I MADE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am now officially a half marathoner! Of course the road to making this happen was paved with best intentions and a ton of problems and self doubt as my blog clearly indicates. In fact this time last week I had all but decided to quit because I just did not think my body could take it. But turns out I am tougher than I thought I was. I am really proud of myself. I remember back to last year when I had to quit running (I only ran about 4-5kms a day) because of my knee pain. And then I think back to the Pinkathon in April of this year when running 10kms felt like the end of the world. And now if I could bottle up that feeling I had when I sprinted the finish line on October 6th 2013, am sure it will cure depression for all mankind.
I still have no idea how that person managed to complete a half marathon in two hours and thirty minutes. It would have been at least 10 minutes faster had it not been for the fact I was victim to something that I had always read about but had never encountered personally - the dreaded runner's stomach. You see the previous day I had sore throat and a little bit of cold. I also had stomach cramps because....well you can guess why. This is not how I wanted my first half marathon to be. I wanted to be fresh and raring to go instead the previous day I was tired, cramped up and exhausted. I had little lunch. A cup of milk in the afternoon and light early dinner. And then I crashed at around 10.30-11 pm. I had to wake up at 3.30 to stretch because I stretched only once on Saturday.
I woke up Sunday and I was not remotely nervous. I took a bath, wore my race day clothes, secured my running bib, stretched and popped in a pain killer (generally on those days my stomach cramps get so bad that I can't even get out of bed and here I was planning to run 21.1 kms with this....awesome). I had one banana, two visits to the bathroom and half a chocolate bar for energy. I reached the venue and realised one major thing - my stomach was definitely not feeling good. I rushed to one of the portable bathrooms the organisers had installed at the venue and figured that my problems were solved. Except I had no idea that I was going to be victim to the runner's stomach. I have never had it before, so I had no way to compare it with anything in my life.
So let me tell you - it's not fun. I nearly dropped out of the race. On the 8km aid station I practically broke down in tears. I wanted to know if there were any portable restrooms on the way for the runners. Turns out there weren't. But the good news was that the 8km aid station was right next to a mall. The mall manager (god bless this man) quickly took me to the rest room in the mall's underground parking station. My stomach still felt a bit off for the rest of the race but it was never quite as bad again. And in the process I lost 10 whole minutes of my time and that really sucks because that means I would have completed as early as 2.20. Oh well. Lesson learnt.
But the weirdest part was that my left leg while always threatening to erupt in pain, never did. I stretched a bit at the 14k mark and it hurt for about 10 minutes but suddenly it went away. It went away till I crossed the finish line! It kept away after I finished stretching. The only thing is I felt a bad twinge after coming back home (sitting in an uncomfortable position during the train journey for 7 straight hours can do that to you!). But this morning I feel completely recovered and strong. The leg pain is there but minimal and I only feel it while walking up the staircase. That also should be gone by tomorrow because I have scheduled nearly an hour long stretching session in the evening at the gym.
Anyway back to the race day. Throughout the run I had wonderful thoughts running through my head. I could not believe I had finally made it to this day. I wanted to drink in every single second. The reason I know I didn't run my hardest is because even at the 18km mark I was able to have a casual and fun conversation with one of the runners. This means I should have pushed myself. But the truth is I had no idea how my body would behave after 14-15km (those are my safe distances). This was supposed to be my learning curve. I wanted to know and understand the way my body behaved during the run. I plan on running as as long as it's possible for me, which means a ton more half marathons and hopefully full marathons lie in my future. I can gun for timing on my next one. This one was strictly about understanding what I was capable of on race day. Turns out my training has served me really well. Gymming has helped. Stretching has helped. Core workouts have helped. And this is just the beginning. I plan on training harder and doing better. The first stone has been set on the foundation. Time to build upon a beautiful running experience with this.
I started this blog as a way to motivate myself to run my first half marathon. Mission accomplished. Now I need to hunker down and start improving my time. I want to bring my 10k time to 55 minutes (it's currently at 59.04). And I want to run half in two hours. That means during race days I will not goof around. Not stop to take pictures or pick up conversations with runners who are obviously holding you back from your general pace. Clear cut goals. At least for the important races.
And here's quiet push for all the non-runners who think it's impossible to run beyond a certain point. The only restrictions that exist are in your own head. You never know what you are capable of unless you try. It after all starts with one step at a time. And that feeling you get when you get to the cross line? Boss it's worth all the trouble in the world! And turns out I was top 15 in the women's category. Not bad eh? Happy running!
P.S Kudos to the organisers of the Vodafone Coimbatore Marathon 2013. Brilliantly organised and fun race. The route was great. The atmosphere was unbelievable. The officials were helpful and the aid stations were wonderfully stocked. They had lime, salt, biscuits, energy drinks, salted water, water, oranges, cut bananas and extremely cheerful volunteers. Truly the best kind of experience.
I still have no idea how that person managed to complete a half marathon in two hours and thirty minutes. It would have been at least 10 minutes faster had it not been for the fact I was victim to something that I had always read about but had never encountered personally - the dreaded runner's stomach. You see the previous day I had sore throat and a little bit of cold. I also had stomach cramps because....well you can guess why. This is not how I wanted my first half marathon to be. I wanted to be fresh and raring to go instead the previous day I was tired, cramped up and exhausted. I had little lunch. A cup of milk in the afternoon and light early dinner. And then I crashed at around 10.30-11 pm. I had to wake up at 3.30 to stretch because I stretched only once on Saturday.
I woke up Sunday and I was not remotely nervous. I took a bath, wore my race day clothes, secured my running bib, stretched and popped in a pain killer (generally on those days my stomach cramps get so bad that I can't even get out of bed and here I was planning to run 21.1 kms with this....awesome). I had one banana, two visits to the bathroom and half a chocolate bar for energy. I reached the venue and realised one major thing - my stomach was definitely not feeling good. I rushed to one of the portable bathrooms the organisers had installed at the venue and figured that my problems were solved. Except I had no idea that I was going to be victim to the runner's stomach. I have never had it before, so I had no way to compare it with anything in my life.
So let me tell you - it's not fun. I nearly dropped out of the race. On the 8km aid station I practically broke down in tears. I wanted to know if there were any portable restrooms on the way for the runners. Turns out there weren't. But the good news was that the 8km aid station was right next to a mall. The mall manager (god bless this man) quickly took me to the rest room in the mall's underground parking station. My stomach still felt a bit off for the rest of the race but it was never quite as bad again. And in the process I lost 10 whole minutes of my time and that really sucks because that means I would have completed as early as 2.20. Oh well. Lesson learnt.
But the weirdest part was that my left leg while always threatening to erupt in pain, never did. I stretched a bit at the 14k mark and it hurt for about 10 minutes but suddenly it went away. It went away till I crossed the finish line! It kept away after I finished stretching. The only thing is I felt a bad twinge after coming back home (sitting in an uncomfortable position during the train journey for 7 straight hours can do that to you!). But this morning I feel completely recovered and strong. The leg pain is there but minimal and I only feel it while walking up the staircase. That also should be gone by tomorrow because I have scheduled nearly an hour long stretching session in the evening at the gym.
Anyway back to the race day. Throughout the run I had wonderful thoughts running through my head. I could not believe I had finally made it to this day. I wanted to drink in every single second. The reason I know I didn't run my hardest is because even at the 18km mark I was able to have a casual and fun conversation with one of the runners. This means I should have pushed myself. But the truth is I had no idea how my body would behave after 14-15km (those are my safe distances). This was supposed to be my learning curve. I wanted to know and understand the way my body behaved during the run. I plan on running as as long as it's possible for me, which means a ton more half marathons and hopefully full marathons lie in my future. I can gun for timing on my next one. This one was strictly about understanding what I was capable of on race day. Turns out my training has served me really well. Gymming has helped. Stretching has helped. Core workouts have helped. And this is just the beginning. I plan on training harder and doing better. The first stone has been set on the foundation. Time to build upon a beautiful running experience with this.
I started this blog as a way to motivate myself to run my first half marathon. Mission accomplished. Now I need to hunker down and start improving my time. I want to bring my 10k time to 55 minutes (it's currently at 59.04). And I want to run half in two hours. That means during race days I will not goof around. Not stop to take pictures or pick up conversations with runners who are obviously holding you back from your general pace. Clear cut goals. At least for the important races.
And here's quiet push for all the non-runners who think it's impossible to run beyond a certain point. The only restrictions that exist are in your own head. You never know what you are capable of unless you try. It after all starts with one step at a time. And that feeling you get when you get to the cross line? Boss it's worth all the trouble in the world! And turns out I was top 15 in the women's category. Not bad eh? Happy running!
P.S Kudos to the organisers of the Vodafone Coimbatore Marathon 2013. Brilliantly organised and fun race. The route was great. The atmosphere was unbelievable. The officials were helpful and the aid stations were wonderfully stocked. They had lime, salt, biscuits, energy drinks, salted water, water, oranges, cut bananas and extremely cheerful volunteers. Truly the best kind of experience.
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