Mumbai Marathon 2010 - the run

It was around 6am. Still 45 minutes from the start of race. The holding ground, where we all had to gather before the start of the run, had a relaxed air to it. For not having to accommodate the entire 11,000 half marathoners (they were starting from Bandra, 21km away and finishing here), it looked empty or over capacitated for the small 3500 (official figure, don’t know how many ran, but will tell you how many finished) full marathon participants. Lit at patches with halogen lights, that sparkled the dew drops golden. The ground, that otherwise holds many cricket pitches, was today aiding a not so Indian sport, running.


I walked about a bit after changing into my gear. The calm in the air helped me a bit too. I was more relaxed than in anticipation, just waiting for the start 40 minutes later. I chatted up with another runner I had met long ago at work, who has run many Marathons and Triathlons. We chatted through the rest of the time. I learnt from him about many adventure runs that happen in India.


We finally headed to the start area amidst all the excitement and cheers. Amongst all the runners who were attempting the same feat as me, I did not feel any special, but a sense of mutual admiration. It does take a lot to get you to reach that point, a marathon start line. While I could not help feeling competitive, I had to respect the effort it took.


Going into this run I had changed, or added two new things. It is said you should not experiment with anything new going into the main run. Almost everything you are going in with should ideally have been experimented with before. Water, clothes, Shoes….everything, should be tested a few times, at least. I can vouch for that now. I was wearing an ankle band to aid the injury I caught last week and I had to carry spare glucose powder in a bottle for the extra kilometres I would run. This bottle would now be additional weight on my otherwise light waist-pouch.


And as the clock hit 45th minute of 6AM on 17th January, I was off, with many other, attempting my longest single running distance ever.
Almost two kilometres into the run, I realised the ankle band helped my ankle but blocked the blood flow to the toe. I took a break and removed the band. Much better. No there was not so much ankle paining. It had cured. Initial part of the run was pleasant as expected, except that for the extra humid day that it was, I was sweating a little too much. I heard talks around about how it was a hot day and how timings would be affected by this. First few kilometres are a crowded affair. You see a lot of enthusiastic runners surging ahead, almost all as determined as the other. It was still far away from the breaking point, when the sun comes up, and distance start accumulating on your legs, attempting to bring you down. In fact I was amused to see how some few ran. There were those with shoes that had very little cushioning. I saw a few who wore the fancy Pumas which men are otherwise seen sporting with a pair of Jeans. I wonder how they managed. But the most fancied sight was that of a boy who I passed by. He had his hands in his pockets! And that is how he chose to run, part of strategy I believe, but incredible nonetheless. By the time I touched the 9Km mark I could sense a certain fatigue, not sure why. The bottle of glucose was flapping a bit too hard and bringing the waist pouch down, I had tightened it earlier….and a few Kms later I realised It blocked the blood to my legs. It was time for next improvisation, and I was happy it stuck me. I took the waist belt and wore it across my shoulder and chest, like a cross bag. Legs started feeling better, but a little damage was done. I checked my time, which was conservative (slow) as planned. I would rather wait for my body to pick up flow than to force it. It works better that way.


We reached the loop around Worli sea-phase. It was a rather boring patch, because loops can kill the fun. A run should not have a route that re-occurs. The sun had come up, and I got my cap on. Once done with that patch and we hit the long road from Worli to Dadar to Bandra reclamation. I felt a strong pain on the back of my knee, persistent, and kind of unbearable. I almost thought it will make me stop. At the next first aid station I got them to put some Relispray around that part . And to my relief it worked (I figured later that it could be the lack of cross-training in my training that had caused that pain). The Sun by now was hard enough for people to choose the side of road that was shaded, and stick to it. The crowds and cheers along the road had reduced. It was the first sense of being on your own, and possibly the beginning of the breaking point. I could see more people walking and the line of runners ahead of me was thin. Somewhere in that patch I had also passed the 21Km mark. The thought of double the distance left had not bothered me so much. I was a little comforted because I could feel energy reserves in me. The leg though had slowed a bit. The heat, it seemed, had finally set in at its worst, but I was wrong. The worst was yet to come.


The third phase as I call it was the point where you exit Mahim and head towards reclamation, and the transition point is Mahim Church. This is the point from where you can give up any hope of finding shade. Wide road and a surging creek, sets up for the beginning of the worst patch of the marathon. The heat was more than a normal Mumbai morning as some had deduced earlier, and no one could sense it better than us. I was prepared for it, but it was overwhelming still. My water arrangement (a bottle with lots of glucose water and a dash of electrolytes) had ensured I don’t dehydrate and cramp. That lack-of-cross-training-pain is what I had to handle. For which I had resolved to spray those pain relievers at every first-aid station. It was also the point from where I began including walks into my runs. I did not like the thought of it, so I decided to walk brisk , which seemed better.


The Bandra Worli Sea Link, part of the same third phase, deserves a separate mention. For it created a lot excitement amongst all the runners. The thought of running through the monumental bridge in the middle of the sea seemed “oh too marvellous”. In all this I forgot the biggest lesson I have learnt while running, which is – when you run, you only run, you don’t notice much, or at all. And it was the same for Sea Link too. In fact it was beyond marvellous, it was torturous, yes! Imagine the heat in the middle of the sea, at around 9.30AM in the morning. We were at the sea link, at that point. It also began a series of few co-runners who would most probably be around you till you finish the race, over taking you when you walk, and going behind you when you run (while they walk). It almost became a way to kill time for me, to mark a runner, catch up with him and try overtaking. And eventually see them running past you. This cycle went on through the entire 4Km “hot” sealink. Two measures of some relief were: one when I noticed a runner wearing his cap sideways to the direction of sun and I immediately did the same, and two when I discovered that the band of shadow that fell on the road from the railings on side were a smart way to keep your feet cool, which I stuck to and suggested a few other runners too, who were probably too tired to think.


And after all of this patch I realised I had still not neared the dreadful 32Km mark. It was still around 27Km. We again hit the Worli Sea-Phase loop, this time made a little shorter, but boring yet. Here I happen to see a familiar face, a guy who had run the Delhi Half marathon too, and had finished around 2 minutes ahead of me. He was ahead here too, by maybe 7-8 minutes. Although in Delhi I had hoped that by the time we are ready for the full marathon I should manage a better time than him. It helps to have some competition, keeps you going. The combination of running and walking was getting to me. Seeing the same people go past and the being left behind seemed awkward too. I knew I had to conserve energy for the last 10km, but I took a slight chance, I ran a bit hard, just to get over that zone of familiar. And I managed to leave behind that group of people. I had hit the Haji Ali road, which seemed as hot as Worli. I realised this is how it will be now. It is not going to change, as hot as hard, till the end. To worsen that, it also introduced the steepest part of the run, the Peddar Road climb. I decided it was best to walk that patch, fast walk, and I did that. And the end of this road I realised I would hit the last stretch of the run, the last 10.


I am not really sure when I crossed 32Kms. I did not realise. Maybe I was too zoned out in effort, fatigue and determination to think. All I know was a group of people were offering Bananas and Oranges. I grabbed them. They were just what I needed, the last dash of energy. It had become difficult to drink water, and wiser to splash it all over you that to drink it. I kept doing that from then on. I looked at the watch once, and figured it was not possible to finish in 4hr 30min range. I wanted to not finish beyond 5hrs though. There was nothing I could do to go faster. At best I could increase the run and reduce the walk. Probably the rest of the distance, I must have walked 35% and ran 65%. The Sun at Marine Drive is known to be so hard that many run their slowest their. I was confused, on whether to run and get over this Sun as soon as I can or just walk because the Sun won’t let me run. Any patch of shade I would walk, and run under the Sun, just to get to the next patch of shade quicker.


I heard, “Almost there, come on”. The last 3Kms were a sense of relief and drag. I knew I was there, but it just did not seem to come. There was nothing I could do other than run. Mind seemed to have left me, or just turned into air, hot air. I don’t remember looking at the watch, or water or wondering how I felt. Eventually I could see the finish line and the end of my sight, though I was not sure if it would end with me crossing it. Or had it already ended? I could not think. The last few meters seemed meaningless. The marathon was not what I was left to run anymore, those few meters. It was what I had left behind. And there it was, at the last 100 meters, right there. What did I feel? I felt nothing. The most beautiful nothing I have ever felt. Of nothing left to do, of nothing more desirable, of nothing that bothered me, of nothing that I cared for. It was just me and my Nothing.

760 runners finished. In 4hrs and 47mins I was the 173rd to cross the line (or 243, little confused with that). I Limped my way back, collected a medal they gave. And I sat with an ice-pack on my legs for the next half hour or so. I guess I had my share of being alone by then. A friend came by, who was waiting eagerly for me to finish, giving me company for the rest of the time. I finally headed home, answering inane questions of the old cabbie, about marathon. He instantly recognised the locality where I stayed. It seems there was a lot of knife point theft that happed around my neighbourhood then, when he came last. I asked him when the last time was. 1985, he promptly replied. Guess he has had his own marathon in this City …..guess we all do.

the final journey - mumbai marathon 2010

nothing else matters......it 5am, as i am heading to the marathon start, in the cab i called for. Moment of recollection, of every bit of inspiration , discipline, traiining, yearning, resilience and caution.......and here i am, attempting the biggest endurance act of my life. They say if you want to experience exhaustion run a mile, and if you want to experience life, run a marathon. I am heading to experience mine...........and nothing else matters.....

2 days to go - Mumbai Marathon 2010

It is almost impossible to know what all would work for or against you going into something as important as your first marathon. I got a sprain, a freak one too. Getting a sprain out of a foot massage is rare. I managed it. On a normal day i would not worry so much about a minor sprain. It would correct itself. But this is not normal. A slight aggravation can mean end of race before it starts or mid-way into the run. I am worried. And i have been doing everything possible to recover from this. Ice, pain relievers. I even googled food that aid tissue repair. by common sense i increased proteins. The pain is almost absent, but i am not running to check if its gone for real. Not sure if i can risk that. In which case i will have to just wait till the Marathon morning (Sunday)to actually know if i am good enough to run.


I bunked the last two days of run. Would rather finish ten minutes slow in the race than not run at all. Read somewhere that last week of training is almost unnecessary and not worth risking if there is any sign of pre-marathon fatigue.

I was not expecting to write about an injury in the final days of blogging about Marathon. I wondered it would be more about the psychology and self-belief of it than another physical barrier. Guess it turned out different. The good part is that my mind has suddenly sensed a possibility of me not racing and it has decided to protest it hard. All i can feel my body saying is "just one chance". I am almost certain that without this nagging ankle i am entirely ready to run this, and run it well. I can feel the same strength and subtle confidence that i did before the 32Km i ran three weeks back. My body seems to be stacking up as much energy reserves as possible during through the rest i am taking to sooth my ankle. It is all set to have a go at it. And in spite of all i know there is a chance i would not be able to complete this run.


You can be most prepared and still not be sure about an outcome. And this i am experiencing real-time. I have to wait another day and half to know if i would realise my dream to run 42km. In the mean time i am not giving up on any chance there is to ensure that i do.


If i cross the finish line now, it will only make the achievement bigger.


I would just leave it at that.

worst can happen - mumbai marathon

i sprained my ankle. its minor, but nagging. i dont know if i would recover and run or...not run. i am trying everythng possible, but i dont know...

4 days to go - mumbai marathon 2010

Its here. I would be standing at the starting line even before I realise. And five hours later it all be over. Last week has not been as smooth as I thought. I have already mentioned how the entire tapering of running distance has kind of put me in a state constant doubt and stress. Though I realised much of that was a joint effect of an assignment at work that had to finished too. Now that assignment part is over, I feel a little more relaxed.


Though i feel i have not handled taper as well as i should have. possibly because i did not research enough about it ( being caught in work). To add to that I have been experiencing light cramps in calves and thighs. Its a little odd to have this happening. I have not found this a regular occurrence around final weeks of marathon from all that i have read. Today though i managed to read up a bit on the topic and figured a few things which can used to correct what ever little i got wrong (or did not over emphasise) in the last two weeks.


For one it seems that the best thing is to rather rest and not do the last week runs to avoid aggravating the affected muscles. There is very little that last week training adds to the Marathon result. So I am considering not running today maybe, catch some extra sleep and hydrate myself real hard. I almost wondered if it made sense to have a half hour alarm to remind myself to drink water. Seemed a bit embarrassing. Need to figure something as powerful instead, than relying on memory alone. I had once placed water bottle in all strategic locations around the house to remind myself. Worked well then. Maybe something similar is needed now. This is certainly a crisis. Will have to eliminate caffeine from system. So i guess the black-tea i just finished was the last for the week and will have to refrain from anything diuretic (that dehydrates). Have already had two rounds of ice pack, but once you land at work its not possible to carry that forward.

Last time i tried handling muscle fatigue and cramp, there was a lot of rest, ice-pack, a massage and a combiflam involved. And i was not sure what worked. What mattered is that something worked. Its will be a little risky to try too many things for as much as one can help, if gone wrong , these can add to the injury too. I have had bad massages before. Little confused, but have to do something.

Guess its time to take some risks again ...

The Big 32 & Taper Complexities - Marathon Training

Well it has been a while, since i updated this space . I got into various commitments, and some restrictions, that kept me off blogging. In the meantime, the Marathon is approaching fast. No I am not missing any training in all this chaos, other than a few short runs, that technically don’t affect me as much as they do mentally. So I have been running for all the reasons that will see me through the Marathon, but in what state of health and fitness I still don’t know.


So I did not find either the time or the resources to blog it all. Not that I have too much of it now (time), but I to try hard to make it. In which I realized that what started as a means to update my development as a marathon runner, turned out to be a purpose in itself. I had to update it. Seemed like I am moving ahead and blog was left behind.


Last I claimed was a sense of confidence above what was expected as per the training running the grand 32km. As per what I read somewhere it was also called the graduation day of training. Once you are done here you are done for all practical purposes. I am done too, and in style. 32km was a matter time, not energy or mind, for that I had plenty left, more mind actually, and more than a little energy. Let’s say I could imagine at the end of the 32km running/ dragging another 5km and walking another 5. There!! That was my 42. It was the peak of training, end of a week of 64km of total running. I was expected to be proud of myself and proud I was. And it surely was a matter of time, which I realized when I looked at the watch into the seventeenth minute of my run and the thought struck me - "another 3hrs +". It messed with my head a bit. I thought I would get bored, running without music, just like the real marathon, but no empty roads or regular cheers. Just noisy traffic and dust. But I did fine for the next 3hrs and 7min, and finished with a glorious 3:25 and some ambition, explained earlier, the mind n energy thing.


That was two weeks ago, nearly.


Since then I have been following the routine what they call as taper, which is to reduce the distance of runs and let the body recuperate, rebuild and create energy reserves. A popular side effect of taper is withdrawal. It is a state of worry and self doubt. You worry if you will lose all the endurance you have built up in 15weeks or if you would be up to it on Marathon Day. Woulld three weeks of less training take all the form out of you? I feel it too. In-fact I feel a little disinterested, bored. As long as there is an increase in distance every week, you have a challenge. But when the distances reduce, you don’t look forward to it, or worry about it as much. In turn what it does is to take your mind off the one most important thing that occupied your head since three months. It’s odd, and leaves me clueless.


I ran the 19km long run this week with a rather disinterested head. To make it better I did in the marathon route itself, Worli to Marine Drive and back. It was an interesting run, for I came across a lot of runners who would give me thumbs-up as they passed me. Some wondered who was the new face. But most displayed camaraderie. Another new, which I really hope does not happen to me on Marathon Day, was a midway bowel call. Imagine that happening in India, the country ranging of no toilets to stinking ones. And then there was another intervention of destiny. Right under the marine drive over-bridge, where this happened, I noticed a toilet that turned out to be by far the most cleanest I have ever seen. And at the cost of 1 rupee and 5 minutes, I was back with hope, to finish the run. And in all the excitement of not letting the 5min loss affect my overall time, I ran the second half hard. I should not have. But these things don’t occur to you at a heartbeat of 150 per minute. All you want to do then is to not compromise....and this was an easy distance. I had the energy. So I ran, to the utter confusion on the face of another fellow I overtook before the misadventure and then passed him again as he sat resting after his run. I let him wonder what happened. However, he deserves a special mention for on his way back home he passed by me in his car, rolled down the window and gestured his spare Gatorade at me. That was nice of him. I refused gesturing my glucose drink at him and thumb up in appreciation. Hope he has a good run and that I don’t have to over take him twice.


I continue with taper this Saturday too with the last long run of 13km. Body is little fatigued with some hectic life outside training. But I guess it’s my mind I need to tame more.