SCMM Full marathon report - IV - Run report

Woke up at 3.30 AM to be able to reach the venue by 5.00 AM (Azad Maidan opposite Mumbai's famous Victoria Terminus).

Had slept great and woke up with a clear head WITHOUT a single of thought of  " I must be F***ing crazy to be on a holiday and waking up at 3.30AM to run 42.195 Ks in the heat and humidity of Mumbai. I should go back to sleep". Got dressed - I had kept my gear all ready the night before.

In my bottle I took Gatorade mixed with water.

As I came out of the hotel dressed in my gear and clutching my 3 bananas, I came across another marathoner (working with Microsoft, dressed in a Microsoft shirt, talking high of Microsoft Mango coming from Hyderabad, sorry mate, I forgot your name) getting into a taxi. So I ran upto him. He took one look and asked me to get in. We reached VT, crossed the VT and exited to the side of Azad Maidan and there he found his running group from Hyderabad and I found my 5.30 bus.


I joined Rahul's 5.30 bus and followed it till 20 K. The bus followed the programme of every KM marker we walked for 20 steps. Every water station, walk another 20 steps. The routine was awesome and had I trained better I should have been able to follow and finish with him. The Bandra Worli sea link came and went. It slowed me a bit but not much. But 20 K was when I started lagging and at one point had to get off as I was getting exhausted. I had remembered some good advise from fellow runners and had prepared some food for the run, some bread, butter, jam / marmalade with salt sprinkled on them.

I remembered various discussions on R&L forums about cramps and only remembered water & salts as the things to have to avoid cramps. I had started with Gatorade in my bottle and tried to refill as many times as I could get my hands on it at different watering points. At around 27 K there was no more Gatorade Was having watered down Gatorade till 35 K when I decided that I was going to be a candidate for cramps, so I switched to electoral as I thought it to be the next best thing.

The Mumbai citizens did what they always do, Cheered the runners ! They were awesome, out in big numbers armed with food, fruits, water, sprain sprays etc. I thanked as many as I could for turning out and they were thanking me in return ! What warmth !

On the return loop we were on that part of the route , marine drive I think, where there was direct sun  and no shade. That was killing. I was thankful for my dri-fit microfibre clothing, incl microfibre undies from R & L, my cap and sunglasses.

At around 38 K mark I cam across an angel. An angel with a bottle of cool water and a cool mist spray. I stopped in frot of her bowed to her. Took off my cap and glasses and said give it to me. She sprayed the cool water on my face which was heavenly. I then asked her to spray on my head as well. She, however, knew better. She poured the bottle on my head. I could feel the steam and the cold water trickling down the spine to my shorts my bums and I relished. relished the wonderful feeling. Most wonderful at the time.


I was tired now and couldnt run continuously for over a 100 mtrs at a go. I dint stop. I pushed myself to walk faster. Thanks to my   Garmin Forerunner 210.   I could keep track of my speed and therefore could convince myself to run / walk faster to be able to keep to my target.

Was very happy with my under 6 hrs first marathon. Couldnt stop smiling. No aches, pains or cramps. Decided to skip the beers at Leopold as Rahul told me to get a cold shower ASAP. I had not realized till then the aspect of over heating. Reached my hotel. Had 2 glasses of Glucose. Took a cold shower, got into a bath robe. Had a beer. Had a sandwich. And slept away !

However, the next day, I caught a cold and a cough. I read on it online and found that this is pretty common as the body has low immunity after being exerted too much.

Took me 10 days to recover from the cough and cold, but all is well.

SCMM Full marathon report - II - Acknowledgement

I just have to thanks my fellow runners who have played a part in me getting to my 1st full , running my first full and finishing my 1st full healthy, safe and injury free.


Sandeep Srivastava - Technical and nutritional expert - His indepth reasearch and willingness to share the knowledge he had on what all to eat, drink and maintain the salt levels to avoid cramping. Worked like a charm and made it seem so easy. Plus his encouragement and making me run that extra 300 mtrs during my longest training run of 31.66 Ks 3 weeks before the full.





Sanjeev Chabra - Seemingly slow runner. But you DEFINITELY have to acknowledge the consistency, preseverence and the surprise rabbit hiding in that skin. FInished his full in a little over 5 hrs ! Awesome job. He taught me to persevere and keep at it, slow, head down and keep pushing...



Rahul Verghese - What can I say - organised the running in NCR. His 10 K runs every month in Gurgaon got me running. His Running & Living events got me intouch with all the running people I know. During the SCMM 2012 he was the pacer for 5.30 hrs and was so perfect that the group finished in exact time ! I stuck to the group for about 20 Ks then lagged behind as I couldnt keep up the pace. Those 20 Ks were cheating as I did not realize they were done until I started getting tired. Full of energy, smiling , laughing, singing songs (chorus as well) taking pics. Swell !



Shiv - Goaded me into my longest training run. His guidance on what strategy to adopt including not to watch the clock but to aim to finish. He brought me to reality against my impractical thoughts of 5 hr finish ! Met him both before and after the marathon and found more words of encouragement.





My biggest and staunchest supporters are however my family, who forgive me for waking up super early and skipping out on family time specially on weekends.




Sunina & Rudi - My wife and baby son who accompanied me to the SCMM 2012 without complain. Constanly encouraging me, motivating me and telling me that they knew I was going to finish the race, without a doubt. My training was accomplished only due to Sue kicking me out of bed to go train !






Dad & Ma - Their pat on the back and the encouragement goes a long way. Their confidence that I can do what I set out to achieve straightens my back even when my energy is down.

Running & Living 4th Gurgaon marathon & More

What a run ! The energy of the runners gathered was so infectious that I felt all energized inspite of no training ! Sunday runs (Only running on Sundays) with an average weekly average of 8 kms cannot count as training. But man it was good.

Wifey Sue was always helpful in getting me out of bed early in the morning to go run, and I was creative with new excuses to continue enjoying the warm bed.

Awesomely, my big bro & wife Ravi & Sheetal were there to cheer me on. Him with his Leica and she with the Tea (and holding onto my jacket, phone, car keys and Heart Monitor chest strap since the Garmin gave in. (you'll read abt it below)

The run started on time as every R & L event. About a km down when I found my pace about 6.30-6.45 min per KM by my Garmin Forerunner 210 . Of course the Garmin was not charged as there must have been a loose charger connection and the Garmin died out after 3-4 KMs. Now I have nearly always tried to pace myself with a digital assistant and now I had none. This is where Akila helped.



Akila was running an easy, fun untimed pace. My pace was around the same and hoped that her company and steady pace will pull me through. And it did. The first loop of 10.5 KMs went super smooth without noticing the multiple curves and bends in the route which we noticed only on the 2nd loop. On the way we got Sanjeev Chabara and some new inputs into our chat.




On the end of the 1st loop Akila complained of cramps and slowed down urging me to continue at my pace. Did nt make much of a difference as she caught up at nearly every water / food point. This was another good thing Rahul (founder of R & L ) did - food on the run. I had biscuits, wafers, oranges, butter & jam sandwiches on the way not counting the energy drinks & water.

Several times on the 2nd loop I was thinking, Man, I am tired let me walk a bit.. but then another thought would walk in and shout - Hey HAVE YOU USED UP YOUR WEAK ? NO- THEN KEEP RUNNING !! And just like that I was off running again.



Towards the end at 500 mins to go I started into a faster pace, and at 21 K point with 0.097 Ks to go I lauched into a full sprint. Oh it was so much fun. Fun to run, to fly and fun to know I still had some energy to sprint ! Had a good finish !

Finished in 2 hrs 23 min - 4 min faster than the ADHM 3 weeks ago.

Thanks to Running & Living for the excellent run

New learnings for marathon training

Had a good steady run yesterday for about 15 + KM in preparation for the R & L half marathon next Sunday on 18.12.2011.

Got some tips from the running veterans Amit Ojha, Venkat & Param. These guys have not only multiple HM, FM but a few Ultras as well.

1. Keep a steady pace through out the run. managing and mastering Reverse splits is a tough job and may not consider variables like weather, temperature trail.

2. Eat. Oranges, biscuits, sandwiches during the run for your energy replenishment.

3. Bombay marathon (2012) is tough and I must have minimum 35 K non stop under my belt before even trying the full.

4. Carrying your own water is a must ! as the water stations can run out of water nearing the ned, specially if you are a slow runner.

5. Beware of DOMS - Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness syndrome which can appear after 2-3 days.

6. Run the marathon with only one target. To Finish safe, healthy.

Running Season is back again...

The running season is back with some interesting half and full marathons & ultra lined up.



The most impressive being the Bangalore Ultra tomorrow. A big gang of friends and acquaintances are already in bangalore for the big event. Distances more than 42.2 KMs are classified as Ultra. The guys I know are running - 50, 75 & 100 Ks.



The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon is next on 27th November. Going back to its old start location of Jawaharlal National Stadium. This is a fun road race, a Gold standard event.




Then comes the Running & Living Gurgaon even which will host an Ultra for the first time. The best part is the group of people who gather including the ring leader Rahul Verghese. The event happens on 18.12.2011 - http://www.runningandliving.com/



January hosts the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon on 15.01.2012. The Mumbai heat , humidity are supposed to be killers. At teh same time the Mumbai supporters and crowds are awesome.

Running & Living Gurgaon Half Marathon

Exactly 2 weeks after the Airtel Delhi Half I ran the Gurgaon half on the 5th December. Happy to say I finished in 2 hrs 16 min 07 secs as per the timing chip. This timing is 11 mins better than the ADHM. The split timings show a constant speed which is very good, that means the stamina was spot on.

Approx speed - 6min 26 secs per km or 9.37 km/hr .

I think I could have gone faster though... In anycase I will have a chance in the Mumbai half marathon on Jan 16th !

Name / Gender / Age / Chipcode / Chip No. / Marathon / 10.55km / 21.1km / Net_time
Rishi / Male / 31 - 40 / 174100300 / 193 / half / 01:08:03 / 01:08:04 / 02:16:07
Madan

The Pearl Izumi streak worked well. This was the first race this year that I ran without my speedometer, but timed myself per km. Some pics of Sue the Volunteer at the event and me running :

Before the race, just starting warm up, sue watching on slightly amised at the sight of the crazy running people


in the process, still too cold :



I am off and sue starts her volunteer work, making certificates & recording timings :






Me during the run, the sun's just coming up !