Twin Cities Marathon - an odyssey!

Prologue

Training done as best I could
Eagerly awaiting race day
Tapered loaded up with food
Trying to keep the flab at bay J

Friday – Oct 2nd, 2009

Come Oct 2nd, time to leave
Goodbyes to the family
Rushed to airport after appointment
Long security line – now, really!

Discovered flight delay, sigh of relief
Ran into some familiar faces
Warmed up for what lay ahead
TSA agents putting us through our paces!

Reached the food court, got a table
Hours to kill – sipping gatorade
Bad weather in Minneapolis
Hope it won’t rain on our parade!!

Uneventful flight, four hours late
Would we be in time for dinner?
No food for us Economy class peons
But first class – now there you’re a winner!

Rounded up the crowd, Patel shots
Time to get on the local train
Several stops later, time to get off
Trying to stay out of the rain!

Skyway to hotel, elevator up,
Thanks Sahana – really nice digs
Settled into suite, quick change
Down to get some dinner quick!

Burger and Fries, Lemonade
Nice conversation, long day
Good nights exchanged, head up
Exhausted, time to hit the hay

Saturday – Oct 3rd, 2009

Group breakfast starting early
Need 2 hours – says Coach Raman!
Cooked to order, lavish spread
And here we thought we’d be eating Ramen!!

Shuttle arrives on the dot
We get in and we’re on our way
Get to the expo, disembark
We’ve got 2 hours for work and play!

Pick up bib and chip quickly
Walk around the different stores
Lots of overpriced stuff on sale
Don’t really need anything more!

Done with the expo, back to base
Major debate on where to lunch
Some folks want Thai, others Indian
Oh my – what a rowdy bunch!

Join the group wanting Indian
Get there – now it’s the North/South debate
No greasy spicy food says one
So Dosas it is – two to a plate J

Post-lunch plans – nothing much
Why not a movie and rest our feet
Discussion on choices now ensues
As we walk to the theater down the street

$5 for a movie – holy cow
Boy is Cali expensive
Inglourious Basterds is the choice
Hope the gals don’t find it offensive!

2.5 hours of fun and mayhem
Enjoyed a satisfying flick
Oops we need to get to the carbo-load dinner
Let’s hightail it –come on quick!

Run/Walk back to the hotel
The folks there are ready to begin
Coaches Tony and Raman giving out tips
And then we all start digging in!

The banter and chatting comes to an end
The crowd disperses for an early night
Each and every mind wondering
What’s going to happen come daylight!

Back to room, bib on shirt
Chip on shoe, get everything done
Time to hit the sack early
And wake up for the all-important run!

Sunday – Oct 4th, 2009

8 am start – great idea
Extra couple of hours of zzzs
Hotel close to start – awesome choice
Three cheers for Sahana if you please!

Get out of bed, ready real quick
Down in the lobby at 7 o’clock
The entire group is ready to go
And we walk briskly the couple of blocks

Temps in the 40s, light wind
Good conditions, should be fun
Humidity at 85% though
Hydrate hydrate – we tell everyone!

Get in the port-a-potty line
Long line and not time enough
10 minutes to go – no luck
Rush to find 3:50 pacer – yikes it’s tough!

Line up near the 4:30 group
Speeches, anthem, there’s the gun
Crowd sets off, trampling feet
Right – now let’s go out and have some fun!

People start out like they’re shot from cannons
Lots of happy faces and smiles!
Words from the coaches echo in my ears
Start slow, remember, it’s 26.2 miles!

Weave around traffic, 8:50 pace
Keep that for miles one through four
Running through streets, lots of crowd
And thankfully, no downpour!

Reach the lakes, still keeping pace
Body warmed up, feet going well
Build up a nice rhythm through mile 10
You’re almost there the crowd does yell!

No, I’m not I think to myself
Only 16 more miles to go
They’re just showing trying to show support
And mean well – I know, I know!

Mile 13 surpassed, Halfway there!
The clock shows 1 hr and 54
Lots of beauty on the course
Makes me want to go for more

Mile 16 goes by, pounding on
Oops what’s that twinge I feel
Right hamstring or God forbid
The ITB that can make one kneel!

Strong pain signals sent
And received by the brain loud and clear
You need to back off the pace
And By the Way, no PR my dear J

A little dismayed, no PR
But it seems like an easy choice
Keep pushing and pull up lame
Or finish – says the little voice!

Decision made, I soldier on
Miles going by, Gu being taken
The lakes, rivers, all the beauty
The crowd, but it feels so God forsaken!

Mile 20 goes by, and I suddenly wake up
Hey what’s with all this despair
Focus on the goal, remember the cause
You’re well trained and it will get you there!

Chocolate Gu with caffeine
Just the right adrenaline shot
Pace is slow but the spirit is strong
A Team Asha member quit – most certainly NOT!!!

Miles 23,24 go by in a blur
Running through the tree-lined street
Hey – they said this course was flat
What’s with all the hill repeats J

Mile 25 passed, 1.2 to go
Can hear the crowd roar, thank you all
Keep hydrating I tell myself
I seem to have crashed through most of the wall!

Cross mile 26, 0.2 left
Time for an all-out burst
Pick up the pace as much as I can
Thanks to tracks – they really aren’t the worst J

Cross the finish line, head held high
Hands in the air, smile on face
Another thing drilled into us by the coaches
Finish strong and smiling at the end of the race.

4:05 says the clock,
Not too bad, only 8 mins off
Given that 10 miles were on one leg
I can’t thank my stars enough!

Get medal and refreshments
Wander around looking for the Asha tent
Kind of hard to find and it’s getting cold
Windy to boot – and I’m a little spent.

Find the Asha folks, grab some goodies
Samosas, Pakoras, and assorted treats
Thanks Asha Minneapolis folks
Much appreciated – to celebrate our feat

Wait for others to come in
All Team Asha runners do us proud!
Strong finishes, smiling faces
Make us stand out in the crowd!

Bus back to hotel, walk back up
Shower, rest, then meet in the bar
Drinks are consumed, stories shared
Boy so many of us have come so far.

Evening celebration, Indian food
Awesome spread, lots to eat
More stories of valor and courage,
First-timers especially, what a tremendous feat!

Head back to base, time to rest
Early morning flight to catch
Tired, Aching, but elated
A sensation that cannot be matched!

Monday – Oct 6th, 2009

Flight back home, smooth enough
Just real early in the day
Land in San Jose, say goodbye
Team Asha has triumphed come what may

Upon further reflection and introspection
As we drive home sitting in the car
For an out-of-shaper who started from 0
6 marathons done – how did I get so far?

For this, I owe a debt of gratitude
To my extended family
Coaches, Co-ords and volunteers
Team Asha helps each of us create our own history!

Portland Marathon - Wet, humid, and still a blast!

So after a successful SF half and continued training with Team Asha putting in the miles and time, it was time to head on to the first Asha marathon of the season - Portland on Oct 5, 2008.

Portland - the name conjures up images of a beautiful green city in the Pacific Northwest replete with dreary skies and rains throughout the year. We had been tracking the weather forecast anxiously and the predicted probability percentage for rain on Sunday had been changing more often than the McCain economic plan :-) Well, we were trained to run in all kinds of conditions except rain this season - so, should make for an interesting time...

Oct 3, 2008 (Friday)
After having tapered, rested, and loaded up on carbs for a few weeks now, I was raring to go. The initial plan had been to drive to Portland with the family so they could come and watch me run. However, the wife had deep-sixed that plan and in any case, the kids had a bit of a cold. So, I had decided to fly out to Portland on an evening flight from San Jose.

Arrived at the airport and was sitting at the gate when I ran into Parag, who was on the same Southwest flight. We chatted for a while and discussed plans and strategies. The flight was fairly uneventful and they even served peanuts :-) Landed in Portland and picked up my bags etc. My friend Srikanth (from college) was waiting for me at the airport (with his two lovely kids, Anagha, and Krishna in tow) and took me over to his house to stay Friday night. His wife Priya had made a nice South Indian dinner rich in carbs for my benefit, and after feasting on it, and chatting and catching up for a while, decided to hit the hay to get a good night's rest. Oh and BTW, it rained pretty much all night!!

Oct 4, 2008 (Saturday)
The carbo-load dinner had been scheduled for 7 p.m. in downtown Portland (close to the Team Asha hotel). So, I decided to go to the expo right before then and pick up my bib and then head to the carbo-load dinner. The morning was spent with Srikanth and the kids at a science museum (which was quite interesting). The weather was wacky with bouts of rain followed by periods of some blue sky. After a nice lunch at home, spent some time on the Nintendo Wii with Srikanth playing golf! I then packed my bags and got things together to head downtown.

Around 5 p.m., Srikanth and I headed to the city and arrived at the expo. The expo was not much to write home about :-) (though definitely a step up from the SV marathon!). After picking up my bib (with D-tag) and walking around for a bit, we decided to head to Hotel 50 to meet the team. The funny thing with this marathon was that the T-shirts were not given out at the expo; they had to be collected at the finish!!

Reached the hotel at 6:30 p.m. and left my stuff with Vinay. Then, after saying goodbye to Srikanth, we headed out to Alessandro's for the carbo-load dinner. We met up with the rest of the group outside, and had to loiter around for a while till the tables were ready.

The restaurant had one thing going for it - ambiance! Too bad, the quality of food and the service did not match it :-) There was an interminable wait to even get the bread initially, and then the food orders were further delayed/mixed-up (Coach Tony got his soup after he finished his main course!!). Of course, the travel team picked the restaurant due to its proximity to the hotel and are not responsible for the service etc. Anyhoo, Coach Tony gave us a nice pep-talk and after finishing our dinners, we headed back to the hotel around 9 p.m. or so to get some shut-eye in. Oh, and it was not raining then :-)

Reached the hotel, and after pinning the bib on and fitting the D-tag on the shoe, said good night to Navneet and went to bed by 10 p.m. or so.

Oct 5, 2008 (Sunday) - the Race
It's funny how even if this was my 3rd marathon, I still had butterflies in my stomach, and the anxiety caused me to wake up at 3 a.m. (and then not be able to get back to sleep). Stayed in bed till about 4:30 in order to let Navneet rest, and finally got up to get ready. After the glide/nip-guard and other checks, was ready to go and had an energy bar and half a bagel around 5:30 a.m. (thanks Gurpreet and the co-ords team for the bagels and bananas - awesome work as always!).

The plan was to meet up with the group in the lobby at 6 a.m. and walk/jog the 4 blocks to the start line. Navneet and I got to the lobby, and of course, found no one there :-) We decided to wait a bit longer in order to stay out of the cold. It was pretty nippy outside and cloudy - but no rain! Finally, people started trickling in, and by about 6:20, we decided to head out.
Got to the start line, and picked up the sweats bag. Also stood in line for the port-a-potty and just about managed to get out by 6:45 a.m. There was a long line for the sweats check as well, but somehow snuck in and dropped it off. Started pushing through the crowds (6 hr finish, 5.5 hr finish etc.) to reach the 4 hours and below corral. I had planned to start with the 3 hr 50 min pace group and found the pacers with the sign and got to the back of the group there.

The announcer made some announcements and also noted that it had never rained during the marathon for the past 30+ years - should have known what was in store then :-) After the national anthem, the starting gun went off, and we were off. The elites and faster runners took off, and soon, we were moving as well and crossed the start mat (and I started my watch).

Miles 0- 5
Kept telling myself to start slow till I was warmed up. The crowd was moving and everyone looked like they were sprinting out of the blocks. Kept a 9:11 pace for the first mile and just about managed to keep sight of the 3:50 pacers. The next few miles were quicker (8:25-8:30 pace) and every time I looked up, I was still falling further behind the pace group! I had the 3:50 pace band on, and kept looking at the times. Something was definitely up with the pace group. Oh and it started drizzling around mile 2! So much for not raining during the marathon:-) And the humidity was around 95% (we found out later) - conditions were definitely going to play a part.

Miles 6-13.1
The rain kept getting steadier and was quite annoying to say the least. The roads were getting slick and some puddles were forming (had to focus to make sure I did not step in one). The 3:50 pacers were definitely off and going much faster (and as a result, I was going faster than planned/needed to keep up!). Hit 10K in 52:55, 8.9 miles in 1:15:48, and the halfway point in 1:52:50 (8:37 pace).

Just to put things in context - according to the pace band, the 3:50 group should have hit the half in 1:56:58; I was there in 1:52:50, and was at least a minute (if not more) behind the 3:50 pacers! So, they were off by a full 5 minutes or more! So much for them knowing how to pace us :-)

The humidity was definitely sapping, and despite the rain, I could feel that I was sweating a lot more. I made sure to drink electrolytes at every water stop. Compounding things, the marathon had 2 kinds of electrolyte drinks - Ultima, which provided mineral replenishment only, and Gleukos, which had sugar and electrolytes. I took them alternately, and sometimes grabbed both at a water stop. One of the things I had told myself was to be very careful with my nutrition during my race (having tailed off badly towards the end in my earlier races) - so, had an energy bar around mile 8, and some Liquid Gold (which was the honey based gel type thing that they offered - quite delicious I must add) at the next couple of water stops. I also looked around to see if I could spot my brother and his wife (who had flown in to see me race) but no luck. I did spot the Asha folks, and they cheered me on (thanks folks!).

Overall, I felt pretty good and seemed to be on track to hit my sub 4 hr goal.

Miles 13.1 - 20
What's that old saying about the best laid plans :-) I was moving pretty smoothly, when suddenly around Mile 15, I felt a twinge in my right hamstring and it started sending out signals of discomfort. I was keeping a good pace but decided to slow down to avoid further damage that might prevent me from finishing! 8:30-8:40 miles soon became 9+ minute miles. Still, I had over 7 mins in the bank, and I hoped that would see me through.

After looping through downtown stretches initially, we had moved on towards St.John's bridge at mile 17. This presented the only significant hill on the course - about a 150 foot climb but not too bad in itself - it was just the positioning in the race when people were close to the proverbial wall! I was now doing about 9:15-9:20 min miles and decided to be conservative on the hill. I took it nice and easy (I guess my quads still had some residual memory from Big Sur in April and SF half in August) and despite recording my slowest mile of the day (9:54), I made it to the top and across the bridge fairly comfortably.

The rain was falling harder, and the chill was also causing my sore hamstring to keep announcing itself! I had continued consuming liquid gold and also had a packet of Gu around mile 14 onwards. I reached mile 18 and felt a little tired, but knew that this was the 'wall' and I had to fight past it. I took another shot of Gu, put my head down and kept charging forward - the words of Coach Harry were fresh in my mind - 'As long as you keep moving forward, you will finish!' Reached mile 20 in 2:56:40 (now at 8:50 pace). Oh, and I had lost sight of the 3:50 pace group a while back, and was relying on the timing bracelet for guidance!

Miles 21-26.2
It was now pouring pretty badly and I was tiring a bit as well. I decided to unleash the secret weapon - 'Chocolate Gu with Caffeine' that I had picked up just for this occasion! Took the first shot of it, and soon felt it work its magic. Started keeping a steady 9:20-9:30 pace and waited for the downhill that was soon coming. I knew that if I could do better than 11 minute miles or so for the remaining distance, I would be home in less than 4 hrs!!

The crowds and bands (which really helped get the spirits up on a few occasions) had been awesome from the start and kept cheering us on as we made our way to cross the bridge back to the downtown side of the river. Soon, the downhill arrived at mile 22, and I decided to pick up the pace a little (as much as I could). After a 9 minute mile, reached mile 23 or so when I spied the folks handing out beer in the little plastic cups! Despite being a teetotaler, I was in half-a-mind to throw away that label, and imbibe the nectar. However, I decided that this was probably not the best time to experiment with alcohol (now drugs would have been a whole other story - one is definitely high on something when one decides to run marathons!).

I could now see folks starting to struggle/cramp up/walk. There were several folks doubled up on the side of the road as well. I decided to focus and concentrated harder on keeping the back straight and the strides smooth (well at least I thought so - others may have seen me as the guy with the flailing arms and staggering feet!!!). The mile 24 and 25 markers soon passed by - and I had over 14 minutes to finish the last 1.2 miles. I decided to save the 'kick' for the last .2 miles just in case I ran out of gas (if I started sprinting at mile 25). Started hearing the cheering crowds and rounded the bend for the final .2 - picked up the pace as best I could and soon sighted the finish arch with the balloons - trust me - there is no sweeter sight for any runner than those damn balloons at the finish line :-) I passed a few people and finally crossed the mat and immediately stopped my watch - it read 3:57:02 - mission accomplished!!! I was drenched, soaking wet, but ecstatic and relieved! I had broken the elusive (well, for me anyways) 4 hour barrier, and shattered my PR by over 35 mins (previous best, 4:32:31 at Big Sur).

It turns out that for the first time ever, the time according to my watch and the official chip time, matched! Of course, the consequence of this is that my official finish line picture has me bent down stopping my watch:-)

I walked gingerly through the finish area and picked up my medal - they gave us a rose along with it - a nice touch! Then headed straight for the food and refreshments - they gave us cold Nesquik Chocolate milk - never had anything tasted sweeter! They also had quite a good spread of food, and I picked up a few things to eat in a bit (as I did not feel like eating right away). Finally spotted Ram (my brother) and Bindu (his wife) and went and accepted their congratulations. Headed down to the Asha tent where I was greeted by an ecstatic Gurpreet, and Coach Tony, and Raj (who had both finished ahead of me). The co-ords and volunteers had excelled as always, and in true Asha tradition, there were Samosas and also Lassi waiting for us in the tent.
After chatting for a bit and wolfing down a Samosa, I decided to go pick up my sweats bag - only to discover that we had to walk 5 blocks to get it! Limped down the streets with Raj for company and got our bags. Raj decided to head back to the hotel and I started walking back to the finish area to meet my brother. My friend Srikanth had also arrived in the meanwhile, and we decided to wait for a little bit - Vinay, Kiron, and Navneet finished in the meanwhile (and had all run awesome races given the conditions). Then, after congratulating the finishers and planning to meet at the dinner that evening, decided to head back to Srikanth's place (so as not to keep them all waiting) - went back to the hotel, picked up my stuff, and headed back.
Got to Srikanth's place, and after a nice warm shower (I know, I know - I am not a huge fan of ice baths :-)), and some ice-packs on sore knees and ankles, went out to a nice South Indian restaurant for a lunch buffet!

Oct 5, 2008 (Sunday) - evening
Arrived at the planned rendezvous (at Taj India/India Palace) after several phone calls and updates from Gurpreet (that included name changes, address changes etc. - they had apparently relocated the restaurant recently!). Had come along with Ram and Bindu and there were already some folks there at the restaurant (Chandrika, Shailesh, and others). Started on the pakoras while we waited for the rest of the crew to arrive in the shuttle from the hotel. They finally showed up, and we celebrated over drinks and dinner. Coach Tony congratulated us all, and we were also happy to receive a phone call from Coach Raman (who congratulated the team on speaker phone). Coach Martina had already called me in the afternoon (as had Rajeev Shankar, and a few others) - though Martina probably had mixed feelings as she now owed various people lunch and dinner (or worse - money :-)) - details not supplied in order to avoid corruption/betting charges :-)


We shared the victory stories, and it was especially gratifying to see the smiles on the faces of the first time finishers. Despite the weather, and various other injuries/inconveniences, Team Asha runners had braved the odds, and had all finished strong with a smile on their faces! The spirit of Team Asha shone through on that bleak, cloudy, rainy day in Portland - and we had all indeed conquered the beast and had tales of valour and courage to tell.

I am extremely grateful to all the Coaches for the training, advice, and support:

Tony - for pushing me hard at tracks and prepping me on race day.
Martina - for all her support last year (running with me at SV marathon, off-season Rancho runs etc.) and her advice this year.
Raman - for running with me at Rancho and introducing me to the joys of Black Mountain and other assorted hill trails.
Harry - for his injury analysis and input.
and last but not the least - Rajeev Char - for all the advice, injury prevention/recovery tips (when I had the ITB issues), for running with me and encouraging me at the long runs (Los Gatos etc.), helping me plan out a race strategy (pace groups).
Raj (asst.coach) - for the pep talks, and making me believe that I could crack the 4 hour barrier.

I also owe the Rancho group a vote of thanks! Being their mentor, and being responsible for their progress, and to get them to their marathon goals, has instilled a sense of discipline in me (and caused me not to miss any runs this season); well that, and the fact that I am the only mentor for that group with no back-up :-) I have also enjoyed the fun and camaraderie - thanks a bunch guys and gals!

Epilogue:
Oct 6, 2008 (Monday)
Flew back home on Monday morning (after thanking Srikanth and his family for their excellent hospitality and saying goodbye to Ram and Bindhu - it was excellent to have them all share the experience). Was really glad to get back to the wife and kids and they were all thrilled with my achievement and to have me back (well, even little 9 month old Rohan gave me a high-five (or so I thought - he was probably just waving his hands:-))).

Oct 7, 2008 (Tuesday) - track workout
Some of us Portland finishers showed up at tracks on Tuesday evening. We wore our Finisher T-Shirts (awesome BTW - Nike, full-sleeve, wicking shirt) and medals in order to inspire the Chicago and SV runners. A couple of us gluttons for punishment even ran a few laps (to get in a recovery run I guess).

Oct 9, 2008 (Thursday) - weekday Rancho run
Back in action to fulfil my duties as mentor. Ran with the guys - some things never change :-)

Running is not a chore anymore - it's a lifestyle choice, and I am proud to be a card-carrying member of this Marathoner's club! And, the fact that I am where I am (being able to make the above statement) - I owe it all to the family called 'Team Asha'! And for this, I will keep coming back year after year to share new experiences and forge new bonds and friendships!

Big Sur-passed!!

Well, better late than never!

Just a quick note to say that I passed the Big Sur test and almost met my goal (4:30). I finished in 4 hours 32 min 31 seconds (10:24 pace) - a new PR (Personal Record) beating my 4:39:13 at Silicon Valley last year and on a much tougher course!

Despite ITB issues on the left leg, a hot day (over 80F towards the end), and the never-ending hills and banked roads, I am glad to report that I finished strong. It was a very well organized race and a beautiful and scenic course, and I will definitely try and do it again soon.

Am now signed up for the Team ASHA 2008 program and am slowly building up and recovering from the ITB injury and am targeting the Portland marathon in October.

Veni Vidi Vici - Part 2

My wife had said that should would be there at the halfway point (along with my daughter and my in-laws who are visiting) - so, I looked forward to seeing them at the High School. We entered the high school track and I scanned the audience looking for them, but could not find them (I later found out that they just missed us by a few minutes as they had a hard time finding parking). This was a bit of a bummer, but I soldiered on. We were at about 2 hrs 13 minutes at this point, and things looked pretty good. They split the half-marathoners and full-marathoners at this point, and we made sure, we went in the right direction. As we got out of the school, and onto the streets, Kumar seemed to be tiring or aching - we checked in with him, and he told us to go ahead as he would be taking a walk break. Coach Martina and I decided to carry on running. Miles 14-18 were pretty good and we were keeping to about a 10 minute pace on average. On our way, we were glad to bump into the 'Terrific Trio' - Karthik, Kiran, and Gurpreet - they seemed to be high and on spirits (oops I mean in high spirits) as always :-) We waved to them as Gurpreet gave us his best coach Raman impression - 'Looking Good!' We reached the ASHA Water stop (back on the trail again on the way back) and there were even more folks there now - Navneet and others shouted words of encouragement, and this helped lift my slightly sagging spirits!

This is the point where the real race began for me :-) Having breezed through mile 18, I noticed that I was suddenly beginning to tire a bit and the legs did not have as much. I had started Gu at Mile 13 (as I normally do) and had been taking it per my regular schedule. Could this be the dreaded 'Wall' I wondered? Mile 19 was slow (11:40 pace or so) - coach Martina saw this, and kept talking to me and encouraging me. I took some more Gu and told myself - Wall or no Wall, I was finishing this race (either on 2 legs or otherwise :-) and that was that :-) Miles 20-22 were at between 11 and 11:15 pace as we got out fom the trail and onto the streets of San Jose. There was a marked change in conditions as by then it was around 11 am and the it was getting hotter plus there were no trees to provide shade (the trail was fairly comfortable in that respect). We ran into and passed Sanjay around here somewhere and found Kamal slightly ahead of us. Coach Martina started running a little ahead with Kamal and kept egging me to push on. The sight of them running in front somehow helped me press forward and eke more out of the somewhat tired legs.


Nearing Mile 23, I finally had had enough - I told Martina that I needed to walk for a bit (I don't normally take walk breaks). She asked me to push till the Mile marker and then take the break. I walked for about a minute or so, and then decided to resume running - this was way harder than I thought and I had a tough time getting the rhythm back. So, I told Martina, come what may, I was going to continue running (albeit at a slow almost walking pace) . Miles 24 and 25 can be summarized thus(12:40 and 12:10 pace respectively):

Martina - 'Bharath! You can do it! Only x miles to go (2,1.5,1.2 etc.). Think of the finish line and what awaits. Think of the jalebis coming up' etc.
Me - 'Ok Coach' (not wanting to be my usual loquacious self in order to conserve precious energy!)

As we neared mile 25, Kamal stopped and was bent over. We stopped by to make sure he was ok (he wanted to walk for a bit) and continued on. Suddenly, out of the blue, Coach Raman appeared running in the other direction with jalebis in his hand. I decided to pass on the jalebis but his words of encouragement definitely provided some additional momentum. Coach Raman also mentioned that we were doing great ,and only 3-4 ASHA runners were ahead of us. We got to the ASHA water stop at mile 25 where Sathya and others checked to make sure I was ok, and told me to finish strong. The combined boost (Amino-Vital, ASHA folks, Coaches etc.) served to somehow jump start me and fueled by adrenaline, I told Martina - let's go for it! We passed the 1 mile marker (in the other direction) and I went for broke (well, at least I thought so relative to my flagging pace the past few miles).

We passed a few enthusiastic supporters (few and far between I must say) with cow-bells shouting encouragement - Looking strong! Only 1 mile to go! Awesome job! etc. Even the cops blocking the streets were cheering, as we neared Discovery Meadow and the finish. The crowd noise grew louder and Martina kept talking to me and cheering me on. Passed the 280 exit and knew I was almost there! We burst (!!) into Discovery Meadow and finally, I got a glimpse of the promised land! Picked up my pace (finish strong the coaches had said) and had Coach Martina right there along side me. We neared the finish line as the announcer said 'Put your hands together folks - here come no. 444 Martina Koldeway and no.682 Bharath Prabhakaran. The final push, and Martina picked my right arm up with her left and raised our arms aloft as we crossed the finish - 4:39:13 - 'Mission Accomplished!'

Picked up the finisher's medal from the girl handing them out and put it on. My daughter had seen me and came running to me and I managed to bend and pick her up (wish I had seen her earlier so I could have finished while holding her in my hands ala Praveen did later).

Coach Martina told me to keep walking and so I walked down and met my wife and family. Then went to the ASHA tent, where Coach Tony gave me a high five and Raghav, Anand etc. congratulated me! As always, the co-ords and volunteers had made sure we were well fed and nourished and I had a banana and some cold water - felt really good! The Samosas looked really tempting, but I decided to wait a while. I went over to Coach Martina and gave her a big thank-you hug for all that she had done. She was a huge reason that I finished the race and finished well! Then went over and chatted with the family and accepted their congratulations and hugs etc. Walked back to the ASHA tent and decided to partake in the festivities. Had a Samosa, and by then, the real food had arrived (courtesy Tirupathi Bhimas restaurant) - Pongal, and a Sweet Dish. Had some hot pongal and washed it down with some Gatorade (quite the combo don't you think!) and felt quite rejuvenated all of a sudden! Chatted with the folks, and then walked over to the finish line to cheer the other ASHA folks as they came in. Took up a position next to Raghu (who was taking pictures of the finishers and did a superb job - much better than the official race photographer!) and watched Sanjay, Kamal, Vivek, Praveen, and a host of others come in. Was relieved to see Kamal come in ok, and even more so when Kumar crossed the line. It was getting quite hot and my daughter came running towards me and was getting quite cranky. So, decided to take a quick look at the official race results, and then stopped by the ASHA tent to let Martina know that I had to leave (even though I would have loved to stay). We decided to take a quick sub-group picture (with the finishers (look at those happy faces!) up to that point) and then I said Good-byes to everyone (and once again thanked Martina, the coaches, Raman and the co-ord team etc.) and left.

I would like to take a second to dedicate this race to the memory of my late mother, and also to my daughter and wife!

So, how did it really feel?

'In Pain, one can find pleasure' - ok, this is not a slogan for masochists or self-flagellators! On the drive back home, I could certainly feel the pain - knees aching, hamstrings sore, calves, quads - you name it, it was probably sore! There was also some sadness (I wish my mother were alive to see this) and joy (having my family and especially my daughter at the finish). There was also the sense of pleasure, of accomplishment, of having conquered my fears and doubts (both worthy adversaries I must add), of having set a lofty goal, and achieving it in such a short span of time! I felt elated, jubilant (and all related synonyms) - ala Leo Di Caprio in Titanic - 'I'm king of the world!'.

But, amid the confluence of feelings, there was one overwhelming emotion - 'Gratitude' - to the family that we call Team ASHA. The path to our glory had been laid one brick at a time, and there were many architects who helped sculpt our success! I was thankful for the wonderful coaches who got us prepared (Tony, Raman, Rajiv, 'Bonus-Coach' Harry, and above all, Martina), the excellent co-ord team (Raman, CK, G3 etc.) and volunteers who organized and supported us through all the runs the entire season, the ASHA cheering squad (and their wonderful costumes - glad to note that we won the 'Team-Spirit' award once again this year), fellow runners (esp the Mountain View crew), and the entire Team ASHA family for what had been an extraordinary experience leading up to an unimaginable accomplishment! The fact that I helped raise money towards the education of underpriviliged kids made it even sweeter (thank you for the support Donors!)

I also feel lighter, fitter, more energetic than I have ever been - this has truly been a life-changing experience for me. As Martina likes to say, it is a lifestyle change, and I am glad that my friend Rajeev convinced me to do this. I am actually looking forward to visiting Dr.Evil (ok Dr.Chan, just kidding!) and getting my blood work done again! And for this, I am really thankful!

I know, I know - this is beginning to sound like an Oscar acceptance speech where I am thanking all and sundry. But, this is about feelings right? It's never easy talking about feelings - but Hey Ladies - who says men can't talk about their feelings :-) :-)

It was such a blast that in the words of our famous Governator - 'I'll be BACK!!' (for the 2008 season that is).

For now, Veni! Vidi! Vici! - over and out!

Veni Vidi Vici - Part 1

Ok, so now I know how the Roman emperors felt after a conquest - oh wait, this was a battle against myself fought by myself :-)

Ok, so now I feel like Pheidippides did when he ran from Marathon to Athens, to deliver the momentous message "Niki!" ("victory") - well not really - he dropped dead right thereafter :-)

So, how do I really feel? Well, first things first!

The big day dawned bright and beautiful - Nov 4th, 2007 - 'A Day that will live in Fame' (with due apologies to FDR :-)) for many of us. Of course, things are never meant to be easy - as if having to worry about running 26.2 miles was not enough, our politicians in their infinite wisdom had ordained that the switch to Daylight Savings time would happen a week late this year - you guessed it - on Nov 4, 2007 at 2 am in the morning! Of course, in this case, it meant an extra hour of sleep (at least in theory :-)) - unfortunately, my biological clock did not have an auto-reset mechanism, and I ended up waking up at 4 am and pottering around the house (much to the chagrin of my wife!). I had listened to the coaches (well there's always a first time isn't there!) when they said that we should lay our clothes out, pin the bib on, tie the chip to the shoe etc. the previous night - hence, was all prepared on that front. So, like any good IT person does when they have time to kill, I powered up the laptop and started trolling blogs as is my wont :-) (gee, I wonder what people did for fun before Al Gore invented the internets :-)).

I had already arranged a ride with Vijai (who lived close by) the previous day and he was supposed to pick me up at 5:45 am (so we could get to the start by 6:15 or so). In hindsight, this was a brilliant move, as my earlier plan had been to go with the Motley-Crew (who, I later found out, had once again forgotten to get directions - this time, to the start :-)). So, around 5 am, I decide to begin the well-rehearsed routine which after all the long runs, was almost second nature. Body Glide was used liberally, nip-guards in place (that 17 miler without them and the resulting chafing are not lessons easily forgotten!), lucky grey shorts put on (ok, nothing really lucky about them - just happened to be fresh out of the laundry :-)), and last, but not the least, the Team ASHA T-Shirt (which we all wore as a badge of honor to display our team spirit and support to the cause). After putting my socks and shoes on, and triple-checking the lace knots, I got the fuel-belt ready with 4 packs of Gu and a flask each of water and gatorade (don't rely completely on course supplies - after Chicago, these words meant a lot more!).

Vijai, the epitome of punctuality was there at 5:45 sharp, and we set out to do battle. I expressed mild concern that there was a fuel empty warning light on his dashboard (would have been kind of ironic if we were stranded on 280 somewhere and had to begin our race there to get to the start :-)), but Vijai obviously knew his car better than me. So, we get to downtown San Jose and circle around looking for parking (the idea being to park as close to the start as possible to conserve our legs - on this occasion, it was actually true (unlike usually, where it's just an excuse for laziness :-))). We park a couple of blocks away, and start hoofing it to Park and Almaden to the Start line. It is pretty nippy and the sun hasn't come out - looks like perfect running weather for now (thought the forecast calls for a high of 79) - but given that we have lost an hour, need to see how that holds up.

There are already several ASHA runners and a bunch of other runners hanging around at the Start. I walk around exchanging pleasantries waiting for the gang to show up. After a little while, the crew do get there (saved no doubt by the fact that Kiran was still groggy without his coffee and had hence not managed to speed past the exit :-)). We go on a short warm up run and get down to the much loved and practiced stretching routine - so, far, things are holding up with no aches and pains.

Since, I had made the mistake of not eating and drinking enough before the 22 miler, I had wolfed down an energy bar at home and also had several cups of water. The ASHA program had done much for me in terms of physical strengthening - the one aspect that we did not work on was bladder strengthening and control :-) So, of course, I thought I should get that out of the way before the start - but, apparently, everybody else thought so too, and there were lines 25-30 deep at each of the 5 port-a-potties! Now, I knew from anecdotes narrated by other marathon veterans, about folks who are inside the port-a-potties when the start gun sounds and are caught in this dilemma about which business to take care of first :-) Not wanting to make that unpleasant choice, I decided to see how far I could get and lined up at the start.

Kumar (from the Fremont group) had indicated that he would like to run with me and he and I lined up. I received a strong boost when Coach Martina said she would run with me and pace me during the race - this was excellent news and did much to boost my morale (and Kumar's too, I'm sure!). We lined up somewhere in the middle of the pack - Martina noted that we only had one bunch of runners here as opposed to Chicago (with over 35K runners) where they had to put them in corrals (kind of makes them sound like horses :-)). The announcer at the start line counted down the seconds and we were off!

Given my overall goal of running at about a 10 minute pace, we decided to start off slow at about a 10:30 pace for the first few miles till we were warmed up. I moved to the right to let folks behind pass me (many of whom, we passed towards the end - but that's another story :-)) and we kept going at a consistent pace. Reached mile 1 - watch said 10:24 - was pretty happy with that. We engaged in some chit-chat and paused to look around and soak the experience in (of course, this being downtown San Jose, there wasn't much to look at :-)). We met the ASHA folks at the first water stop and paused to admire the Halloween outfits (quite creative I must add). The next 4-5 miles were done at around 10 min pace (I guess we accelerated without realizing it), but the legs felt good, and we all seemed to be doing fine. At every mile marker, I kept looking at the Port-a-Potties wistfully, but everywhere, there were long lines, and realizing that it would cost us some time if we chose to stop now, I decided to motor on. We ran through the city streets and Martina pointed out a couple of houses which were nicely architected and we took turns guessing what prices they would sell for (given that Bay Area Real Estate always goes up at 20% a year, that should have been fairly easy right :-)). We also stopped at all the water stops, and I drank the Amino-Vital that was on offer (not too bad actually - though Kiran had a bad reaction and would beg to differ!).

We soon entered familiar territory - the much loved (or hated depending on who you ask!) Los Gatos Trail. After having done many a long run there (including the one in 90+ degree heat), we were quite comfortable running there. The crowd had sort of thinned out based on running pace, and there wasn't quite the logjam along the narrow trail that I had expected. After a 9:58 Mile 6, we spied a couple of port-a-potties with just 1 person each in front. We decided that it was now or never, and got in line! Of course, as is my wont, I picked the wrong line, and this little jaunt ended up costing 2.5 minutes (most of it thanks to the guy in front of me). The other interesting thing was that while waiting, the other potty began shaking and rocking - not exactly sure what the person inside was up to (maybe they thought this was the Rock&Roll marathon from a few weeks ago :-)).

Martina and Kumar had run ahead to the water stop and I picked up my pace to catch up - we were now 2.5 minutes over, but it was well worth it! We kept going at a steady pace and soon came to the ASHA water stop at mile 8 - the folks there were in high spirits, and kept yelling 'Go ASHA' and generally having a good time!

After a couple of shots of Amino-Vital, we were off again. Mile 9 was out fastest yet at 9:33 and Martina checked on us to make sure we were doing fine (which we were). Miles 10-12 flew by and pretty soon we were nearing the halfway point and Los Gatos high school.