Delhi Half Marathon 2009 (21k): 1hr 52mts

Attempting a half marathon within two weeks of a Full Marathon is a big challenge, well atleast at my level. There are always possibilities of injuries. Delhi has been hosting Half marathon event for last 5 years. This was my fourth consecutive participation in Delhi Half Marathon. Organiser claim this event to be the richest Half Marathon event of Asia. A very interesting claim, considering that this is a sport interest has arisen very recently, in our country. A participation of almost 30,000 people is high by any standards. Some 10,000 runners did the 21k and another 19,000 participated in 7k. Arrangements during the run are world class. Preparing of this run was a different experience, as I was just through with a 42k two weeks back. Rather it was more of recovery focussed strategy, doing only small distances at leisure speeds, termed as 'active rest' in long distance running parlance.

1st Nov, 2009, 7:30 am, Nehru Park: Each year the fanfare increases in this event. You come across a lot of first timers, vocal about their apprehensions. One runners was heard enquiring on what should he do if he realises that he cannot do more than 10k. Some smart guy told him to walk back the same distance to start line! The weather was good, with temperature hovering around 18 degree. As the race started, I dodged across the runners. I had a time target in mind. From the Nehru park, course head towards Lodhi Garden. Its only on foot that you can appreciate the beauty of this city. Wide and flat roads, adorned by trees on both sides give a good feeling. I finished the first 5k in 25mts 15sec.

6k-10k: 26mts 20sec: The next leg was from on the Prithvi raj road. I was running at a good pace and kilometer marks were zipping past. There was one big change I noticed this time around. A few local rock/metal groups were positioned on key places, belting out popular number Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones, Shankar Ehsan Loy, U2. Some of them were really good, making the journey to finish line more interesting. My leg were feeling strong and I was going as per the plan.

11k-15k: 27mts 48sec: This leg takes us to Rajpath leading to Rashtrapati Bhavan. The moment you turn left from India gate, towards the residence of President, view is amazing. The road as straight as it can be elevating far ahead, giving a glimpse of the majestic building. I have grown up seeing this sight, but it never seizes to amaze me. At around 13k, I started having pain in my right knee. A four year old pain, which was resurfacing. I reduced the length of my strides, as I did not want to put more stress on the knees. There are some interesting runs lined up. This race was won by Derbia Merga from Ethiopia in 59:54, for second consecutive year.

16k-21k: 32mts 37sec: At around 17k, I had lost the pace because of the pain in my knee as I was very cautious not to over exert the knee. The weather was still good for running, As we kept approaching the finishing line, intensity of music, cheering also increased. Fortunately, with the change in running style my knee pain subsided by 18k. But I was in no mood to sprint. I crossed the finishing line in comfortable time of 1hr 52mts. But the race was still not finished for me. My much inspired sister was attempting her first ever 7k run. The 7k race started the time I had finished my run. Immediately after finishing my run, I joined her in 7k race to pep her up. Frankly, I had vested interest in it. As per the plan, she was to drop me back to the airport directly after the race and I wanted to be sure that she does not faint somewhere and also that she finishes the race in good time. Well, she did finish it comfortably and she did drop me to the airport. I guess my race finished only when I sat in the plane, took off my shoes, closed my eyes, putting my body in auto recovery mode. So as Jimi Hendrix says, ' Excuse me, while I kiss the sky......'.

Amsterdam Marathon (42k) : 4hrs 50mts

"What gets me back on the track to run 42 km, or what wakes me up on a fine Sunday morning, to do 70k to 80k of cycling, I don't know. But I surely would want to do more of it, till my will and body permits". These thoughts crossed my mind, as the plane soared into the sky, towards Amsterdam, the capital city of Holland. This was my fifth Full marathon. Amsterdam has been hosting marathon for last 33 years. It is considered as one of the top 10 marathons of the world (2/10 done, 8/10 to go). The beauty of canals and typical Dutch houses around these canals, tulip gardens, can take the breath away. If that is not enough, the race starts from the Grand Stadium that was built in 1928 to host the Olympics. The magnanimity of entire place leaves you in an awe. For statistics, Olympic Flame was lit for the first time and India had won its first ever gold in hockey in these Olympics.

18th Oct, 2009:10:30 am, Olympic Stadium: In cold countries, races start very late compared to tropical countries where start time is around 6am. There was a participation of 30,000 runners in all categories, while 42k comprised of 9000 runners. Outside the stadium, flags of 60 odd countries were put up, because there were participants from all these countries. I searched for it,. Yes, it had to be there, the tri colored flag fluttering in the wind. A temperature of 10 degree and some cold winds had forced me to buy an extra running top to keep the body warm. Race started in staggering time. No matter how any runs one has done, a distance of 42k is so long that you always start from the scratch. Runners took on the streets of Amsterdam. The first 10k took us through one of the greenest patch of city, the Vondelpark. Small canals, gardens , numerous trees made the scene look so perfect. This stretch also saw us pass through Rijksmuseum and Van Gough Museum, which house some of the most recognised paintings in the world, The Sunflower and The Night Watch, by Van Gogh and Rembrandt, respectively. Each of these paintings would cost millions of dollars. The city of Amsterdam is very small (219 sq km with a population of 8 lacs only). After the loop of 10k, we headed towards the country side. I finished the first 10k leg in 55mts 47sec.

11k-20k, 1:00:37: I was maintaining a speed of 12k/h, which I normally do in a 21k. I guess a bit of inexperience showed up here. I undermined the efforts that would be required after 25k. At 18k I did slow down a bit, but I guess, the body resources were already reducing. If city was beautiful, the country side was amazing. A small road ran right through, with the Amstel river on left, and beautiful cottage houses with lovely garden and driveways on the right. This followed by green farmlands, aesthetically divided in square shapes, randomly studded with grazing sheep and cows. As we continued running along the Amstel river. there were a few groups rowing in the river and interestingly the group comprised only of middle aged women. No wonder, Dutch have a very strong sports culture. After a point, we took a U-turn over a bridge and headed back towards city. It was a bit hot and I was sweating for the first time.

21k-30k, 1:13:57: I term this stretch of 21k to 30k as the dark phase. Runners have already covered a lot of distance, yet the finishing line is far away and running tends to get very mundane. This is the time when minds starts to play games. Stretch of Amstel river continued almost till 28k. The weather was getting a bit cold again. There were excellent arrangements of water, energy drinks, fruits though out the course, at every 5km. While I had touched 22km, the race was won by a debutante, 21 year old Kenyan, Gilbet Yegon in 2hr 6 mts, improving the course time by 1 second. Over two and half hours into the run, I was having major hunger pangs. It was around 1:00 pm in Amsterdam, but was beyond meal time as per my body cycle (4:30 pm IST). I had not had a proper meal since morning. Moreover, I had been up by 4:30 am local time, not because of excitement, but more due to time difference. At one of the replenishment station, I literally gobbled up on bananas. My speed had slowed down and ankles had started hurting by now. I really wanted to finish the race as fast as possible. This stretch saw us pass through more of commercial buildings.

31k-40k, 1:23:29: Crossing 30k mark is like passing one mental barrier. The remaining stretch saw us run along the canal till 38k mark. There are over a hundred kilometers of canals in the city, adorned by 1500 bridges. With ankles and knees hurting mad, the beauty of houses across the canals seemed a bit diminished. No practice is ever enough. I had worked on lot on my muscles and weighed some 4kg less than what I weighed in my last marathon (Dec'8, Singapore). Even then, the condition was just getting worst. There were lot of people cheering and pushing the runners. As I reached the 35km mark, I had enough of bananas, energy drink and power gel that another sweet thing in my mouth and I would have thrown up. My body was craving for salt. Temperature had dipped again and cold winds had started blowing. We entered the Vondelpark again. One common aspect of European cities is that in the name of development, Local bodies have not compromised on the quality of life of denizens. Space for cycles, pedestrians are clearly marked. There are about a million cycles in Amsterdam, which more than the city population.

As I touched the 40k mark, I got back my energy, and pain in legs didn't matter any more. Best part of the race was yet to come. We raced toward the gate of Olympic stadium and as we entered the arena, the place was full of hundreds of people cheering loudly. We ran the last lap on the tracks. Only thing I could feel was the goose pimples. I crossed the finishing line at 4hr 50mts, 10 mts better than my best time. In quantitative terms, Marathon runners burn some 2500kcal - 3000kcal in entire run, something unheard of in a country where cricket is considered to be strenuous sport. It takes weeks to recover from the micro stress and tears. Mind screams when I think of putting on the shoes for another run, but I guess taking it to another level, that's the fun!