Hyderabad half marathon 2015
Apart from my perfect world reasoning, I have figured out another reason to register for and run races. Change of scenery. Simple. Every day running in the same neighborhood, hunting for a new route to trod under your weathered running shoes starts to become a challenge. Within a couple of years once you start running. So the only way to kill boredom and monotony of above routine is to register and run for races.
And if you like to travel, its an added bonus. With or without trains.
For this year's version of the #AHM, I registered for the half marathon. AGAIN. As if going through last year's ordeal was not enough. But snarky comments on my decision making aside, I wanted to run in Hyderabad by correcting a few wrongs on my end and see if it affected how I felt post run.
I'll list down the things I felt I did wrong last year, considering my overall fitness at that point:
1. Traveled around the city on Saturday in blazing heat, in a bus, in auto, on foot.
2. Ate food without due consideration for the race next day.
3. Wore clothes in which I had not practiced before.
4. Slept at 12 in the night and got up at 3.30 am on race day. ie insufficient sleep
This time I took the Shatabdi from Pune to Hyderabad, along with a bunch of other runners. I loved the Shatabdi experience! The food was good and the train super clean and super fast. As the train criss crossed through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, the eight hour long day journey felt seemingly small. We reached in the afternoon, on the day before the race day. Did the ritual of visiting the race expo, bib collection, hanging around sports booths.
Upon checking in at the hotel, it was already evening. So even if I had any plans of sight seeing or shopping, I could not. So the evening culminated in a light South Indian dinner at Minerva Café. I was back at the hotel and in bed at 8.30 PM. After unpacking for race day and keeping my race gear* etc ready. Yes! At 9 PM I was asleep. Of course, one can blame the residual jet lag in my system for such early bed time. Nonetheless, I was asleep soon and woke up at 3.30 AM. 6-6.5 hours of sleep before a race has been a never before event in my running life. That itself was exciting enough. I was ready by 4.30 AM and done with one round of light breakfast of banana, some black tea, 2 marie biscuits and 2 glasses of water.
We left hotel at 5.20 AM. Because I had so much water I had to clear it out as well, and I spent 10 anxious minutes in the toilet line, just before the event. By the time we made it to the runners assembly area, it was crowded beyond imagination. We tried to sneak in with 'Excuse Me's and shoves and pushes, but could only make some progress. As the balloons went off and the race was flagged off, it took us 3-4 minutes to get to the start point. So the initial jitters of starting the race properly, were practically non existent. We were too worried about getting pushed to the start line.
Once the race started, it dawned on me that I had not made any plans. I had just shown up with enough regular runs in my pocket. One more thing I should clarify here. I ran in the US for a month prior to the race. Due to some magic (running gods must be happy with me!), my running speeds had improved tremendously there.
When I returned, I was worried how this would impact my race day. Weather and temperature are a huge factor in determining how you feel during a run. Keeping that in mind from last year's fiasco at Hyderabad, I felt I was prepared for any kind of drastic weather change. This was another reason, I had no particular plan for #AHM.
Around 4-5 km when everyone had found their comfort zone and the roads had cleared a bit, I spotted a 2.30 hour half marathon bus. The pacer looked familiar (he was from Pune) so I felt like joining him. One good outcome of this decision was, I ended up running in my comfort zone of 6.30-6.45 mins/km for the most distance. I did not push myself too hard to run faster and hence prevented a burn out. I also felt amazingly in control most of the time during the run. To quote every runner 'I was enjoying the run'. One flyover turned into another, one uphill turned into another but I did not feel like stopping or giving up. Despite blisters starting to form on my soles of both feet. I had never experienced this before. After 5-6 km, there was this weird burning sensation of the soles and it never quite went away.
I just ran. Never minding the pain or discomfort. This is how pain feels like, I told myself.
Around 17km, when the last uphill leg of the half marathon route started, I felt a bit tired. I told the pacer I wanted to walk. We still had 30 good minutes buffer to cover the 4 km and finish race before the 2 hour 30 mark. He kept on pushing me and making me feel comfortable by giving me illusive goals of 'just few more steps', 'just that banner', 'just that bend'. I did listen to him! When we entered the last 500 meters, I somehow got ahead of the bus and finished the race in 2 hours 22 mins.
I waited and waited for the pacer and his bus to show up but could not find him to convey my thanks, in the sea of people ->
And if you like to travel, its an added bonus. With or without trains.
For this year's version of the #AHM, I registered for the half marathon. AGAIN. As if going through last year's ordeal was not enough. But snarky comments on my decision making aside, I wanted to run in Hyderabad by correcting a few wrongs on my end and see if it affected how I felt post run.
I'll list down the things I felt I did wrong last year, considering my overall fitness at that point:
1. Traveled around the city on Saturday in blazing heat, in a bus, in auto, on foot.
2. Ate food without due consideration for the race next day.
3. Wore clothes in which I had not practiced before.
4. Slept at 12 in the night and got up at 3.30 am on race day. ie insufficient sleep
This time I took the Shatabdi from Pune to Hyderabad, along with a bunch of other runners. I loved the Shatabdi experience! The food was good and the train super clean and super fast. As the train criss crossed through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, the eight hour long day journey felt seemingly small. We reached in the afternoon, on the day before the race day. Did the ritual of visiting the race expo, bib collection, hanging around sports booths.
Upon checking in at the hotel, it was already evening. So even if I had any plans of sight seeing or shopping, I could not. So the evening culminated in a light South Indian dinner at Minerva Café. I was back at the hotel and in bed at 8.30 PM. After unpacking for race day and keeping my race gear* etc ready. Yes! At 9 PM I was asleep. Of course, one can blame the residual jet lag in my system for such early bed time. Nonetheless, I was asleep soon and woke up at 3.30 AM. 6-6.5 hours of sleep before a race has been a never before event in my running life. That itself was exciting enough. I was ready by 4.30 AM and done with one round of light breakfast of banana, some black tea, 2 marie biscuits and 2 glasses of water.
We left hotel at 5.20 AM. Because I had so much water I had to clear it out as well, and I spent 10 anxious minutes in the toilet line, just before the event. By the time we made it to the runners assembly area, it was crowded beyond imagination. We tried to sneak in with 'Excuse Me's and shoves and pushes, but could only make some progress. As the balloons went off and the race was flagged off, it took us 3-4 minutes to get to the start point. So the initial jitters of starting the race properly, were practically non existent. We were too worried about getting pushed to the start line.
Once the race started, it dawned on me that I had not made any plans. I had just shown up with enough regular runs in my pocket. One more thing I should clarify here. I ran in the US for a month prior to the race. Due to some magic (running gods must be happy with me!), my running speeds had improved tremendously there.
When I returned, I was worried how this would impact my race day. Weather and temperature are a huge factor in determining how you feel during a run. Keeping that in mind from last year's fiasco at Hyderabad, I felt I was prepared for any kind of drastic weather change. This was another reason, I had no particular plan for #AHM.
Around 4-5 km when everyone had found their comfort zone and the roads had cleared a bit, I spotted a 2.30 hour half marathon bus. The pacer looked familiar (he was from Pune) so I felt like joining him. One good outcome of this decision was, I ended up running in my comfort zone of 6.30-6.45 mins/km for the most distance. I did not push myself too hard to run faster and hence prevented a burn out. I also felt amazingly in control most of the time during the run. To quote every runner 'I was enjoying the run'. One flyover turned into another, one uphill turned into another but I did not feel like stopping or giving up. Despite blisters starting to form on my soles of both feet. I had never experienced this before. After 5-6 km, there was this weird burning sensation of the soles and it never quite went away.
I just ran. Never minding the pain or discomfort. This is how pain feels like, I told myself.
Around 17km, when the last uphill leg of the half marathon route started, I felt a bit tired. I told the pacer I wanted to walk. We still had 30 good minutes buffer to cover the 4 km and finish race before the 2 hour 30 mark. He kept on pushing me and making me feel comfortable by giving me illusive goals of 'just few more steps', 'just that banner', 'just that bend'. I did listen to him! When we entered the last 500 meters, I somehow got ahead of the bus and finished the race in 2 hours 22 mins.
I waited and waited for the pacer and his bus to show up but could not find him to convey my thanks, in the sea of people ->
 |
| there is no such thing as too many people! |
[When I told this story to a few friends later, they laughed at me saying I must have imagined this 'pacer'! Of course, I did not.]
I was extremely satisfied and satiated post run. I got out of the daze to sit on the nearby lawn and removed my shoes. The touch of the grass to my blistered feet, is how heaven must feel like, I wanted to tell someone. I was smiling like a fool with that realization.
Contrary to all my previous race experiences, I ran this one without any specific goals and outcomes in mind. I was the most happy by the end of it. I think there is some hidden life lesson here. But I am going to let it go and try to learn during next race. May be ?
* I had practiced in my race day clothes on long runs during training. Since I sweat profusely while running, I was aware of what to expect in these clothes during the humid, hot run in hyderabad.