Goa River Marathon 2014

Goa River Marathon 2014

Well, How do I begin... It is definitely a milestone to have achieved a first sub-100 HM at this event. I personally had not even set this target and was just planning to run and treat it as a training run for the upcoming SCMM. But things happen, and when you are least expecting it to happen. My friend Purnendu Nath, whom I met recently just a few months ago at Pune, and we ran together, then we again met up in Goa when he was holidaying and again we ran together on the beautiful beaches of Goa together, we ran twice, once a normal 10K on the beach and the second time we did 8 speed runs of 1K on the beach and the road leading to the beach from my residence, four each.  It was an amazing experience to train with Puru the Guru( That’s what he is known as), he is also the famous six pack guy who always runs bare chested and is therefore the cynosure of the eyes of many damsels ( they may not be in distress though...). He trains specifically for this event at Goa and is very serious about his performance and has a garmin which is pre-fed with a lot of information and warning limits as he has to track his performance with respect to cadence, average height lift off from the ground, pace etc. etc.. . I am not used to running with gadgets and therefore am quite illiterate and ignorant about it, but when someone with a gadget is running alongside, I do get tempted to know my pace and performance, because it a sure-shot feedback and you can plan to improve. So Puru came home for dinner, and me being a lousy host, made him cook along with me and we prepared a funny concoction of rice, pulses, and mashed potatoes and mixed it with fried tomatoes and onions. It was like “sludge”, yes that was the word he used to describe the result of our effort. Hopefully it was a nutritious pre-marathon night meal with sufficient carbohydrates. He just mentioned that I should be targeting a sub-100 as he has run with me earlier and he felt that it was do-able by me. I was not so sure about it because the best I have done so far was a 1hr 41 min at Pune which was a bit of a cheating as the distance was about 800 m short of 21K, and the last year, my GRM timing was 1hr and 52 minutes. GRM has two hills both on the going as well as the return route and the weather gods have not been particularly happy this time in Goa, being quite warm for a mid December morning.  So I was not at all sure if it was even possible. Anyways, I made up my mind in the night that I would target a sub-100 and started making strategies and also asked Puru for his strategy, so he immediately did a calculation and brought out a figure of 4.43 min/Km average pace for the race.  I am used to “5. Something min/Km” and so this average value kind of intimidated me a bit, but then I said I need to pull up my socks and try and achieve a PB this time. The thought started playing in my mind and I started to imagine how I will start off strong and try and continue strong by focussing on my form and try not to lose the form in the return leg, too.   

             I woke up at 0330 am, and left for my friend Appu Rajan’s house who I had planned to go along with for the race as he lives close-by and knows the roads well (another friend whom I recently met at Benaulim Goa, while running on the beach). Appu Rajan is also an amazing runner, about 64 years of age, he has been running long distance for the last approx 30 years or so, he is a Tamilian guy living in Goa for the last 40 years. He finished in 2hrs and 10 min. Running the mock race in Goa about 2 weeks earlier definitely helped as I had identified a public toilet near the airport and I generally get the urge to visit the washroom twice in the morning especially during the race day, and it is always better to identify a place close by but not with the crowd of runners to save time.

        It was amazing to meet up with the entire Savio’s gang after a long time and this is something that I really want to write about. All my work life of about 21 years in the Navy, I have not made so many friends as in these last 2-3 years because of running. In my running network, if I may so call it, I have about 50-60 runner friends in Mumbai, about 25-30 in Pune and now about 30-40 in Goa with whom I can really interact any time as we all have a common interest and life is suddenly looking very interesting. I have been travelling places in the Navy, but my running life in three places viz. Mumbai, Pune and Goa have given me so many friends. What more can a person ask for, I am so thankful to God that I am able to run and I would like to keep running forever, because I just love to make more friends and meet new people and enjoy these running moments. This is almost like meditation and I even love to write about these experiences, because I believe that when you put down on paper what is in your mind, the feelings and thoughts get cemented and stronger beliefs and values are set.  Secondly running helps you to break your own mental barriers and become a stronger person. Each day is different and there are highs and lows but running goes on and targets are always there looking up to your resolve and training to get there and achieve them. The flow of life is fully fresh and happening in such a situation wherein you are always preparing to achieve a set target, it has been a long journey of starting to run with a timing of “2hrs and 07 min” for a HM in 2009 to today’s PB of “1hr and 38 min” approximately (I still do not know my official timing..). What I have come to realise is that there is nothing impossible to achieve if we set our mind to it and put in our full hearted efforts to achieve the target. It is important to keep pushing ourselves out of our own comfort zone, whatever it may be, whether in job or in running as only then, there is a flow happening in life, else there is stagnation and life becomes uninteresting and dry.

        Let me get my thoughts back to this wonderful memorable event GRM 2014. So I met quite a lot of interesting people, thanks to the celebrity Puru who was with me. A podium finisher in most races, Andrea Stadler, an amazing spirited runner, who is practicing for the SCMM 2015 FM, said that she planned to do an additional 10K if she felt well after the race. I don’t know from where it came, but I immediately volunteered and said that I too was interested in running an additional 10K and would love to run with her. She was very happy that she would have some company after the race. But I was scared as she is a 1hr 40min runner and I was not yet sure that I would be able to keep up that pace, anyways, the game was on and we started warming up and moving towards the start point. We all were together: Puru, Andrea, self, Ajit, Azeez, Vikas and Sohini (who had come with Puru from Mumbai) when the race started. We strategised to move from the sides and get out of the crowd as soon as the race started and we followed the plan brilliantly and Puru , Ajit and self just took off from the sides and overtook most of the people much before even 1-1.5 k. The race was on, I had to keep up the pace with Puru and Ajit, who were about 10-15 m ahead of me. But I was felling scared that my pace may be too much to maintain throughout the 21k. I focused on my breathing and form and kept these two guys in sight all the time and ensured that the gap did not increase. I purposely did not want to catch up with them because I wanted to set my rythm correctly to match with my breathing and form. I maintained the form till we reached the hill and there I could see the gap closing as they were a bit slow, I kind of run uphill faster as I enjoy it and sub-consciously put in effort to increase my pace while running uphill, it has something to do with my mind telling me to face challenges with more power.  I maintained a lag of about 5-7 m continuously after that and finally we reached the turnaround point. This was the first time I saw the elite runners cross in the return path at about 9K point, normally I am used to seeing them at 6.5-7.0 K point. I knew that I was doing good time, Aziz too was running with me and his garmin was giving the pace at each Km and I heard 4.31 and 4.32 at 8k and 9K, so I was feeling good about being able to maintain a good pace.   After the turn around, it was good as I could see people ( Savio Sir and Roshan running together), and I felt good that I was ahead of Savio. I decided that I had to maintain my pace and not let anyone overtake, I saw Andrea who was just about 100m behind after I turned around. On the return leg, I could feel that Puru had slowed down a bit as I was constantly catching up with him and running with him for some time and then he would again go ahead. Every uphill, I would overtake him and in the downhill, he would just take off like a rocket past me and increase the gap by about 20 m. It was scary but the last hill I overtook both Puru and Ajit and for quite some time they did not catch up and then finally they overtook me and I too decided to increase my pace and stay just behind Puru to maintain a rhythm, I was confident that Puru would help me achieve my PB today, whatever it was.  So I faithfully followed Puru and Ajit and I was feeling good about everything, my pace was good and I was not feeling tired and I was mentally strategising about the last 200m sprint to make up time and boy, was I glad to see the 500m board, and then the turning and before I knew it I was sprinting towards the end point and I knew that I had left both Puru and Ajit behind, but I  was only looking at the finish board and I sprinted across the mat and turned around to see both Ajit and Puru about 50-60 m behind the finsh point. Puru came to me and showed me his garmin time of 1hr 38min and told me that I would be 1hr 37 min, and I was feeling elated as this was a tough run and I still achieved my PB of 1hr 37 min and joined the “100 min” gang of HM runners.  Incidentally, this was Ajit’s first sub-100 HM too and we hugged each other with joy and I thanked Puru from the bottom of my heart for having given me the thought of sub-100 yesterday night. This thought only led me to break the mental barrier and achieve a higher goal.  Most of us are capable of doing much better and we don’t realise our own potential and therefore need to keep pushing ourselves to achieve higher targets and one of the ways is to identify a mentor or running buddy who is better and then try and match up to his/ her pace. This strategy has worked wonders with me; first it was Dr. Muthukrishnan Jayaraman at Pune, and now Dr. Purnendu Nath( Puru the Guru) at Goa. I have still a long way to go before I can catch up to the pace of these two amazing runners as they are both way better than me, and I hope they will allow me to run with them so that I can better my own timings as they better theirs. This way, the flow of improvement continues and the challenge is always on.

        Andrea soon followed at 1hr 42 min and she again was a podium finisher here. We took two glasses of electral/ enerzal and started our 10K sojourn back on the same route. She is a very strong runner and I again just wanted to keep up with her pace and I managed to be with her till the 5K turning point after which my laces had come off and I had to stop for a while and we had two uphills to do in this 10K run, and I just could not continue the pace on the return leg, as my legs were feeling tired and I slowed down considerably and at about 29K, I stopped and walked for a bit till I reached a water aid station and emptied two cold water cups on my head. I felt rejuvenated instantly and started jogging immediately after that and I completed my 10K in a little over an hour. I could see Andrea waiting and stretching at the finish point and I thanked her for the great run. So finally I had a PB and a 31K run this Sunday which will be etched in my memory forever because it is my first sub 100 and also because I met some really amazing people and intend to be friends forever with them...

   The event was very well organized with sufficient water aid stations and on the return leg, there were oranges and bananas, which ere thoughtfully peeled. There were biscuits too, on the whole, a well organised event with a lovely crowd cheering us when we ran. I hope the saps would come soon so that I can add them to this blog which would cement these memories for a long time to come.

        Adios and looking forward to the Mecca of Marathons in India..the SCMM 2015.... Hope to meet up with a lot of friends there...

 

Run to and in TaljaiTekdi..

Sunday long runs is now a routine , more like brushing your teeth, so when I woke up this morning at 0400 hrs, I was in a double mind whether to start running from home or drive to NIBM and then start running from there. Well, this was because the planned run of the group was only 15K max in the Taljai forest. Well I had to reach NIBM by 0515 to meet another co-runner and we would run together to the Taljai Forest, both of us were not too sure about the route and had seen Google maps and memorised the route. So finally, I made the decision and decided to run from home to NIBM which is exactly 4k, the only problem was that there were two points where there are these groups of stray dogs which come charging at you especially when you are running alone. I was a bit scared but decided to tackle them in the standard way by shouting at them and showing them a stone or a stick. As I started running and reached the first point, I was relieved as there were no dogs today, poor guys must have just gone off to sleep after night watch-keeping duties. Good for me! I continued towards NIBM and as soon as I turned into the second point, there came the beasts, they were six strays and they started barking and started playing Kabbaddi with me.. they would come charging at me, come near and then go back as if testing the waters. I shouted at them, but to no avail, they continued taunting me, I had stopped and was slowly walking away from them, they tried to charge at me again,I took out my second line of defence, I hurled a stone at them. This worked  as they all backed out and I started running again without looking back. So far so good! No noise from behind.  I felt strange as I am a dog lover and always felt that these animals are the best friends of men, but even they have got influenced by the humans and have started behaving like rowdies by attacking innocent people who are running. Their nasal instincts can actually tell them if the person is a thief or is just a person who is exercising, but the gang of strays is more like an agitated mob who just want to have a go at some innocent/ vulnerable passer-by. How these animals learn from their environment is something to be observed. It is high time that human beings mend their ways, else these animals will only mirror our actions. I saw the time, it was about 0455 hrs, and I had another 3k to the meeting point. The route is an uphill climb which is quite steep but only a short distance of about 300-500 m and I enjoy this climb as I still remember the first time when I ran this and couldn't climb up and stopped at the steepest point. Now I am able to do it very easily and this gives me a "kick" of sorts so I always try and speed up in the climb to try and prove to myself that I have become stronger.

The weather was good and I reached NIBM dot on time, and my friend also arrived in five minutes and we were off towards Taljai Forest which was about 6.5K from this point. The route was our standard hill running route of Bibvevadi which has rolling hills. So we finally reached the road leading to Taljai Forest and it was a steep uphill road as it is located on top of a hill. The entire group arrived at 0605 hrs and started warming up outside the forest. Once we entered the forest, it was an awesome sight. It was a trail with dense forest on both sides. In between, the entire foliage was full of blooming flowers resplendent in their bright colours mostly yellow. Birds were chirping away and one could hear the peacocks cry in between all the bird banter. The group was excited and all were chatting with each other, I asked them to be silent to listen to nature. In fact, I decided to run faster and run alone for some time ahead of others as I wanted to feel the nature around me and seep it all in. It was amazing running early in the morning at this place with fresh oxygen being spewed by the surrounding fauna, the sweet voice of the birds, rustling of leaves as the animals and birds played hide and seek within the forest. I was in a meditative trance while running and felt that time should stop so that I can enjoy this for more time.

The path was stony and soft mud , maybe it had rained the previous day, and there were ups and downs. The entire periphery was about 8K and we ran one round and then started the second round but since some people had to leave early, so we cut it short and ran for another 15 minutes or so and then had our stretching and cooling down before departing. I think I must have run abou 23-24K in all from the timing I took and the average speed that I run at. I do not use any Garmin so it is only a biological clock that I use and assume to time myself. There were a lot of people who had come there for their morning walks and runs but the place was very clean by Pune standards. There was no littering anywhere, maybe the place was recently cleaned up on 02nd Oct in the nation wide "Swacch Bharat" campaign launched by the Prime Minister. 

There is a small water body and a temple in this place. Further there is a sports complex with a swimming pool which is provided by the government and is free of charge. There is an open gymnasium with amazing equipment for physiotherapy and exercise including parallel bars and horizontal bars. Many of us tried our hand on these equipment before departing from there. All this is free of charge and open to the public and is pretty well maintained. Wonder who maintains it and how funds are provided for it. I was pretty pleased to run here and enjoy the beauty of this place. A strongly recommended place for people running in Pune. 

ITBS: the dreaded problem for runners... Something I gathered from the Internet..

  http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/0168-knee-injuries.htm
 Look at the video below:-

 

 

 The article is long but worth a read for sufferers of ITBS. I am definitely trying this to overcome my ITBS.

Good luck and Happy running!

How important is posture for running? "Form is to be worshipped": A FreeRunners mantra

" How important is posture?" should be the question and not only for running. "Walk as you Run", maintain posture 24/7 is the mantra. Why is it so important? The human body with a straight spine is designed to perform perfectly only if the spine is erect. Unfortunately by habit most of us ignore it while doing our daily work and soon get "comfortable" with our reclining and slouching form, whether we are seated at our work spaces or in front of the TV in our homes/ dining table etc. Sitting for a long time is just not natural, we should be up and about most of the time with sitting breaks in between. During sitting also, we should try and maintain an erect spine. We have to try and make it a habit to make our spine erect at all times. Posture correction does have other benefits, just try walking tall with chest out and stomach tucked in for some time, you will realize what I am trying to tell. Just look around and if you see someone walking that way, don't we admire the person for a wonderful and pleasing personality? How do we achieve this? 3 things to remember:-

(a) Practice , (b) Practice and (c) Practice :Basically 24/7 keep your mind aware of your posture and keep correcting whenever you are finding yourself slouching. Fix a poster in your room with the correct posture and put in block letters "WATCH YOUR POSTURE". Tell your family members to check you if you are slouching or reclining in wrong posture. Remember 21days of practice makes it into a habit and surely, the posture will change and the body will become very efficient. "Sow a thought, reap an action; Sow an action, reap a habit;  sow a habit, reap a personality;  sow a personality, reap a character " Quoted from the book "MegaLiving" by Robin Sharma, the author of  "The Monk who sold his Ferrari".

Look at good runners and try to copy their form. Everybody learns by imitation of their superiors, we call them mentors, teachers, parents etc. but finally we are imitating them or sub-consciously we start walking, talking and behaving like them because they affect us in a very subtle manner. We become our environment. So it is very important to identify the correct people in our lives to emulate and treat as role models when it comes to posture correction. Try and spend more time with these people.

A person learns only when he unlearns his/her past. It is very important to accept intrinsically that there is improvement needed. There are a lot of us who have run many marathons and maybe ultras too, but still have a poor form. Change is the only constant in life and we have to be ready for it if we want improvement. And all of us must want improvement always.."Runs will always end.. but running will never end." We have to move on and ahead..better timings, greater distances , better form, better strength etc.. the more we push, the more we realize is achievable.

DNF Run...Where I gave up...

What pushes you to continue......?

I had registered for Airtel Hyderababd Full Marathon and have been preparing for it. As luck would have it, I had a commitment on Saturday at Mumbai due to which I decided  not to go to Hyderabad. Although I was in Mumbai, my heart and soul was in Hyderabad. I finished my job on Saturday at about 2030 hrs and on my way back home, picked up gatorade bottles, vaseline(WPJ), and started making plans as if I am going to actually run a FM on Sunday. So I had ,my dinner at 2130 hrs and slept off at 2200 hrs with the alarm set at 0345 hrs. I decided to get up early and be ready for the run as per the plan of starting at 0500hrs. I woke up earlier on my own at 0320 hrs and started getting ready. I realised that I had no helmet so I possibly cannot drive my scooter to Marine drive. I had planned to drive to NCPA, park my scooter there and run till Navy nagar and back which would be approx 10-11 K and then go for a 30K with Savio's group. This plan  just fizzled out. So my next plan was to start running from Navy nagar reach NCPA, go till the end of Marine drive and turn back to NCPA and then join with the group.

 As I started running, my mind was on maintaining a comfortable pace which I can sustain for at least 4-4.5 hours. I was also constantly checking my form to see if my legs were not getting loaded unevenly. Slowly the rhythm set in and I reached NCPA in about 35 minutes. I started running at 0410 and reached NCPA at 0445. I then continued to the end of Marine drive which took me exactly 29 minutes for 4.5 K, yes , my pace was actually slower than my usual pace. At this point in time, I changed my mind, I wanted to run alone and focus on my form and meditate while running. So I did not turn back and continued to run towards Peddar Road.  But one thing was troubling me, I was perspiring too much, my shirt and shorts were totally dripping and it was as if I was carrying weights. I juggled with the thought of running shirtless, then gave it up saying it's OK , Ill get used to it soon. But as I reached Haji Ali juice centre, I couldnt resist stopping and removing my T shirt and I squeezed it dry and then tied it around my waist and started running shirtless. Wow, what a feeling, I felt as if a huge weight had been removed...I actually felt very comfortable initially. As I crossed Worli dairy and came to the main traffic signal/ crossing after Worli Dairy, I saw this gorgeous runner getting ready to start her run and she offered Enerzal to me, I politely thanked her and refused and continued. I was on a mission to run self supported as much distance I can, and I was carrying gatorade in my bottle belt around my waist.

I reached old passport office and then decided to run towards Shivaji park, I actually have never run till this point before. I was amazed at the place, it is so beautiful. I took a complete round of the road outside the park and started my return leg. I met up with some Shivaji Park runners who were running till Mela restaurant and back. I was comfortable and reached Worli Diary. I saw the Savio group runners who I felt were in much lesser numbers today and I reached Mela. A funny thing I always realize in long runs is that as the distance increases, especially after 21K, you seem to feel that you have run a lot but actually there is hardly any distance you have covered. I don't know but this is something that I have experienced always. I had this Strider runner with me on the Haji Ali sea phase and then the climb up Peddar road which I claim to have easily conquered, strangely, uphill is where I feel more comfortable and my pace naturally increases, though I do lose some breathing if the climb is too long and I have to readjust.. As I reached Babulnath turn, I hit the WALL. I did not have cramps, I was not feeling giddy, no nothing, but somewhere I felt as if all my energy is drained out, I was feeling very weak all of a sudden as if my battery was on emergency and any time it could switch off and I would black out ..... 

This is a testing time for most runners... I now pose this question, if I was in a group or if I was running an event, there is this trigger that pushes you to continue... Here I was.. all alone, I looked back to see if Savio's saviours were coming back, but no one was in sight. I stopped at the temple near Babulnath and bought a couple of bananas and some water and had it. I felt better. I decided to start running again. I went till Wilson's college and was feeling as if i was just pushing myself for nothing.. I started walking, my mind was playing games. I told myself, come on.. you cant be doing this, you can easily run for much more distance.. So I started running again only to stop after another 1k  after crossing the flyover. This is the point where I decided that I shall actually do a DNF and i hailed a cab and went back home. I felt miserable initially that I did that. It was not that I could not have run, but somewhere there was this demonic mind telling me that what is the point of pushing yourself to run till end of marine drive, just finish and go back... I also had a train to catch to head back home to Pune... so a mixture of thoughts running in my head. But what was the real reason for the DNF.--> (a) I still need to make my mind stronger (b) Running with group helps in such situations as you get motivation, and (c) if it was an event, completion would have been the absolute aim. I am not saying it has to be a paid event, but an event managed by a self group with the distance and route marked and fixed. Having a target distance and route well before a long run is an essential task. My logic of just running along and deciding the distance may not always work especially when the weather and conditions are not very conducive.

So Guys, here is the story of a DNF which has taught me many a lesson for me to train and run harder and achieve self goals and beat myself to better targets each time...See you in Satara HM hopefully...

Form Correction is the key or is it...

Well a lot has been said about "form" at least in the FreeRunners group. we all worship form. Still not many of us are able to master the form. Sportsmen have a natural form or are able to learn much faster as they have better motor skills and can make their body respond faster. For non-sports people, this is a difficult task and time taking. 

Why do we have to get the form correct? It is always better to start slow and with lesser distances till the form is mastered correctly. The memory of the muscle has to be fed with this form slowly and steadily and let it become a part of the daily routine, walking, standing, sitting etc. Only then it is possible that while running you will get the correct form. I have run 1FM, 09 HMs and many long runs ( >20K) in the last 06 years. But only this year I truly understood the importance of form. I was searching for that one thing to make my run feel very easy even if it is greater than 35k. I was extremely comfortable till 25K but anything greater and I used to get pain/stiffness in my thigh muscles. What was essentially going wrong was that the entire load of running was being taken by the poor quadriceps and leg muscles. Running form should ensure equitable distribution of load on body, and if the form is correct, the hips and glute shall be the forerunners and the legs should just follow. This way, the quads and hamstrings will always be relaxed,. Along with this, the shoulders and arms also move to give smooth propulsion. Breathing of course has to be rhythmic from the stomach with inflation and deflation of the diaphragm with inhalation and exhalation respectively. Thus maintaining a good form will enable the run to be easy and injury free and hamstrings/ quads will never get tightened. I realised it when I was able to run longer and still recover very fast and was able to run much stronger.

Even though I seem to know all these facts, my form tends to get spoilt because of old memory trapped in the muscles. I am again trying to unlearn and correct my form. Muscle memory is a big game master and keeps pushing my body back to the old wrong form especially when  talking while running and thus not conscious about own form. That is why during a long run, if you are on form correction mode, it is important to be alone or with your body so that you never lose the consciousness of your form and try and maintain the correct form throughout the run and especially after crossing more than half of your scheduled run. Form correction takes a long time and effort but spoiling of form takes no time. It is just like gaining and losing weight. So Runners, let us all improve our form and become totally FreeRunners and capture larger and larger distances at our best timings. So how does a runner improve form. We have to learn to walk as if running, the posture and form. Even while sitting, we should be conscious of our form. Habits take time to unlearn and then learn. It is a painful and long process, but one that sets you free for life so that you can run, walk etc. Etc.  freely without any pain.

So I am sharing my thoughts because I have to work hard at improving my form and hopefully this would benefit some one else too. Thanks a lot to my gurus Savio and especially Jeetendran Nair, who showed me the light towards running properly. 

Tip: When you have the correct form you shall feel it in your abs and your legs shall feel much freer and lighter. 

The Baraat of FreeRunners- 29 Jun 2014

A great milestone in the annals of 'FreeRunners' on 29 Jun 2014. The group had a night out running and many of us members participated. It was a sight to see and remember, a group of  people take off at 0100 hrs on the streets of Pune in different states of attire, most of the male members preferred to run topless, making it an even more colourful sight with a lot of packs {abs and other places ;)} being displayed. The Pune streets were rocking with the swishing footfalls of the FreeRunners who all believe in running in perfect form and therefore not much of footfall noise can be heard. What is amazing is that this group of runners comprised of legend runner Vishwanathan Jayaraman who graced his presence for this event as well as novice runners ( Rakesh Pandita) whose journey in the running world is as short as 2 months doing a 21K.  There were other young runners ( Trupti, Ankita, Balaji, Rahul, Sophia) who have been planning and training for this event to complete their maiden 21K after they got the approval of their Ustaad Coach Jeetendran Nair. There were 8 experienced runners ( Vishwanathan Jayaraman, Jeetendran Nair, Ntin Pandya, Muthukrishnan Jayaraman, Hitesh Mahajan, Neeraj pardikar, Parag Dongre, and self) out of which self was the least experienced with only a single FM down my belt and in the recent past the maximum distance clocked was only 26K. 

It was last Monday morning when I got this telephone call from Ustaad asking me if I would run 50K on Sunday. My first reaction was "I am not ready for this" as I know the rules of 10% increase in miles every week. My lack of confidence in self was put to dust by Ustaad who in his typical assertive tone told me that he considered me fit to run. Then he said that since the legend runner Vishwanathan Jayaraman was running with us, it was a golden opportunity to achieve a milestone and full support during the run was available. I hesitantly said "Yes" and then was wondering whether I did a mistake because I was worried whether I would be able to complete it or not. With less than a week to mentally and physically condition myself , I decided to take the plunge and experience this madness. 

We all assembled at Ustaad's residence at 0030 hrs on 29 Jun (Post Saturday midnight). The atmosphere was fully charged up with the runners and the support team assembled and were preparing themselves for the event. The route and plan for the run is indicated below:-

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/452948574

 

 The plan made by Captain (Nitin Pandya), there is a reason why he is called "Captain" which will be evident from the plan below:-

 

"Route for weekend 50K run is http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/452948574

Please go through it and memorize it.

We all (except Trupti and Ankita) will start together from Dorabji 

Enclave (Jeetu's house) @ 1:00 a.m. and finish it at Kedari ground (approximately #7.00 a.m.). 

Support and Camera teams...

* Sriram in his Scorpio will support faster group.

* Avinash and Shyamal will support second group in Muthu's XUV.

* Rupesh is our backup support in case anyone in above bails out. Avinash is down with fever and hence this precaution.

* Rahul, Balaji, Rakesh and Sophia after finishing their 21K will get into XUV @ #Pimpri Chowk

* Trupti and Ankita will join us at 29 KM mark (near Chinchwad station) @ #4 a.m..

* Balaji can then take Trupti's car and continue with the group for some time.

* Balaji will also have to alert the rest of the Free Runners @ Kedari/Racecourse for end game.

Sriram (9820076633), Avinash(9923500067) and Shyamal(9923608460) will be our command and control center.

Let's stick with each other as a group to motivate and cheer up - most importantly let's rock and enjoy the run. "

Captain ensured that the plan was known only to the concerned people and he sent it to their individual emails rather than post it on the Facebook page to avoid crowd and cheering on the roads at wee hours and invite unnecessary attention from authorities. This group is wild and full of energy.. anything is possible, they simply rock the place they go to. The running groups were balanced well to ensure that weak runners got support from the strong and the other group members supported the long runners at the end of the run. 

Support was organised immaculately. I have no words to describe the perfection of this planning. What is more important is that the supporters themselves are all good runners and they sacrificed their run to take care of us. They seemed to know exactly when we needed more support and were always there with sufficient amount of water and enerzal and biscuits/ bananas etc.. Moreover, they never let you run towards them, they ran towards you and helped you , it was an amazing support crew. I have never experienced this kind of professionalism ever. Each one of them deserves a standing ovation for their dedication and sensitivitity to the runners needs. Professional Marathon organisers need to take a cue from here as to how support is to be organised. 

My Experience of the Run

 

The run started out smoothly exactly as the clock struck 0100hrs. I felt that the pace was a bit fast for a 50K but when you have a legend running in front, you can only follow. So I decided to tag at the back of the pack as I was keen on finishing the run. The initial plan had us 50K runners in two groups "the speed demons" comprising of the legend runner 'Vishy', his brother 'Muthu' and 'Ustaad Jeetu'. The balance 5 runners were supposed to be running slightly slower. But we had the young dynamic 21K runners with us who were keen on getting a good timing so they were actually leading the pack and that was the reason for a slightly faster pace, at least that is what I felt. As the distance progressed, I noticed that the gap had increased quite a bit and we were four of us who were in the "back-pack", two first time 21Kers,Balaji and Rakesh,  Captain Nitin and self. Nitin had actually slowed down to push these guys. The run was very comfortable for me as the pace was slower than my normal pace and I was enjoying myself taking the view of the night and feeling the cool breeze on my bare body. Nitin mentioned that it was hot weather, and I felt that it was heaven compared to Mumbai where I normally stay. We finally reached the 21K point after approximately 2hrs and 15minutes of running and congratulated the first time 21Kers. Then Nitin just took off at a very fast pace, I just followed his pace and did feel that it was a wee bit too fast, but he was concerned about catching up with the ahead gang. We finally reached the turn about point and found out that the ahead gang was just about 500-750m ahead of us. So we started running at normal pace to catch up with them later as the distance progresses. Nitin and self ran together till the 29K point where we met another 50K runner, Parag Dongre who had slowed down.  We three started running together,  and continued. Nitin started slowing down to match pace with Parag and this is the place where I just continued at my previous pace. For a good distance of about 5-7K, they were right behind me but after that  I realised that the gap had increased, but  I continued running all alone.

Well, running alone has it's own kicks and highs, because it is like meditation and you are in full connection with your mind and body. I was practicing my breathing and I learnt a new thing, I was chanting "OM" while running and it was helping me in my belly breathing. I also felt more energised, maybe it has something to do with the sound and vibrations. But, how does it matter? As long as I was feeling good doing it, I must do it. So I continued chanting long OMs and steadied my pace.  I was actually enjoying the solitude when I found a familiar form running ahead, it was Muthu Sir who had slowed down and left the speed demons. I overtook him also, I was feeling on top of the world and lot of energy was still there so I did not want to slow down now. So I continued alone, of course with the support crew always leading me in the Mahindra Scorpio and offering me water, enerzal etc. every 2 kms or maybe 1km at certain stretches. By this time, I felt I must have run a lot but when I enquired from the supporters, I was dismayed to hear that there was yet 16K to go. I couldn't believe that I had covered only 5K till now from the 29K point. This is the game of the mind in long distance running, as the distance increases, each 1k looks and feels much longer than what it was at the beginning of the run. Then Muthu Sir caught up with me and we started running together. Actually I find it very comfortable to run with him because somehow our pace and steps match very well, though he is a much faster and better runner than me, I still am able to match my pace to his. So we continued at whatever possible pace, because by this time, the body was beginning to protest. This part of the run was really long and I started wishing for it to end soon, so I set mental targets like Bridge on the river, Koregaon park, RSI, Racecourse etc. and looked forward to reaching the target. Once we reached the turning into Southern Command area, we were on a home run and now the confidence level was really high. 

I had read somewhere that you must be smart in ultras and walk up slopes, so that you can save energy. I did that and it worked well because the last 2K , I was actually running fast and when I sprinted to the Kedari ground where the rest of the guys were welcoming me, I was told that to complete 50K I have to take another lap of the ground. I just continued at the fast pace and finished strong. I couldn't believe that I had done my first 50K in such a beautiful manner. All factors were favourable, the route, climate , group and support system. How could someone not achieve his/her PB here? 

Last but not the least, the training and tips provided by Ustaad Jeetendran Nair are amazing and ensures that every person will become a FreeRunner and learn to run any distance freely without any baggage on the mind or body. 

JAI HO, FREERUNNERS! Looking forward to the next amazing event soon!