The Sunday of 17th January 2021 turned out to be a very memorable day. This was the day when I finally achieved a Boston Qualifying (BQ) time in the full marathon. something for which I have been striving for 5 years. With a qualifying time of 3:10 required for my age group, I clocked 3:04 – a thorough and convincing qualification!

Happy after the finish

Honestly, when I actually finished the run, I was more elated about clocking a 3:04 than the fact that I had BQed. The BQ was almost an afterthought. There are multiple reasons for that. One is that I had stopped obsessing over the BQ for the last couple of years. After multiple failed attempts to BQ in past races, I had finally decided to stop obsessing over goals like a BQ, and instead focus on the process of training.

I trained for training’s sake. I ran for the sake of running. I came to love easy runs, something which bored me quite a bit in previous years. I figured that if I stuck to a structured training process with the best possible focus and dedication, things were bound to happen. When they would happen, no one can say (the human body works in a mysterious way and at a glacial pace). But I was in no hurry anymore and willing to wait for as long as it takes.

Fitness wise, after a meandering 1-2 years, things started to turn around at Mumbai Marathon in January 2020, where I clocked a very satisfying 3:21. This was based on a diet of mostly easy runs with only a dash of fast workouts mixed in. Things improved further at Delhi Marathon in February 2020, where I clocked 3:15 at another very satisfying race.

Training continued diligently after that, with only brief breaks due to coronavirus induced lock-downs. Countless easy runs, week after week, month after month, with the occasional time trials that Team Motiv8 did every few weeks or so.

With no races happening as yet, we at Team Motiv8 decided to run our own informal race on the 3rd Sunday of January, the same day that Mumbai Marathon is traditionally held every year. The training cycle for the same began sometime in October.

It was at this time that things got that much needed booster when Vishwas, Kavitha, Krishna and myself started doing our workouts together, like we used to do a year before that for their Berlin/Chicago 2019 marathon training cycle. Sometimes, what you need to perform better is somebody faster to chase, and somebody constantly nipping at your heels :).

Before the start

The training during the next few months would be glorious. It was also relentless. It was week after week of early morning workouts with the three of them. Thursdays were hard marathon paced workouts while Sundays were the usual long workouts at a slightly slower than marathon pace. Tuesdays were with the entire Team Motiv8 for our weekly group workouts while some Sundays were reserved for the 21K time trials that Team Motiv8 did as part of the training cycle.

Kavitha and myself had signed up for the Boston Marathon’s #finishstrong challenge, a series of 5K, 10K and 21K virtual races to be done any time before 31st December. We did those races as part of the full marathon training. I clocked these times for the #finishstrong challenge, in the order in which they were done:

The BAA #finishstrong challenge performances

It is pretty clear from these times that my fitness was improving over those weeks and months. The shortest race which should have been the fastest, was actually the slowest, as it was done at the start of the training cycle. These performances gave a glimpse of a possible good showing on full marathon race day.

After a thoroughly enjoyable 14 weeks of training, it was finally time for the race. There have been many instances in the past where I have come short on race day, but I was very confident about this one. One big reason was that all the hard workouts were completed at just the right amount of effort and not a bit more. In some previous training cycles, there have often been cases where some key workouts were completed, but I was quite spent afterwards, with a big question mark on whether I can sustain the same (or higher) effort on race day for a longer distance. Not this time. All workouts in this training cycle were completed with plenty of gas in the tank.

We had planned the route for the full marathon to be 4 loops of 10K and then another 2.3K segment. The route was purposely kept 42.3K rather than the official 42.2K distance since one always clocks longer than 42.2K during races as its not possible to run exactly along the shortest path.

We started the run at 4:30am sharp. The weather was not entirely ideal – one could have called it pleasant if one felt a bit generous. But since many years, that’s the weather in Pune, even in January. Doesn’t matter!

The first 10K loop went by as it should – event-less. Vishwas went ahead, sub 3:00 on his mind, while Kavitha, Krishana and myself settled into a 4:25-ish pace hoping to sustain that pace till the end and get under the 3:10 mark.

Somewhere in the 2nd loop

One loop done! All systems OK. Breathing OK. Just the right effort level. Nutrition and hydration being done as per plan. We were clocking the occasional split a bit on the faster side, around 4:20, but we were letting that be.

Soon enough, the second loop was also done. All systems still OK. I was getting into a nice rhythm. Just after the 20K mark, I naturally happened to increase the tempo, and moved a bit ahead. Before I knew it, I had clocked 3 splits in the low 4:10s. It was then that I started to feel it. The effort got noticeably higher and the breathing got noticeably heavier. I felt as if I may have made a mistake increasing the pace so much. There were still 18K to go, and when those 18K are in the second half of a full marathon, they can get real hard real soon.

Pushing my luck in the 3rd loop

I was taking a big risk! I decided to play it safe, and dropped the pace a bit back to 4:15s/4:20 levels and let my breathing settle back into a sustainable rhythm. As expected, the 3rd loop of 10K seemed to take a lot longer than the first two loops. I was starting to really feel it at the end of the 3rd loop with one whole loop and a 2.3K still to go. I braced myself for a long and hard ride.

That 12.3K was some of the hardest running I have ever done. There were numerous occasions during that time when I felt the temptation to slow down, if not start walking outright. But I summoned all my willpower and resisted the temptation. Somewhere around the 32K mark, a strong Krishna went past me. That gave me the much needed boost. I decided to tag along and keep him within sighting distance. Kavitha was also just behind me at a short distance.

I was carrying 4 gels but had managed to get in just 2 so far, and my stomach was in no mood to accept another one. The mere though of a gel gave me a queasy feeling. So the other 2 gels remained in my pocket. I had consumed less than 400ml of water till 35K, but now my mouth and throat had gone dry. I collected a new bottle and emptied more than half of it over my head for a much needed cool-off. The remaining went into my mouth to great relief.

The last 5K

The last 5K went by fast. I have found that as long you do not walk, the kms go by fast, but the moment you start walking, every km feels like an hour. Thankfully I had managed not to walk so far and I had no intention to walk in those last 5K.

The perceived effort in those last 5K was at least double the effort in the first 5K, for about the same pace. From clocking 4:15-4:20 pace from 25K-35K, I had gone back to the starting paces of around 4:25. One split, but just one, was in the 4:30s.

All said and done, I had managed perfect even pacing – around 1:32 for the first half and 1:32 for the second half – another small source of satisfaction.

The last 5K went not just fast but in a haze. All I remember was me putting one foot in front of the other, trying to hold on for dear life. It was only in that last 300m that I snapped back into reality as the finish appeared in front of me. Vishwas had finished in 2:59 and was waiting for us to arrive. Krishna had finished just a bit ahead of me in 3:02. Team Motiv8 runners not doing this run had come to support and cheer for the rest of us. It was a great feeling as I crossed the finish line.

I had no idea of the time. These days, I set my Garmin watch to just one single field – the heart rate. The only idea of the pace is the notification that Garmin shows at the end of each km. Based on the pattern of the splits I knew that I had managed to clock well below 3:10, maybe around 3:06 or 3:07. But as I crossed the finish line, somebody nearby shouted “3:04!”. Did I really clock 3:04?

I stopped the Garmin and sure enough it showed 3:04:04. Pure bliss! Unadulterated satisfaction! Satisfaction about a hard fought battle. Relief that the pain and suffering of those last 10Ks was finally over.

That I had done a BQ was registered in the background. But that was not what this was about. This was about sticking to the process with utmost focus and diligence, whether on training days or racing days. Then just let the results come in their own sweet time.

Just a couple of minutes later, Kavitha crossed the finish line in 3:06. There were happy faces and smiles all round.

I have the longest shorts among them. To cut more time, I will have to switch to shorter shorts 🙂

Rahul (bless his heart), knows that I like Thumps-Up after a long workout or race, and made sure to keep a few bottles for me after the finish. Rishikesh appeared like an angel to congratulate me, a bottle of Thumps-Up in his hand. The Thumps-Up felt like manna from heaven.

Over the next hour or two, more Team Motiv8 runners trickled by over the finish line. There were PBs galore – some huge PBs, some small. There was satisfaction in the air. We exchanged war stories. The last few months of training had bore fruit. It was a good day.

This race is not “official” so Boston Marathon will not accept this time for entry – it requires the marathon to be run on a certified course. So the next task at hand, admittedly not easy, is to repeat this performance in a certified race. With races not yet happening due to coronavirus, who knows when that will be.

But never being one to believe in certifications, and having proved to myself more than anyone, that I am capable of running a BQ time, I may consider grabbing the next available charity or marathon tour operator entry for the Boston Marathon. Life is too short to wait for some stupid certification 🙂