I had written about my first marathon run in this post - My first marathon.
After that experience, I did not participate in any of the marathons. In Jan this year, the organization I work with had partnered with someone for the Skechers Performance Chennai Marathon. There were multiple emails urging the associates to participate in the marathon. How can one ignore these multiple mailers?? I told myself I will give it a shot. The incentive was that it was absolutely free. Yes, our company was sponsoring for us!!
I clicked on the Registration link and that is when I noticed that there was no 5km run. The minimum distance was 10km. Memories of that 5km run came back to me. 10km was no joke. This was the only category I could choose since the rest were all half and full marathons.
It took me two days to convince myself to do it. Finally, I went ahead and registered. After the registrations, I forgot about the whole episode until I got a mailer to get my kit. With great reluctance, I went and got my kit. They even gave me a Tshirt with my company logo printed.
Again, I did not do any preplanning for the marathon - no exercise, no morning walks. I understand the logistics of conducting the marathon in the wee hours of the day. Still, getting up so early on a weekend is something I never like to do. I had to push myself to get up that day. My parents asked me if I really wanted to go this time. I said, I cannot do this to my company - waste the money they had paid for my participation. There was no harm in trying.
Just like the last time, I was surprised to see the number of people who had turned up for this event. They had to send people in waves since a lot of them had registered for 10km. The difference between the last marathon and this one was that there were a lot of people wearing my company tshirts. Although I did not know anyone personally, it did give me a sense of kinship with all those people.
It was time for my group to move on. I took a deep breath and ran with the group. I wanted to give it my best shot. I walked, jogged, ran - alternating between these three ways of covering the distance.The first 2-3 kms was easy.
The organizers had done a great job. The roads were cleared for us, there were people for every 2-3 kms who distributed water bottles. There was people to offer medical assistance if needed. There were mobile toilets for people to use. And the best, there were volunteers shouting and encouraging people to go on.
The last 3-4 kms was very crucial. I had no energy in me at that point. Thank god, there were volunteers who were distributing glucose drinks and water. I guess everyone feels tired at that point. I drank two to three bottles. That gave me the instant energy to move on and cover the last few kilometers. There were volunteers strategically placed in the last few kms cheering participants to go on, reassuring us that we could do it and collect our medals.
I finally made it. I finished the marathon in 1 hr 34 mins 43 secs :)
They had volunteers lined up past the finishing line to present the medals to the participants who had finished the marathon.
That was followed by photo sessions. They had these huge placards where you could take a picture of yourself. We also had a company sponsored photographer. As usual there was music, free food. I took some time in just lying on the grass, stretching my muscles. And then left the place to reach home.
I got back home, had my bath, had food and then lied down to take some rest. That was when I felt - the pain in the muscles. No kidding!!! It pained like hell. I could not move my leg and was limping for almost a week.
I realized the mistakes I had made -
👉 One, participating in a marathon is no joke. One had to exercise regularly before the marathon - go for walks, do exercises to stretch your muscles. I never did that.
👉 Two, never walk for a long distance in the marathon. If you cannot run, then atleast jog. Reason - when you start walking, your muscles are not really ready to run again
I finished the marathon by sheer will power and determination. My body was just not tuned to that 10km run and there were times I just wanted to sit down and take rest. But I knew that if I did that, I will never be able to continue and cover the rest of the distance.
After that experience, I did not participate in any of the marathons. In Jan this year, the organization I work with had partnered with someone for the Skechers Performance Chennai Marathon. There were multiple emails urging the associates to participate in the marathon. How can one ignore these multiple mailers?? I told myself I will give it a shot. The incentive was that it was absolutely free. Yes, our company was sponsoring for us!!
I clicked on the Registration link and that is when I noticed that there was no 5km run. The minimum distance was 10km. Memories of that 5km run came back to me. 10km was no joke. This was the only category I could choose since the rest were all half and full marathons.
It took me two days to convince myself to do it. Finally, I went ahead and registered. After the registrations, I forgot about the whole episode until I got a mailer to get my kit. With great reluctance, I went and got my kit. They even gave me a Tshirt with my company logo printed.
Again, I did not do any preplanning for the marathon - no exercise, no morning walks. I understand the logistics of conducting the marathon in the wee hours of the day. Still, getting up so early on a weekend is something I never like to do. I had to push myself to get up that day. My parents asked me if I really wanted to go this time. I said, I cannot do this to my company - waste the money they had paid for my participation. There was no harm in trying.
Just like the last time, I was surprised to see the number of people who had turned up for this event. They had to send people in waves since a lot of them had registered for 10km. The difference between the last marathon and this one was that there were a lot of people wearing my company tshirts. Although I did not know anyone personally, it did give me a sense of kinship with all those people.
It was time for my group to move on. I took a deep breath and ran with the group. I wanted to give it my best shot. I walked, jogged, ran - alternating between these three ways of covering the distance.The first 2-3 kms was easy.
The organizers had done a great job. The roads were cleared for us, there were people for every 2-3 kms who distributed water bottles. There was people to offer medical assistance if needed. There were mobile toilets for people to use. And the best, there were volunteers shouting and encouraging people to go on.
The last 3-4 kms was very crucial. I had no energy in me at that point. Thank god, there were volunteers who were distributing glucose drinks and water. I guess everyone feels tired at that point. I drank two to three bottles. That gave me the instant energy to move on and cover the last few kilometers. There were volunteers strategically placed in the last few kms cheering participants to go on, reassuring us that we could do it and collect our medals.
I finally made it. I finished the marathon in 1 hr 34 mins 43 secs :)
They had volunteers lined up past the finishing line to present the medals to the participants who had finished the marathon.
That was followed by photo sessions. They had these huge placards where you could take a picture of yourself. We also had a company sponsored photographer. As usual there was music, free food. I took some time in just lying on the grass, stretching my muscles. And then left the place to reach home.
I got back home, had my bath, had food and then lied down to take some rest. That was when I felt - the pain in the muscles. No kidding!!! It pained like hell. I could not move my leg and was limping for almost a week.
I realized the mistakes I had made -
👉 One, participating in a marathon is no joke. One had to exercise regularly before the marathon - go for walks, do exercises to stretch your muscles. I never did that.
👉 Two, never walk for a long distance in the marathon. If you cannot run, then atleast jog. Reason - when you start walking, your muscles are not really ready to run again
I finished the marathon by sheer will power and determination. My body was just not tuned to that 10km run and there were times I just wanted to sit down and take rest. But I knew that if I did that, I will never be able to continue and cover the rest of the distance.
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