The Marathon Before the Comrades

Dear All,

 I am Back after what I would call the most defining moments of my Running Stint in the last 4 years.

Frankly speaking I do not know what to share to you as I am surprised that I could finish the Comrades Marathon 2013 with standing on both my feet… ( I was not on both my feet at the finishline infact as was airborne with a huge jump I made over the MAT).
If I have to Answer a question of what is more tough between RUNNING COMRADES and TRAINING TO RUNCOMRADES; then I would select the latter part as Running Comrades is a matter of 12 hours whereas TRAINING TO RUN THE COMRADES Is not JUST RUNNING but a lot of sacrifice, compromise, Frustrations, Depressions and what not over many months infact.....
For me the COMRADES Journey started on 2^nd September 2012.  It was a SUNDAY MORNING where I decided to Register for COMRADES without knowing who else is coming from TOPGEAR. Infact it was a Secret which I had not shared with any1 except my WIFE without which I Do not think this TRAINING And FINISHING was possible. She has been letting me do All my runs with maximum support possible and I owe this run and the medal to her and  my BUDDY (Rivaan).
My Wife was 1 of the reasons why I could be strong on a Mental level…in the MIND, I was always sure of Running and finishing the Comrades as I knew I had her Total Support….so that was taken care of…
The Next step was having the PHYSICAL ABILITY to do it….and that is where TOPGEAR NEVER FAILS!!!! ;-)

I have to share this that I had too many coaches for myself, or I bothered too many people to ensure whatever I was doing as far as the Training part was concerned was Right.
The Reason I was a Strong finisher and on both my legs is PRADEEP KADU…who made me do Legs In the way he does…The GIANT REPS Schedule that he follows was followed by me blindly in EVERY LEGS WORKOUT, and the result is in front of u. I may not have those Thunderous things as his, but they ain’t weaker either.;-)
Besides Pradeep, I used to take regular inputs from Samson Sir, Dr. Kharat, Vaijanath and Suchita for my Gym training, Running pace, Stride, Diet, etc and they all helped very eagerly for all those areas.
But the main reason why I could do this was the Disciplinarian DILIP PATIL.
His scheduled was followed by us totally. At times he altered it and increased the distance, but we never thought twice. PATILSAAB was like a bible for us to finish the Comrades and I ensured that I read every page of that Bible. When we met at the International Tent after Finish; I simply Hugged him and touched his feet as he really treated us like his Kids in the last few months…
Thanks  a TON PATILSAAB and keep us treating the same way!!!!!!!!!

 

Coming back to the COMRADES and my experience, I have to admit that It did not start with the right frame of mind.

As soon as I reached to the Hotel and thought of freshening up for a shower, I realise that my BAG’s Lock has been broken and the entire bag has been ransacked for picking up some valuables.
The bag had nothing valuable in it except the most valuable thing for Any runner which is his GARMIN.

 

It was GONE!!!!!!!!!! Just imagine; we land on Wednesday with COMRADES on SUNDAY, And I Did not have my GARMIN. Although there are people who run without a watch at all but I Am used to GARMIN and my mind was totally screwed up….I was telling to myself, that if this is the beginning that How tough the Race would be???
I somehow got a good assurance from my MENTAL CONDITIONING COACH – My Wife who asked me to Calm down and just buy a New 1 if needed…!!! HELL IT WAS NEEDED, and I simply bought 1 the next day in EXPO….

 On Thursday, we visited the EXPO….which is 1 of its Kind….it’s like a shopping Paradise for runners and for once I was behaving like any of the Ladies would behave if they were left  in a HUGE SHOPPING MALL with a NO LIMIT CREDIT CARD TO SHOP WITH!!!

You get things for running which you have never seen before and you feel like buying each and every 1 of them..
 I somehow abstained myself on going on a shopping spree as I had a big purchase of my watch coming up. Firstly what I did was got my BIB. I went to the International Runners’ Tent and loved the way it was organised. I was wearing an INDIA- T-shirt which most of us were wearing in the EXPO and a reporter of “THE DAILY” – local newspaper interviewed us and asked for a  photograph. I immediately called the rest of the Indians and we got ourselves clicked in STYLE and CONFIDENCE only to be featured the coming day…….
We also had the privilege to Meet Mrs. PAT FREEMAN, a lady who was going to run her 25th COMRADESMARATHON.....she simply said to lookout for the weather as this is going to be the HOTTEST COMRADES EVER.....
It made me think, that we did all the Lonavala runs at Night so that we can simulate the South African Conditions and what do we have here? Weather similar to Mumbai Marathon....Vow..Thts a Great Beginning!!!! ;-)
We came back from Expo, had a late lunch and were so tired and Jet Lagged, that slept the Entire Evening to Recover from the Long Flight.
 On Thursday we had a  nice 5k warm up run followed by Stretching. The same schedule was followed on Friday and Saturday as well.

Saturday was a Rest Day so we didn’t do much but FRIDAY was the BUS TOUR to give us an idea of what is coming to us…Many advised to Avoid it as it will mentally pull us down…however I like to see what’s coming to me and therefore we happily took the BUS TOUR which took our entire day…

During the Tour we noticed how steep the Hills are and How long they are…Although they look completely different when you actually RUN..but we got familiarized with COWIES, FIELDS, BOTHAS, INCHANGA & POLLY SHORTS, followed by a MUSEUM TOUR….

 

SATURDAY was the REST DAY for all of us, where we took adequate rest and ensured that our GEAR is ready so the afternoon went in stiching our Flags, getting our Gear Ready and by 4pm, we were done with those Formalities….
The rest of the evening went in Resting, watching TV and discussing on where we should be taking the WALK BREAKS, Water Breaks, ICE BREAKS, and where the HELL ARE WE GOING TO BREAK ;-)

 

MORE ON THE RUN, SOON ENOUGH!!!!!!

 

Regards
Pratik Desai