Destination 2009

37 Weeks should do it me thinks.

2:03:13.30

Marine drive was beautiful, the balmy sea breeze blowing across the wide promenade with the shining sequined blanket of the Arabian sea winking like the Aldis lamps of old...wishing luck. In hindsight large parts of the half marathon route were spectacular in their majesty and scenery: Marine Drive, passing the tomb of Haji Ali, past Brabourne Stadium and the Hilton Oberoi, not to mention some of the fellow runners who were present.

One of two incredible sights were that of a physically disabled man on crutches walking the half marathon! Courage. The second sight was the one straight out of the Standard Chartered TV advertisement where two men are running a distance run through a desert...one of them is completely blind (wearing dark shades) and being led by his partner. They are running at a fair clip too. Those same two guys were there...running the half marathon with us. When I was on my 7th kilometre, they were going past the 14 km mark on the other side of the track....if ever there was a sight that made you feel awe, then whisper to yourself, "damn..." or something to that effect, this was it. I was beginning to feel my legs just a little then so I couldn't divert enough of my attention to fully absorbing that spectacular scene. However, its something that will remain with me for a long time.

But going back to the start, everything in the build up to the run was near perfect. I got a decent night's rest, ate the right things the previous day, woke up at just the right time (thanks Mom for the wake up call!), felt good when I put on my clothes, reached the start point nicely warmed up and lose and I could "feel" the glide in my step as the holding area opened to let us through. When I say "feel" I mean just that: its an indescribable yet all to familiar sensation that most sports people would have encountered: you walk on to the course and as you push your tee in, you can feel that today is going to be good, the captain throws you the ball and you instinctively grip it to see what it feels like and you say "yeah..." its that simple and that important. I've felt that way a few times before and it was pure head rush stuff to feel that way again as we went past the start point at Victoria Terminus.

After the initial jostling, pushing, being stepped on from behind and watching enthusiastic runners sprint past on the first of 21.9 Kms, I settled into a good rythm which was to last almost throughout. My biggest worry going into the run was the ability to gauge time and speed. I wasn't wearing a watch and was relying on my ability gauge my speed versus the distance I was covering. And old truths always are borne out aren't they? Practice paid and I paced myself to the absolute tee, averaging 10 kms / hour throughout. I can't say I intentionally sped up or knew when to, I went more with instinct and allowed my body and legs to dictate when to push and when to go easy. There were a couple of moments, first around the 13 km mark and then the 18 km mark when I thought I had really fallen off the pace but both times, I was wrong. The only time that doubt mingled with that other siren fatigue was at the 19 km mark: that 1 km cost me a good 3 - 4 minutes more where I would have given the earth, the sky, oh just take anything but let me sit down, sip some water and close my eyes...but I didn't. I saw the 20 km mark in the distance somehow, despite running on vapours found the legs to speed up. The finish was a high with a 500 metre sprint, Nelly Furtado pushing me on with "forca" in my ears and as big a smile as I could manage which soon broke into a huge grin as I approached the finish line and saw the clock.

I decided 4 months ago to do this. Along the way, there were doubts, fatigue, worn shoes, sores, shoe bites, anger, more doubts, disappointments, wavering of focus but at the end of the day, "the race was long and in the end, only with myself".

I finished 21.9 km as # 438 overall with a time of 2 hrs 03 minutes & 3.30 seconds.

The Why

Quote from marathoner I have met who is in his early 40's, "I look at distance running as a metaphor for life - you set milestones, try your best to succeed, there are ups and downs, pain, fatigue and disappointment along the way"

Articulating clearly the unexplainable urge to wake up and hit the road. Gives meaning to it all.

Resolve

Inspiration comes in different forms to us all: meeting people, watching a movie, hearing music; it could be as intense as a conversation with the divine or as simple as a conversation over the phone.

I'm going to give something a little crazy a shot. I participated in the Mumbai marathon last year in the 6 km run. I ran for charity and managed to raise Rs. 45,000 or $1100 USD. The marathon in 2008 is again in January and this time I want to attempt two things that border the unlikely: I want to run 42 Kms and while attempting to do so I want to raise at least Rs. 1 Lac or $ 2200 USD for charity. I intend this money going to 2 organizations, one in Bangalore and one in Mumbai. I'll put up a more permanent news ticker with information on the charities in this space soon.

Clay

Most times I think sport is one among the last few "clean" things in the world today, doping & fixing notwithstanding. Watching a sport you love or playing it is an unparalleled sensation. At least on my part, watching a world class athlete perform energizes me, gets the adrenaline going and makes me put on my running shoes.

Watching the French Open over the weekend, Roger Federer continues to amaze but I also lapped up matches featuring some of the other equally brilliant athletes. Nikolay Davydenko's staggering court speed, Sharapova's power hitting, Nicole Vaidisova's....well Nicole Vaidisova, Tommy Robredo's guts, Nadal's sheer power and Ana Ivanovic's spunk. They all seem to leap out of the screen at you.

So I intend running a little bit harder and eating a little bit better.