Well, I had decided to run the Goa River marathon this year instead of the ADHM basically because they were too close to each other and this would be my first run in Goa. Normally, ADHM is conducted in November. Well, am I glad I did that, as I thoroughly enjoyed the run. To be frank, I was not well prepared for the run as I had just returned from a trip to Delhi and on the previous weekend I had gone for a family outing to a scenic place near Bhimashankar. So while I did enjoy myself, I missed out on the long run on Sunday and the other training runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I was having trouble with my right knee outer lateral side( ITBS), and stiff hamstrings. I had booked in Konkan Kanya Express on Friday night which reaches Madgaon next day morning at 1045 hrs. I was travelling 2nd sleeper as there were no reservations available in AC and I had a side lower berth. The konkan journey was really scenic but it started getting cold in the night and I was only carrying a bedsheet to cover myself. The berth was a wee bit short for me and a bit uncomfortable. The train was 1 hr late and we reached Madgaon at 1145 hrs and I took a pilot bike to reach my relatives place in NOFRA, Vasco.
I slept in the afternoon for about an hour and went to collect my Bib at Baina beach at around 1745 hrs . Dr Vallabhjee( am I getting the name right?) was giving a speech on injuries and sports science. He had completed Comrades twice in less than 8 hrs. Amazing man, I must say. Well, he addressed the exact problem as if I had told him that I was having a stiff hamstring and ITBS, and made us do some glute pumping exercise. It seemed to provide some relief. He also explained that knee pain especially on the outer side ( ITBS) was actually due to the gluteus medius not firing and leading to stiffening of the IT band and causing the patella to be pulled outward , causing pain. So the root cause was identified and that was needed to be treated and not the knee. He also showed some exercises for the glute. I sincerely followed whatever he taught and tried doing it at home that night itself. I also did some exercises taught to me by Sushant Karkera, a great runner in our group. I did get a lot of relief and was feeling much better. I applied Volini gel and went to sleep early at about 2030 hrs after a nice meal of pasta and rice. But trouble was waiting for me, I was feeling very heavy in the stomach and had this queasy feeling when I went to bed. I woke up at 0330 hrs with a very bad feeling about my tummy. I drank a lot of water and had a banana. I was suffering from indigestion and had loose motions. I gulped a pudin hara tablet and hoped like hell that it would become alright. I then started getting ready for the run. My right knee was still a bit stiff but much better. I did some dynamic stretches and crossed my fingers. I was definitely not in the best of my spirits, but I told myself that there was no way that I was going to pull out in the last minute and focussed my thoughts and energies on being absolutely fine and healthy.
We left home at 0515 and reached the site at about 0535 hrs. I couldnt spot the Savio group runners anywhere. I searched around and finally I saw Pervin, Aishwarya, Santa and the entire gang near the start point. I did my warming up and joined them for the start. Savio was flagging the race and then he jumped down and joined in the run. We started dot on time and I started running slowly. It seemed people were trying to run too fast or something because I saw Sunil take off very fast and heard Pervin telling Parin that if you want to do a sub 2 hr, you have to run like Sunil. I heard that and increased my pace a bit, but normally, I always start slowly and increase my pace only after about 4-5K. Here I found myself running the first 4K with the 2hr pacer Mr Dinesh, who has very strong strides. I ran with him till about 4k and then as the uphill began, I slowly overtook him, I enjoy uphill running as I guess I am used to uphill running, it is tough but I still enjoy it more than running on a flat stretch. After about 6-7 k , we started running next to the river, the climate was a shade cooler here as compared to Baina Beach. At about 7 or 7.5K, I spotted the Pilot jeep coming and the Kenyan runner sprinted past. The next few runners were all of the same breed. I was waiting to see some Indian and then I saw some brilliant runners. One of them , I think his name is "Raj" was really running very strong. It is a treat to the eyes and an inspiration to watch strong runners. I saw Savio Sir at about 10K mark and felt good that I was not too far away. Then as I was about to reach the U turn for the return leg, Rahul and Sunil shouted out to me and they were already on the return leg. I was amazed at their speed. I decided then that I had to catch up with them, so I made my strategy and slowly started pacing up to catch them at the "8K left to go" milestone. Initially I couldn't spot them but as soon as I crossed the 9K milestone I saw the "Savio's Stars" blue and yellow T shirt pair running far away on an upclimb. I ran along and kept my pace and sure enough just before the 8k milestone I was about 25-30 metres behind them. I decided not to overtake them as I started feeling a bit tired and a little pain in the knee had suddenly shown up and then disappeared. Slowly I inched up to them near the 7K milestone and then I tried to keep pace with them. Somehow, I tried and kept pace with both of them and at some point even went ahead of them. We overtook "Khurshed" on the upclimb and we were surprised as she is a podium finisher. We yet had 4K to go and Sunil and Rahul were both going very strong. I was a bit zapped out so I stopped at the 2K milestone to have some water. I decided to catch up with them but I just couldnt, as they were way ahead by now. Again there was this small upclimb near Baina beach and I just managed to keep up my pace somehow, the sun was also up by now. I saw these two guys way ahead turning into the Beach finish point. I challenged myself saying that I had to make it to them somehow and I mustered myself and tried to step out as much as I could and as soon as I saw the finish mat, I sprinted and managed to stamp on the mat just about 30 seconds after Sunil and Rahul. So I bow down to these two guys, who inspired me to finish strong and get a decent timing. I am extremely grateful to GOD that I could enjoy my run inspite of the scares that I had the previous evening and night. Overall, an enjoyable experience.
"When the Mind is strong, the body just aligns itself and lets you achieve whatever you want! "
-Naveen
