It seems desires are fuelled by the heart to acquire or achieve something.However it is probably the mind that wants to prove a point or reach redemption.
Same was the case when i wanted to start running - apparently for no real reason or objective,but for many auxilliary benefits it could bring like loosing weight, being cool and adopting another fitness fad.
i started running in 2013 in US where i would run 3 miles(5 km) every other day along with my other routines which included kickboxing,cycling and Yoga.The results were there to see and i lost a lot of pounds to reach 75 Kgs from a whopping 92 Kg in 9 months.
Then, came a period of lax which coincided with winter and a plan to rellocate to India, which resulted in disruption of my routine.
All was lost when i again began to get unfit and add pounds and reach 84 kg again. My occupational hazard of constant travel did not help the cause and i was a pale shadow of my 2013 fit self.
Then in July 2015,i started my morning routine again only to find out that 3 years later, it was not as easy. Age and metabolism have their say and my body had lost its flexibility.
i had to start all over again with walks and slow runs and still the body did not feel good.
Managing my aches and pains became a greater pre-occupation than planning and training for long runs.
I decided to get additional motivation by surfing the internet to check out some running groups.
Since i did not know if i could really do it,i did not want to take professional paid help and i did not want to invest a fortune for something i started without an objective.
Then Punerunning.com gave me that ideal platform - Voluntary help from Professional runners who wanted to inspire people to run.Their motto was to give hope to people like me and help us make up our mind to actually do it.
I started by joining the group for weekly runs to see what they do and try and emulate their behaviour.The updates by the members on whatsapp- where they posted their daily efforts and runs made me wonder how human they were.
It was impossible for me to fathom how can a man run 18 km or cycle 50 km and come back the next day for a jog or hit the gym.
Were their diets different? were they injecting steriods into them? what were the supplements they took? how does the body tolerate this extreme workload? And how can there be something called an "ultra marathon" where people run 89km in 11 hours?
People told me it is all in the mind - that was the famous cliche.
i ignored that and started pushing myself - 10 Km and then 12 Km runs. I could do no more than that alone.
A couple of weeks before my targetted PRBM 2015 Half Marathon, i decided to run 21 K with the Pune Running Group at the Pune University Campus. Umesh and Krishna, both professional long time runners helped me. They always believed that winning is not when you reach the finish line, You win when you reach the start line to run.
I did 16Km before i got cramps - had to take a snack and water break and then walked 5 km slowly to finish 21 km on a day for the first time.The body was sore but the pituitary was secreting serotenin and i was experiencing what they called " a runner's high".
It felt celesitial and unreal and i returned home to take a warm shower and had a great afternoon nap.
The recovery was tough and painful - but i had something to look at on my Runkeeper App.
Like a small child who keeps seeing his candy bag again and again,i kept looking at my accomplishments till i almost memorised the entire content.
i shared all of it with my friends and well wishers.It was more a brag waiting to be apperciated rather than real conviction.
One week before race day, the group was going to train at the Pune University grouds as usual for the weekly long run and this time was determined to do 21K at a stretch.
However, another inspirer,friend and runner - Prashant Gupta called up after a long time asking me how i was doing for the PRBM 2015. Incidentally, he was one of my early inspirations when he posted his PRBM 2013 accomplishments on social media.
He told me that i should run the same race route atleast once before the actual day so that i am aware of the terrain and topography.
I decided to run the PRBM route on 4th Oct 2015 and was surprised to feel the challenging terrain.It had 3 steep elavations making it difficult for novice runners to pace themselves into a rhythm.
I again did 17 K and then walked 4 k but this time did not cramp and completed the run without a break to clock 2 hours 34 mins.
My left leg was sore and i was worried that my body should recover for race day. I kept giving my body warm water treatment to make it feel better.
However, my left leg still had some pain, even on the penultimate day. While collecting my bib on the day before the event, i bumped into legendary runner Rahul Verghease who complimented my effort but told 2 cardinal rules - a) never do your best effort one week before race day as you may burn out and b) Cold water treatment is better than warm water.
Race day arrived and i was up early and in positive frame of mind.The Pune Running group had wished me Luck and i was about to do what i never though i will do.It would be wrong to say i was not anxious or nervous, but i was focussed and not let any theatrics get to me
I started off with the 2.30 Bus and was determined to stay with them.All went well till the 14 K mark and i actually do not remember much as i was in a unique rhythm.I was amazed at the work of the volunteers on the way manning the water stations. Their vociforous support helped immensely to try and take the effort to the next nautch.
However after 14 K i started getting severe knee pain due to the soreness of the effort from previous week and the comfort in the run vanished. Now it was a question of lasting 7 more km and completing this ardous journey.I took a couple of sprays on the way at the medical stations to try and ease the pain, but it was a push from hereon. The 2.30 bus went ahead of me and at around the 16 K milestone, i decided to take a walk break knowing fully that this would mean that i may not complete sub 2.30 anymore.Further the elavated terrain in the last 3 km was a stretch that would slow me down further.
i decided to try and run again and did so till the 17 k mark. From thereon it was surely a walk as the terrain was highly elavated.I walked as fast as i could, and finally made a ergonomically dirty dash towards the last 200 meters.
Completing the race was a great feeling- deep down i knew that i could not break the sub 2.30 barrier.I later learnt that shaving of minutes and seconds in a Half Marathon was not only a function of speed.
I was in no mood to let that spoil my achievement.I was basking in glory- beaming with pride- looking for people to brag - wanting people to congratulate me.In short, i was on a runner's high.Nothing seemed bad in the world.Everything was as it should have been.There was utter bliss and contentment.
Prashant was somewhere there and he called me to find me in the crowd.We proceeded to the medal and refreshment area and sat down to talk about it all.The 2.30 paces - Terrance Miranda, a heart attack survivor, was seated beside us and we lived through it all over and over again.
We then headed to the grand stage where the podium finsihers were being falicitated.It was an amazing feeling cheering for these supermen and women.A 6 year old boy ran the 21K and so did an 86 year old man in traditional dhoti. A visually challenged man dared to complete the 21K as well. Here was a congregation of people- young and old,privilaged and challenged,novices and professionals,fit and flabby, highly motivated and fun loving - who together decided to overcome all sorts of conventional barriers and on this day just decided to run beyond themselves - nothing more, nothing less.
It was truely a PRBM - Pune Run beyond onself event - A great debut experience for me to cherish all through my life.
As i was living through all these emotionally charged moments, i recieved an SMS of the provisional time i completed the race in - it said 2.34 - which was great considering my creaking left knee.
I know deep down that i could have done it in less,but i will take it for a first attempt.
i called up home to let all my family folks know about it.On reaching home,i could see my daughter looking amazed,wondering what her father has achieved.She realised that i was very happy having run a lot of distance and she found joy in that. She also expressed her desired to run next year.
I plan to make her and my wife do the 3K run next year at PRBM 2016.
A truely great day concluded with a nice hearty family lunch at home and a nice snooze thereafter.
Same was the case when i wanted to start running - apparently for no real reason or objective,but for many auxilliary benefits it could bring like loosing weight, being cool and adopting another fitness fad.
i started running in 2013 in US where i would run 3 miles(5 km) every other day along with my other routines which included kickboxing,cycling and Yoga.The results were there to see and i lost a lot of pounds to reach 75 Kgs from a whopping 92 Kg in 9 months.
Then, came a period of lax which coincided with winter and a plan to rellocate to India, which resulted in disruption of my routine.
All was lost when i again began to get unfit and add pounds and reach 84 kg again. My occupational hazard of constant travel did not help the cause and i was a pale shadow of my 2013 fit self.
Then in July 2015,i started my morning routine again only to find out that 3 years later, it was not as easy. Age and metabolism have their say and my body had lost its flexibility.
i had to start all over again with walks and slow runs and still the body did not feel good.
Managing my aches and pains became a greater pre-occupation than planning and training for long runs.
I decided to get additional motivation by surfing the internet to check out some running groups.
Since i did not know if i could really do it,i did not want to take professional paid help and i did not want to invest a fortune for something i started without an objective.
Then Punerunning.com gave me that ideal platform - Voluntary help from Professional runners who wanted to inspire people to run.Their motto was to give hope to people like me and help us make up our mind to actually do it.
I started by joining the group for weekly runs to see what they do and try and emulate their behaviour.The updates by the members on whatsapp- where they posted their daily efforts and runs made me wonder how human they were.
It was impossible for me to fathom how can a man run 18 km or cycle 50 km and come back the next day for a jog or hit the gym.
Were their diets different? were they injecting steriods into them? what were the supplements they took? how does the body tolerate this extreme workload? And how can there be something called an "ultra marathon" where people run 89km in 11 hours?
People told me it is all in the mind - that was the famous cliche.
i ignored that and started pushing myself - 10 Km and then 12 Km runs. I could do no more than that alone.
A couple of weeks before my targetted PRBM 2015 Half Marathon, i decided to run 21 K with the Pune Running Group at the Pune University Campus. Umesh and Krishna, both professional long time runners helped me. They always believed that winning is not when you reach the finish line, You win when you reach the start line to run.
I did 16Km before i got cramps - had to take a snack and water break and then walked 5 km slowly to finish 21 km on a day for the first time.The body was sore but the pituitary was secreting serotenin and i was experiencing what they called " a runner's high".
It felt celesitial and unreal and i returned home to take a warm shower and had a great afternoon nap.
The recovery was tough and painful - but i had something to look at on my Runkeeper App.
Like a small child who keeps seeing his candy bag again and again,i kept looking at my accomplishments till i almost memorised the entire content.
i shared all of it with my friends and well wishers.It was more a brag waiting to be apperciated rather than real conviction.
One week before race day, the group was going to train at the Pune University grouds as usual for the weekly long run and this time was determined to do 21K at a stretch.
However, another inspirer,friend and runner - Prashant Gupta called up after a long time asking me how i was doing for the PRBM 2015. Incidentally, he was one of my early inspirations when he posted his PRBM 2013 accomplishments on social media.
He told me that i should run the same race route atleast once before the actual day so that i am aware of the terrain and topography.
I decided to run the PRBM route on 4th Oct 2015 and was surprised to feel the challenging terrain.It had 3 steep elavations making it difficult for novice runners to pace themselves into a rhythm.
I again did 17 K and then walked 4 k but this time did not cramp and completed the run without a break to clock 2 hours 34 mins.
My left leg was sore and i was worried that my body should recover for race day. I kept giving my body warm water treatment to make it feel better.
However, my left leg still had some pain, even on the penultimate day. While collecting my bib on the day before the event, i bumped into legendary runner Rahul Verghease who complimented my effort but told 2 cardinal rules - a) never do your best effort one week before race day as you may burn out and b) Cold water treatment is better than warm water.
Race day arrived and i was up early and in positive frame of mind.The Pune Running group had wished me Luck and i was about to do what i never though i will do.It would be wrong to say i was not anxious or nervous, but i was focussed and not let any theatrics get to me
I started off with the 2.30 Bus and was determined to stay with them.All went well till the 14 K mark and i actually do not remember much as i was in a unique rhythm.I was amazed at the work of the volunteers on the way manning the water stations. Their vociforous support helped immensely to try and take the effort to the next nautch.
However after 14 K i started getting severe knee pain due to the soreness of the effort from previous week and the comfort in the run vanished. Now it was a question of lasting 7 more km and completing this ardous journey.I took a couple of sprays on the way at the medical stations to try and ease the pain, but it was a push from hereon. The 2.30 bus went ahead of me and at around the 16 K milestone, i decided to take a walk break knowing fully that this would mean that i may not complete sub 2.30 anymore.Further the elavated terrain in the last 3 km was a stretch that would slow me down further.
i decided to try and run again and did so till the 17 k mark. From thereon it was surely a walk as the terrain was highly elavated.I walked as fast as i could, and finally made a ergonomically dirty dash towards the last 200 meters.
Completing the race was a great feeling- deep down i knew that i could not break the sub 2.30 barrier.I later learnt that shaving of minutes and seconds in a Half Marathon was not only a function of speed.
I was in no mood to let that spoil my achievement.I was basking in glory- beaming with pride- looking for people to brag - wanting people to congratulate me.In short, i was on a runner's high.Nothing seemed bad in the world.Everything was as it should have been.There was utter bliss and contentment.
Prashant was somewhere there and he called me to find me in the crowd.We proceeded to the medal and refreshment area and sat down to talk about it all.The 2.30 paces - Terrance Miranda, a heart attack survivor, was seated beside us and we lived through it all over and over again.
We then headed to the grand stage where the podium finsihers were being falicitated.It was an amazing feeling cheering for these supermen and women.A 6 year old boy ran the 21K and so did an 86 year old man in traditional dhoti. A visually challenged man dared to complete the 21K as well. Here was a congregation of people- young and old,privilaged and challenged,novices and professionals,fit and flabby, highly motivated and fun loving - who together decided to overcome all sorts of conventional barriers and on this day just decided to run beyond themselves - nothing more, nothing less.
It was truely a PRBM - Pune Run beyond onself event - A great debut experience for me to cherish all through my life.
As i was living through all these emotionally charged moments, i recieved an SMS of the provisional time i completed the race in - it said 2.34 - which was great considering my creaking left knee.
I know deep down that i could have done it in less,but i will take it for a first attempt.
i called up home to let all my family folks know about it.On reaching home,i could see my daughter looking amazed,wondering what her father has achieved.She realised that i was very happy having run a lot of distance and she found joy in that. She also expressed her desired to run next year.
I plan to make her and my wife do the 3K run next year at PRBM 2016.
A truely great day concluded with a nice hearty family lunch at home and a nice snooze thereafter.
