My 1st Marathon Journey from Mile 1 to Mile 26.2 in 4 hrs 57 mins on Oct 26th, 2008.

Arnav

Mile 1 to 5….With my irregular training schedule, I was never sure if I would be able to finish the race. With my erratic schedule and multiple race changes…., My mentor asks me the day before the race on Saturday afternoon “Arnav, Are you running the race tomorrow?”………. Hmmm…. With the confidence of the people in me, “strategic” planning was the only way to finish the race. Example of a fanatic engineer like me …..I had plotted my mile pace from my long runs…. Here is a snapshot of even drawing a run chart of it….According to my Strategic planning, I had decided to take a conservative approach and hold my pace for the 1st half (13 miles….)

Ullas, Anand and myself are running the 1st 3 miles together. For the first 3 miles we completely missed the mile markers and assumed there are no mile markers on the race course….My only strength “Strategic Planning” of pacing is gone….Will I be able to finish the race w/o Mile Markers…????….Then then I see the Mile 4 sign and felt some hope… Time 43min 10 secs….Pacing is perfect…I had planned 11 min/mile and was unconsciously running at 10:50 not at all bad…

Mile 5 to 10Do the normal Chit chat with fellow runners..I am enjoying the run and the everything..As I enter the Los Gatos Trail see the crew of Shailesh, Parag and Snehal…..Parag with his huge lenses and I consciously pose for him.Parag, Thanks! For the awesome pics…

As I go further down the trail, see my friend Mahesh. We shared a special bond…The moment I saw him, our “bonding” words blurted out involuntarily….He provided me company for a while and then I took for my next target Mile 11 the “Asha Water Stop”

Miles 10 to 13….The awesome cheering and support from Asha water stop was absolutely fantastic…..and encouraging….Raju ran with me for a bit and I asked him to arrange me salt packets on my way back. I am feeling absolutely fantastic… and as wel trying hard to limit my pace and not et excited…..Exchange hi5 with Gargi and Reena…..

Mile 13….I again see the cheering squad of Shailesh, Parag ,Snehal , Mahesh &……The track and ambience is fabulous. I am feeling fantastic and in the company of Mahesh, I could not control … and as well trying hard to limit my pace and not et excited…..

Miles 13 to 18….I knew that it’s going to be tough after the half due to the fewer runners, so had the mp3 player as a reward after finishing half.

Sahana one of my group mate remarked “Arnav, run strong and make our group proud”

I felt strong and the music gave me the needed kick, I started picking up pace….. I quickly reached the mile 15 and got the salt packets from Tanu and the Gu packet from Vivek.

From Mile 15 onwards it became hotter and the crowd supported drifted away. It was more like running on my own.

I kept on hydrating and as well started pouring water on myself…..I always wished to walk or slow down but the 5 hr barrier pushed me …..

Miles 18 to 23…. This was the most difficult part of the whole race. Wholly burnt out, minimal cheering, hot weather and still a long way to go….

Only source of inspiration was Marathon being the metaphor for life and the following belief let me get through this challenge….● PAIN is temporary & PRIDE is forever: Finishing the 26.2miles after surviving

22-23 miles● Don’t get bogged down by tough times but keep trying, and the success will be

yours● When the going gets tough, tough gets going

Moreover someone had a placard saying….. Run ‘Forest’ run………And I just kept on running…and running….

Miles 23 to 26.2….It was definitely challenging to keep running after 22 miles. I was always tempted to slow down or walk but then my target of finishing under 5 hours forced me to keep running.

It was during these miles, I realized that our mind is stronger than the body. The more I saw the 4:-- hours on finish clock and the more I was inspired to push myself. To my surprise I picked up a good pace and probably finished the last mile at 9 min pace…..

Post Race and Summary Group Picture: Team Asha

Feast!! after the race Gang, Thanks! for the pics...

Achievement this Season

Half Marathons● San Francisco: 2hrs 17 min● Shankara Marathon: 2hrs 10min● Rock & Roll : 2hrs 05min

Full Marathon● Silicon Valley: 4hrs 57 min

All my Medals and Bibs this Season

Lost : 3inches of fat and 9 lbs of weight

There is no doubt that this was one of the biggest achievement in my life….

I am very proud of finishing the season so strong by achieving the goal, I had set for 4 months ago despite so many challenges (injury, work, etc…)

This marathon reiterated so many philosophies towards life and made me not only physically strong but as well developed me mentally more matured.

Thanks!! to the donors for their Contribution to such an amazing cause

Names in Alphabetical Order

Abhinav ChakrabortyAmar GokhaleAnand KishoreAnkur JainAnkur SaxenaCorinne AugustineCrystal MusanteDipam SharmaGaurav KumarHemantha Chinnadurai Jeff LipetskyJulian SalgueroKaushal Sakhia

Lawrewnce LeeMike PhadyMolly MclaughlinNoman YounusPamela SahuPrady SinghPuneet AroraPurnima MehtaSankalp SethiShikha WadhwaShreyas KumarStephen EkokaUday Bapu

Raised $24,00 for the education of lesser fortunate childrenLast 2 days! You can still donate at my runner net webpagehttps://www.ashanet.org/siliconvalley/marathon/runnernet2/public.php?2008TASV1223

Many Many Thanks! to ASHA for EducationI could have never even dreamt of running the marathon and this is all due to Team Asha.

Special thanks! •To all the people who organized such a wonderful program…. Mile marking at 6am, waiting in rain, water stops….and the endless list…….•I have never seen such a dedicated team of volunteers who continuously raises the bar of selfless service. They are simply awesome and their dedication is truly inspirational!! •My Mountain View group who convinced me to run the Full Marathon…•All my running buddies and everyone for being so supportive •My friends who spared me for missing their B’days , parties, trips…..….

Thank you so much Team Asha……An amazing team with such an amazing mission….. Team Asha volunteers are inspirations!!!!!!! And I have learned so many things from them…….