The story of becoming a Marathoner
In January of 2023, I couldn't participate in the Tata Mumbai marathon as the registrations were closed when I came to Mumbai and learned about it. Still, I wanted to cheer the amazing participants and collectively celebrate with thousands of others who had also come out of their houses to cheer the 55 thousand people who were running that day. And I was completely joyous after seeing the diversity of the participants, men and women of all ages, some in their 20s and some in their 60s and 70s even, some running barefoot, some carrying the tricolour, carrying their beliefs, having the time of their lives, pushing themselves for each step, while running the full marathon - a distance of 42.195 Km, which feels even overwhelming to think about. At that moment, I knew I had to run the same distance next year. It felt daunting, but at the same time, I was excited to feel those emotions that the runners were going through and experience the feeling of finishing a distance like that.
At this point, I was running 10-15 km distance at the weekends when I had time, or I would say when I willingly prioritised running over other things, but I quickly realised running a 42.2 km distance was going to require a lot of preparation, and for that, I would have to deprioritise many other things. Being in a profession like strategy consulting didn't leave a lot of time on weekdays, so I had to make use of every weekend judiciously. The first thing I had to deprioritise was going out on Friday and Saturday night parties and stopping drinking completely, as drinking and staying up late would mean I would have no energy and discipline to go for a long run the next day. And that helped. I ran my first half-marathon in March 2023 and felt amazing running it. It was one of the best feelings, a feeling of euphoria and calm while running and after finishing it, a feeling that the running community calls "runner’s high."
I had now run a half-marathon and ran the first 15 km at a very good pace, but I was struggling in the last 6 km and somehow managed to push through it. That meant I would be struggling for 27 km in a full marathon with similar fitness. So running a full marathon was not twice as hard as running a half one, but it would probably be many times harder than that and would require a lot more preparation and discipline.
For the next few months, I went for a long run on most of the weekends, gradually increasing the distance, while running for short distances like 2-5 km during the weekdays when I could carve out some time. I got comfortable running 20 km and got to a distance of 32 km in a couple of long runs. Though I had to stop running for a couple of months during this time, as once I got infected with malaria when I got hospitalised and had to stop intense workouts altogether for a month, and another time, my right shin was so badly hurt that I had to stop running again for a while.
With whatever preparation I had done, I had to make do with, but I somehow knew I was going to finish the run as long as I didn't get any injury while running during the actual race day. Even if I wasn't sufficiently prepared physically, I hoped I could dig deep mentally to cross the distance. Plus, the love and blessings of my grandmother, whom we lost recently, would be there throughout the run with me. Her love, support, care, and sacrifices have made us who we are, and she will be in our hearts forever, being our lifeline. And I somehow felt more obliged to finish the run.
A day before the marathon, I ate as many good carbs as I could, stayed hydrated, and just did some stretches to relax my muscles. I slept at 8 pm as I was planning to wake up by 2 am. But somehow I woke at 1 am. I guess I didn't want to be late, and the added excitement of the race day woke me up early.
21st January 2024, the day was finally here, the day I had envisioned multiple times in the past few months. I had visualised how I would run the course of 42.195 Km hundreds of times. I knew the route as I had run on the same route many times, but I was still nervous at the same time, hoping that I would be able to keep up with my planned pace and not get any injury during the run.
Injury or any other unforeseen scenario is very likely in a course of running for 4-5 hours, and rightly, the number of hours of practice you put in before the race day determines how painful the run will be. But no matter how many hours you put in, running a full marathon is a test of mental endurance because it starts becoming painful for everybody who is running at some point. Most people who are running the marathon are running with a certain goal, a goal of finishing their first marathon or a goal of running it at a certain pace, so everyone out there is trying to reach a certain goal and outdo themselves. That is the beauty of a marathon, while it is a collective sport, for most of the participants, it's a race for themselves; everybody is trying to compete with their mental barrier and trying to be better than their previous selves. And yet it is somehow a shared feeling, as every other participant can relate to what others are going through, that's why people keep cheering on each other while also battling with their struggles, and it is one of the most beautiful feelings, humans cheering other humans, and would keep running marathons to keep feeling that.
Coming back to the race day, I reached the race start venue way before the start time of 5 AM. During the one hour before the start of the marathon, I was going through many emotions - confidence, excitement, nervousness, and joy, and I went through many more during the run.
Around 56 thousand people were running various distances, and 9 thousand of them were running the full marathon. I had not thought that so many would be running the full marathon, but being around so many people who love the same sport was a remarkable feeling in itself.
I started the race at the pace of the people around me, as there were thousands of people around and in front of me, I had to tune in to the pace of the people and also didn't want to start at a faster pace, because when I had ran my last half marathon I ran at a very fast pace from the start and that left me with little energy during the last 5 km, and this was a full marathon so I had to be more careful about how I pace the whole run. Running a marathon requires you to calculate and calibrate your pace throughout the course, depending on how your body is feeling at that particular time, but a few seconds a slow down in pace per km could lead to a difference of minutes or an hour in your finish time, and when you are running it with a certain finish time in mind, you have to keep calculating and planning how you would compensate for the slow down.
The first 15 km of the marathon was a period of pure joy, I was running at a decent pace and the energy of the people around me, the beats of the dhols and DJs, and the loud cheers of the people who had come out of their homes to show support, kept me wanting to dance, laugh and pace up, but I tried to keep my pace below what I could as I knew the real marathon would start in the second half. 16-21 km of the route was on the Bandra-Worli Sealink, and that was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I had run on the Dadar, Bandra, and Worli coastal routes overlooking the sea link so many times, dreaming about the Tata marathon day when I would get to run on the sea link, and realising that dream gave me a much-needed boost of energy, I was able to maintain the pace I running at till now and was enjoying every step with thousand other participants who were on the bridge with me.
Coming out from the sea link, now half of the distance was over, but another 21 km was still left and that was not very comforting to think about, I was starting to feel some discomfort in my legs at this point, but nothing extremely challenging yet, if could just keep up with the pace I would be to finish it in 4 hours, a time that I thought was not achievable with my current level of preparation, but it would have been an insurmountable task to keep up with that same pace in the second half, so I managed my expectations and targeted a 4 hour 30 mins time, as finishing the marathon without a injury was more important goal for me.
The 30-40 km of the marathon was the most difficult part. I was close to the finish line, having completed three-quarters of the distance, yet so far from it, because there were still 12 km to go. My legs were now really heavy, and every step was becoming more difficult than the previous. Now I had to employ every trick in my sleeve I had learned in the past few years to keep going, and it was a constant battle with my mind to not stop running. I was slowing down rapidly after every kilometre, and I had to find a way to keep up, my legs were losing momentum so I started moving my arms faster in the hope of translating the rhythm to my legs, I started finding energy in the supporters who had come to cheer, in the person who was running next to me and going through similar battle and yet not stopping and that pushed me till 40 km.
Now, I was in the last 2 km of the marathon, I was drained, and I had sweated so much during the first 40 km that at this point, I was so tired yet not sweating anything. I was cheering every moment during the last 2 km. I was exhausted, but there were so many people on the street of Marine Drive that the human cheers were loud enough to quench my body's cry for help to stop, and I was paced up during the last km.
Crossing the finish line, the 42.195 km mark, I was completely in a trance state, not able to realise what I had just achieved, I had imagined this moment hundreds of times, how I would feel and what I would do after crossing the line, and when the moment finally came I was completely calm, limping at every step due to amount of stress my legs at gone through, yet feeling comforted and warmth in my heart. A feeling that we all get after doing something difficult, achieving something that we wanted to do for so long, and realising that makes us more peaceful and calm. After all, " happiness is peace in motion."