Back to Where i Belong!!!!

2^nd June 2013 was 1 of the happiest moments in my life….

That very day started as early as 3am in the morning and I was preparing for this particular day in my lift since last 8 – 9 months.

Finally the day had arrived and my journey to do the unthinkable indeed started.

I Often believe in saying that “LIFE IS NOT ABOUT FINDING WHO YOU ARE, BUT IT IS ABOUT CREATING WHO YOU ARE.”

And my journey to Create myself begun and I created myself to be an Ultramarathoner conquering 89 kms of Hills from Durban to Pietermaritzburg at my very first attempt at the toughest ULTRAMARATHON in the world called “THE COMRADES MARATHON.”

19000 people started a little over 10000 completed it…..and I was amongst it…running it in 11hours 37 minutes and 46 seconds exactly..

Out of almost 45 Indians, I was the 8^th Indian and this all in just a span of 3 years of my running career.

Yes, I am neither an athlete nor a runner…Running to me was a distant dream as I have a history of dislocated Patelas, left ankle ligament tear and many other injuries that I have gotten into mainly due to me being a Fold Dancer which is a little too heavy on 1’s knees. I Started Running in December 2010 and here June 2013 I am at the finish line standing tall and strong clenching my fist, thumping my chest and tears of joy in my eyes with the Comrades medal around my neck.

Once back,  I was almost being treated like a celebrity as I was welcomed along with my Senior Group members because of which I could think of and finish this Marathon with a great fanfare.

After a few weeks of rest and recovery I resumed running again and surprisingly many runners kept asking about the experience, how was it like at the finish, etc.

It made me feel really good. Also as a result of running so long and training with a good mileage, my speed increased and Ikept on pushing myself to the next limit and kept on challenging the body continuously.

All was going really well. From June to around 15^th July life was beautiful with everyone at work, family, friends showing respect talking about Running and it just kept getting better by the day.

However come 17^th July afternoon, I somehow developed a sharp pain in my Right Calf. 1^st I thought that it is just a muscle pull and I simply kept on icing my calf.

But the pain kept on getting worst.  I could not bend my back after sometime and I realised something is terribly wrong with my back. But what was wrong?

I m currently at the prime level of fitness and my endurance has never been so good.

So how can this happen?

I was confined to a weeks’ bed rest and the pain was increasing with every single day and the nights being worst. I used to get a tingling sensation and internal shocks in my right leg and my ankle movement started being restricted and I was just asking god..WHY ME???

The MRI reports showed that due to some aggrevation(NOT DUE TO RUNNING) my L5 S1 disc had ruptured and the ruptured part had settled on the SCIATIC NERVE which runs from the Lower Back to the Right legs Toe.

The only way to cure this is get a Spine Surgery done and remove the Ruptured part which has settled on the Nerve. I did not have any choice and went by the Doctors order.

Such passionate I am for running that at the back of my mind I was thinking if I will recover well enough time to run the Mumbai Marathon of 2014 which is in January every year and 1 of the most prestigious running event that I always run with my extended TOPGEAR MIG Family.

26^th July the surgery was done and the Surgeon said all is fine and we shall meet after 4 – 5 hours and try walking slowly.

I was so excited hearing this. He said this because he understood my passion for running and he said we will decide whetherI can run or not after we finish walking.

I was asleep due to the Sedatives and got up and raring to walk and somehow prove myself that everything is OK now and Ishall be back on the roads soon.

But, HELL BROKE LOOSE…literally. I could not walk…I just could not lift my right leg properly and I had to take a support of the wall and could barely walk 10 metres.

That’s when the surgeon told me that it will take atleast 2 months bed rest and 6 months Physio therapy to think of starting to run. Till then I cant do a thing.

My world had shattered. As it is I could not stand without support and with the thought that I wont get to run for 8 more months made me sink even more.

That night I could not get sleep. I was just trying to figure out how do I get out of the BLACK HOLE that I have fallen into.

Luckily my running group members came to meet me and cheered me up. Some in the hospital some at home when I was under Bed rest. All of them said just 1 thing that I will come back and run with them soon. I just need to be patient.

My Coach just told me to HANG IN THERE and I will be out of this problem soon and I cannot thank my coaches enough for keeping me motivated.

Another tough part for me to accept is that I could not pick up my year old son and being at home he always wanted to play with me and All I could do with him was Read Books J which I happily did.

Days went by and the bed rest got over. I could now sit for more then 2 -3 hours and allowed to resume work for Half days.

My regular checkups with my surgeon saw a tremendous improvement and he advised me to walk as much as I can to recover. The more I walk the faster the recovery. This is what I required. I started walking from 15 minutes to an hour without difficulty in a span on few weeks and then he made me swam, cycle for testing the impact on back which was kind of OK.

After exactly 3 months, my surgeon recommended me for PHYSIO. All this while I only had 1 thing in mind and which was to get back to running and even stronger and better then before. So I took the physio sessions religiously as advised. The Physio could sense the desire to run and ensured me that very shortly I shall start running soon.

Months passed by from July when I was operated we were in November and I was not advised to run yet. Even though I felt Icould.

Then 1^st week of December I was given a nod by my physio to try out a 2km run….which was for me like a child being born again.

I was told to take Baby steps and I did. From November to December I kept on doing short runs and kept improving my gait, my cadence, running form, etc and on 30^th December i ran 5kms non-stop at a fast pace.

This day I felt I was breathing the oxygen the best way possible and I have never enjoyed the sweat on my body so much ever before.

Some more physio, Back and Glute Strengthening, Core Workouts and in 1^st Week of Feb I ran my first event of a 10km run in 52.11 minutes and received a finishers medal.

This was my 1^st Medal post comrades and I would say it was even more special.

On that day I felt like a child wanting a toy since when and finally got it without asking.

Its end of march as I m writing this experience of mine and I still haven’t gone above 15km. Would like to share with you that on 6^th April I intend to do my 1^st Half Marathon and once that is done I shall start training for my 1^st FULL MARATHON post surgery which is hopefully in September.

I will not consider myself fully fit till I cross the magical finish line at COMRADES MARATHON 2015…but yes, I can say thatI AM BACK WHERE I BELONG….

This magical recovery would not have been possible without my family who supported me the most and more importantly my Mom and my Wife who made sure that i get the rest that i am required to....all my runs henceforth i owe to them and my Extended Family of TOPGEAR MIG without which i can never think of running.

My coaches who kept me up always and till date help me curb my over enthusiasm to run more..had they not stopped me, iwould have broken myself yet again.

would like to end with saying that i could somehow manage to find POSSIBLE from the word IMPOSSIBLE and indeed nothing is IMPOSSIBLE if 1 decides to GO FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Regards
Pratik