I guess every major activity deserves one, major atleast in the eyes of the person concerned. I must confess I did think a lot about the run in the couple of days immediately following the run and the conclusions are predictable; ills that ail the first time participant in a major run.
1) I started too fast. There was a little 'twitter' inside my head which was telling me to take it a tad easy in the beginning, but as I saw a lot of runners passing me, as its wont to happen in an event participated in by thousands, the temptation was just too great to resist.
2) I could have conditioned myself better for the last 5 kms or so of the run. This I thought became really critical though a lot of what I had read during training seemed to suggest that its not actually important to run the entire distance planned in training. Well, time to customize!
3) I should have pushed myself harder while training. This must be a common refrain from almost anybody who takes this pastime too seriously!
Thats about it, no use fretting about it too much. After all now that one has another excuse to invite those aches and early mornings back again: The Bombay Marathon.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
The aftermath
Didn't come across a lot of advise on coping with a marathon aftermath, but trust mr, you can certainly do with one! The weeks of intense prep, endless 'crack of dawn' starts, fighting the grogginess and stiffness, the litany of aches and pains, all build up to a crescendo on the eve of the race. Its at fever pitch as seconds remain for the race to begin. The run itself remains in your memory as a blur; the fatigue leaves you able enough to just run, not strain your synapses to retain specific memories.
Once you cross the finish line, its an anti climax. You collect your medal and sit on the ground to much your fruits while not particularly thinking about anything. Then the thought of getting a transport back occupies your mind in case if you're not lucky enough to have a car waiting. And you come back and focus on tending to the inevitable aches and stiffness. So much for resting on your laurels!!!
Once you cross the finish line, its an anti climax. You collect your medal and sit on the ground to much your fruits while not particularly thinking about anything. Then the thought of getting a transport back occupies your mind in case if you're not lucky enough to have a car waiting. And you come back and focus on tending to the inevitable aches and stiffness. So much for resting on your laurels!!!
Monday, November 9, 2009
the finishing line!!
I relived the past four odd months of my life in a span of a little over two hours; I had done it, the half marathon had humbled me!
Although I expected a better timing than the 2:13:55 (net time, the gun time being 2:16) it was my first marathon, even if a half one and the sheer thrill of having scaled this mountain was intoxicating. As I queued up to enter the venue and to the holding area for athletes, I could almost feel the buzz in the air; the atmosphere was nothing short of electric despite the unmistakable early Delhi nip in the air. I tried not to get overawed by the occasion and started limbering and warming up in the holding area. The sheer diversity of age, size and background was mindboggling and the number of senior citizens who had signed up was inspirational. Every muscle and sinew in my body was taut with anticipation as seconds remained for the starting gun to fire, signalling the commencement of the race. It was as if I was reigning myself in, itching to be let loose so that I can sprint like Usain Bolt and finish the 21 kms in 10 minutes! Eventually when I did cross the starting line the digital clock overhead indicated that more than one and a half minutes have passed since the race had started. I had something which could be termed as a strategy for the race; I marked the location of each water point (there was one every two kilometres) mentally and hoped to pass one every ten minutes till I reached the fifth and if lucky the sixth point. This roughly translated to a speed of about 12 kms per hour and I was going to need that if I was to finish the thing under two hours. The scenes along the way during the first couple of kilometres were unbelievable; people thronging the side barricade and cheering us like we were heroes. There was a makeshift stage as well with rockers belting out hits to pump the runners...it was a total carnival!
I ran a little faster in the initial part than I should have, but I guess it was expected given that it was my first race and that it takes a little experience to realize that outrunning your fellow runners for small stretches matter less than figuring out a plan which ensures you save your breath for the last 5 – 6 kms which is really the most gruelling part of the race. I fared reasonably well for the first 10 odds kilometres although I didn’t cover the 11 kms that I had planned in the first 55 minutes. I began to lose steam around the 15th-16th km mark and the last couple of kilometres I was literally on my quadriceps. I dug deep for a near sprint in the last 200 metres which made for decent snaps...I was happy and relieved!
Although I expected a better timing than the 2:13:55 (net time, the gun time being 2:16) it was my first marathon, even if a half one and the sheer thrill of having scaled this mountain was intoxicating. As I queued up to enter the venue and to the holding area for athletes, I could almost feel the buzz in the air; the atmosphere was nothing short of electric despite the unmistakable early Delhi nip in the air. I tried not to get overawed by the occasion and started limbering and warming up in the holding area. The sheer diversity of age, size and background was mindboggling and the number of senior citizens who had signed up was inspirational. Every muscle and sinew in my body was taut with anticipation as seconds remained for the starting gun to fire, signalling the commencement of the race. It was as if I was reigning myself in, itching to be let loose so that I can sprint like Usain Bolt and finish the 21 kms in 10 minutes! Eventually when I did cross the starting line the digital clock overhead indicated that more than one and a half minutes have passed since the race had started. I had something which could be termed as a strategy for the race; I marked the location of each water point (there was one every two kilometres) mentally and hoped to pass one every ten minutes till I reached the fifth and if lucky the sixth point. This roughly translated to a speed of about 12 kms per hour and I was going to need that if I was to finish the thing under two hours. The scenes along the way during the first couple of kilometres were unbelievable; people thronging the side barricade and cheering us like we were heroes. There was a makeshift stage as well with rockers belting out hits to pump the runners...it was a total carnival!
I ran a little faster in the initial part than I should have, but I guess it was expected given that it was my first race and that it takes a little experience to realize that outrunning your fellow runners for small stretches matter less than figuring out a plan which ensures you save your breath for the last 5 – 6 kms which is really the most gruelling part of the race. I fared reasonably well for the first 10 odds kilometres although I didn’t cover the 11 kms that I had planned in the first 55 minutes. I began to lose steam around the 15th-16th km mark and the last couple of kilometres I was literally on my quadriceps. I dug deep for a near sprint in the last 200 metres which made for decent snaps...I was happy and relieved!
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