I have returned after the Marathon today. What seemed difficult to complete yesterday is now done . As they say you get courage after doing.I had done the Mumbai Full Marathon 2008 last year but yet i was unsure of completing it , i had been practising for this marathon immediately after the Hyderabad half marathon 2008
but i have not yet prepared a blog on my preparation for the Mumbai marathon 2009 like the one i did on preparation for Mumbai marathon 2008 but i will be doing it based on the memory i have about my training sessions.
I had arrived in Mumbai by Friday evening by nethravati express in general compartment, I don't wish to write a 5 page blog on that experience any way travelling for around 26 hours in general compartment is tough especially at this time as trains are dumped with people. I took the courage to do this as i did manage to get in touch with my friend Thejas on thursday the 15th, then it was all about reaching mumbai everything after that can be taken for granted.
Thejas was there at the railway station to receive me with a lot of apologies for being late due to traffic congestions, from there we fled to WTC at cuffe parade to collect my bib but by the time we reached there it was past 7:20 and we did not make a futile attempt and was back at wtc on saturday to collect the BIB, CHIP and the Goodie bag, Bib appeared to be the same although the chip had changed from the one which was attached to your ankles in case of Mumbai marathon 2008 to a circular gadget which had to be fastened to your shoes and it was a one time only for a non refundable Rs 200/- , infact this year the registration was increased from 200/- to 300/-
thus an overall increase of Rs 300/- for the marathon in terms of registration and timing.
Goodie bag was filled with some really good things from Nivea and also some other things which included a very small tube of Volini pain reliever which was very useful for that night.
My last practice was on wednesday the 14th during which i ran for about 3 hours and 15 mins non stop. after that i had decided to rest , but perhaps the journey in general compartment from trichur to mumbai also took its toll and in the evening i was massaging my legs and also had a pain killer, i did set the alarm for 5:00 o'clock i woke up multiple times during my sleep including at 4:57 got ready and my friend dropped me at near azad maidan around 6:15 or so , i left my bag in the baggage counter and went to the collecting area which had all the half marathoners and also some Full marathoners and waited there for the Door to open and then there was a rush to be in front, else it is a bad start and then continued to move by the time we reached the starting point it was 6:46:xx and there was considerable number of people before me, may be they never entered the collecting area and were starting from the CST itself.
As i started to run unlike Hyderabad half marathon 2008 i did not try the burst and pushing your limits as it did not appeal to me, but this time i was running with the mobile in my hand and intention was to run at a steady pace and keep that on to the end. I kept running and overtaking people on the run and i saw the mark 1km when i counted 1 down and 41 more to go but already i felt dryness in my mouth and thus my intention of running without water was quashed even before i attempted crowd reduced as i kept wading through them to come across 2km when i checked the timing on my mobile , but i did not check time at the starting point , but i chose to take it as 5:30 as my mobile time was incorrect and i had done a correction to the possible time at starting point by assuming 5:30 and continued through run past many and now the crowd was getting less denser than before ran past 3km and so on until i reached 5km mark when it was approximated to 30 mins and that was fine , a steady pace of slightly over 10 km/hr and a final burst rather breakout gave me a hope to a sub 4 hour hours, which did not happen.
This year in the initial phase of the marathon they were supplying electrol packets and not electrol mixed in water which meant that you had to throw them off eating electrol powder or glucose from your hand or packet while running is not a good idea as during my school days it went into my nose when i was taking glucose while running. with a steady speed i still continued and even kept the tempo even at pedder road where the inclination starts and went on taking on its inclination and declination and then around this time it was probably surender raut was on his return with a half marathon bib this was when i was around the 8km mark and he was on his 16 kms i suppose it appeared to me as i am running on half his speed, that was estimated as they usually run on an average speed of 20 km/hr and i was trying on a 10 km/hr as i did not want to risk an incomplete marathon. continued to run and by 10 km mark i had taken near 1 hour and that seemed fine and i continued and after sometime the diversion for full marathoners and half marathoners appeared and i continued on my mission to complete this successfully.
by now milind soman was running around me and their was a applause and encouragement for him all throughout and some time he came close and then i continued to pace and so on, and it was like he was my pacesetter and this went on by the time it was 20 km mark the timing was around 7:26 which means less than 2 hours that gave hope to my intention of sub 4 hour marathon and i continued and was running towards the bandra reclamation when a banana was offered to me and there was nothing like it, as it not just about water when it comes to marathon
continued to run as i was about to reach the turning point at bandra reclamation there were SUV's beaming out there and it was the elite marathon runners the pack was out there and they ran past me i tried to trail behind them but trailing a 20km/hr runner by a 10 km/hr runner doesn't last long after some time the leading Indian runner ( not me ) the one who started at 7:40 as per actual marathon timing also ran past me and after some time it was the pack of women runners and so on i continued and by the time it was 30 kms i had taken 3 hours and it was fine but i recollected that it was at 31 kms that i had stopped during Mumbai marathon 2008
but i continued to run by now i was not able to touch the 6min for a km and i pushed myself to 33.5 kms and some where around that i backtracked to collect orange slices then milind had run past me and then kept moving but by around the 33.5 kms i was done with and started to walk although i wanted to run and i had intention to run nonstop.
I began to walk until 35km mark and then at the ascension of pedder road managed to start running again continued running and refused running, well now you are trying to gain control over yourself.
As per my recollection i went on like that till around 38 km and then walked for about 500mts and then again ran from 39 km to 40 km mark by now the heat was on and it was difficult to keep the pace more due to heat walked for sometime when it was the turn to CST from main road i started to run again as it was the ending phase and kept on crossed the 41km mark later on the 600 mts more and then the 200mts when i was sprinting in my mind for sure may be my legs were not doing exactly that but for sure i was running and pace was definitely higher than normal when i reached the finishing point it the clock showed 3:33:xx but i had started with the Half marathon runners so additional 55 minutes or 45 mins or whatever time it took for me to reach the starting point etc have to be added.
As i crossed the line i asked for help as i could not stand and there were no volunteers to do it there were some ready to offer water bottles, I asked them where do i have to report when they pointed to the direction of azad maidan , even despite requests then finally one of the officials i suppose asked a volunteer to take me to the azad maidan, but at the Medal and participation certificate counter i could barely stand and then i had to wait until they asked me for when the
girl out there scored on my bib after giving the medal and certificate, then i turned furious as i keep these bib as a memorablia when procam talk about keeping the timing chip as memorablia for a price of 200 bucks , when they scour on my bib it was unbearable, explanation was that it was a for one time use, but all this can be done behind the bib and not infront, even last year when i went to collect the deposit money of the chip they were about to write on it which i refused and made them write behind.
This time there was no place to rest unlike last year, These B*** don't know the strain a person has after running 42kms , in the scorching sun you can't lie down on azad maidan.
The participation certificate was handwritten and did not have the timing in it unlike last year.
Thus i have completed my second full marathon.
Feel much better although i had missed delhi half marathon 2008.
but i have not yet prepared a blog on my preparation for the Mumbai marathon 2009 like the one i did on preparation for Mumbai marathon 2008 but i will be doing it based on the memory i have about my training sessions.
I had arrived in Mumbai by Friday evening by nethravati express in general compartment, I don't wish to write a 5 page blog on that experience any way travelling for around 26 hours in general compartment is tough especially at this time as trains are dumped with people. I took the courage to do this as i did manage to get in touch with my friend Thejas on thursday the 15th, then it was all about reaching mumbai everything after that can be taken for granted.
Thejas was there at the railway station to receive me with a lot of apologies for being late due to traffic congestions, from there we fled to WTC at cuffe parade to collect my bib but by the time we reached there it was past 7:20 and we did not make a futile attempt and was back at wtc on saturday to collect the BIB, CHIP and the Goodie bag, Bib appeared to be the same although the chip had changed from the one which was attached to your ankles in case of Mumbai marathon 2008 to a circular gadget which had to be fastened to your shoes and it was a one time only for a non refundable Rs 200/- , infact this year the registration was increased from 200/- to 300/-
thus an overall increase of Rs 300/- for the marathon in terms of registration and timing.
Goodie bag was filled with some really good things from Nivea and also some other things which included a very small tube of Volini pain reliever which was very useful for that night.
My last practice was on wednesday the 14th during which i ran for about 3 hours and 15 mins non stop. after that i had decided to rest , but perhaps the journey in general compartment from trichur to mumbai also took its toll and in the evening i was massaging my legs and also had a pain killer, i did set the alarm for 5:00 o'clock i woke up multiple times during my sleep including at 4:57 got ready and my friend dropped me at near azad maidan around 6:15 or so , i left my bag in the baggage counter and went to the collecting area which had all the half marathoners and also some Full marathoners and waited there for the Door to open and then there was a rush to be in front, else it is a bad start and then continued to move by the time we reached the starting point it was 6:46:xx and there was considerable number of people before me, may be they never entered the collecting area and were starting from the CST itself.
As i started to run unlike Hyderabad half marathon 2008 i did not try the burst and pushing your limits as it did not appeal to me, but this time i was running with the mobile in my hand and intention was to run at a steady pace and keep that on to the end. I kept running and overtaking people on the run and i saw the mark 1km when i counted 1 down and 41 more to go but already i felt dryness in my mouth and thus my intention of running without water was quashed even before i attempted crowd reduced as i kept wading through them to come across 2km when i checked the timing on my mobile , but i did not check time at the starting point , but i chose to take it as 5:30 as my mobile time was incorrect and i had done a correction to the possible time at starting point by assuming 5:30 and continued through run past many and now the crowd was getting less denser than before ran past 3km and so on until i reached 5km mark when it was approximated to 30 mins and that was fine , a steady pace of slightly over 10 km/hr and a final burst rather breakout gave me a hope to a sub 4 hour hours, which did not happen.
This year in the initial phase of the marathon they were supplying electrol packets and not electrol mixed in water which meant that you had to throw them off eating electrol powder or glucose from your hand or packet while running is not a good idea as during my school days it went into my nose when i was taking glucose while running. with a steady speed i still continued and even kept the tempo even at pedder road where the inclination starts and went on taking on its inclination and declination and then around this time it was probably surender raut was on his return with a half marathon bib this was when i was around the 8km mark and he was on his 16 kms i suppose it appeared to me as i am running on half his speed, that was estimated as they usually run on an average speed of 20 km/hr and i was trying on a 10 km/hr as i did not want to risk an incomplete marathon. continued to run and by 10 km mark i had taken near 1 hour and that seemed fine and i continued and after sometime the diversion for full marathoners and half marathoners appeared and i continued on my mission to complete this successfully.
by now milind soman was running around me and their was a applause and encouragement for him all throughout and some time he came close and then i continued to pace and so on, and it was like he was my pacesetter and this went on by the time it was 20 km mark the timing was around 7:26 which means less than 2 hours that gave hope to my intention of sub 4 hour marathon and i continued and was running towards the bandra reclamation when a banana was offered to me and there was nothing like it, as it not just about water when it comes to marathon
continued to run as i was about to reach the turning point at bandra reclamation there were SUV's beaming out there and it was the elite marathon runners the pack was out there and they ran past me i tried to trail behind them but trailing a 20km/hr runner by a 10 km/hr runner doesn't last long after some time the leading Indian runner ( not me ) the one who started at 7:40 as per actual marathon timing also ran past me and after some time it was the pack of women runners and so on i continued and by the time it was 30 kms i had taken 3 hours and it was fine but i recollected that it was at 31 kms that i had stopped during Mumbai marathon 2008
but i continued to run by now i was not able to touch the 6min for a km and i pushed myself to 33.5 kms and some where around that i backtracked to collect orange slices then milind had run past me and then kept moving but by around the 33.5 kms i was done with and started to walk although i wanted to run and i had intention to run nonstop.
I began to walk until 35km mark and then at the ascension of pedder road managed to start running again continued running and refused running, well now you are trying to gain control over yourself.
As per my recollection i went on like that till around 38 km and then walked for about 500mts and then again ran from 39 km to 40 km mark by now the heat was on and it was difficult to keep the pace more due to heat walked for sometime when it was the turn to CST from main road i started to run again as it was the ending phase and kept on crossed the 41km mark later on the 600 mts more and then the 200mts when i was sprinting in my mind for sure may be my legs were not doing exactly that but for sure i was running and pace was definitely higher than normal when i reached the finishing point it the clock showed 3:33:xx but i had started with the Half marathon runners so additional 55 minutes or 45 mins or whatever time it took for me to reach the starting point etc have to be added.
As i crossed the line i asked for help as i could not stand and there were no volunteers to do it there were some ready to offer water bottles, I asked them where do i have to report when they pointed to the direction of azad maidan , even despite requests then finally one of the officials i suppose asked a volunteer to take me to the azad maidan, but at the Medal and participation certificate counter i could barely stand and then i had to wait until they asked me for when the
girl out there scored on my bib after giving the medal and certificate, then i turned furious as i keep these bib as a memorablia when procam talk about keeping the timing chip as memorablia for a price of 200 bucks , when they scour on my bib it was unbearable, explanation was that it was a for one time use, but all this can be done behind the bib and not infront, even last year when i went to collect the deposit money of the chip they were about to write on it which i refused and made them write behind.
This time there was no place to rest unlike last year, These B*** don't know the strain a person has after running 42kms , in the scorching sun you can't lie down on azad maidan.
The participation certificate was handwritten and did not have the timing in it unlike last year.
Thus i have completed my second full marathon.
Feel much better although i had missed delhi half marathon 2008.
4 comments:
Congrats Man on completing your run. It definitely is a big achievement and I am a lot inspired by your efforts.. Keep up the good work man..
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! great job..
Wow.. nmarvellous Fabulous Fantastic.. You are a star man. Appreciate ur effort and paintaking behind this sports event. My heratfelt congrats and hats off buddy. Wishing you luck for your future endeavopurs.. Keep the journey ahead.. we extend our full emotional compassioante support. Keep up the same momentum. Just remember the faamous saying "A thousand mile journey starts with a single stedp"
Miles to go befoer u sleep[ Miles to fgo before u slee... remembereign the robert frst lines...
Congrats bro!!!
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