Disclaimer: If this inspires you to run a 24hr stadium, I am not responsible for whatever happens to you or the pain you will have to endure. (FYI, I was an idiot to take up this challenge.)
The cardinal rules of running in races:
Rule #1: Never race if you are not physically and mentally fit for it.
Rule #2: Have a plan, stick with the plan and never get carried away with whatever happens around you.
Rule #3: NEVER EVER EVER IGNORE A COACH’S ADVICE
Broke Rule #1 even before I started packing my bags for Chandigarh… I tried to convince myself I am fit enough. “The knee pain was temporary. I am not going to speed up like in TMM.”
But, the idiot in me miscalculated distance and time!
Rule #2 and 3 were broken as soon as the race was flagged off.
The stadium, the lights, the people, the runners and all plans and wise (not old) man’s advice went up in air and the rest is history…
Strava told me that my 50k in the race was my 3rd best time and by the end of 12 hrs I had over 90km… Yup, faster start; screwed up right there…
Everything went fine (almost) for 18 hrs and just over 125km… I had even fought the sleep through the night with two power naps and made it to daylight…
My legs just wouldn’t move after that… Did multiple visits the physio tent, nothing worked… decided to walk the rest of 6hrs and run whenever I can!!! Then even walking was difficult and I told myself it’s time to quit… and, I almost did; but, thanks to the amazing bunch of runners who came to cheer and crew, I was back on track to finish the race on a zombie mode… It was not pretty, but not a DNF…
Official distance – 152.661 km…
Post-finish I swore I will never do anything like this ever again… But, I was blown away by the way the running community came together cheering each other, fellow competitors becoming supporters who checks in with you to see if you are alright! Blessed to be part of this craziness… Maybe someday, I will give it a shot again!
This was the last race of my running season, a season that started with so much promise but during its course a bad knee sucked all happiness out of me…
Time to relax, recover and run on Sundays with zero pressure 😎…
Eat, Run, Live, Sleep, Repeat 
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