SCMM: The first milestone of 2014.

My last race was the Bengaluru Midnight Marathon – that was a 10k target run and I had been able to achieve my PB in that race with minimal training. This was just over a month back. We had all achieved our own PBs in this race to end the 2013 calendar year on a high. Although I say that this was the end of the year, the end of the running season is always the most prestigious race in the country – The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon also known as SCMM.

15th Dec marked a kickstart to my SCMM training plan. Being the peak of the wedding and holiday season, it also involved a fair amount of travelling. My first adventure took my running shoes and me to Chickmanglur for a bestie’s wedding. It was a very warm and intimate ceremony held at the estate for a small gathering of people, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Being a runner though, it would only be fair to say that I enjoyed my runs on the empty, windy, hilly roads around the venue far more. There is something very primal about running  which begs you to get in touch with nature and, believe you me, a few runs in this terrain is all that you would wish for as a runner. Foggy mornings, fresh clean air and running amongst coffee and tea estates has its own charm. Back in Bangalore for a short stint and then I was headed to Goa for a few days to catch up with another bestie I had not seen in years.

Although in Goa for New Years, during season time, I was still fairly disciplined – turning in early and getting my runs in. This was only, and I repeat, ONLY because time was of essence and I did not really have much a choice. With such a short training period, I put in as many runs as I could. As 19th Jan drew closer, I was fully aware of the fact that I am not in peak condition – in fact far from it, but I was also aware that this is the best that I could do in such a limited window.

This time it was a fairly small bunch of us travelling to the event – Dharmendra, Sudhir, Nagaraj, Shuveshek, Geeta and myself. And out of the 6 of us, it was only Dharma and myself travelling together. We loaded onto the train for our journey to Mumbai, 24 hours later, we were in Mumbai. The next morning we hit marine drive for an easy 7k. The day before the event saw us catching up with some Mumbai runners in Aarey. I will have to say, it was fantastic to meet them and feel their vibrant energy. This was followed by bib collection. The Expo saw us meeting with a lot of familiar faces and getting a chance to wish them the best for race day. This was followed by a visit to the Running summit. Just before retiring to the room for the remainder of the day, all the protons got together to wish each other the best.

Once back in the room, I got my gear ready for race day. As I lay down to retire for the night, I found myself strangely calm. There was a quiet conviction – no knots, no nervousness, a quiet confidence that I had prepared myself as best as I could in this time-frame. Thank you to all those that took timeout to wish me for the event. Although I was not able to rest well through the night, I managed to get about 4 hours of sleep. Before I knew it, it was time to slip into gear since it was race day.

The SCMM is easily the oldest and most prestigious race in India. 2014 marked its 11th edition and saw around 40,000 people participate across all categories. This race also marks the end of the running season, so basically, you run all year through to peak at this race. This is also a race which gives amateurs with an opportunity to qualify for another prestigious race, the Boston Marathon. So yes, the energy, build up to this event is something else. This was also my first outing to the SCMM so it was all new and amazing and exciting!

I walked upto Dharma’s room and then we both walked together to hail a cab to the venue. By 5:20am we were at the venue. As always, Nagaraj and me were meant to catch up at the venue and run together. However, it was a sea of participants and we missed each other. In this confusion, Dharma and me started at 5:42am instead of the 5:40am actual start time. 1K into the race we saw Nagaraj who had by now realised that we had missed each other. It was still dark, we had found each other and the journey had begun. The weather was pleasant and the energy was electric. The mass of runners were all beginning to find their rhythm and there was the comfort I found in the familiarity of one step in front of the other even in a brand new city.  We started passing a lot of the familiar faces and many of the Bangalore runners gave a cheer and a woot as we passed by.

By the time I reached the 5K mark, I realised a mistake I had made. At the time of taping my toes, I had only taped my big toes and forgotten to tape the toe adjacent to it – the friction between the tape and the skin had resulted in the formation of blisters which I could feel growing with each step. “Oh boy! This is going to be painful!! But its too late to do anything now.” So I continued chopping away at the pace I could while ignoring those blisters the best that I could. Around the 7k mark was a small uphill, this is the dreaded Peddar Road uphill – what seems so small on fresh feet, is a nightmare at the 37K mark – I made a note in my head of it. We continued on ahead one step after another. Now, I know that the Mumbai marathon covers the most scenic route in Mumbai and it is a treat to enjoy it but on race day, I am in the moment – my run, my next stride and the finish line. Times that I am running with someone, they are the only other thing I notice. Similarly, on 19th Jan, my run was only my next stride, listening to my body and off course Nagaraj. I did however notice that the weather was pleasant and breathing was easy. But, once I got on the Worli-Sealink bridge, I was absolutely stunned by the massiveness of the structure and the beauty all around. The Half Marathoners were running on the other side and the entire scene was breath-taking. Just imagine a sea of runners on either side of this beautiful and artistic bridge, the sea beneath us and the smog all around us. A faint hint of the sun rising. The beauty literally took my breath away and I reduced my pace to soak it all in. I know – I should have carried on and continued my rhythm, but every once in a while, its great to stop and admire how minute one individual is and how powerful nature can be. Nagaraj, who was constantly about 100mts ahead of me was taken aback by this fall in pace and threw a confused glance at me. I also heard Gauri scream out my name from the other side. This bought me back to reality and I got back to the finding my rhythm.

We were around the 17K mark and now some of the runners were falling behind. The beauty of the Full marathon is that the actual race only begins after the 25K mark. We continued on. Around the 19K mark, we heard music – there was a grand stand at the 20K point playing the Bhag Milkha soundtrack and we could hear it. I kid you not when I say that all the runners including me increased the pace from the 19K – 21K mark. In fact, as I passed the speaker, I felt that I could sustain that 4:30pace right up till the 42.2K mark. As we reached the 25K mark, I did not feel that great. I could feel my energy reserves falling and I thought to myself, why am I doing this? I was to get the answer to this question at the finish line.

Nagaraj was doing a splendid job of cheering me on. They say runners are a selfish lot and I agree we are. We are always all about timings and pace, tempos and intervals – sleeping early, shunning parties, so that we get enough rest to be able to get our training runs in. This does come across as weird. But then, you have people like him that come along and destroy that cliché. It takes a man with a very big heart to do what he does and he has done this not just on one occasion but several times. He had trained through the year and was in peak condition. He had registered for this race, taken time off work to come for it. He and I were both fully aware that on race day, he was in shape to do a 3:20 Full Marathon easily and I would be pushing hard to reach a 3:30. I had also repeatedly told him that he should be pushing himself for his personal best. But as always, he had appointed himself as my pacer and was hell bent on getting me through to Boston. So, as he saw my energy reserves fall, he kicked into action, screaming at me and pushing me to keep the pace. If not for anything else, I had to keep the pace going for him.

As I reached the 35K mark, I snapped back!! Its home stretch, how can you train so much and work so hard to even think about giving up. Its RACE DAY!! You have waited for your first SCMM from the day you heard about the race – find your inner strength and give it your all. As we were shuffling up the dreaded uphill at Peddar road, Udaya came to my rescue – he kept talking to me and pushing me ahead. As we came down the hill and ran onto marine drive, the sun hit us. (Note to self: In future, finish the marathon by this time so it’s a lot more comfortable.) There was 4K to go – Chop chop, lets go. And in theory it would be great but Alas, the dreaded Half Marathoners were all across the road – talking on cell phones, traipsing along sipping on Gatorade. The route was still not as bad as it would become is what I realised. We weaved through the walkathon in progress until the 1K mark, where the populace got so thick that we had to resort to shouting. I would rather have used that energy in a faster pace but it is what it is. Maybe we could emphasize on running etiquette to the new runners. With 500m to go, I caught up with Shuveshek and Nagaraj. Together the three of us sprinted to the finish line while screaming for the Half Marathoners to get away at the top of our lungs.

I glanced at the time on the screen, 3:35. I glanced at my Garmin, 3:33:29, distance 42.7K Looked at Nagaraj and Shuveshek, we all gave each other a hug without any words. Geeta was waiting for us at the finish line with water and ice. We all sat down and there was silence for the next five minutes. I had just got my answer. This was my first SCMM, I had qualified for Boston, it was a PB as well – 3:33Hrs of hell for such sweet pleasure. I took off my shoes to burst my blisters. I looked at Nagaraj – he seemed upset. I told him I had BQ’d – he broke into a smile. Followed it up with the news that it’s probably a podium finish since they took down my bib number at the finish line and now he was grinning and high fiving. We were still to find out what place on the podium. We went up to the timing technologies booth. They informed us that I had finished second overall, the first position winner was an Australian and so I was also the fastest Indian finisher female in the Open Category.

The rest of the crew was overjoyed as well. Everyone had achieved their personal best – Nagaraj with 3:35 ( he lost two minutes while waiting for me at the start), Shuveshek with 3:35, Dharma with 3:43, Sudhir Sir with 4:00, Sayuri with 4:06,  Geeta with a 1:56 Half and Aishwarya with a 2:10 Half. Ankush, Gajju, Aditya, Henna, Rahul – we went to an event without you boys after a very long time and you were very dearly missed. Let me clarify, this will not be happening again. Mum and Dad, I missed having you here although I know you were with me in spirit.  And I don’t think I can ever thank you enough for your unconditional love and support.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank NIKE – you have supported me through my journey from the beginning. I have always been a Nike girl and it has been almost a year of us working together. Not only do you make me look good but have also constantly provided me with gear which has helped me in my performance. Numbers don’t lie, timings don’t lie. So, Thank You – for being there, thank you for listening and thank you for delivering.

A massive hug and thank you to Col. Sanjay Mathur & Kakoli Mathur, the man who arranged fabulous accommodation and amazing food for us. A big Thank You to Raj Vadgama from Extreme Sports who took us around Mumbai and introduced us to so many of the Mumbai runners. On a more general note, the volunteers were fantastic and realised how important a role they were playing. A big shout out of thanks to each runner who took time out from their race to scream out my name and cheer me on. The cheering squads arranged by sponsors and all of Mumbai that was on the streets was electrifying – how I wish we can manage such crowds in other cities as well – especially that the members of the crowd were not only cheering but were also offering water, chocolates, fruits and whatever they thought was apt to the runners along the way – I absolutely loved it – Mumbai – your energy has stolen my heart. SCMM the race has delivered in all that I expected out of it. I had a better target in mind for myself but I do realise that this performance was respectable considering the training period.

Milestone one of 2014 – Achieved – check.

Analysis done – check

Notes made for improvement – check

Happy with Mumbai – check

Loafer behaviour for one month – check

Now move over, Bangalore, its good to be home!!!

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