NDM - Marathon PB

2022 had been a phenomenal year with my last event being the SRT Ultra ( yes, I know this story is overdue - will get around to it) - this was followed by a kickass getaway to Varkala, Kerala giving sometime to recoup and restore the mind and body. Upon my return to Bangalore - the year 2023 was to have a double whammy start with 2 back to back events slated for the first weekend of Jan, 23. Have to give credit to Sanjeev here, because he insisted that I do back to back events when I was being very conservative and wanted to save my legs for the 20miler on 7th Jan 23. Eitherway, that was a good weekend - I managed to power out a very strong ride at the ITT Race losing the top spot due to a very stupid mistake of not starting the garmin on time, followed by a top finish in open category of the 20-miler. This wrapped up my event list for the month of January.

I came back to Bangalore and the following Friday took me to Mumbai to cheer for the Brooks team destroying the field at TMM. However, all the travel and temperature difference got me and by the time I got back to Bangalore, post the TMM weekend, I was quite unwell. With NDM being my Cat-A FM for the year, I was meant to be at my highest volume at this time but, shit happens, and you learn to deal with it. I didn't have the energy to do anything which meant that the next 2 weeks was spent in bed ( literally). And thats the thing right, if your body is asking you for rest, that is what you need to give it - no point in being a hero about it and pushing through the sickness, low energy and pain because its only going to come back to bite you in the ass ...much much harder.

So, I told myself to consider this to be a mini off-season and take it into my stride as elegantly as I can. Easier said than done - I had done zero long runs - 32 was as long as I had gone - I've never felt more underprepared for a marathon distance event, but hey! I had been psyching myself for it and I was definitely in better shape than my last outing at the SPBM 2022 ( April edition). The thought of giving it a miss didn't even cross my mind - yes! I was nervous because I had been on a very good streak and wanted to keep it going - but you know what? Everyday is not a sunday and even if things were not going to pan out the way I had hoped - I was going to get through it with as much grace as I could.

As I got better, I tried to get a long run in - I struggled so bad in that 25K - I had a fight with some random dude cat-calling at me, had some 2 nariyal paani stops, my gut was not accepting any form of nutrition and there was a constant churning in my tummy - I couldn't run that distance continously and was pretty much devastated at the thought of running a FM 3 weeks from then. But, you do what you do best and, that is; you soldier on. As time went on, I started feeling a little better - with 2 weeks to go, I attempted another long run - it was to be a 25K but as I felt better than the week before I pushed forward to make it a 32K ( this was more psychological to see if I can push beyond the 30K mark especially after the dismal performance the week prior). This run gave me some semblance of confidence. Next stop was to be Delhi.

I hate Delhi - the pollution, how loud it is and all of those things - but! Dilli hai dilwaalo ki and truly I was humbled by the love and affection that I received while I was there. All my girls made the trip just so memorable - Started with Ankeeta ensuring that my accommodation was supercomfortable, and Sonia driving down from Sonipat to greet me at my arrival, Raina dropping everything for the race weekend to spend time with us, Anjali with her wise-ass comments - I finally truly understand the meaning of diwale <3. Friday took me to the Expo and as always - NEB is home.I was greeted by Ankeeta, then Manish Kochar ( Athelin - Delhi), Remus ( Apollo Tyres) and thereafter the entire NEB team. I spent the first half of the day at the expo meeting with and interacting with many of the runners.

The next day first took us to Khan Market to meet with the Adi Runners Coach Nivedita - and as we were on our way to breakfast, we were given the most pleasant surprise by Karthik ( Brooks India - Country Head). A minute here to applaud Karthik - he is a busy, no, super busy guy - but he makes it a point to be on-the-ground with his team of athletes at every single race. Come rain, come storm - we know that he will be there - at the start line and the finish line - he willingly takes on the role of coach, mentor, support crew at that point in time - no muss, no fuss, no questions asked. Post breakfast, Nivedita dropped the entire bunch of us to the Venue again, this time for the chat with David Rudisha - and, this experience was everything and more. To see humility and acceptance dripping of someone who has all the right in the World to throw attitude, is an enriching experience. I truly believe that the more you achieve, and the more you learn; the more you realise what a long and ardous path lies ahead of you and there is so much more to learn - to see a man epitomise this - was just overwhelming!

And before we knew it, it was the evening before race day. Nihal, Anjali and me got our Brooks uniforms ready. Sonia and Kuljeet got their own kits for the next day ready. We then settled in for a lovely khichdi dinner - headed out for a short walk post dinner and then settled in to get a good night's rest. Again!!! Easier said than done. I was tossing and turning till way past midnight. The event was slated for a 4:15am start. This meant that we had to be up by 2:00am. With less than 2 hours of sleep, I woke up; and very suprisingly; bright eyed and bushy tailed. As I always say, I was as ready as I could be. At this point, there was nothing I could do but give it my everything. Contrary to what many people believe, on a race day - whether you like to accept it or not - you always do give it your best shot - and, if you tell yourself otherwise - I could have, I should have ..... its a lie - because if you could have, you would have. We took a cab to the start point - Kuljeet, Sonia and me. Nihal was participating in the Elite Category ( his first outing as an Elite) and Anjali was going for a PB attempt in her 10K distance.

The cab dropped us off about 2K from the start point. We started with a walk, and then soon settled into an easy jog as soon as we realised that we will not make it in time if we continued at this pace. We reached the venue and head straight to the baggage counter. After depositing the baggage, we moved to the customary final rest-room stop and thereafter, made our way to the start line. As I jogged, I knew this is the only warm-up I am going to get so, I incorporated a few drills as I moved forward. I met Cauvery and Rakesh at the stage area - they wished me luck and pointed me in the direction of the start line. I moved forward. Before I knew it, there I was, at the start point. The Brooks Team was to get a priority start - Sunil Shetty saw us all in the Neon Brooks Singlet Uniform and pulled us into the front line for the start. And, before we knew it, Prabhakaran, another familiar face from the Triathlon scene ( he was the Emcee at Amdavad) was doing the final countdown to the start. 3,2,1... and off we went. At the start line, we are all like horses, raring to go and more often than not, we end up going too hard - Me? I always do! the excitement is too much!

Anyway, in the darkness, it was important to ensure that the pace was maintained but also that we did not lose balance and have a fall. I always like to be handed my water and hydration on the route - the volunteers this race were phenomenal in handing out the water bottles - but for some reason they were not giving out the electrolytes. This was throwing my entire nutrition strategy out of whack. Eitherway, around the 7 or 8th km I got frustrated and moved towards the aid station to pick up electrolytes on my way, as I moved forward, the guy collecting garbage was standing right in front of me and I went straight into him. I screamed some expletives and moved forward - but the jarring of the collision took sometime to settle in. I kept moving at my own pace, wrapping up 10K in 45mins, inching forward. Around the 15th Km - two other female runners Chinta and Farheen both caught up with me - I knew that they were targeting a 3:15 finish so decided to try my best to hang onto them. From Km15 till the U-turn the three of us ran together - I wrapped up my 21.1K in 1:36:xx ( YES!!! a PB, although it was nothing to be happy about at this time).

And soon, started the second loop - I could feel the humidity set in and my legs started feeling heavy! oh! so heavy!!! I pushed to the best of my ability - I could see a few people walking now and a huge part of me wanted to take a walk - break ( just for a few seconds!) but I had not come to Delhi to walk on the course - so, I told that stupid little voice to shut the hell up and I kept going as fast as my legs could take me forward. I looked at my watch - I knew my 3:15 target was lost - but, that didn't mean that my PB was lost - I was still going to go as hard as I could to get the best time that I could in those conditions. I saw Nihal on the other side a few times, all of the Brooks boys had given me a shoutout everytime they saw me - and so so many people on the route - thank you so much for that - it really gave me that energy that I needed.

Kept moving forward, soon I was on the way back from Shantipath - the Elite chase group came from behind - Nihal overtook me and gave me a light tap on the back as he surged ahead - it gave me a huge morale boost - everyone was suffering - whatever their pace, wherever in their distance - it was easy to see - some just made it look better than the others. I kept going at my pace. Around the 38th Km I could feel myself fading - so I knew I had to pep myself up - I forgot everyone and everything around me and screamed out loud - "Suffer!!!!" " Suffer better, TimTim" ....... " Learn to Suffer Better!!!"

I kept psyching myself over the next 4km reminding myself that the pain is almost over - just a little bit longer!!!

And there I was , taking the left to the final finishing stretch - I always get a surge upon seeing the finish line - it is a sense of relief, a sense of the end of the suffering ( at least for now) and so I surged ahead - I could hear Kartik clearly - As I crossed the finish line Raina and him came to hold me as I gasped for breath. It took me a few breaths to stabilise and then, I was ok. I thought that maybe I would collapse - but no! that joy - I think; is for another day. I was given a lot of hugs, Nagaraj Adiga came soon after - asked me for the distance - I grabbed him and gave him a huge sweaty hug as he squirmed in it - told him 42.2K - he seemed satisfied! And soon after there was a lot of hugging, chatting, eating, celebrating - afterall the entire gang had come home with PBs. My last PB was in Jan 2020 at TMM with 3:30 - In 2022 - I ran the SPBM FM with 3:34 and today I had crossed the finish line in 3:19 - I was totally going to enjoy this. There will be time to train harder and go faster, but right now it was time to celebrate.

This was my 7th Marathon - it was also my 4th BQ. BQ does not hold an appeal for me anymore - but going faster certainly does. As far as marathons are concerned - the suffering is still fresh - I think racing that distance will be put on the bench for a while - well, until I forget that pain. Meanwhile, a certain 70.3 has already been signed up for - looks like a new training block is on the horizon!!!.