay fit but also race competitively in races in and outside the country. I also have been coaching a few riders to get stronger and faster at cycling since 2016.