After a not so successful FM at
SCMM 2015 with a weak finish and a timing of 4hr 28 min, this is the first
event I decided to participate and it was very convenient as there was a group
registration and the Bibs were also collected by a representative. So the only
trouble I had to take was to reach there for the Marathon, which also was taken
care by a co-resident staying close by and we had a car pool of five people
going together for the race. So the day began early at 0400 wake up time and I
left home at 0450 to a nearby friend’s place from where we were being picked up
at 0510 hrs. We were picked up on time
and there was too much fog on the way, which is why the race
was commencing at 0615 hrs. There were no direction boards, very few volunteers
and we were searching the place for quite some time but soon enough we heard loud
music and there we were in front of the Sports centre and we could see a number
of cars parked there. We joined the gang of “Sussegado Runners” who were easy to identify as we were all
wearing the recently acquired T-shirts/ singlets. After customary greetings and
meetings, all started doing their warm up sessions and soon enough we were in
the start line waiting for the count-down. I had decided to run at a pace which
is befitting a race pace as per my capability and I wanted to assess my
capability without stretching the body too much. In GRM , I had tried to keep
pace with a fast runner and I succeeded and achieved my PB of 1hr 37.44 min but
I realised that I had overstretched myself as I had jammed quads after the race
for two days( DOMS). Now, I wanted to observe my race pace without overstretching
myself, and I have been practicing shorter distances at a faster pace than my
earlier 5:30 min/km pace. I have been doing a pace of 5:00 min/km for about
10-15 km in my practice runs and I found myself comfortable in maintaining this
pace without overstretching myself. So with this pace for a HM, my timing
should be 1hr 45 min. Of course during a race, adrenaline levels are high and
the brain takes you faster than training pace so I estimated a time somewhere
under 1:45 as my finish timing. Coincidentally my BIB number was 4545. Secrets
of the universe, I was being told that 1hr 45 min is my timing target for this race.
Anyways, shod of a Garmin or a watch (being a FreeRunner, I have not used
gadgets for long now), I tried to evaluate my pace while running. The route was
through the city for a while and soon enough we were into the interiors, plenty
of uphills and downhills and through water bodies on both sides, quaint
villages, bridges, temples, the scene was breathtaking and naturesque. I
couldn't have asked for a better route as I love to run in such surroundings
and Goa has been quite generous in giving me many such opportunities. I would
rate Goa better than Pune with respect to the amount of greenery and natural
surroundings here, especially as we enter into the interiors of villages, the
untouched rustic landscape is awesome and something that I love.
As I surged ahead of the initial
running crowd, I soon found myself running alone with no one behind or ahead of
me for a long distance and after about an hour of running, I overtook a young
girl who seemed to be a local sports person. The running route was through quaint villages and water bodies and then old temples and the scenery on the way was breath taking. I was so mesmerized with the scenery and the environment, I never realized all the hills that I was crossing. I was enjoying watching the rustic scenes of village folk performing their morning functions, the cultural activities are very rich here, people were busy plucking flowers for the morning prayers and many had come out of their houses to look at us funnily dressed people running and drenched with sweat early in the morning. I wished and greeted many of them and got return replies from some of them. Later I overtook a runner who looked at me very surprised and told me
that I have come the wrong way. I was angry first, then calmed down and told
him that I have come as I have been guided by the volunteers and I don’t know any
other way, as I am new to this part of Goa. He was surprised that there was no one
behind him for long, so where did I suddenly appear from; I think he was
concerned about me overtaking him. I just disregarded his remark and quietly
went ahead and continued my run focusing on my form and pace. I learnt later
that he is a 52 year old runner who always manages a podium finish. He had
recently come first in the Tower Run held at Panjim and is a nice person whom I
befriended easily after the finish of the race. I told myself to focus on my run
and soon I was climbing a difficult hill and I managed to continue running at a
constant pace. Again I was all alone and I was not aware of how much of
distance is left, and soon enough I saw some volunteers who shouted that only 3
Km are left. So I decided to start pacing for a strong finish and moved ahead,
but the last part of the race also had a up-slope and then had to cross a busy
bus-stand and then go back to the sports complex and since I did not know the
place very well, I missed my 200-300 m sprint here as there was a blind turn
and I was into the road leading to the sports complex just 50-100 m away. I
just sprinted the last 50-100 m and finished the race strong. I was satisfied
but there was no one telling the timing. I asked the time from someone and it
was about 0805. If the race had started at 0615, then I was below my mark of
1hr 45 min and I was very disappointed. However, after a few minutes, a running
friend of mine finished and congratulated me and he said that his timing was 1
hr 45 min. So I knew that I had to be under that. As I went to the timing
counter, I realised that my name was written there on their merit sheet. I had
stood Third in the open category of men, and I was awarded a cash prize of
5000/=. This is the first time I have ever won a cash prize in a sports event.
Last time I had a podium finish was in Pune Happy Hearts Marathon where the
prize was a free membership in a gymnasium which was 28 Km away from my
house. Anyways, my Sunday had started
very well with an awesome experience of a run in naturesque surroundings and
the icing on top of the cake was my podium finish with a cash prize. The biggest advantage of this run was my
renewed energy and target for pace for the next HM where I would try and
maintain a pace to get a finish time of 1 hr 40 min or lower. This is to ensure
that I am out of my comfort zone soon enough which is essential to keep the
“flow” on... My timing in this race was 1:43:09, almost close to 1:45.
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