Getting past 21 Kms

My tryst with 21 Kms (add 0.097 if you are a purist) turned out to be fairly cordial after all. 2 hours 25 minutes for a Half Marathon is not exactly reason to set one's sights on the next Olympics but for a rookie who was unsure of finishing within the prescribed 3 hours, the result was satisfactory enough. Could've shaved off about 10 minutes from that time, though, for reasons that I will cover in the following post-run rumination. Please note that these are some very amateurish observations about how to get the best out of your first half-marathon in particular the Mumbai event. Keep some salt handy!

Training - If you are used to running 8-10 KMs (as I was), about a month should be enough to help you across the finishing line. That means about 4-5 runs which should go something like 10-12-15-18-21 Kms. Avoind running longer distances less than 5 days apart. If you're unused to distance running of any kind about 3 months should get you there if you can stick to your routine. Hit the treadmill 3-4 times a week and work your way upto 5 Kms by the end of the first month - try and run continuously even if it very slowly. Once you are confident about tackling 5+ Kms, go on to the road and gradually increase the distance - say, 1-2Kms after every run. As above, try and run without stopping/walking. Make sure you carry water or reward yourself with a short water break in the middle. Take your car down the route to mark out the milestones if you don't have a pedometer.

The week before the race - Your last run should ideally be between 5 and 7 days before the event. 21 Kms put a lot of pressure on your legs and rest days are important to help your muscles recover. I pushed it a bit by doing my last run just 3 days ahead of the actual race and I must say it was a close thing - the soreness did not go away until the evening before...Take a couple of days after the last trial run and do some light jogging/distance walking upto a day before the event. Rest completely the day before.

Trial Run - Very important for confidence building in my opinion. Make sure you know the route exactly - get into the clothes you propose to wear for the main event and start at the prescribed time or maybe by half an hour to make sure you are used to the sun. If you have the luxury, it would be a good idea to make this your penultimate one before the marathon itself - the last one should ideally be a shorter run of 12-15 Kms.

Gear - Start with the shoes obviously and please don't save those sparkling Nikes for D-day. Sure, you'll a lot of attention but that certi may be lost to shoebites! Needless to say, it is worth investing in a good pair - this does not necessairly mean that you have to splurge on the latest gizmos that generates charts of how many times your backside jiggled during the run. A fucntional watch will do - and a pedometer if you can get hold of one. Spend the rest on good beer. Most importtanly, make suer your laces last the distance - there's nothing more frustrating than losing the momentum of the home run to tangled laces! Yes, this happened to me and it took all my patience to keep me from tearing out my hair...

Diet - The advice I got before the marathon was to lose as much weight as possible which seemed logical enough - the lower the Kgs you need to lug around, the better, I reasoned. However an experienced friend told me that this conveniently ignored "supply side factors" as economists would put it! Your body is giong to need a helluva lot of carbs if it is going to take you anywhere near the finish line. Beside the training schedule itself would generate significant calorific requirements. So stock up on bread, roti, pasta, potatoes and so on. Go easy on proteins though. And remember to drink lots of water starting from about 3 days before the event.

Make sure you ge the "chip" - For an extra 200 bucks you get a chip that lets the organizers measure your timing and put in on the certificate. This is something I wasn't aware of myself. As an afterthought, please do go through the Marathon website in detail well advance - there's always a little piece of information that turns out to be useful later on.

Race Day - Get in early and do some mild stertching, if you must. You'll see a lot of folk jumping around - ignore them - you wanna save your energy and you can always use the first half Km to limber up. If you're taking a cab get off at Metro rather than at VT. You'll save yourself a 2 Km walk which is not the wisest way to conserve your resources.

What to take - Nothing really, other than your bib. They have locker facilities but believe me, it's not going to be fun waiting for the blokes at the counter to fish out your bag while you're dying to get a nice shower at home! Remember that you won't get anything to eat on the route and that your stomach will start growling by the time you're pushing 1K calories - dry fruits are ideal but chewing them can be an effort - cashews are better than almonds. Get salted ones since they can be an important salt supplement. I've been told that chocolates aren't good for your stamina but they work for me. Open the wrapper before you start - it will get a little gooey but that's better than trying to open it while you're on the move.

Calls of Nature - Perhaps the stupidest way to go out of a Marathon is to head home to the loo! yest, this is not an entirely improbable situation especially if you're not one of those bright ones who start their day at 5. You'll need to reach the venue by about 6 which means that should be able to...err...exercise your digestive system by 5. Once again, the key is to train - if dogs can learn, so can you! Start the routine at least a week before the event. Have bananas and lots of water the night before...and strong coffee in the morning. Pee pee pausers are more easily managed - there are facilities along the way. But yours truly lost 5 minutes thanks to milling crowds outside a cramped urinal with was operating at 200% capacity! I should've just continued running - you lose a lot of water while you're running - the hydrological imbalance tends to reverse itself very shortly!

Race Strategy - Start inching your way to the beginning of the "holding area". This is over half a Km long and if you lag behind, like I did, you will add this distance to your already intimidating run besides which, you'll get stuck in the middle of a huge crowd much of which will be ambling along. It was 5 minutes before I could get to the starting point - sneak up as close as possible to the start line and clear away from the crowds with a strong kick off.

The stretch from VT to Kemp's corner is mostly flat - make use of the mild temperature and your fresh muscles to get a good start. You'll also get away from the masses that way. There is a temptation to slow down here to prevent early exhaustion - this is pretty much what I did. Judging your limits is easier said than done but push yourself a bit on this one. Slow down to just over walking distance once you hit the fly-over across Kemp's Corner and onto Peddar Road until HSBC. You'll hit a huge slope that goes all the way to Haji Ali - go for it on this stretch...just throw yourself down the slope! Get back to a good trot around the Half Marathon turn at Mela restaurant.

Do not stretch yourself too much beyond Haji Ali although it is fairly flat, for coming up nest, is the most notorious stretch of the Mumbai half marathon - going back up Peddar Road has proved to be the end of many a Marathon dream! If you make it past this one, chances are you will complete the race. Keep yourself going - it is a good idea to munch something and have a good drink before you start this stretch but throw away the bottle after having a gulp or two - you'll need all your energy to get past this one!

Sprint down as above once you reach HSBC although it is going to be a rather tired effort as compared to the way up! Once you turn the corner into Chowpatty, you'll find yourself gasping at the strength of the sun - this is also the time that your knees start creaking. Remind yourself that you only at 25% of the route to complete, stick to the left, away from the beach to catch the shadow from the buildigns, and work up a consistent pace. Distract yourself with occasional bites of chocolate and pat yourself on the back everytime you cross a milestone. You may forget to drink enough water - if you look at your arms, you'll find that they have stopped sweating! This can be dagerous - grab a bottle eveytime you see one.

When you turn left from Pizzeria, you should start your build up to the finish. Keep accelrating until Flora Fountain - unless you are completely exhausted, make a dash for the finish line. It does not matter that you are 2547th at the finish line - what matters is that you've done the best you could. It was sad to see so many people walking up to the finish line. Even if you've had a bad race, make something of it with a strong finish. Make sure you stretch well and have lots of water once you are through.

Generally speaking, try to run in a straight line and avoid snaking around the road - this could add a considerable mileage to the total distance. Observe the curve of the road - especially in the Chowpatty and Haji Ali stretches and stick to the "inner line".

Now for some cribs and general impressions about the marathon itself:

Although security concerns were on top of everyone's minds, it was probably not necessary to make the entrance process remind one of getting into a Mumbai local. There was just one narrow gate through which participants had to pass. With so many policemen on duty, surely a few more gates could have been opened.

Refreshments - Water was generally plentiful but there was hardly any snacks except for some biscuits that some good samaritans had brought along. The promised energy drinks were available only at 1-2 places. If keeping costs under control was the reason, surely the organizers could have, instead, done away with the meaningless bunch of cosmetics that came along with the goody bag.

Message bearers and the morning walkers - While running etiquette was generally good, there were these folks who carried huge banners - some with loaded political messages, others with advertisements - often clocking a large cross section of the road. Then there were these groups belonging to some cultural organization or the other, walking in a human chain across the road!

Official clocks - I don't normally wear a watch and it was fortunate that I happened to be carrying one for there were no clocks other than at the start/finish line!

Overall, though, I had a great time training for, and running, the marathon. It enables a sort of bonding with the city in a way that few others events can. It was great to see folks come out to cheer the runners up and hand out stuff to eat and drink. Hats off to you guys!