My
CS final exams finally got over on the 1st week of June. I wanted to
revive my practice after finishing my maiden half marathon at the TWCM’12. Even
though I completed a half marathon 6 months ago I found it difficult to run
during the initial stages of practice. I gained solid 10kgs after my brother’s
wedding on April. All my pants became very tight in a limited time span. I
started swimming and could see a little fat melting away.
I
was little guilty that I abruptly stopped my practice after TWCM’12. I
connected with Chennai Runners and ran small distances with them. I was back in
my feet with the same glee I had during TWCM’12 practice. I witnessed lot of
people signing up for Terry Fox Run at IIT madras which was scheduled to be held
on August 25th. The race day coincided with my exam result day. The
run was named after Terry fox who ran across the world to create awareness
about cancer after he contracted a rare kind of cancer. It was a 6km run. After
finishing the run there was this huge white board where one can write on the
board for dedicating their run. I dedicated the run to my aunt who passed away
after having fought a tough battle against cancer.
My
exam result was supposed to be declared at 11:00 am. I was refreshing the webpage
from 10:30 am. I was very anxious and the tension shot up when the clock showed
11:00 am. Entered my roll number and the page was loading slowly which further
increased my blood pressure. Lo & behold I cleared my final exam. I’m now a
qualified Company Secretary. Unable to control my excitement I removed my T
shirt and flung it continuously in the air like how Sourav Ganguly did after winning
the NatWest series against England.
Soon
I left to Bangalore for a break. Signed up for CTC’s Trail marathon (Half). I
abruptly cut my practice run after I took a week’s break in Bangalore. After
returning to Chennai my laziness was back to destroy me. I found it difficult
to wake up in the morning. The race day was nearing with barely twenty days of
practice left. I had my own doubts if I could run the half marathon. After lot
of deliberate thoughts I decided to switch over to 10K run.
The
running route was located in Sholavaram. The trail was muddy thanks to the
heavy rains on the day of the marathon. The route was challenging both for the
runners as well as the organizers as the route marks got washed away.
Nevertheless the spirit was never lost and the organizers spared no effort to
make it a wonderful event.
After
relaxing for a day or two I started practicing hard for TWCM’13. This time I
was focused and made sure that I never miss my training sessions. Diwali was
around the corner and I was engrossed in shopping and other stuffs. On the day
before Diwali I was returning home in my bike with my friend. Unfortunately my
bike skidded and we had a nasty fall. My head banged on the road first. I was
wearing a helmet and thanked my stars for the miraculous escape. My hands &
legs (near right knee) were badly bruised. My friend also suffered bruises.
The
doc cleaned up the wound and gave a TT injection. It burned like hell and I
felt like shouting at the top of my voice. He advised me not to run for a couple of days so that the pain subsides. I felt dejected. I was up for practice on nov 11th
and once again I had only 20 days left for training. I ran only 12kms during my
training sessions before the accident. I was not very sure if I could finish
the half marathon. Nevertheless I was determined to finish. I finished 15kms
during my training a couple of days before the race day.
The
D-day arrived. It was full of energy everywhere. This time there were close
11,000 runners which was more than half of those who signed up for TWCM’12. The
race was flagged and we were on our heels. While nearing the Malar Hospital
flyover there was a sudden spell of rain. I got terribly pissed off as the
rains dampened my spirits. At one point of time I even thought of running
directly to my home instead of finishing the race. Luckily the spell reduced to
drizzles and eventually the skies cleared.
The
race went off well with lot of volunteers cheering everyone on the route. The
aid stations were well managed excepting for some minor glitches. At 2:05 hours
I completed 18 kms. I thought I could complete the remaining 3kms in the next
15 minutes but the humidity took its toll. When I crossed the finish line I
noticed that I completed at 2:37 hours, one minute late than TWCM’12. Even
though I completed the half marathon I was not happy with my performance. I
couldn’t understand what went wrong.
Dawn to Dusk:
I
have heard a lot about Mr. Neville J Bilimoria who organizes this fund raising
marathon every year for creating awareness on the difficulties faced by god’s
own children. I made up my mind to run the half marathon and to better my
previous timings. During practice I realized that my timings didn’t improve
either. I called up my close friend who is a physiotherapist cum fitness expert
and narrated the entire story to him. He told me that running 5-6 days every
week is a grave mistake which every runner does. He adviced me to take up
strength training for 3 days a week, running 2 days a week and the remaining 2
days for rest & recovery.
Initially
I was not convinced but I could see some marginal improvement in my training
runs.
The
race day arrived with much enthusiasm. Ex tennis star Vijay Amritraj, actor(s)
karthi & Arvindswami were present to grace the occasion. The full &
half marathon was flagged and we were on our heels. I was running in IIT campus
for the second time amidst the pristine Ghats. It was a pleasure to see Deer’s
crossing the roads and monkeys scaring some runners. Even though the race was
flagged only at 8:00 am I couldn’t feel the humidity thanks to the trees.
The
finish line was approaching. I couldn’t believe myself when I saw my watch. It
was only 2:17 hours. I was rejoicing over the fact that I improved by 20
minutes from my immediate previous half marathon. My happiness doubled after my
mom completed her maiden 10K run-walk. I hogged on to a huge pizza and garlic
bread after the run.
Cool Runners Half
Marathon:
The
cool runners group were ready to organize their next half marathon & 10K on
Feb 2nd and Auroville Marathon was scheduled to be held on Feb 9th.
I was very excited to run back to back half marathons. I started training after
a decent finish at Dawn-to-Dusk run.
The
Marathon was flagged off inside the YMCA ground. The route was from Saidapet to
Elliot’s beach and back passing through Anna university, IIT Madras, Adyar River
Bridge, Greenways Road, Chamiers road.
The
race was flagged off at sharp 5. Being in Chennai for the past 25 years I was
elated to run through Mount Road for the very first time. The energy levels
were charged up by drummers along the way. I was elated when my clock displayed
1:35 hours on finishing 16K. I was not sure like if I could finish within 2
hours. On finishing 20K the clock displayed it at 1:59 hours and finished the
marathon at 2:05 hours.
I
was elated to the core and considered it as my personal best. The race was well
organized. The post race events were a thing to be cherished. The breakfast was
delicious, the musical concert was rocking, the kalari performance was too good
and the bike stunt show burned the roads. Actor Karthi was present to grace the
occasion. He shared some of his running experiences and the fitness regime
followed by his father & brother.
Auroville Marathon:
I
have read in many blogs that Auroville marathon is one of the finest in India.
Last year I registered for the marathon but dropped out due to non preparation.
Rajkumar after finishing his maiden half marathon at Auroville strongly suggested
me to run there. I was excited to run in Auroville after a strong finish in
Cool Runners half marathon. I was also told that Auroville course is pretty
tough than the city marathons.
I
& Rajkumar stayed at my friend’s house in his native village ‘Akasampattu’
which is around 5k from Auroville. It’s a sleepy village amidst pristine green
backdrop. I loved the serenity of his village. There were no honking, no
irritating bus & auto drivers, no noise, no pollution and vast tracts of agri
lands everywhere. By evening the temperature dipped and I felt like I was in a hill
station. We were up early next day. The entire village was engulfed by thick
fog. It was very cold. The race was scheduled to start at 6:15 for the first
batch of half marathon. Rajkumar started off at 6:15 and me at 6:20 batch.
The
course was neatly laid out. It resembled the jeep trails. The mists were dominating
the landscape until 7:30 am and made way after the sun gods gave a tough
battle. The mile stones were present at every 1K. Unlike the city roads the
trail was completely different. It was never flat and had its own ups &
downs, twist & turns, hair pin bends etc. The chirping of birds and my
favourite songs made everything fantastic. I’m running short of words to
describe about the lovely trail. One should simply experience the pleasure of
running in Auroville.
The
aid stations were well organized and was sufficiently stocked with water,
bananas, oranges, chocolates, biscuits, nutri bars etc.
I
could feel the heat after finishing 14K and felt little tired. I made a big
blunder by running 17K a couple days before the marathon which completely
exhausted me. I knew that I could not complete it in sub 2. I completed 20K at
2:03 hours. The last 1K was like hell. The exhaustion took its toll. To my joy
there were volunteers who were spraying water to cool down the profusely
sweating runners. The spray gave me instant energy. I saw Rajkumar cheering me
up near the finish line and I completed my 6th half marathon at 2:09
hours thus bringing the running season to an end. I was extremely happy that I
could complete one of the toughest marathons in a decent time frame.
After
the marathon I had yummy breakfast comprising of pongal, vada, sambar, coffee
and headed straight to my friend’s house and took a nice hot water shower. He
then took me to his agri lands which were running into several acres. My legs
felt relieved to sit and relax in the airy fields under the shady trees. We
then got a call from his home with the most delicious words ‘Lunch is ready’.
Sumptuous homemade food was served and we gobbled it up in no time. As we were
getting ready to leave from Akasampattu I made it a point to run Auroville
marathon every year.
Like
everyone I was also bit by the running bug. I’m neither a hardcore sportsman
nor a couch potato. I enjoy being fit and I feel running is the one of the best
among them. If you want to be fit just grab on to a pair of shoes and start
running. The body will start loving you more sooner than you start hating it.
Cheeeeersssssssss
