After my first half marathon at AHM’13, i was mostly biking nd got very little chance to run. But i was getting too many issues with my bike, so decided to sell it off when it’s in a good condition. So, i was without a cycle by feb’14, so i turned to my old nd shortly-forgotten habit, Running.
I was not very serious back then. I didn’t think i may need a plan or atleast do certain miles per month etc. I used to run whenever i can. That’s when registration for AHM’14 was posted. Well, by then, i was running with sm friends of mine, Trinath nd Rajeev. I don’t remember whose idea was that exactly, but we decided to run the Full Marathon. I don’t think the reason was to just see if we can do it or to cross-it-off on our to do list, cause we were confident we can do it even before we started training. Yeah, training. That’s when we realised that we need a plan. Trinath came up with an answer, which we felt perfect, The Hansons Marathon Method. What i like about it was that i doesn’t follow any conventional running plans, which are more or less designed to fit-into runner’s life, like doing all the week’s mileage at the end of the week, on a holiday nd doing almost nothing on weekdays. One can notice there is something missing, balance. Idea that appealed to me very much nd that is at the very core of Hansons Marathon Method is “Cumulative Fatigue”. You have to read the book for more details. So, we started following hansons. Though we didn’t complete our plan, we got enough to feel good when the day arrived.
It was 24th August, woke up at 3, got a cab ride to necklace road. It was a splendid morning, there were runners everywhere nd volunteers were in high sprits cheering already. Had a short walk to start point, it was nd felt like any other morning. Did my warmup nd went on to meet 5 hr bus. It was headed by Vineetha from Topgear MIG, a running group based in Mumbai. All was well till then, but no one expected that this marathon will turn out to be the hottest in AHM’s history.
As it approached 5, everyone was at the start, there were flashes everywhere, ppl were cheering, loud music in the background, running app’s were getting started, gamin’s were powered on, nd amid all that there was a gun shot nd the run began. It started slow, but with a huge background noise nd lot of smiles. I was like “just stay with my bus nd i’l be fine”. Initial 10k involves a loop around Hussain Sagar nd i still remember Airtel flashing in red nd white on a giant screen along the way. As we approached start point, 21k which was scheduled at 6am, started amid huge roar.
We were running. Jst running. Hydrating regularly, walking a bit when there was an up-hill. Somehow we were at halfway point nd then came a sweet-like downhill at Quality Inn. I was happy nd thought we can run easy for sometime. But vineeta asked us to start sprinting on our toes to avoid injury. Then i realised when it is easy to run, it’s better u run hard cause that’s helps u to cover some distance quickly nd easily. We reached IIIT junction nd 30k mark. It was like a festival at the signal point, runners doing 21 were heading straight to stadium, ppl running 5k were taking the road towards ISB in the right lane nd we were in the left, getting ready to face the last 10k. I was a slight uphill, we ran for a while nd then started walking a bit to ease-off. I was an awesm moment, the 5k ppl running on the other lane were more happy cheering us than with their own run. I think that replenished our energy levels enough to go on for 5 more km.
By the time we hit 35 it was unbearably hot. We were literally running on fumes, with very painful legs. Volini Spray was a life saver at that point. Atleast there was no pain nd we had jst 7 km to cover. Got in through back gate of Hyderabad Central University. It was a bit muddy nd isolated to begin with, but after a couple of kms we started seeing volunteers. Somehow made it to the entrance of HCU nd this is where my favorite part begins. We jst hit 40k nd had 2 km to cover with abt 10 min left to complete in sub 5hrs. We decided to go for it nd started sprinting. It was such a grt feeling, a mixture of pain, anxiety whether we would make it in time, nd happiness looking at all those runners on either side of the road with medals around their necks nd smiles on their faces. As we approached the stadium, many noticed our anxiety i guess, while everyone was cheering, some started running along nd kept on saying to keep-up the pace. Took a few turns nd there it was, a huge Finish in red nd white and less than 200 meters of track. Started sprinting hard, crossed finish with a stupid grin on my face. While the finishing moment was the happiest, it was the journey that made it even better. Got SCMM in January’15 nd i’m looking forward to doing Asia’s Largest Marathon. Hope i’l be fun.