JK's Diary

Marathon Diary

It all started with Dad wanting some company for the 10K marathon and checking if I will give him company. TCS marathon on 19^th May 2013 was the first marathon for me. The max I have ever run was about 7K on the road while in Chennai (morning jog to the beach). I used to give my dad company in Lalbagh park on Saturday/Sunday mornings for a jog but always end up doing two rounds less than him.

Three or four days before the run, I decided to check if I still have any hope of completing the 10K and managed to pull 8Kms in about a 1hr inside Lalbagh. So there was some hope as I knew I can walk the remaining 2kms in 20minutes 😉

TCS 10K – 19^th May 2013

My dad had participated in this last year and was eligible to start as part of Group B (those who have a timing of >55min and <1hr 20min). Unfortunately for some reason he did not get Group B which he was eligible for. Anyway, my dad didn’t mind as I was there for company 🙂 and gave me enough tips based on his last years’ experience. First tip being, TCS marathon never starts on time. This was true!  I did follow most of the tips religiously and got a net time of 1hr 3min 19sec. (Bib #8177)

Dad n Son – Post TCS 10k

Thanks to my favorite application Sports-Tracker. It kept reminding me that I have a long way to go before stopping. End of the race I did feel the after-effects of not having practiced enough, not having stretched enough and not having had a proper diet before the run. To top it all, a duplicate Reebok shoe from a Reebok showroom (closed down now) that had no cushions to absorb the strain on my legs while running on the road.

Bangalore Ultra 12.5K – 10^th November 2013

This time dad was in my native place so did not have his company L However, he managed to do the Pondicherry 10K and the Kaveri 10K marathon post the TCS 10K.

Bangalore Ultra 12.5K Results

Having never touched 10K after the TCS marathon and not having practiced at all during the three weeks before the run date, I knew this was difficult. The track was an excellent bamboo trail off Henur road. The route can be seen here. Soft ground (Muddy road) with ups and downs so no strain on legs. But getting to this place was a nightmare as I live in South Bangalore. It took me almost 1.5hrs to reach this place despite having started at 4:15am. My wifey decided to wake up at 4am and give me company 🙂 Sweet wifey! It was extremely cold on that day with mist all over the place as there were no high rises. Just farms! 

Bib number 1164, completing the 12.5kms in 1hr 21min 22sec. Weather did play a very vital role and thanks to the great treadmills in my apartment from Sportrack for not showing exact distance you cover.

SBI Midnight Marathon – 14^th December 2013

I first learned about midnight marathons while I was in New York waiting to see the useless Times Square ball drop. So this event was a little tempting. My colleague Sunil also registered so I had some company this time. Bib number 6567 clocked 1hr 00min 44sec. What a way to finish the year 🙂

Bangalore Midnight Marathon Results

You can read about my review of Midnight marathon here

Some say interest for marathon starts with just completing the marathon… Then it is about beating your earlier time. Very true! My next target is under an hour. Still not confident about doing a half marathon but will keep it in my To-Do checklist!

TCS 10K – 18^th May 2014

Got into Race category C with bib number 3827 and my dad was in category D. Few seconds delayed start for my dad but he did complete well before me with an excellent timing of 1hr 1min 15sec while I clocked my worst ever net finish time of 1hr 4min 48sec. Blame it on lack of practice and the Sports-Tracker app which just wouldn’t work.

Dad n Son – TCS 10k 2014

I was used to seeing the timing so I know when to take a break to catch my breathe and it failed me. The app worked for a few min and got stuck. So started off too fast and ended up losing all my energy way too fast.

SBI Midnight Marathon – 20^th December 2014

This one is my second attempt at midnight marathon. Unlike the previous year, this year the course was certified by AIMS-IAAF. The organizers also took the feedback comments from runners last year and had sufficient electrolytes and water throughout the course.

Thanks to Praveen (my brother) for leaving office early, to drop me at the venue and pick me up. One interesting fact here is, I landed from KL in the morning and the same day evening I did this run (chest number 7206). After a three month tiring engagement with hardly any time to practice, clocking 1hr 2min 49sec does not make me feel bad.

To top it all, somewhere around the 3.5kms mark I got a sprain on my right knee and it was slowing me down. At this point I had two options, either give up or keep running and make it my last run. I chose the latter. Btw, another big thanks goes to my manager for approving my high price ticket so I can land in India on time for this event.

Bangalore Midnight Marathon 2014

I had bought myself a fitness band, VivoSmart and was testing it during this run. It was pretty accurate given the fact that it did not have a GPS built-in.

Auroville Half Marathon – 8^th February 2015

First marathon in 2015 and that too a half marathon… Drove all the way to Pondicherry with my Dad, Mom, Brother and my wife (Meena). Ran inside the beautiful Auroville with trees to give me shade and the soft ground to absorb all the damage my knee would otherwise taken during the 21kms run. For a change I gave my dad some tips for the half marathon and with that he managed to get an excellent time of 2hrs 11min 🙂

Dad n Son – Auroville Half Marathon 2015

My Dad had chest number 2424 and I had 2423. My timing was no where close to his 2hrs 11min as I managed to clock 2hrs 19min and there were at least a 100 people who crossed the finish line in this 8 minutes gap. Now coming to what I did not like in this marathon. First, there was no finisher medal to keep as a memorabilia. Second, the course was not certified. Third, the electrolyte was so diluted in most of the stations that it tasted really bad. Finally, they took the start time of the race (6:15am) and then the crossing time (minus the seconds) to calculate our finish time. None of this is acceptable to me.

Kaveri Trail 10K – 19^th September 2015

In 2013, my dad ran the 10K alone and he used to say a lot about this scenic trail. The following year we both registered but had to give it a pass as my dad was down with fever.

Mens Veteran – 10K Category

This year, my dad got a fancy bib #3000 and I got bib #1303. Trust me! the picture in KTM website and the reality was way too far. Yes, it is the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary but there were no birds except for a few crows, lots of cows, buffaloes and men bathing in the small stream flowing around. So that was a bit of a disappointment. On top of it, it was a sunny day and the 7am start added a bit more of sweat.

Given the fact that I just got back from London and was running this with absolutely no preparation in the last four months, my time of 1hr 2min 51sec was acceptable to me. Oh! btw, my dad was not a Finisher. He was the Winner in the Mens Veteran – 10K category! 🙂 You are my inspiration to run Dad!!!

@Finish line – KTM 10K 2015

Before I forget, I need to mention about the fiasco that happened. KTM decided to go with some local timing chip provider whose technology was not tested well enough. So a lot of people did not get their timings recorded properly and KTM had to rely on the personal time that was recorded on our fitness devices. Lucky that my dads device worked and sad mine didn’t. As the tracker was started well before the start line and stopped well after the finish line, the actual time is a little less than the one shown here for me.

Anyway! I did pour my heart out to RFL team on the goof up and they decided to give me a complimentary T-shirt or a registration for 2016 KTM or Bangalore Ultra (any segment). Given the sad trail in Kaveri and my bad experience, I picked the 12.5Kms Bangalore Ultra.

Performax Bangalore Ultra 12.5K – 8^th November 2015

Course record Bangalore Ultra 12.5K

My second attempt in this calm and tranquil trail with Bib #12118 clocked a time of 1hr 17min 21sec.

We did it!!!

This was my Dad’s first 12.5K with Bib #12601. He was a little confused whether to pace for 10 or 12.5K but he comfortably maintained a steady pace right from the beginning till the end. He crossed me somewhere around the 7 kms mark and I was trailing him for about a kilometer or so and then gave up. Now the good news! he set the course record in this track under the Men’s Veteran category with 1hr 16min 13sec.

Though he says this talks about the quality of other runners, the truth is its his regular practice that kept him going on. Practice is the only thing that can help you get the required stamina. Oh by the way, he was very happy to get his money back in the form of a T-Shirt and a nice memento. 🙂

I am sure he will break his own record next year, while I need to try hard and find some time to practice regularly. Getting under the 1 hour mark is my target. Let me see if it happens in the midnight marathon.

The Real Podium Finish!!!

SBI Midnight Marathon – 5^th December 2015

My third attempt with a lot of expectations that I will get under the 1 hour mark but unfortunately, it happens to be the worst ever in terms of timing. Barely managed to hit the 1hr 5min 41sec.

Bangalore Midnight Marathon 2015

Had the wrong food (KFC burger) before marathon so was thirsty and on top of it missed their water station twice as it was in a not so well lit area. Also had to rush at the last minute to the venue due to unplanned stops to pick up dinner and thanks to KFC for taking over 15 minutes to get the order. Also thanks to the great Bangalore traffic for making things even worse. The only good thing was, Meena accompanied me and she was in the stands cheering for me.

This event had about 11k runners and Meena was shocked to see that there are so many crazy folks to run at night, including old men and women. Ending the year with four marathons. Hope to do the same in 2016 and if all goes well, hit the sub 1 hour mark.

TCS 10K – 15^th May 2016

This was a very special one as my dad and brother also participated. As usual it was only me (Bib #4136) and my dad (Bib #4139) who registered for the event. Just a few days before the registration close, my brother (Bib #17465) decided to get run and got in through the charity route. Just before the special day, my father was down with cold, cough and a bit of fever. I was also down with a bit of cold and cough but still determined to run.

TCS 10K 2016

As it was my brothers first run he was in Group F and still managed to clock an amazing time of 54min 50sec.  Next year I am sure he is going to get Group B where he can run more peacefully and get a better timing.

Given my dads age and the cold and cough, his timing of 1hr 2min 24sec is really really good. After nine marathons, I managed to get under the 1hr mark and clock my best timing of 59min 36sec. Really happy about it. Thanks to my wifey too for feeding me with carb filled food.

Bangalore Ultra 12.5K – 13^th November 2016

This was the 2nd family run – Praveen’s first Ultra, Dad defending his Veteran-winner record of 2015 and me just enjoying my favorite track. We reached on time, had no issues parking, did a bit of warm up and started our run. Dad (Bib #1401) got a timing of 1hr 18min 26sec (not as good as the previous year) but he still holds the record 🙂 and that matters.

Podium Finish again!

Praveen (Bib #1091) did a stunning 1hr 8min and I did a 1hr 20min 2sec with Bib #1176. As you know, the amount of practice and hard work you put in is directly proportional to the output you get. So with <50min of practice a week, this is the maximum I was able to manage this year. Should try harder!

Our 2nd Family Run

Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Half Marathon – 10^th June 2018

After a gap of 1 year, I decided to participate in a marathon. It just so happened that I did a quick Google search for marathons in Seattle area and saw this event coming up the following week. I was so excited and searched for a 10K on their website. To my surprise, there was a 5K, half and full marathon only. I was like, 5K will not give me the satisfaction of having run, so let’s give the half marathon a shot. I remember very clearly, my decision to not do another half marathon after the Auroville run in Feb ’15. But given that I was practicing 3 to 4 times a week for a good two months, I decided to go for it despite the high registration cost. Post booking, I checked if my cousin, Monisha was interested in running and she was all-in just because the medal looked awesome! Can you believe that!!! Yes, the Rock n Roll series has some of the best looking medals. Karthik was into cycling so he decided to give this event a pass. Else it would have been triple the fun!

2018

With no practice and experience doing a half marathon before, Monisha (Bib #11447) managed to clock an awesome time of 3hrs 18min 42 sec. And the best part is, she managed to stop on the way for clicking some nice snaps! The only thing running in my mind was, when will the next mile marker come! I had Bib #11067, and managed to clock my personal best timing of 2hrs 3min 17sec. That’s an average pace of ~8min 45sec for the first 10miles, ~54min for the first 10K. Now that feels good! Thanks to the awesome weather too. I started to sweat only after the 4km mark. So you can imagine what the temperature would have been like. Without it, I am sure dehydration and other things would have kicked in.

Rank & Pace

Oh! by the way, I should say thanks to my client who let me work remotely. As they were on the East coast, I did have the evenings for myself to do these practice runs! Without it, it would not have been possible.

Beat the Blerch Seattle 10K – 15^th September 2018

My first 10K on a rainy day – start to finish. No company… but the trail (King County’s Tolt MacDonald Park, Carnation, WA) was simply amazing. With Bib# 3820, running on a near flat trail using my fingers as a wiper to remove the drops of rain from my specs every other minute, I clocked 57min 09sec.

Goodies…

If you are familiar with the cartoon characters, everyone was there. You will love the atmosphere. People from different countries were here participating as they were in the area! Oh btw, the medal was heavy, unique and an awesome one 🙂 Loved all the items in the goodie bag.

Hot Chocolate 15K Seattle – 3rd March 2019

My first 15K distance and my first run at near zero (32F) temperature with wind chill… To top it, the elevation was a killer as I did not practice enough.

Best ever picture of mine while running

Bib# 50243 with a timing of 1hr 32min 6sec is definitely not my best. However, the one thing I really enjoyed in this run was the warm hot chocolate drink at the end of the run. Perfect! Will definitely run again for this. The other good thing is, I got the best ever marathon picture taken while running. Thanks to the photographer.

Oh by the way, Hoka One One – Clifton 5 is definitely not my type of shoe for sure. Moving from a 11mm drop to a 5mm drop, does impact the running style and post run recovery. Need to go back to my favorite Brooks.

Shamrock 15K Portland – 17th March 2019

This run will always have a special mention. It took 6 years of persuasion to make my beautiful wife Meena say yes to a 5K event. She has come to cheer me on a few of my runs (including the midnight run) but never said yes to jog or walk long distances. One might wonder what’s the big deal. Let me tell you, she is neither a fitness freak nor someone who has an active interest in sports. However, she enjoys a long, lazy walk with a good company. So everyone who knows her well found it difficult to believe she really participated (and completed) a 5K run.

The whole process of convincing Meena to participate in this event started sometime late November. It was more like, try the 4mile walk it is a very scenic route, etc. etc. Then slowly I started to highlight the fact that 4miles (6.4kms) is longer than 5K and she should consider doing the 5K instead. My consultant hat at work 😉 Then one fine day in February, I made her say or create an expression that sort of looked like a yes (maybe an absent-minded yes) to register for the run. From this time on, there is no turning back. Booked everything before she could change her mind.

The thought of 17th March, did give her jitters, and some realization in terms of what has she got herself into. But at the same time, her curiosity to understand why there are so many crazy souls running and experience the whole thing once for herself took the best of her. The last couple of weeks before the run she pushed herself to come to the gym with me and do some practice walks on the treadmill. She did give all she had while on the treadmill, elliptical and cycle. Earlier, she used to do something for a few minutes and then find a nice spot to sit and relax. This time, I had to literally pull her out of the gym.

We went to Portland a day before the run to collect our bibs at the Expo – Meena got the orange bib# 13870, and I got the blue bib# 21180. She was all excited and at the same time very tensed. Three reasons: One, other runners who looked really fit and/or well-trained, two, the distance and finally the weather. Post collection of bibs we walked around downtown, picked up a running jacket and got back to the hotel. All along giving her small tips on what to do and what not to do as I could feel her tension.

The next day we woke up at 6am to a bright sunny day (35F with wind chill that felt like 30F), munched some of the yummy brownies Meena had baked for my birthday 🙂 and started to walk towards the start line which was roughly 5 blocks from the hotel. All the butterflies running in her mind and stomach made her forget the -1 centigrade weather for a while. I gave her a few more tips like my dad did when I participated in the TCS 10K for the first time in 2013. I got her into a corral I felt is right and she crossed the start line around 8am. Thanks to the location sharing apps, I was able to see where she was all through till the start of my 15K at 8:55am. She managed to get an awesome time of 56min 46sec.

Coming to how I did! I made the mistake of standing in the wrong corral, run with a higher pace (4.35/km) than my usual for the first 1 mile, on a stretch that had some elevation gain to give me a timing of 1hr 34min 44sec (Pace: 10.09/mile). The irony here is, I gave all this as a tip to Meena and I ended up not following any of them. Oh, by the way, this is my second run on Clifton 5 and in both the runs I managed to clock a pace of 10.x/mile. Brooks with a heel-to-toe drop of 11mm gave me 9.x/mile on both the 10K and half marathon last year. Definitely not going to use this shoe again.

Guess what my current task/target is… Convincing Meena to participate in another 5K and beat her current time of 56min. 😀

Iron Horse Half Marathon, Seattle – 25th August 2019

My 2nd USATF certified half marathon with Bib# 1088. Supposed to be a downhill marathon with an elevation loss of 880′. A beautiful scenic course where a lot of people set their PRs. The weather was super awesome at the start of the run at 8am (wave 4). Unfortunately, for me the terrain looked pretty much flat and I clocked a time of 2hrs 14min 29sec (Pace: 10:16/mile). I was literally dragging myself and walking every couple of hundred meters.

One learning though is that, practicing on a treadmill is not the same as running on gravel/road – I could feel the difference in foot strike. At the 10mile mark, my legs literally gave up. Compared to my previous marathon (Rock n Roll), my VO2max had took a hit too. Blame it on the lack of proper practice before the run (slight fever to make things worse). If I ever run another (half) marathon, I will make sure I do a fair amount of practice on the road as treadmills can’t be trusted for long distance runs.