Half Marathon

I am an amateur distance-runner and this year I have hit a milestone birthday – 42. Those of you familiar with long distance running and live in countries that follow the metric system would know that it is roughly the distance for a full marathon. 42 is also the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, according to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It is a sphenic number, a positive integer that is the product of three distinct prime numbers (in this case 2, 3 and 7). Most importantly, I believe that 42 is the half marathon mark in the marathon called “Life”. You can always argue that nobody knows with absolute certainty how long you are around in this world, but I am an optimist and if all things go well, I am looking forward to completing the course and if possible maybe do a few cooling down laps post that as well. So for me it is an important number and a momentous event that merits some deeper thought.

I took on distance running as a necessary intervention around 8 years back, when my annual health report showed some alarming trends. We don’t want to dwell into that, but I want to give a huge shout-out to some friends who back then encouraged, motivated and coached me free of cost and stayed the course with me through these years as my running companions. Thanks Vishal, Anand, Amol and several others who actually believed that I had it in me to run a marathon. Through these years, I have run more than two dozen timed half marathons, and one full marathon back in 2016. The solitary full marathon was a mini disaster in terms of my race performance and some of its memories have inspired me to write this piece.

I start every marathon totally pumped up, believing that I am going to kill it. Every single time I start with a belief that this is going to be the personal best timing and that I am going to enjoy the run, stay ahead of the pacers and finish strong. I usually wear a GPS watch to keep track of my running statistics – distance, time and pace, which I constantly check trying to maintain my marathon pace. I focus on my breathing, keeping an eye on the kilometer markers and try to find the professional pacers who can help me achieve the goal that I had set out with. This is exactly how I approached the starting line of the 2016 Mumbai full marathon as well. However, this story is not just specific to that race. It is broadly applicable to every race I have run. Every 10k, half marathon is the same story from start to finish. I get into the rhythm after the first few miles and one third into the race (7k for half marathon and 14k in the full), I know I am going to exceed my own expectations. I am generally a couple of minutes ahead of my target time, feeling good – I don’t think I need water or energy supplements at this time. I am usually in the zone. By the half-way mark my body starts showing signs of fatigue. The sun has come up, the weather is not helping either. I have fallen behind and with each stride the distance with the pacers just gets wider. The second half of the race is never the same as the first. I am tired and I have had to take my first break for water or to eat something. I am starting to think if I ran too fast for the first couple of miles. The next couple of miles is almost always a phase of regret. I should have trained better, paid more attention to my diet. Why did I miss so many of the long run days? I am going to focus on my muscle and core next year. Just a lot of “what-ifs”. By the time I hit two thirds of the race, I have lost sight of the pacer and stopped looking at my watch. Now I start to see the city and feel the atmosphere of the run. Until then, I had not appreciated or even looked at the surroundings, the architectural and engineering marvels that form the backdrop of the city that we run in. These races are usually through nicer parts and neighborhoods of the city. For the final stretch I know I will not be able to meet my target timing goals and I just start to enjoy the surroundings, give hi-fives to the kids lined up for encouragement, try and pace someone who is struggling even harder than I am and strike up a conversation with a fellow runner. I have always finished the races that I have participated in. However, truly enjoyed the run only for the last few miles before the finish line.

On closer reflection, I think every single distance run is a representation of life itself. We end up running the first half or two thirds of the race with a manic focus of meeting certain goals and always have our eye on the clock – rarely taking the time to enjoy the race itself. We miss some key pleasures along the way because we were focused on the pacers to help us through the race – usually more skilled runners than ourselves running the same race. We miss appreciating the folks on the sidelines, who stand there clapping and encouraging us. We miss the hydration and refueling that the race of life demands from us early on. And most unfortunately, the race of life does not give you second chances – there is no, “I’ll be back next year better prepared” thing here. In the early years of our lives, we are consumed by academic goals and later by professional milestones that we forget at times how much more there is to this race. We put so much energy into every mile marker – every appraisal cycle, every promotion possibility, that by the time we reach the half way mark, or the two thirds mark, we have usually run out of steam. We have missed truly enjoying the race and whatever is left of it appears like a drag, because the pacers have left you behind and you have missed soaking in the beauty of the race of life in the early parts.

Don’t get me wrong – I am not suggesting that we should slow down and walk the race at an easy pace. No way – it is a race and it is meant to be run hard. Need to get the adrenaline up and let your heart and your muscles endure some pain. It is supposed to be a strain and you are supposed to leave a decent legacy of your athleticism behind, but not at the cost of missing important parts of the race. The learning from all these races over the years is that you need to have the ability to pace yourself, so that the thrill of running is right through till the end. I am halfway through, or at least at this point, I think that is a fair calculation to make. Have I made my mistakes running too fast in the past? – Absolutely. But I can tell you that I am going to enjoy the remaining half marathon. I am not going to chase a pacer, or keeping looking at my GPS watch. I am running this race – running it with all my heart and every bit of strength that I have in me, but also enjoying it in equal measure. I am going to be appreciative of all others running this race with me – provide a word of encouragement when I can and seek one from fellow runners when I need it. I am going to enjoy the breeze and be appreciative of those who have come to encourage me through this. I am going to spread my arms and have a smile and pump my fist when I am near the finish line. I want to have soaked in the whole experience. I don’t care if the elites finish the race in half the time and some of my runner friends and buddies have stronger finishes and better timings. I would know I ran my race well – I ran it with all my heart and enjoyed it as a wholesome experience and not just as a race to the finish.