Self-doubt, numerous niggles – oh the knees, the shoulders and the lower back, and low on excitement – that was me the day before the New Delhi Marathon (25 February 2024). After the Mumbai Marathon, the idea was to race hard a half marathon in NDM before i start building up for Two Oceans Marathon.
But personally, February was not a great month for me. Too much drama to take the race focus away. Luckily I have been running for years to block them away from the training. But the race day focus was something else and I lacked it unlike other races I have done in the past.
The Plan
Two days before the race when I sat down to upload the race plan, I went with a 1:33:50 plan. It was too ambitious and it looked plausible after my 10km pace run 10 days before. But the race week was troubled by some knee and intense shoulder pain and I had my doubts. I told myself, let the plan be in the Garmin and hold the pace as much as I can.
Race Day
Felt really good in the morning. Half marathon start was 6:15. So, no pressure of waking up at midnight for a 4am start! I went through my checklist and I have done everything as per the list and I should be doing well… still too many doubts.
I reach the start area and the weather was so ideal for a personal best. I did some warm-up and the knee was feeling well.
Scare moment when i found my hydration bladder leaking. I was like ‘oh no… not today’. It got fixed it soon (that was too close).
The Race
The start was crowded as usual. Too many slow runners lining up at front to wave at the camera. First 300m were annoying. I pulled away. First 3 km were to easy and 5km had a sub 22:40 min plan. Crossed 5k as per plan. Did sub 44:45 for 10km again as per plan. At this moment I was checking in on my knees and shoulders. The shoulders were hurting a bit – that felt normal. The knees were okay.
10-15 km were a bit slower or almost close to the plan. Missed the 15km target by may be a few seconds. As per the race plan, from there, it should be race race race. But I couldn’t race harder. It was a hard pace and I stayed there maintaining a 4:40 pace throughout.
Finished at 1:35:19. A personal best over 3 minutes. Gutted missed the sub-1:35 mark. But i will take this one. I found out I was first in my age category – perks of being old :D.
Looking Ahead
The race was an eye opener in many ways. Self doubt was my closest friend before every race and I hold myself in most races. I know my legs can do more. At they need is more trust. Something to work on for the future.
As I move to the Two Oceans training block, I want to focus more on my strengths and learn to trust more!
Eat, Run, Live, Sleep, Repeat 
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