First of all - Happy New Year everyone! I've been MIA on Golden Sparkles for a while!
For those of you who knew and those who did not, I ran the Half marathon at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon on 15 Jan 2012. I finished the grueling 21 KMs in a time of 3:04:55. I do wish I finished it within the 3 hour mark so I could get the timing certificate, however, it does not take away the fact that I'm basking in the glory of this personal achievement.
Those of you who follow my blog regularly, would remember I blogged about running this marathon last year when I registered. I did not know then how I'd do it considering the physical state I was in, though the vision was clear. And hence I want to share why this achievement is so emotionally sweet.
For the longest time, I've wanted to run. I'd always thought I'd have the stamina to do it, after all, I could handle the intense workouts at Mickey Mehta's for 2 years! However, whenever I ran, I had trouble. A minute into a steady jog, I'd be out of breath and 2 mins into it, I'd feel the need for an ambulance. Very bizarre considering my fitness levels. The last few months saw me going from being disciplined to being really lazy about fitness and it instantly showed on my body. The weight gain apart, it was disheartening to see how I went from having good health to falling sick often.
So I took matters in my hands again in May 2011 and by the time it was Sep 2011, not only had I knocked off the weight, but I was superbly fit. I had already started training for the marathon then and was able to jog/walk a few kms. And then disaster struck - I had a nasty fall on a slippery bathroom floor, not surprising, it was around the second anniversary of the fall I had when I shattered my nose. I spent a week in shock and agony and the pain worsened with travels by auto rickshaw. I tried to continue gymming and failed and spent the next 3 months doing nothing but agonize about the state my back was in. I tried the occasional run and ran every sunday for 4 weeks at Marine drive. Then gave that up too.
Come mid-Dec, I started having doubts about running the half marathon. I decided to get back to my gym and hit the machines with a vengeance. 5 weeks see me lose hardly any weight, though it saw me gain muscle. And stamina! 13 days before D-day, I started doing 150 squats a day with jogs. All I focused on was strengthening my thighs. I have a weak ankle having twisted it a few times thanks to my clumsiness, so I knew I could not depend on it too much. A diet plan that I "kind-of" stuck to also helped and on Jan 8, 2012, I ran the Powai marathon as a pre-cursor to the half marathon. I did 5 KMs effortlessly in good time. I was happy and then my feet suddenly developed blisters. My run/jog was cut off completely and I limped the last 5 Kms to finish. I came back unhappy and very worried. How would I do 21 Kms in a week, nursing blistered feet, a weak ankle and knees that like to swell up every time I ran? I continued training hard for the next 6 days and I hardly slept the night before the marathon. This was a big thing in my head. This was my own personal desire and now it was going to be a battle with myself that I had to win. And I did win this battle. And here's what worked:
1. I had a fantastic support system - a friend at work who inspired me and pushed and encouraged me for the past few months. Commended me when I got back into great shape last year, empathized with me when I had my injury, slowly encouraged and pushed me by setting an example himself. I owe him my running spirit and enthusiasm.
2. Just after the Powai run, a friend of mine who is an athlete and long distance runner, called me up from the USA when I sent him an SOS email on facebook. Gave me tips and tricks to handle blisters, improve my running form and simply set an example himself. I've always been in awe of his physical fitness levels and how he has always pushed himself to doing impossible things with his craze for fitness.
3. Put into action my learnings from my spiritual teacher and Guru, Prasad sir - I've had 2 years of intense learnings under his supervision and it I was putting that learning to good use! He has set a huge benchmark for me, is one of my biggest inspirations and has always pushed his students to believe in a lot more than they think they are capable of.
4. Internalize and visualize - I had images of me running, happy and carefree, of hearing pounding feet and sharp intakes of breath and I had a visual of me crossing the finish line at the marathon. I kept that vision alive the last few months, I reveled in that vision.
5. Spoke to friends and family - when you have a vision, a dream to do something, you talk about it with people you know will support you. All I can say is that I've been humbled by the support and love I've got from people who love me.
6. Believe - I believed I could do it - its simple, its only mind over matter. I woke up at 4.15 AM on Sunday, Jan 15, believing in myself, believing that I will rise over my physical body limitations, believing that I have wanted to do something desperately and it was a matter of Do or Die for me. Die I do not want to, so only thing left was DO!
I had wishes, blessings, love, gratitude, confidence, my teacher's support and his teachings. I ran, jogged, walked, stumbled and the last 2.5 Kms crawled to that Finish line. I crossed with my heart thudding hard, sweating like a man, panting like a dog, knees and ankles killing me beyond belief.
As someone quoted, "Keep the faith, don't lose your perseverance and always trust your gut instinct"; I feel proud of my achievement and of the woman that I am!
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| Medal after completing the half marathon |
