Journeys Explored

Sunday, March 20, 2011 | Posted by Ankur

Before my thoughts get off in oblivion, I thought maybe I need to jot down my journey to my first full marathon. I always wanted to run a marathon but never followed any plan or training. Just out of curiosity, I registered for the full marathon way back in August’10. Doesn’t 42 sound small, may be or may be not? But when you go out and run, you know it for yourself! And I know it now, why marathon is called the Marathon!

Well, I started running kind of consistently from May’10 onwards though it was never as training for any event. Running for me came as an element that aligned my routine!

As for practice and so also for fun, I ran Pune & Goa half marathons apart from a 31k practice run in Mahabaleshwar. No doubt the magnitude of full marathon is what makes it so surreal.  Marathon is not just about the day of marathon but the result of days’ practice piled up till M-day. And Marathon is the best way to understand that results come only after consistent effort for substantial amount of time.

Rewinding back to the day before marathon... I along with a great runner friend Dhaval reached Goregaon after collecting all the bibs and jazz. Yes, ‘jazz’ why? For a double or triple dozen goodies that were handed over to runners included chat masala, a couple of other to-cook products such as noodles. Wonder whether M’bai marathon organizers have tied up with dieticians to come up with new research- spices & masalas are nutritious for runners! ;) Someone please help out dear sponsors to have better marketing strategies next year. Pre-marathon pasta was due; no way could I have missed it. Did had pasta and followed by amazing Gujarati dinner before finally dozing off.

The D Day was good. We reached reasonably early. Meet loads of friends both from Pune and Mumbai alike. I love the atmosphere at marathon start, so much energy buzzing around, WOOW.. before the actual ‘suffer-fest’ starts..! :O

Ran pretty good until I guess 27-30k, after which sun, concrete surface, humidity, Bandra Worli sea link climb, all started to test me real hard! Really don’t have any count of no. of Gatorades, water bottles, ice packs, relly spray I might have consumed! Rather than recalling my hard run I would list out what went wrong...

So, here’s some Learning I would like to note for myself or someone who care any....

- Shoe's your Darling:

Wear a shoe which you use while practicing. Make sure the size of shoe is bit bigger than your actual foot size since your foot swells after running a couple of miles. Went adventurous with different kind of shoe, not the one I usually use for runs and Suffering was very much evident. Not necessary to go for an expensive running shoe if you’re not up for but just make sure, there’s proper ventilation and space allowing your foot to settle in case it swells. Obviously considering that you don't run barefoot!

- Rest is Game Changer:

 Don’t tire yourself the evening before the marathon. I was busy searching the streets of Mumbai for a specific dry fit cap all evening, Ohh Crap!

- Surface speaks:

 Practice on the surface, be it concrete, tar or dirt track, where the marathon is planned to be. Especially, be careful of concrete surface for it hits pretty hard while at the same time it radiates heat on rather sunny day.

- Lastly and most Imp:

Practice, Practice & Practice! Also build the knees strong. Try core exercises, yoga etc!

So, finally I did completed my first marathon, a total of 42.195 km in 5:49:03, dismissal timing though! Yet, I did it and must say it’s GREAT FEELING! Do it to know it, I say..

Lastly, I must thank all the Mumbaikars not just the organizers but the rock bands, civil people who came to streets to cheer us up...  I WOULD RUN MUMBAI MARATHON JUST FOR THAT BUZZ & ENERGY OF MUMBAIKARS, firstly and only then for the Superb Early Morning Views of Bandra-Worli Sea-link and Marine Drive! And thanks a lot Nitin to help me, a partial handicap then, get back from Mumbai post-marathon!

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Tuesday, January 04, 2011 | Posted by Ankur

1-1.1.11? What's this number crunching all about?
May I ask you to trigger those mathematical tit-bits you learnt back in school days? No not much though! :) Well, before you are really bugged with all 1's-0's & symbols, let me go straight...

As 2010 evolved over into 2011...

• On the very new day 1.1.11 of 11 year of this century,
• I thought of Bidding Adieu to the Strong year & the Happening Decade ending on the Last Day -31st of Dec,
• Pitching my 1st Strong Run on 1.1.11
• Running exactly 11111k(binary equivalent of 31). Yes, its 31kms!

"Running at places makes you go places...!" I don't know how, but it indeed does whether literally or otherwise! No wonder I have loved running on diverse terrains involving different challenges! And why not, all the runs at places be it -Auroville, Goa, Pune or now Mahabaleshwar - have left out colorful & unique memories coupled up with wonderful learnings! Reminds me of Ignite presentation "Travelling the Different Way" that I gave in Feb'10! Lived it somewhat...!:)


Looking exactly an year ago, I did the Strawberry Ride around the same time last new year and carrying on with the tradition, I thought why not jolt out a Strawberry Run this time! So, here it was the run from Panchgani to Mahabaleshwar and back to Pachgani, a total of around 31kms!

I & Sushil, a seasoned runner, started off the run around quarter to 10 after reaching Panchgani the same early morning on motorbike! Only thing I'd like to say about motorbike ride- it was freaking 'CHILLING-COLD' that morning & all I remember is my glove-less hands were Numb holding the straight bars of motorbike! 


Eventually after reaching Panchgani, we started off the run a little ahead from the main market at 9:52:15 am, keeping little targets mapped at Mapro, then Venna Lake. The road runs through the continuous tree canopy. Thereby, despite starting quite late, heat didn't really bother much. After negotiating a couple of climbs, we passed through the point of Mapro Garden, a popular strawberry resort, by 10:35:30. Tourist season being at peak, traffic was really heavy! Running down under a speedy SUV could have been a probable sight but given that we took up right side running alike right side driving of Europe, we gave ourselves more chances! ;) The straight route with umpteenth no. of gradual climbs & slopes goes on until the climax uphill just prior to Venna lake. Had chucked up 16kms  in around quarter to 3 hours by then. Given the tourist season, lakeside had turned out to be another chowpatty with loads of food stalls apart from regular boating. Realizing the shortage of drinking water, we made a quick water purchase & started off the back journey to Panchgani.


Though the route was same all throughout while running back to Panchgani, parameters were turning fatal. Noon Sun being at head, it's always a task! Further on with the day progressing on, tourists had started pouring heavily giving rise to hefty traffic & little space to run. Plus, as per my 21k experience, I'd never really felt any need for enough energy bars but for that day esp post 25km! May be couple more of those might have helped! Though we carried on the run, my strides reduced minimal to the extent that walking could have been faster.Considering Mbai full marathon 2 weeks from then, I deliberately eased the run rather than exerting much. Finally after a grind of 4 hrs my first strong run of 1.1.11 got a (period).


Well, talking about 0's - 1's, I m again stranded on the theory of 1's & 0's! Say white or black, say full or empty, say audible or mute! Wonder whether any characteristic is a variant of just two extremes or simply one of the varieties of different extremes ?? Leaving you all to ponder on... and add on to your platter...


W1SH1N9 Y0U A11 A H1GH N0T3 F0R TH3 SP3C1A1 Y3AR 0F 2011.... :D

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Friday, December 24, 2010 | Posted by Ankur

► ►Moving ahead Ups n Downs,

~~~~ With the Calm sea Waters by the Side,

And Cheery birds by the Fresh morning skies,

>>>> Ran Ahead I.......

♪♪  ♫ Spicing with wonder Goan musik,

~~~~ With fabulous flavor of support,

Taste of 21 was nothing less than a curry!

♣ ♣   Was it really just a run,

☼ ☼ Wonder I wonder...

-wrote while travelling back from one & only one Goa of India completing Goa River Half Marathon!!!

With a couple of other engagements and constraints hovering all around, giving Goa River Marathon a miss was all on my mind. But do you really it's that easy? Or rather not going would have helped me any better..No..straight NO..reason being a year is too long a time for me to wait for such an exclusive running event in "Goa" ! Yielding to temptation was the only way to get past it, I realized! :O So, there I got registered for Goa River Marathon on the last day.

While Sri & Meena had reached a day earlier, I joined them up later. We settled up in Margao before actually venturing out. Although I was all abuzz about the happenings & places-to-visit in Goa- all thanks to our friends & fellow passengers I met en-journey, we didn't really cram out any exhaustive plan whatsoever. After collecting the marathon bibs & tee at Vasco, we then ventured over to Majorda! Do I need to mention anything beyond,,,Goa & its beaches...Woaahh! Goa is such a lively and colorful place that it can make the saddest of saddest alive to dance to its tunes(pun intended)! Went on ahead to Colva beach  and snapped a deal of  200/- per head for short round of parasailing. Further on realizing the time and preparations required for next day marathon, we dropped down the plan for Paloleum beach, another beach off south. Finally after a day abuzzed with Goan flavor, we were back to the rest place in Margao. A curd rice and there the pre-marathon-desi-dinner was checked! Enough Carbo-loading, I guess!:O Don't know but when there seems not much option, curd rice is the safest bet! With all the jerseys, bibs, shorts and shoes and time-chips all around, the exciting & enthusiastic fever of marathon was already picking up that night!:)

After whole lots of preparation, riding as early as 5, we drove through pitch dark chilly winter-y mornings of Goa all the way to marathon start point! The day was 19^th Dec, Goa Liberation Day! Starting point being at Baina beach, the cool breeze all the way from the Arabian Sea, welcomed the enthusiastic runners from almost all the major cities of India. Well, why would one miss running at Goa in the month of Dec?! I wonder!! Runners - Pros & Amateurs alike  (around 200 participated for half marathon event) could be seen stretching & warming up just by the backyard of beach surrounded by bunch of coconut trees. Well, after having my traditional date-feast (khajoor!), I was all set..!!!

An early morning start, cool breeze, birds chirping around, low humidity levels, lovely music bands, ever so enthusiastic volunteers & last but not the least flock of energetic runners summed up for an awesome start to the half marathon! Well, if the start point, being the beach, was so captivating, wonder how the route would be? From Baina beach onwards, all along the Zuari River, went on the route. For the first couple of miles, run went on all through the otherwise sleepy town of Mormugoa. Further on,  a couple of climbs and descends added to the flavor of route while Zurari river made up a for lovely viewpoint all along the left side. As for 21k, we were supposed to do 10.5k forward and then back 10.5k to the initial position. So, every climb was a slope turned on the back journey! Though my start went out a little slow, I picked the pace post 10k, possibly because I didnt really warm-up initially. 


As for the support, Mobile Toilet booths were placed at couple of locations while water stations were put up every 3 km or so. Kudos for organizing such a wonderful event to RunnerforLife team. And Goan folks for making it so special for us even on a rather lazy Sunday morning!


Eventually, I got my personal best performance till date of 1:58:09 for 21k. Really felt good to have achieved sub-2 goal.

Further on, we went around to Don Paula beach thats closer to Panaji. Met a friend from Ladakh tour before it was time to return my rented bike & resign back home!

I bid adieu to this lively & colorful Goa only on a note to myself that I'll be back soon......very soon!!!:)

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