A PR after 6 long years!

Yes, it’s a PR from the Delhi Half marathon and I had to wait 6 years for this one. When you start running, you feel your prime years are somewhere 5-6 years into running and afterwards you just plateau because you have reached the limit or years of running started giving you constant injuries.

When i hit 1:45:10 in 2017 Delhi Half Marathon, i knew that was the best run i had ever and with bit of training, i get to improve. But in 2018, i hit my first sub-4 marathon and ran my first ultra marathon and the focus has shifted to marathon and above. I paid little attention to the leg speed i had until them.

After a handful of years of success un marathons, ultras, ultra trails, with least attention to mobility like any other runner, i was hit by a series of injuries. Then the pandemic hit. That’s when i started thinking seriously about where i was in my fitness journey and decided to try and get back my leg speed at least – you would never know when these races are back.

I signed up with a coach and started focus on speed. The first year and half were frustrating and i never got any close. There was a comment of ‘age catching up and may be this is where you are now’. May be that was enough to lit the fire within. The last 12 months (post-Comrades 2022 recovery) was great. I had my 10k PR after 5 years and PRs in every other distance including Marathon. The only missing distance was the half marathon. I came close couple of times in 2023, but missed by seconds. You know how precious each second is when you are running these events.

The build up to Delhi Half Marathon 2023 was good and bad. It started off well. All my hard workouts went as planned and i was at the top of my confidence. But some personal set backs affected the second half of the training block and I was rethinking the whys and whats of running. It was a struggle to keep myself motivated. Had a 10km race as a fitness test few weeks before the race day and a 10km pave run 10 days before race day. I hit 45:10 and 44:45 min respectively for those and I knew i fit enough to not just break my PR but finish a half marathon under 100 min. All i needed was a 100% focus and commitment to race day!

Race Day

Pre-race, as usual i had my packing list and my race to-do check-list ready. I do this all the time and helps keep me focused. I have even note down the times i need to sip in the electrolytes the day before.

I had then my check-in bag packed and my race bag was laid out. (i race with a hydration bag to avoid to avoid the rush at the aid stations.)

Race day morning, i usually wake up 1.5 hrs before to have a coffee and a toast with banana relaxing before having a shower and heading out. Reached the venue 45 min before just enough time to have the warm-up 2km run, a quick loo break and line-up in the corral.

The Delhi Half Marathon this time had few changes. October in Delhi is still warm. So, instead of having a common start with the elites at 7am, they started the amateur category at 5:20 am with 10km race started at the same time in another direction. Summing up full chaos with some charity bib runners lining up at the start. So, when the gun fired there was a stampede with the fast runners struggling to find space.

After an initial shock of 15 seconds, i got to move ahead of sprinters and slow runners. The first half went perfectly – averaging a pace of 4:35. It was a mess after the 12km. Running back after the U-turn and towards India Gate, there were lot of 10k ‘walkers’ stopping to take photos and crowding the roads. It got only worse as we approached the finish line. I had my coach pacing me for the last 5km when i was slowing down even to 4:55. Him and some of the kind hearted veterans of the running community, tried to sort the walkers to one side so the half marathoners have their sprint finish.

Though the last miles were not pretty, i managed to finish under 1:40 hrs. Yes, i am part of the sub-100 min club now – a dream i had for very long time.

I had messages from many running friends of mine post-race congratulating me on my timing and the training journey. Unlike previous races, even with a massive PR, i didn’t feel like a massive celebration. To me, it was more like believing that I have a chance to PR even when people say ‘she is too old for a PR’. May be i want to prove these people wrong. May be I have more within me.

Time to move on and focus on the next goal!

Onwards and upwards!