I Finished My First Marathon With Zero Training!

I HATE RUNNING!!!!

Seriously! I just hate it!! My father in law registered my name for the half marathon(21.097 km) along with his and my husband's name, a few months back. It came as a shock to me when he told me that I had to run. "Me? Marathon?? Are you kidding me???"I thought. A few months passed by and forgot about it conveniently. Then I was down with Typhoid. I was bed ridden for 2 months. My condition was really bad but I was happy about one thing. "No marathon for me! YEAH!!" I was so... HAPPY. :)

After a few months...15 days (to be precise) before the marathon day, my dad in law reminded me that I had to run and had no choice. :(

"Teri toh lag gayi beta", I told myself.

I had only one option...Run(not away) in the marathon. More than the distance, it is my nature to get bored very easily. So I started mentally preparing myself for the 21.097 km. I would see the route map again and again. I would tell myself that I could finish it. I had walked home from my office so many times earlier. That means I had the stamina!

Everyday I would promise myself to get up early and exercise but I guess promises are meant to be broken! So I let the last 15 days also get wasted. Trust me, I did not even walk half a kilometer. But instead, I started surfing Google to see if there were people like me who did not train before the marathon. I found a few articles but I realized that they had practiced a little and then left. Mine was a different case. I hated running, so i did not run. I hated training, so i did not get trained and I had to complete the marathon as well.

15th Jan 2012! We woke up at 3.45 am. YAWN.....!

I HATE getting up early in the morning to exercise. Had tea with glucose biscuits. It’s good for instant energy. Got ready! Took some bananas, cheese and chocolates to eat once we reach the venue. Meanwhile something happened to me as usual. The previous night we all ate early so that we could empty our respective stomachs the next morning before we left home for the race. My dad in law(DIL) and hubby(JD) were lucky. In my case, my stomach just wont listen. I jumped, I walked, I drank water and tea. Did almost everything to feel light but in vain. So I decided to run with some additional weight from last night's dinner.

During our way to the venue, JD kept scarring me about me not going to the loo. He started visualizing weird things that could happen with me while I ran. Now I was more worried about my loo business than the marathon!

We reached our starting point near Lilavati Hospital. We started walking towards the security check. Once that was done, we came on an empty road which led us to the start point. We started jogging thinking that the race had started. Only after someone yelled from behind, we realized that the start point was a kilometer ahead. What a waste of energy, esp for the people with no training. I tried fooling myself by saying that warm ups are always better. But the truth was that I felt like a fool in front of so many people who saw me running before the marathon for no reason. :P Anyway...

The race had already started at 6.15 am. We stared at 6.25 am. Ten minutes late!!! :0 Never mind! I jogged and walked and jogged and walked. Walked more and jogged less. That was my strategy to save my energy. To be honest, I was already tired. Then I saw a board which said,'1 km'. I was so happy to see it. 1 km ALREADY??? WOW!!

I ran with hubby over the sea link. What an amazing view it was! No sunlight, cool breeze, thousands of people walking and jogging over the sea link! There were volunteers distributing water and oranges. I think I did a smart thing by taking an orange. It was energizing! :) But getting a chance to see Milind Soman run was much more energizing and refreshing. :):):) SIGH* My day was made!!! <3

I carried a little water bottle with me. We crossed the sea link. JD went ahead and I decided to run at my own pace. After 10 km, I started getting slight indications of cramps in my calf muscles. So I changed my strategy a little. On the Worli sea face, I started covering the distance between the two poles by walking then jogging and then walking and so on…This method was helping me a little. I realized that now my lungs were not burning. I was not oxygen deprived. My legs were not behaving the way I wanted them to behave.

Strategy no 2: SPRINT! JD had told me to sprint thrice in marathon and now was the time for my first sprint. So I RAN like a mad woman! The whole idea was to cover some distance very quickly and also to shake the body from the boredom of walking and jogging. I slowed down a bit after few seconds of my first sprint. My calf muscles had started hurting again. By now I had covered 9 kilometers.

I saw Milind Soman AGAIN!!! <3 He looked sooo………………sigh…………. JJJ

I also encountered many funny looking people who jogged along wearing tri coloured clothes with the Indian flag. I felt so happy to see their enthusiasm. There was an old lady who saw me, clapped and said, “Come on…Girl Power!” It brought an instant smile on my face and boosted my spirit!J

CRAMP ATTACK…the moment I touched the 12^th kilometer! The toes of my left feet folded automatically. I got a severe pain in my calf. I stopped to bend down and massage my leg. “Oh God, not now! Not after completing 12 kilometers. I still have 9 more to go. Help me PLEASE!!!” God somehow heard me and instantly sent His angel with Volini gel. This angel was running behind me. I did not see her before or after the cramp attack. She stopped and came towards me. She gave me a sachet of the Volini gel. It felt better. I never saw her again. I smiled and I thanked God. J

Next 9 kilometers were slow! I walked!! I could not run. The moment I did, cramps returned. So I decided to only walk. I reached Pedder Road. I saw many people and children from the neighborhood distributing water, biscuits and orange squash. One aunty gave me ‘Til Gud’ laddoo. It was Makar Sankranti that day. The laddoo tasted so YUM!

I was finding the Pedder road climb very difficult. The walk uphill was bringing back the cramps and now even walking seemed painfully difficult. Someone besides me told me to keep going. I din't look at him but told him that I was getting cramps. “Koi baat nahi. Don’t run! Just walk. Only 7 kilometers to go. Have water and glucose biscuits and you will be fine.” He said this and moved ahead. I wondered why the man limped? He was walking with only one leg! He had a jaipur foot( artificial limb)!

Tears welled out from my eyes and I wanted to cry! Cry really aloud!! Not because I felt bad for him or he motivated me to complete the marathon. I wept because I realized that God was communicating with me through various mediums. I felt very happy! :)

Last 4 kilometers! The worst of all!! The joint that joins my leg with torso started to hurt really bad. I kept looking back every 2 minutes to check people behind me, running. People were running and overtaking me and I felt helplessly miserable because I could not even jog. I was in pain. And then I saw a boy distributing ice packs to people. I took one placed it over my thigh and completed the remaining distance. Though the ice pack did not help but at least it did not make things worse. Positive Thinking!

At the finish line, I saw photographers clicking pictures of the people near the finish line. I remembered reading the instructions on the marathon manual. It said, ‘raise your hands once you approach the finish line. There will be photographers clicking your picture’. Somehow I was too conscious to do that. I guess I was the only person who walked and crossed the finish line. LI was a bit embarrassed but what the hell…I COMPLETED MY FIRST MARATHON WITH ZERO TRAINNING!!!

AFTER EFFECTS: Don’t even ask what pained and where? You have to experience it to know! All I can say is that I could not lift my legs to wear clothes after the hot water bath. I could not stand after sitting on the couch. The base of my feet had turned blue which I discovered after 2 days. I had to go to work the next day. L But it was worth it! J

Completed the marathon with zero training in 4 hours 1minute and 38 seconds! My target for the next year is 3 Hours with at least one month of training.

People are surprised to hear that I already wish to participate again in the next marathon. They know I HATE RUNNING!