The journey towards my first marathon

It was a Sunday in February 2019. A veteran marathoner had told me that I need to decide in February itself if I was to go for the full marathon or stick to the half marathon distance at the marquee event of running in Mumbai India, the Tata Mumbai Marathon. The decision was taken quite promptly, and I decided to train for the full 42.2km. Fast forward to 12 January 2020, a week before race day, the run was wonderful where I used the time to reflect on the journey towards being a marathoner.

I realized that in order to enjoy the experience of running my first marathon, I need to get back to following a few core values like consistency, consistency and consistency (in training, nutrition and rest). I had been attending sessions organized by Reebok at Bandra since December 2018. With these sessions,  the training improved by leaps and bounds. The sessions gave me some good like-minded friends and some great trainers who helped me plan and execute this journey better. One of the highlights was the suggestion to follow the heart rate monitor during easy runs.

Mumbai is blessed with some amazing weather. It is very predictable. Hot and sticky, with heavy rains during the monsoons. This year the weather added unpredictability to its armory. So what? We runners are tougher than that. The monsoons did not want to go away. Unseasonal rains and high humidity continued for what seemed like an eternity. One day of the training week was reserved for faster runs like intervals and tempo runs and the rest of them were at a slow pace to keep the heart beating fewer times every minute. The results took time, but they came. I still remember my 21km run in early October which I struggled to finish. Thankfully I didn’t doubt my decision to train for the longer distance and stuck to the process. The last weekend of November, I ran my first ever international race in Penang, Malaysia. It was run in 93% humidity (more than what I faced during the terrible run in October). I got a timing pretty close to me personal best. The training prior to this was mainly focused on building the aerobic base by running easy. It helped me push hard in tough conditions.

Then came the month of December which brought with it longer runs and some shorter and more intense run workouts. The long runs were building endurance. The intense ones were pure terror at the start, giving a great sense of accomplishment on completing them. The second weekend after my run in Malaysia, I managed to crush my half marathon personal best by almost 5 minutes. The run seemed like a breeze (partially because of the company and crowd support). It was an indicator that the training was having some good effects on my running.

Then finally, winter arrived. A nice chill in the air made it quite a lot more fun to run longer. But it also brought with it the risk of catching the seasonal flu. I got it after completing my longest run. Like retreating armies plant landmines, the flu went away leaving me with the dreaded cough which got worse with exertion. It took a while, but it went away. I did my last 20 mile run in Pune and then followed it up with a good deal of rest to ensure that the cough went away completely. The taper continued to have a few of the demonic workouts but they felt a lot easier. They were the results of almost 900km of varied training over the last 4 months.

Now no matter how the race goes, I definitely know that I have enjoyed the journey. From struggling to finish a 21km run at the start of the training cycle to having a super strong end to my last long run before race day, this journey has had its share of ups and downs. It has made me rediscover the joy of running

Often, the post-script tends to have high to very high importance. So here it goes.

P.S.:

The role of family has to be mentioned here. They are the greatest support system one can hope for. They have patiently been through my noisy mornings (as I got ready to leave for my runs), sweaty post run stretches, me sleeping like a log on Sunday afternoons, silly meals, sudden love for home cooked food, etc. etc. etc. It is their love which lets me do as I please. I love you guys. Next Sunday is for you!!!

All you running buddies who have been a part of this amazing journey, next Sunday is for you guys too!!!