What happened on that Sunday morning was a rude awakening. I was totally out of shape and overweight, that I huffed and puffed before I could see the 1 km marker on the road. I thought I would pass out before I completed the 5 km of running. My friend Biju was running with me and due to his encouragement, I slowly strolled along. Yes, strolled! It wasn't exactly walking, but running, which was slower than my regular walking speed. Ah well, you know what I mean. The sun was up and as we kept going, the 5km mark looked so so far away. We were sweating profusely and kept drinking more and more water, which slowed us down even more. After 3 km, I just couldn't run and chose to walk the next kilometer. Well, they say that the last kilometer of a race is the longest and I literally experienced it. When I crossed the finish line, I was ready for a Caribbean vacation.
The silver lining of that Sunday morning was that it motivated Biju and I to start running in the mornings. So, we took up running. We started to run a few kilometers on the trail around the Ulsoor lake in Bangalore. We did this on and off inconsistently for the rest of 2009. I hardly lost any weight because of the irregular schedule and had no diet control.
On December 26, 2009, my high school classmates and I had our 21st year reunion (yes, we couldn't do a 20th year reunion and it slipped to the 21st year). I traveled to my home town for the reunion and meet some of classmates after almost a decade. To my horror, I found myself to be the fattest and most out of shape when compared to all my classmates. We were all in our mid 30s, but I certainly looked like I was 40+. To say that I was embarrassed was an understatement. I went to my parents' home that night after the reunion dinner and couldn't sleep. I wanted to lose weight, I wanted to get back into shape. I wanted to start physical exercises. Above all, I wanted to take up running. I was a determined man. New Year 2010 was 6 days away and I had the ideal New Years resolution.
I named my 2010 New Years resolution as 10-10-10. It stood for - in the year '10, lose 10 kg (22 lbs) and complete at least one 10 km race. On Jan 1, 2010, I posted my resolution on my Facebook wall. I got lots of encouragement from my FB friends. I also got some caution saying that New Years resolutions generally don't go past January. I actually posted my resolution on FB so that I would be under pressure to succeed. And, it worked.
I came up with a plan to get started. My plan was to get into a daily schedule of walking for at least 40 minutes from January to March 2010. Walking was easy and it helped in starting to lose weight. I weighed 94 kg on 01/01/2010. By the end of Jan '10, I had lost 2 kg. It motivated me so much that I kept walking daily for the next 2 months.
May 2010 was approaching and the Sunfeast Bangalore 10K race was coming up. I wanted to try the 10 km race that year. My brother-in-law introduced me to the Nike Run Club (NRC) in Bangalore. The NRC got me into running. The NRC coach Mr. Beedu was instrumental in helping me get into shape and also taught me some good conditioning exercises. I started running. But still completing a 5 km run was tough. Coach Beedu kept encouraging me. He would pick on me particularly during drills and motivate me. I was determined to complete the 10 km race. Coach told me that completing a 10 km race was more in the mind than on the road. He told me that I should first finish the race in my head. That advice was invaluable and I would hold on to it for the rest of my life.
Exactly a year after I almost passed out running a 5 km run, I was there, on the same starting point, but this time aiming to go double the distance. More importantly, I had set my mind on it as Coach Beedu told me and finished the race in my mind before I started running. So, off I went along with 8000 other runners doing the 10 km race that year. This time I was running, not strolling. I was running alone and did not have any running buddies. I kept going. I was so determined, that I didn't even take a sip of water until I was at the 8 km mark. My mouth was parched, I didn't want to stop. But my body was completely dehydrated. I needed water. I stopped at the water station and gulped down 100 ml of water. I restarted my run and off I went towards the finish line. My only aim was to finish the race. And, I did! I did it. Yes, I did it! I really really did it!! I couldn't believe it. I was amazed and dazed. Many emotions took over me. I had just accomplished half of my 10-10-10 New Years resolution. I completed that 10 km race in 76 minutes.
A neighbor of mine saw me at the finish line and joked, "When you finish your first big race, that's when you get addicted to running"! I really didn't understand his words then. Today I can confidently say, his prophetic words came true. I am addicted. I am addicted to running.
I continued to run 4 or 5 days a week after that 10 km race finish. I was focused on the 2nd half of my 10-10-10 resolution. I was losing weight, but still had long ways to go before I lost 10 kg. So, I kept going. I was a regular at the NRC on Saturday mornings. I was getting back into shape. My dress pants didn't fit me any more. I bought a few new pairs of dress pants with reduced waist size to be worn to work. A friend of mine visiting from the USA got me a new pair of Nike running shoes.
October 2010 was a month that would put my running onto a higher gear. I participated in the Wipro 10K race on Oct 9, 2010 at Bangalore. I completed that race along with my running buddy Selvam in 64 minutes. That was a 12 minute improvement in 5 months. I was pumped up. I wanted to raise the bar. I wanted to run a half marathon. So, I decided to participate in the Auroville Half Marathon on February 13, 2011. Auroville is near Puducherry in Tamil Nadu, South India.
Training for a Half was not easy. It needed a lot of dedication and commitment. My running buddy Selvam and my childhood friend Gopi decided to join me at Auroville. I researched online and came up with a 16 week training plan for the Auroville Half. My friend Selvam and I followed my training schedule diligently. Gopi being a seasoned runner of over a decade did not need a training schedule. I started logging my running time and distance on a website called Daily Mile. Selvam and I did our long runs as part of our training schedules on Sundays. It was fun to increase the running distance every weekend. My cross training was swimming and occasional bicycling.
On February 12, 2011, Gopi and I drove to Auroville. Selvam got there ahead of us. Gopi and I got our running bibs and stayed the night at a dorm in Auroville. It was a different experience all together. Auroville means the "City of Dawn" and we were raring for the arrival of the dawn of February 13, 2011. It was Gopi's 2nd Half Marathon and he was as excited as me as well. The dawn finally arrived. We woke up early and drove to the starting point. The race started at 6 am. We were healthy and full of adrenaline. Selvam met us at the starting point. At 6am sharp, the race started and the three of us started together.
After 3 km, Gopi started pulling away and Selvam started falling back after 10 km. I was left alone in the race at the half way mark. I made the mistake of running without drinking water every 20 minutes. This got me dehydrated at the 12 km mark. At the 12 km mark, I drank 2 paper cups full of water and kept going. My nipples started bleeding as a result of rubbing against my wet dry-fit shirt. Yeah, I know it's an oxymoron. I stopped at a first-aid station and got band-aids for my bleeding nipples. I found a new race-day-running-buddy. His name was Alok and he is a resident of Auroville. He was educated in the USA. I got to know a lot about Auroville as we kept talking for a few kilometers along the way. When I reached the 18.5 km mark, I bid good-bye to Alok and pulled away. I sprinted the last kilometer and finished the first half marathon of my life in 2:18 hours. I almost cried in joy! Gopi finished in 2:08 hours and Selvam in 2:23 hours.
Forgot to mention it, I actually weighed 82 kg on December 31, 2010. For the first time in my life, I had kept and fulfilled a New Years resolution. I finished two 10 km races and reduced my weight by 12 kg in 2010. Success all the way, honey!
My addiction to my running continues in 2011. I got a pair of New Balance as a birthday gift this year from a good friend in the USA. During my business trip to NY in May 2011, I got a runners fuel belt, a Garmin 305 GPS running watch, specialized Therlo men's running socks and a dry-fit sleeveless shirt.
This year, at the TCS Bangalore 10K race on June 5, 2011, I broke the 60 minute mark at an official 10 km race and clocked 56:45 minutes. A 20 minute improvement from May 2009, when my addiction to running started. My neighbor who predicted it has now moved to Mumbai. Gopi lives in Coimbatore. Selvam injured his back and is recovering. This has left me running all alone for the past few months. I currently run an average of 30 km a week, running at least 10 km every time I run.
I continue to log my running time and distance on dailymile.com. The best thing about this website is that it has a plug-in through which it downloads my running distance and time directly from my Garmin Forerunner 305 watch. This helps me log my time and distance accurately. Today is September 18, 2011 and I crossed 1000 km of logging my running on dailymile.com. I humbly look at it as a personal accomplishment and it is a great inspiration to go for many more thousands of miles.
What do these 1001 km mean? Click on the image below to see what it actually means according to Daily Mile -
As I sit on my recliner and type this blog, I look back and my mind goes back to that 5 km majja run that almost sucked the living daylight out of me in May 2009. I've come a long way. Amazing journey so far, isn't it? But as they say, it is not how you start that matters, it is how you finish! At this point in time, all I am looking forward with regards to my running is the next 1000 km and no injuries!
Well, it all really started with a casual conversation!
