Running Experience 3: Adding new experiences and moving a step towards Full Marathon

Dear Friends,

Greetings!

It has been my privilege to write and share my experiences related to long distance running. I am writing this post, third of the series "Running Experience..." after a long gap since I wrote the second post! Somehow I couldn't hold on to the continuity. I apologize for the long wait. 

In my post "Running Experience 2: My first Half-Marathon" I wrote about how I approached my first Half Marathon (HM). Running a HM had brought a great feeling inside me. I thought I had achieved something special. The accolades from my colleagues and friends made me feel even more special!

Meeting Umang Kamra, the ultra runner! 

As I mentioned in the post I had met a person named Umang Kamra on the race day after the run. Actually he was not a complete stranger for me as we used to sit in the same building and wing at office. But seldom we had spoken to each other. I didn't know he was a runner until I saw him running on the race day. Later I could learn that he had finished among the top 10 runners and also he had a great passion for long distance running.

Since then we started conversing frequently. After inquiring further about his passion towards long distance running, he told he had already completed a Full Marathon (FM or 42.2 km) and was preparing for a 75 km run in the Bangalore Ultra 2013. I was simply flabbergasted! First of all I was unaware of any races longer than FM! Second, I had got overwhelmed after running one HM but there was a guy sitting very close to me preparing for a 75 km run! It was tough for me to believe. Though we used to meet daily and discuss about how his preparations were going on, I was a bit skeptical if he could really run such a distance! I wished Umang luck before he traveled to Bangalore for the race. The race was on Sunday and I was not expecting him to be in office on Monday!

When I entered my office building on Monday, to my big surprise, I found Umang sitting in his place as usual! He smiled as he saw me and I asked him how was his run! He told it went well; he had secured third position and won a pair of running shoes from the race organizers! Though the signs of tiredness were seen while he was walking but still he was more or less normal! Though his feat seemed out of the world one for me at that time, if I see now in hindsight, it was the one which gave me a hint that it was not an impossible thing for me also to try a FM!

Umang Kamra (right) has been a great inspiration for me in long distance running

From then on and till now, Umang has been a good friend, a great inspiration and a long distance running Guru for me! I have learnt many technicalities and finer nuances related to long distance running from him! Later Umang and myself became a part of group named MIRunners in our office and worked together to conduct many running events in our office premises.

2014 - Experiencing many Firsts! 

In 2014 I participated for the first time in TCS 10K held in Bangalore! It was my first event outside Mysore. In the events I ran in Mysore the no. of participants were in hundreds, but in TCS 10K they were in thousands. Running with such a huge crowd was thrilling as well as tough! I couldn't get the pace with which I wanted to run, because of the horde running ahead of me not giving me any space, but the overall experience was amazing! I got a chance to see the legendary athlete Carl Lewis from a very short distance as he flagged-off the event. I also witnessed the performances of some elite runners coming from all over the world.

That was the first time I got introduced to Technical clothing as well! Till then I never gave special attention to the clothing! I used to run wearing normal cotton t-shirt and shorts. The TCS 10K event T-shirt was a dry-fit one and I could easily feel the difference! After running for an hour also it had not become heavy and itchy! I studied more about the usefulness of technical clothing and then on, I started buying and wearing them.

Back home in Mysore, I participated in my second HM in Sep 2014 with very less practice and I could complete it in 2 hours 25 minutes, nine minutes slower than the first one. A week later I got my first chance to participate in Spirit of Wipro (SOW) run, the annual flagship event of Wipro Ltd. conducted across their world wide office locations on the same day. It was a better run for me as I took just 59 minutes to complete the 10K run. In Dec 2014, I went to Kochi along with few running friends to participate in Kochi International Half Marathon. We went a day before the race and enjoyed a great outing in Kochi visiting many tourist spots. On the race day, we all had a good run in 10K category though we were running just beside sea shore in humid conditions for the first time. The event was well organized and we could get a glimpse of Malayalam Superstar Mohan Lal who came to flag-off the event.

Participating in TCS 10K 2014 and Kochi International Half Marathon 2014 gave me a different exposure! 

In Aug 2014, when I came to know about the registrations for Kaveri Trail Marathon (KTM) 2014, a thought of running in FM category had come into my mind. But after carefully analyzing myself and my preparations, I thought I was still not in that frame of mind to bear the grind of running that long! Though I postponed the idea to next year i.e. 2015 but the thought of running a FM was getting firmer in my mind!

In my next post of my Running Experience series I will cover about my preparation of my first FM. Till then I request you to get yourself into a fitness regimen if not already done. If done, please continue, try to take it to next level and inspire your friends and loved ones as well.

Thank you,

Regards,
Chetan