Flashback :  Nov 16th, Bangalore Ultra 2008, 25 kms, 3 hrs, 42 mins

Cut to today – March 16th 2009

******************************************************************************************************

I decided to restart my road running from today! As I hit the road, it hit me that exactly 4 months back,  Sriram and I completed our first 25 kms half ultra – marathon! What a way, it was to get initiated into marathon running!

Dunno if its a coincidence that I decided to restart today,  given that I was not planning to gym after all those workouts on the weekend.

Anyways, it really felt good after running those 3 kms! The pace was good, the knees held on, and the breathing was steady! All the gymming in the past few months has really helped, I guess.

Looks like I am in good shape, though I gotta keep this regular from now on! First stop is the Sunfeast 10k run due in about 2 months time.

Yay! something to look forward to, though, sriram will miss you!

Its been 4 days since the marathon. The body seems to have recovered from the fatigue. There are slight remnants of the fatigue in the thighs.

So I decided to get back to the gym to test out my legs and kness. Took it slowly. Not much stress today. Jogged / Walked on the treadmill for around 30 mins at a slow pace. Its important to give time to the body to recover. Also specifically, I wanted to concentrate more on stretches to loosen up the muscles.

I guess I will follow this schedule of lots of stretches and gentle run for another week, before kicking into gear in the week after next…Another objective would also be to loose some weight in the next couple of months.

To run in the Mumbai marathon is tempting. Am not sure at this point if I can make it, given some other commitments. But I think I should train, in case I am able to make it

November 16th 2008. A certain red-letter day for me (amongst the many more to come)! And if you must ask why, I ran and successfully completed the 25 kms half – marathon as part of Bangalore Ultra Marathon . . . my very first half marathon.

To put this in perspective, being a chronic asthmatic and having consumed generous doses of salbultamol in the last sixteen years, not many of my near and dear ones would actually think that I could run a (half) marathon. Not very surprising that the first question that my Mom popped when I told her about this was….did you not face any breathing problems?

Well, for all that matters, I always believed I could do it, i.e. run the half – marathon! Also, its not that it happened over-night. I have been gymming fairly regularly, keeping myself in shape. Infact in the last 2-3 months, I have been regularly working out. And most important of all, I enjoy running. And that’s the key, folks! As my interest in running peaked, I came across the Running and Living website and thru that the Bangalore Ultra marathon event. I shared the link with Sriram, and we both decided that it was time to be tougher!

Ideally, I should have trained better. The recommended training schedule is around 8 – 12 weeks. I did  only about 10 – 15 days of actual marathon training. I was used to running about 3k – 4k distances and that too on the treadmill. The first day – when I took to the roads to train for the marathon – turned out to be disaster. I ran 1 km and walked home the second:). With limited time on hand, I set myself a target that I should complete at least 10 km (non-stop) 3 days before the D-Day. Slowly and surely I improved, finally managing around 8 kms before the D-day. At the back of my mind, what gave me confidence was the 55 kms, 6 day Himalayan trek that I had done about 5 months back. It gave the belief that I could take on this challenge.

D-Day arrived. Up early, we left for the venue around 5:30 am. Our spouses – Pranitha and Shamala – were very sporting to accompany us to the event – to cheer us on! After a slightly challenging drive to Our Native Village (these guys need to make sure that they get the directions updated on their website), we reached with around 15 mins to spare.

7:30 am; and we were off. The weather was AWESOME! it couldn’t be better! The marathon trail was also very nice passing through green farmlands and forest areas. We had to complete 4 laps of 6.25 kms each. I completed the first loop of 12.5 kms with not much difficulty – only one inhaler puff and one water break. The loop has lot of uphill gradients (albeit gradual ones) and it makes the run all the more challenging. I was greeted with cheers from Sham and Pranitha as I completed my first loop and headed back for the second.

The second loop proved quite taxing, and off the 12.5 kms, I would have walked around 4-5 kms. Never mind, the goal right now was to complete the 25 kms and I did that successfully. So did Sriram. The better part was that we were not really dead after completing it! There was still life left in us. I clocked 3 hrs 42 mins and Sriram did it in 3 hrs 39 mins.

The run was over and that too successfully; the feeling had sunk in; and we literally cooled our heels on blocks of ice. We waited for a presentation ceremony in which we were given a Finisher’s certificate and a medal! That was cool!

Finisher - Bangalore Ultra 25k Half Marathon

The after-affects were ofcourse still to come. And this morning, I read this quote (apparently made by President George Bush) in one of the blogs and realized how true -

I learned that running can make you feel 10 years younger the day of the race and 10 years older the day after the race.

Last, but not the least, The Fuller Life (Runners For Life) organization really needs to be commended for putting together an event like this. The location was truly amazing, the marathon arrangements were really neat; the aid stations plenty and perfectly placed. And I found the folks with whom I interacted (even though briefly) very friendly!

All in all, a dream first marathon experience and hoping for many more to come . . .the 42k’s, 50k’s and so on . . .