First SCMM

I registered for the event at a time when I hadn’t done my first FM yet. The aura of the event attracted me.

After my Bangalore marathon debut, I was a lazy pig. I had lost the enthusiasm to run for a while. As the time was nearing for SCMM, motivation found me and the epic journey started.

I concentrated more on my long runs and had little time for speeds, tempo or hill repeats. I regretted a bit for not getting back to training at the right time. 

Having said that, it’s better late than never. I was able to do 30km+ four times in my training runs. This boosted the confidence to a large extent.

1 week before the marathon, all was well and found it hard to plan my target. It was whether to go for same target as my Bangalore marathon (3:45 Hrs) or take a challenging target of 3:30 Hrs. It’s better to have a strong finish at an easier pace than to lose the momentum at 32^nd km and end up around 4 Hrs. 

I was very conscious about my target as Mumbai was untested waters for me. The last time I was here, which was 2 years back and perspiring at 6 in the morning! I set myself a target of 3:40 Hrs to finish.

3~4 days before the event, I could sense a light catch behind right knee. The thought wouldn’t go no matter what. I wasn’t sure if it was an injury or a minor niggle. This thought bothered me till the night before the run and thankfully I forgot about it on the event day.

2 days before the run, I met up with the guys joining me. Karthik and Prasad, from whom I’ve gained a lot of knowledge and are ever ready to help me. We had a short run and did some stretches.

1 day before the event we collected the bibs and took a taxi to our hotel. The roads were crowded and we casually asked our driver how the traffic would be managed during the event, will there be any issues. He was surprised at our question; I’ll quote his exact words.

“Mumbai Marathon is a festival for us, how can anyone disturb it”. We understood in detail how everyone supports for the run. I could imagine the crowd support and the event in a very big scale. 

The biggest disappointment came when we reached the hotel. A few days back our hotel booking was canceled and we were allocated to a different hotel. The attitude of the hotel guy and the cleanliness made us sick. We requested for a 1~ 2 Hr extension the next day so that we could freshen up and leave. He wouldn’t listen and asked us to vacate by 11:30am sharp. Even if we are late by a minute, he would charge us for the whole day. 

We realized it was pointless arguing with him and decided to take one room extension for another day. To our utter dismay he said either both the rooms would be extended or none of them. This was completely ridiculous. This is not how I expected the city to treat me. We spent the next 4 hrs searching for hotels and making calls, nothing materialized. 

We were tired of the whole process and decided to take a walk outside. We went to gateway of India and were at ease for a while. 

We had mouth watering food at a restaurant near CST and finally decided that whoever finishes soon will come and check out of the hotel before 11:30am. For the 4 of us who chose to stay here actually had the finish line 2 kms away from the finish line of SCMM! 

We laughed over it and slept. I had a good sleep after a tired week. We went to the start line and were overwhelmed by the huge mela of runners. 

Initially Me and Prasad had decided to run together as we were targeting around the same target time. Within a few meters we lost each other. It took me 1 km to get out of the crowd and another km to catch up my pace, this is when Prasad caught up with me. The humidity made me take water at the 2^nd km and was drenched in sweat within a few minutes. He went to take a leak and I continued running at my pace. 

The music en route kept the tempo going and the cheers made us instant celebrities. The crowd and the event exceeded my expectations by infinity. Every time there was a cheer, my speed would shoot up, I had to control hard.

Where on earth would people wake up early on a Sunday morning and come to cheer up people running on streets! Definitely not in Bangalore :P

 I saw a lot of them holding placards and motivating us to run. This killed the ego in me to a great extent. They had no reason to do this; I am not even related to any of them. Then I saw people supplying all kinds of fruits, water, juices and there was this guy who went to the extent of running at my speed and gave water. How could I say no, this brought tears of joy! 

I instantly fell in love with this city. Trust me, as I crossed the 12/13^th km mark I wondered why time was moving so fast…. I wanted to run longer, I didn’t want to miss these moments of joy.

As I entered the beautiful sea link, no matter what you hear about it, you need to run here to experience it. On the left, you see the sky kissing the sea and it’s a never ending bliss out there. What am I doing here, am I here for sightseeing and meeting the most benevolent people or run a marathon, I was confused. I saw my watch and was pacing it right (5:00 ~ 5:10min per km).

I completed 21km in 1:47 hrs. Even if I complete the rest of the run in 1:50 Hrs, I would end up at 3:37 Hrs which is a good time. 

I spoke to a runner who was ahead of me for most of the time. He was Ashish from Delhi. We introduced ourselves and shared our running experiences. It is difficult to run alone, a running companion makes the task easier. We ran together for a while and then I moved ahead. I saw siddhi Vinayak temple on the left and prayed :) After 25^th km, I found it a little hard and pace was dropping below 5:15 for a few km. This is when I saw Sameer who ran alongside me in the 3:45 Hr bus in Bangalore. He asked me to join him but as I was struggling I asked him to carry on.

 After 29^th km, I found the rhythm back and slowly increased my speed. At 31^st km, I saw Prasad and was happy to have him back. I finally had somebody to run alongside till the finish line. However this was short lived.

At 32^nd km, my watch showed 2:45 Hrs. If I run at 5 pace, I should be able to complete in 3:35 Hrs. This excited me to a large extent. There was no way the energy of the crowd would subside and why should mine. I felt fresh and some new found energy kept me pushing at 4:45 pace for the next 3km and I moved ahead of Prasad.

It was last 7km to go and suddenly the glorious pain welcomed me. I got pain at the back of left thigh and slight pain in the right shin. Within a km, Prasad went ahead of me and he was going strong. If I push, high chances of a cramp and all the effort might go in vain. The plan was simple now, it was to keep Prasad in sight and finally go for the kill in the last km.

I kept him in sight for a km or so, after that I lost him. I was slowing down, drastically slowing down. Enduring the pain was difficult, was yet to learn the art of running through pain. I just wished to finish soon, it was getting tougher. Last 4km to go and I was running at 5:45 pace, the crowd support was still great. 

Then I decided to slowly increase the pace in the last 2km, I was able to keep sub 5:30 pace now. I sprinted the last 500 meters and I was home.

 Before I came here to run, I had this line as closing statement in my mind- 

MUMBAI CONQUERED. I was wrong, 

MUMBAI CONQUERED ME with its love and warmth.

I finished in 3:42:11 with zero regrets. I enjoyed 200%. I wish to come here again next year and every year, run stronger and try hard to reciprocate the joy.

We went back to hotel in time. Fortunately, there was somebody else in the hotel and he agreed to extend our stay a little while more for us to freshen up, finally some consolation. We went to Leopold, waited for 30min outside and savored the best drink in town.

 It was total relaxation and then we took local train to Karthik’s relative home. They were no less than the crowd who came to cheer us in the morning. They made us eat and when we said we were full, they parceled us the food to take home!

 I’m blessed to be born in this country. I returned back with joy and a bundle of beautiful memories. Thanks to my running friends from the bottom of my heart for introducing me to this beautiful life. I finally realized Marathon is neither about time nor distance; it’s about experiencing and living life to its fullest. It makes you humble and a better person than you were yesterday.

I finally thank Lord Krishna for letting me serve him this way.

Marathon Debut

I have been waiting for 13 months to write this post. I considered myself an amateur back then to write about it.

Today, I realized I will always be an amateur in running and there's always something new you can learn till your last run.

The wait is finally over!!

18^th October 2015 

This date will be remembered forever. As my good friend Pav put it, I was reborn again.

The high you get after you complete a Marathon is unmatched; it is indeed a Runner’s high :)

This is my story, the story about how running changed my life. Rather the outlook towards life.

The journey started little over a year ago.

Why did the journey start?

Every journey has a start, the little push, the little challenge, the tiny spark!

 Hear it from me.

There’s an annual relay running event at my work place.

 Back in 2012, I was part of the 8 member relay team to run 3.3km each. That was the first time I had ever run. All I did was sprint the first 100mts and then slowed down to gasp for breath. It was an ordeal to complete 3.3km for a 22 year old whereas people over 50 were doing it comfortably.

Immediately I registered for PUMA urban stampede 5K and was into practice. After around 3 months of practice, I completed the 5K in 24min 30sec. It felt good but I again lost interest.

Thereafter, the next 2 years I was a couch potato. The urge to run was there but could never put the thought into action.

And then last year (Aug-2014), I saw a charity event (10K) promotion on FB and decided to give it a try. My assumption was as I had already done a 5K, 10K should be easier 

(Simply going by the math behind it: P).

I had a good 3 months to prepare for it. Being an Engineer is sometimes a curse, we spend more time analyzing the logic rather than put ourselves into action and practice.

At last, it’s the way you use your brain for gain or pain.

I went with the simple logic of running for 20min every day, no matter what the distance was. I chose a 450 mtr park to train. Initially I could clock 3km in 20min and then I gradually improved. Speed was the only thing on my mind. I wish I had got injured much earlier than it actually happened. I would’ve been a matured runner much earlier and this post could’ve been written much earlier :P.

Back to the story, I trained alone. I had no contact with the outside world whatsoever. At the end of 3 months, I was able to run 4km in 20min. My target was to run a 5K within that much time.

3 Days before the event, as was my routine went for the 20min run again. At the end of 1^st km, I got horrible pain in the left leg calf muscle. I couldn’t run, I just walked back home and then I decided to rest for couple of days and go for the event. I revised my target from 40min to 50min owing to the last min injury and I knew there was no possible way to do a 40min 10K, as my fastest run in 20min was 4K.

 (Engineer at work: P).

 I can’t control my laughter looking at these numbers today.

Event day- 10K debut

I arrived at the venue 30min in advance. As a precaution, I had applied spray all over the leg. At the back of my mind, the thought was still there. What if it pains again? Is it all over?

I brushed away the thoughts and stood at the start line. 

The race began and I was running like a school kid as if the finish line is at the end of the road. I hung along with the fast runners initially :P. After 3Km I slowed down. It was my mind doing all the running, body was just listening to the mind. Every KM mark, I used to look at my stop watch and maintain the pace not allowing myself to slow down.

It was 5km, 2 loops. At the end of 5km, I had very little energy left as I had used all of it in the first 3km.  I also had a myth that if you drink water during running, you will get stomach pain. And so no water during the run. At 8^th km, the calf muscle pain was back but my zeal to complete the event was higher. I somehow made it to the finish line. How I got back home is a different story, I decided never to run a 10km, ever. Better I stick to 5K’s. This is my splits.

Km01: 4:09

Km02: 4:33

Km03: 4:25

Km04: 5:02

Km05: 5:02

Km06: 5:17

Km07: 5:17

Km08: 5:02

Km09: 5:12

Km10: 5:03

I completed my first 10K in 49min 03sec. I was over the moon as I achieved my target time. Took rest for a week and decided to run again. The bug hit me hard; remember the 40min target time is not yet achieved. Believe me, I couldn’t even run for a minute, let alone those 20 minutes.

This continued for 3 weeks, as soon as I ran a km or 2, the pain was back. I didn’t run for a full month, visited a general physician and he advised me to take vitamin D tablets and the pain would be gone in a month. I took it every day for a month.

The pain did go. I started my 20min workouts again.

Day1: Fine.

Day2: Fine.

Day3: Slight niggle.

Day4: Back to square 1.

For god sake, my body needed rest and I never heeded to it. I consulted many doctors and I couldn’t even explain what the problem was as I didn’t know myself what the problem was :D

By then I had joined a few running groups on Facebook and decided to post it in one of them to understand what my problem was.

 Right shoes, Warm up, stretches, warm down, nutrition, training plan- the causes were many. Sadly, I didn’t know that people do all this just to run :)

And this was the time one of the good souls- Guru pinged me personally and understood my history into running. He suggested me to see a physio. That’s when I understood that I had shin splints and it needed lot of rest and proper stretches to keep myself in shape.

Already 3 months down without running. Next 2 months was slowly getting back in to the running manifesto.

At the same time, he introduced me to a running group- Burners. There has been no looking back since I joined them. They have become my heart and soul. They are my closest friends too.

During this period, I restricted myself to running in the ground. 2 times a week. Of course no 20min runs :P. It was 3km, 2 times.Running on the mud had little impact helped me recover faster.

And then I registered for my second 10K, this was on a tougher course. I was not recovered completely yet.

I decided to give it a try and try to do a sub 49min which is equal to my debut run. It was complete disappointment; I took 57min 49sec. Sadly, I don’t have the splits to share. There was no way I could increase the speed. So getting back to 49min was a challenge, forget 40min.

The struggle was harder; I could slowly get back to form. i.e., pain free running but still time was a distant dream.

This was the turning point in my runner career. I decided to chuck timing and concentrate only on distance. To all the newbie out there reading this, this the golden rule of running. Conquer distance and time will follow through. 

6 months of almost no running. And then I’ve slowly transformed to a distance runner. I did a few 11K’s, 13, 15 and 17. This was the time I decided to try a half marathon. In 3 months time, I was ready for a half marathon. The time bug slowly started showing up, I had to subside it or compromise on lot more things. I took it easy. I did my first HM in 1:47:47. This time, it was not about time. I completely enjoyed my first half marathon. Immediately I registered for a full marathon at the advice of Guru.

And then within 2 months, there was a 10K run in the same course where I had managed 57min 49sec.

As I was more matured now, I thought I should try a sub 48min as my tempo runs were at around 50min.

To my surprise, I really enjoyed this run and also found that even pacing is the way to go. Positive or negative splits take a toll on me; I really like the even pacing stuff.

 45min 09sec was a shocker. This is what happens when you outweigh distance over time. Conquering time is just a matter of time. 

After this run, full marathon took priority and I started religiously following what my mentor had to say.

I split my week in to

Monday- Rest day

Tuesday- Speed intervals

Wednesday- Aerboic/ core exercises

Thursday- Tempo run

Friday- Hill repeats

Saturday- Cross train (Cycling)

Sunday- Long runs (Preferably LSD)

I’m yet to start my core exercises full-fledged; I tried to incorporate it here and there. For my marathon, the plan was to do distance training as mentioned below.

23K, 25K, 25K, 23K, 27K, 26K, 29K, 23K and finally a 32K over the weekends. So I should be ready within 2 months for the full marathon with one month time to taper down.

I couldn’t follow the training plan religiously and had to push my longer distances towards the end.

In order to simulate the race conditions, I decided to do my 32K on a tougher terrain in tougher conditions. I started at 7am hoping to hit some sun.

I chose a wrong time. It got very hot and for the first time during my running, I experienced cramps. After 27K, I could barely run. Did a jog+walk and finished the 32K. I realized the importance of fuel now.

Till now, my practice runs only included water and enerzol, occasionally I had bananas. Now, I realized the importance of bread jam, energy gels and salt tablets.

From drinking no water to having a full course meal during a run is itself a transition :).

The week thereafter I had registered for a trail run (Kaveri trail Half marathon) and I was 5 weeks away from my full marathon. 

The course was beautiful and I was planning a sub 1:40 which I thought was doable. As I started, it was completely flat, I was on a song. I completed the 10K in around 46min and then the return struck me hard, not sure if it was because of the previous week run in the sun or the present day run in the sun or the trail itself. After 17^th km, my right leg gave up. I walked a couple of time and finished my run in

1:46: 16. 

Had I stuck to the 1:40 Hrs timing pace, maybe it would’ve worked out but I just couldn’t resist running fast there. So I hit the throttle early and lesson learnt :P.

Now, the focus was back on full marathon. A month to go and there’s this exam feeling all over.

Mine being an amateur group, we had too many people debuting their full. So it was test of nerves. Couple of times, I got intimidated by others doing multiple 30K’s and was wondering if I was under-trained for the event.

All these thoughts were dispelled at once by Guru, he said I was on the right track and not to compare with others. Some more gyaan from Karthik, he looked into my training log and advised me to run the FM much slower than my training runs. It was his experience speaking there, he knew I wouldn’t agree to it. He asked me to consider it. He spoke about it multiple times on multiple days. This time I listened to him. It was my last training run, initially was planning to do a 35K but I couldn’t push beyond 32.5K.

I had paced my run at 5:25~5.30 per km. His advice worked, after 25^th km, I was going strong because of the reduced pace. This is when I heard that Nagaraj is pacing the 3:45 Hr bus in the marathon. My initial target was 3:30hrs but this being my debut, I didn’t want to screw it up and make it a 4:00 Hr+. When I suggested this to Karthik, he said this would be the right choice to make.

Fortunately soon after that, Nagaraj had returned from his ironman event and was running in BU. Me, Karthik and Nagaraj had a good discussion about running, nutrition, training and their upbringing. They are both down to earth and keep ego at bay. This is what I like about people.

Believe me! I could sleep in peace. Neither school board exams nor my engineering exams could intimidate me so much.

A few times, the thought of 3:30 finish crossed my mind but decided not to gamble.

Event day- Full marathon debut.

Distance is just a number for runners. When you have a good day, you feel like running the next morning. When you had a bad day, you still want to run to burst out the stress.

Running is modern day yoga. The interactions you have with yourself, calmness of the nature, waving at fellow runners, the sickness you get when you miss your runs is a life in itself. 

I love the way people plan the runs. Remember this at 10K, this at 22K, don’t forget the last gel at 35~37K.

Oh, I really enjoyed it.

Waking up earlier than your normal training days and waking multiple times during sleep and realizing still on the bed and not at 27^th km sends shock waves. I had a troubled sleep although I had compensated for it by having a sound sleep the previous day. 

We decided to car pool for the event. We went there a little earlier. Karthik made us do dynamic stretches and a few warm up runs. Body was flexible and the heart rate went up- A good sign. With so many people around you at 4:00am in the morning, you know you’re not the only mad person out there.

Mind just went blank looking at so many people at the start line, adrenaline was rushing. I located my pacer- Nagaraj, he was a good 200m ahead of me at the start line. We waved at each other. There was already a big contingent around him. I decided to stay back and follow him. I didn’t want to get carried away.

Lot of people increased their pace initially I didn’t want to do it (Remember- Strong finish, not strong start). I could spot him after around a km and joined the bus. Things were going very smoothly, lot of people around. I was moving in front of the bus, it was hard to control the rush inside. He gently reminded me multiple times over the run not to move ahead but to stay with him. I thank him a lot for it.

We maintained an even pace all along. 5:10~5:20 per km. We relaxed in the down hills, put in a little extra energy during the climbs. The volunteers and the hospitality were too good. I took water at the 6^th km, not my sign but just wanted to be on the safer side. My plan of using the gels was first one at 8-10 km, second at 16-18km, third at 26-28km and the last one at 34-35km, have bananas at half way mark.

This almost went as per the plan. We could finally see daylight at around 18^th km, I could see the faces of the people in my bus now, till then was only hearing the voices. They were a motivated lot, too much of positivity around. We exchanged water, enerzol, bananas, it didn’t feel like a competition at all, more like another practice run and we were being led by a great leader. Nagaraj ensured we were all sticking together, he went back, he came forth and kept the momentum up. 

During this time, we could see the elite runners cross us.

 Wow! What a sight to watch them, maybe some day! :P

At 24^th km, we could see other buses going towards the half way mark and realized we had the maximum people compared to other buses (4:30Hr, 5:00 Hr).  I felt myself like a robot then, just running at a constant pace. 

At 32^nd km, looking at my energy Nagaraj asked me to go ahead and get a better timing. I listened and I moved ahead. This was the last 10Km, felt good initially but then I couldn’t get water at all. Aid stations were too crowded by the half marathon crowd. I regretted leaving the bus. I had to chew the last gel without water and I was stopped at a traffic signal, this irritated me. I could see the bus behind; I decided to move ahead rather than slowing. 

I finally met all of them at around 39^th km. I couldn’t pace with them as I was tired, I could barely hang on to them and finally at last km, they started increasing the pace while I couldn’t.

Anyway, can’t have everything your way right! I don’t regret going ahead of the group. Some hydration during the end could’ve definitely helped me. Last Km was tough but it is nothing when you’ve 41km behind your ass. Last 300m sign board was a bliss, I’m about to become a marathoner, the feel was great :).

I could see my running mates who had completed their half marathon, I got some instant energy and did a sprint in the last stretch to the finish line. Full marathon done and dusted. Oh!  It is hard to control emotions at the finish line. I was 30sec behind my bus, not bad. My overall time was 3:46:16 against a target of 3:45:00.

I was more than happy, it was not about time, it was about journey, it was a beautiful journey indeed.

I am always indebted to my running group- Burners, friends who always encourage me, fellow runners who are always motivating you, Bangalore runners Facebook page- lot of insights there and my parents and relatives who don’t understand why I run :).

Finally I would like thank My lord, Krishna for giving me a opportunity to serve him this way :)