A decade-long journey of a recreational runner! 

Stepping-up for marathon

My confidence level as a runner had gone notches above after my strong half-marathon completion. I could repeat the strong performance next year (2014) as well in the same event. The important point was, the preparations were less compared to the previous year.

That gave me an indication that I was getting comfortable running 21kms and I could try for the next level, the marathon at 42.2kms.

Those days, there was only one event in and around Mysore which hosted a marathon. That was Kaveri Trail Marathon (KTM). KTM is an annual event held near the world famous bird sanctuary Ranganathittu, around 20 km from Mysore.

Posing with finisher medal after completing my first full-marathon in Sep 2015

The marathon was scheduled on September 20. From July to September 2015, for every weekend, I marked an incremental distance in my plan for the practice runs. Since it was already more than six months since I ran my last HM, my weekend plan started with 15kms and the target was to reach anything above 25kms before the race.

I executed the plan diligently and a week before the event, I could clock three hours of continuous running covering 26 km. For the remaining 16 km I devised a race-day plan of trying fixed time sequences of alternative walk and runs (3 minutes of run followed by 2 minutes of walk).

As the name suggests, KTM happens on a trail, running parallel to the canals of river Kaveri. Next morning, I reported on time to the venue and completed all the pre-race formalities. The race started on time and like I did in my previous runs, I started with slow-steady pace.

I kept on running at steady pace for around 25kms and then I switched to my planned sequences of walk-run for the rest of the distance. As a result, I could complete the race without fatigue in a steady timing of 5 hours, 13 minutes and 6 seconds.

As I passed the finish line, I was simply overwhelmed with the thought of becoming a “marathon runner”. I felt a sense of achievement, that I had fulfilled my childhood wish of becoming a sportsperson.

Before the race, my idea was to give a try once. But the experience of running the mega race was so good that I couldn’t find any reason to stop.

Since then I have continued every year. Every time, I have bettered my previous year’s timing, the latest being 4 hours, 44 minutes and 49 seconds.

Following table gives the performances of my full-marathons:

My full-marathon performances till now