11 Things to do for getting better at Running Marathons!

Nelson Mendela once said “It always seems impossible, until its done”, this aptly describe running a marathon! I believe that Running is the greatest metaphor for life, you get what you put it in, there is no shortcut, no hack no goddam magic potion for gaming a marathon!

Fresh off from completing a full marathon, Jotting some experiences down after completing a full marathon on a warm sunny day of Mumbai on the 20th Jan19 morning!

Enlisting key takeaways from the Marathon experience!

1. Birds of Same Feather Flock together- Surrounding yourself with people on the same mission as you makes the journey worthwhile. The comradery is what makes waking up at 5am everyday easy and doable. We go through many crests and troughs during the trainings, but its the people with you whom you train make it easy & fun. In my case, my coach, Mr. Ajit, (Ajit Fitness Academy-Navi Mumbai) and all the running veterans made the training sessions of fartleks, hills, tempo runs, interval runs, stretching so much fun. I don’t think one can finish strong & injury free without a structured training program. Chose to surround yourself with winners and doers!
2. Training- There is absolutely no substitute for a rigorous training. For a full marathon should commence at-least 4 months in advance to be able to do better. Focus of Interval and hills training more for a faster run. My coach Ajit helped immensely throughout Nov18 to Jan19 with variety of training runs. Just to be able to wake up at 5am due to training with Ajit sir is single biggest step towards achieving success.
3. Sleep — To focus on sleeping atleast 7hrs pre-race and a few days leading upto the race for a relaxed body and mind. I could only sleep for a couple of hours before the race, causing unnecessary fatigue and anxiety.
4. Injury Management- Injuries are a part of any sport, it’ll come and go, but managing them, timely intervention of physiotherapy, deep tissue massages, stretching foam rolling, taping, tapering are ultra important. Foam rolling for atleast 15mins per training day has to become a norm for injury prevention. Lets also dabble with YOGA for increasing flexibility.
5. Hydration — I hydrated well, no discomfort experienced during the run. Ample Hydration station were present throughout the course. Drank Gatorade till 12kms which I carried with me pre-race. Towards the 32kms mark, Bisleri bottled water wasn’t feeling enough, it was Luke-warm, hydration drinks from ORES and Enerzel were good but felt warm, so I tried something totally different, bought Diet Coke from a shop along the course, the cold soda beverage going down my throat felt like god himself was giving a magical water & a lease of lifeline. Felt great gulping down the coke and running from 32 to 37kms mark with ease.
6. Clothing — I wore the Kalenji sweat absorbing Runner Tee- Full Sleeves which is slightly warm for the 30degree temperature. The tee caused abrasions/bruises on the side of stomach post run, which will need recovery with Boroplus cream. Take away is to Wear light cotton tee which doesn’t cause arms to heat up or bruises.
7. Be comfortable with uncomfortable- Went into the race with lose-motions for over 3 days before the race. Had a intermediate case of the loosies, causing me to stop mid way multiple times, making me lose precious 12–13mins during the run also causing a bit of dehydration hence had atleast 3liters of water during the run. Takeaway- to watch what one is eating for a week before the race, take care of stomach, not to feel anxiety which also causes some stomach upset. Nothing is impossible if think you can do it, keep giving yourself high fives & can do spirits in between, no lossies, cramps or dehydration can stop you from finishing what your started.
8. Body Weight- Needless to say, the lighter you are, the faster you’ll go. The ideal weight for peak performance should be a BMI of under 24. Aim for a drop of 10kgs for the next version of TMM 2020. Diet management should be sought for achieving a drop in fat and increase in muscle volume. I have dropped roughly 4kgs of muscle over the course of last 3months due to drop in weight training and increase in cardio, lets work in cutting the abdominal, upper body and thigh fat.
9. Listening to Podcast/Music-Unlike the usual day, I listened to Podcast only Half the course, a bit of practise for Ironman. Lets try and cut down headphones use for the next couple of months to be able to develop the habit of long distance endurance rides and runs without music. By 1st May2019, I will stop using headphones entirely.
10. Post Run Recovery — Immediately after the run, I got a physiotherapist from VOLINI recovery zones to stretch ad massage me for 15mins, this helped in easing the soreness. Also did 20mins of icing in the Asian Heart institute, this greatly helped in reducing the inflammation in the left knee and left foot. Icing and stretching are the two most important post recovery routines. Never Forget.
11. Anxiety & Motivation- I was anxious for a couple of weeks leading upto the race due to tendanities and ITB in left leg. Some of the fears of not been able to complete(DNF), getting injured, dehydrating are all self made prophecies which make no sense, like just stop thinking of stuff which doesn’t exist. If you decide you can then you will, if you think you can’t, you won’t. Its all a mental game. Don’t make problems which exist. You are in control of your thoughts, what you think becomes your reality, so tell yourself positive reaffirmations, thinking is free, might as well invest in thinking most amazing thoughts of Success, glory and accolades.

Everything that you need to be able to achieve resides within you, scrape off years of mediocrity, set yourself goals, persevere on the course of training and smash the hell out of these goals! :)

In timed events I have finished 2 Full Marathons, 10 Half Marathons and 1000’s of kms in training sessions! I am aiming to compete and complete in Iron Man 2019 to test the limits of my body & mind!

I hope the above experience helps each runner to go out there and achieve greatness! :)

Greatest Achievement in life is doing something you think you cannot do provided you are willing to put in the work!

Hustle Hard, Happy Running!

Nishant Bhardwaj

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/nishantbhardwaj11/

LinkedIn-https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/nishantbhardwaj11/