Chicago marathon 10-10-10

Race Date: 2010-10-10
Race Name: Chicago marathon
Race Distance: 26.2 miles
Finish Time (hh:mm:ss): 04:51:39


Day -364

It had to be Chicago 2010. I had already decided to join TA as a runner the next year, and now I knew I just had to do Chicago. As we heard from our runners about the race, I decided I would be there in 2010. I had always loved Chicago, having spent 4+ years in nearby Wisconsin. 6 years before, I had run the Madison marathon, and had thought then that if I ever ran another marathon, it would be Chicago. Well, the time had come, and I could hardly wait now.

Day -217

Registration was open! We weren't sure if TA SV would even run Chicago as an official marathon this year since Chicago was threatening to close registration in late March, before the TA program even started. Not running Chicago never even crossed my mind, but it would have been nice if the rest of the TA crowd was there. But that couldn't be helped. You take what you get. I heard soon after that Char would be there too. That was enough relief.

Day -2

I packed everything I thought I would need, and it was surprisingly little. I guess running doesn't really need much when you really get down to the basics. I flew to Chicago and stayed with a friend in downtown. Got there past midnight CDT, slept really late after a good deal of catching up and ....

Day -1

..... got up really late too. I was very conscious I had to sleep well these last 2 days. I got a ride to the expo, and quickly got my bib and bag, and Sony/Saumil/Aishwarya's too. The lines were surprisingly short, but maybe I was earlier than most at 11am. I found the TA Chicago booth, introduced myself to Tara Pai, left the bags there and wandered the whole expo. I consciously abandoned everyone's advice about not walking around the expo too much. To me, it was part of the whole experience and I wanted it to be complete, even if it meant wearing out my legs a bit. I went round almost every booth, and posed in front of the huge 10-10-10 sign. The entire marathon had been marketed mostly on 10-10-10. It was kind of cool after all. I skipped the TA Chicago carboload and instead ate at friends' houses. I couldn't insist on a diet, but I figured roti, rice was dal was as good as any pasta carboload anyway. I am still convinced it was.

Mile -50

Yes, for various reasons I stayed in suburban Chicago the night before. I slept early - by 10:00 - intending to get up at 5:00. It was quite hot even at night, and coupled with some nervous excitement, I had a hard time falling asleep. I had also slept a couple of hours in the afternoon, and wasn't really sleepy either. I complained to Chandrika about the heat - more to share the worry than anything else. And then I drifted off ...

Day 0

The first peal of the alarm brought me to, and I raced through the morning routine - the nipguards, the bodyglide, shirt, shorts, shoes, cap, the 2 slices of toast and milk - yes, milk is something I *must* have in the morning - and a banana. Add the belt with a PBJ in it, and my (almost) unique water bottle, and I felt ready. Mentally ready.

Mile ~-0.5

That was the farthest he could drive me in. The milling crowd made it impossible to drive faster than a very slow crawl, so I pulled out my bags and began my quest for the Asha tent. The volunteer at Congress Pkwy and Michigan didn't even know what the Charity village was, let alone where. Hmmph.... Never mind, I looked at the map she held and plotted my way to Columbus and Balbo - where Tara had said the tent would be.

The walk took way longer than the 10 minutes I thought it would. There were so many closed off areas, and still more volunteers who couldn't really point me to the way, and I was getting really anxious as it closed in on 6:45. We had agreed to meet at the tent at 6:30. I finally found the charity village, and started rushing to it. It had taken me 25 mins from when I started walking! It was 6:55 but everyone was still around or just coming in - Nupur, Coach Char, his sister Nandini, Venkat, Satyan and the TA Chicago folks of course. We did our usual stretches next to the tent, and my mind was beginning to race. I was itching to get to the start line. It was past 7:15 already. We started making our way to the start line, and bumped into Saumil and Aishwarya just coming in.

Mile 0

I felt way more nervous than I thought I would. Was it worry? Was it the expectation of what would happen? Either way, a little nervousness is good to keep one in check, I figured. We posed for the before picture against the beautiful Chicago skyline on a gorgeous day - maybe not for running, but for almost anything else - and exchanged "best wishes", and made our way to where we thought we should start. Venkat and I barely squeezed into the 5:15 pace group before they closed that entrance too. It was around 7:30 and Venkat and I were wondering if we should be listening for a gunshot for the elites. None came. But they must have started. It would soon be our turn.

I looked around with a feeling of exhilaration. The crowd of runners was like a sea of colour. I looked at the Chicago skyline and marvelled at its beauty as I have always done. I suddenly had a feeling of deja vu and thought of the last time I was in this situation, 7 years ago, running my first marathon at the time, in Madison. But this felt different. I felt a greater sense of purpose, of preparedness, of appreciation and ironically, of significance, despite being one among about 45,000 runners. I felt very good and very happy though I was not completely sure why. I had been looking forward to this moment for a very long time, and it was finally here and I took in every bit of it. For a few minutes I forgot any worries and revelled in the moment. Life felt good.

The song of the day was "A beautiful day" by U2, Venkat said, and indeed, they were playing it loud and often. One of the runners was juggling balls nearby - I wondered if he planned to do that during the run. The crowd finally started moving, impatient to start, the nervous energy palpable as we waited. We walked faster and faster, and I felt goosebumps all over. People around us started a slow jog when they could but we kept walking till the start line. We finally got to and crossed the start line. I started my stopwatch and began to run. I think, without my cap, my hair would have stood on end. The crowd was roaring and it felt quite electrifying.

Miles 1-2

We went slowly, and I kept with Venkat for the first mile. I took 12 mins for the first and 11 for the second. We went down Columbus avenue and the first over-pass we saw was overflowing with people. There were people hanging off any empty space visible. Many were carrying signs, and many were waving. I had thought that I would wave to everyone cheering but I was suddenly unsure if I should wave back or not. I was definitely smiling my head off, mostly because I was just feeling really happy. As we went under the over-pass, I was thinking how really wide these roads were and we were running both sides of the roads. I guess handling 45000 people is not a joke. We came out on the other side, right in the middle of high-rise and I spent a good bit of that stretch craning my neck to look at all the majestic buildings and the beautiful architecture.

Our first turn came up soon enough. I tried to read the name of the street without success. I wanted to remember everything as much as possible. The next turn came even sooner, along with the 1 mile marker and the digital clock right below it. Of course, this was reading gun time elapsed, and I did a little mental math to figure out how much later we started. It was almost exactly 30 minutes.

We had another turn in somewhat rapid succession and I reluctantly abandoned the idea of keeping mental track of the course. It was easier to not think too much and just soak in the moment. The crowd was still lining every inch along the way and the goosebumps hadn't subsided yet, and it was all I could do to keep my legs from sprinting away.

Miles 3-8

I think I finally settled down a bit and got over the initial excitement. I settled into a nice comfortable pace, hoping to keep to 10:30/mile as per plan as much as possible. Finally the crowds thinned to where you could see the sidewalk. There were lots of people with signs egging on one of their own, but there were plenty of generic signs too. The most popular signs seemed to be "Run like U stole something" and "Your feet hurt cause you are kicking so much butt", but the winner must have been "Beer @ the end". Then there was the whole Chuck Norris theme that I didn't really get - "Chuck Norris is chasing you" and "Chuck Norris never ran a marathon".

We seemed to have hit a long sretch of road going north for most of this section. I ran to the right of the median for the most part, and there were lots of people settled on the median and cheering. One really really old couple were up there too ringing a cowbell and clapping for us. I mouthed the words "thank you" for there was no hope of them actually hearing anything I said. Another lady was trying to call out names, and she struggled with "Venki", which I had pinned to my shirt above my bib. This didn't last long though - I realised I should have used something sturdier than paper folded up - the way we were sweating, that tore off before the 4 mile mark. Oh well ....

I diligently stopped at every water stop and drank gatorade and poured water over my head, but I didn't waste much time at any of them. Waterstops were almost hard to get through because of the number of paper cups in the middle of the road. Everytime I stopped at a waterstop I almost felt a burst of energy starting up again. I decided it was psychological more than anything else.

I did a few 10:30 miles, and once in a while found I had run a 10:00 mile, and had to keep slowing myself down. It was just too easy to run fast at this point. I spotted an Asha shirt a little ways ahead, and caught up with him - it was Bhawani Singh - an old acquanitance from Asha Chicago. We exchanged pleasantries, and then I sped on.

At one point all the runners were looking and waving to the right, and I saw we were passing a senior center, and there were seniors at every window on the second floor holding up signs cheering us on. It was very touching. Many of them looked like they couldn't make it downstairs. But they donned heartwarming smiles and were waving to us, and we waved back.

The high-rise ended in a few blocks, but the neighbourhoods still looked quite upscale. Finally we reached Sheridan road and Lake Shore Drive merged in and we could see the lake on our right. I don't know if it was that we were still fresh, or there was actually lots of shade, but I didn't notice the sun or the heat pretty much at all. We finally took a couple of quick lefts - this was the northern tip of the course - and jumped straight into the gay district.

Miles 9-13.1

I have to say that this was easily the neighbourhood with the most spectators. There were rainbow flags everywhere, and tons of people on the sidewalks, in balconies, leaning out of windows and what seemed like rooftops at times! The noise was very loud, and really pumped me up a lot. I was feeling very strong and on a beautiful runners' high. I remembered Mona's words "Run strong. Run beautiful".

I saw the first set of official photographers and posed for a few (still while running of course). The neighbourhood was still largely residential to start with, with trees, and lots of old duplexes/4-plexes that reminded me of the Evanston/Northwestern area. Eventually they gave way to a more urban look as we came closer to downtown again.

People started handing out things - a lady with PBJ sandwiches, someone else with grapes. I heard a loud "High-fives here" from the left side and raced over to get my first high-five of the day. I was having a wonderfully good time.

In one of the neighbourhoods, people had two large water troughs and were handing out sponges soaked in water to the runners. Unfortunately I missed getting one until I knew what it was or what was happening. By mile 10 the trees had disappeared, and the sun had started beating down. I could feel the heat already and hoped it would not get much worse. I was happy we were almost half way there before the heat became worse.

We crossed the river once more - this must be the third time already - back into high-rise. A huge screen bang opposite was showing messages from, I guess, spectators paying to cheer on their friends/family. A guy in a chicken costume had a sign saying "Don't be chicken. Finish this thing". I found that quite funny.

A final turn west showed us the half way mark with a big arch and a big clock. I jumped across the marker and pumped my fist. The crowds had welled up at this point and the energy was high. Boards of "Half way there" and "No point turning back now" showed up. I looked at my watch; 2:16. I realised I was on pace to go close to 4:35, and I really hoped I could. At every mat I crossed I was keenly aware that TA friends in the bay area would be tracking us, and would know how I was doing. I still felt great - better than I had at any of our training runs. I was determined I could and would bring this home, keeping to the 10:30 pace I had been cruising at till now. It just felt like nothing could go wrong and confidence abounded.

Miles 14-18

We passed Greektown, though I mistook the first sign for Russian. A sign for Spanakopitas soon set that right. Some middle eastern music playing somewhere as well. Reminded me of the bands we had passed along the way. One near mile 10/11 had been the loudest, but most of the songs they were all playing I had never heard. One in the gay district had been playing something I knew. And then I heard them playing ABBA - I grew up on ABBA and am a crazed fan, and this was music (no pun intended) to the ears!! They were playing Dancing queen, and I almost slowed down a bit to listen to more. Why they didn't have an AID station right next to it, I couldn't imagine :)

There were a line of children high-fiving runners and I joined the party. Some of the younger ones actually appeared more bewildered than excited.

We moved away from downtown and the neighbourhoods became a little less urban with fields and schools thrown in, until we turned back up east and went through Little Italy. The green and red were displayed quite vibrantly everywhere. The 25k board slipped by and for the first time I noticed I was looking for mile markers. I wondered if I was getting bored or getting anxious. I wasn't feeling tired yet but I knew the business end of the race was approaching and was feeling a little more focused now.

They were finally handing out AccelGel - the only place they were giving out any such supplement in the race, which puzzled me. I had ingested 2 Gus by now and had one more with me but grabbed a packet to be safe.

The sun was really beating down now quite mercilessly, and as we neared mid-day there was little in the way of shade on the roads. Lots of folks had hoses out and were generously spraying runners. I ran through every one of them, lingering momentarily in the spray, pulling my cap off every time. I saw one runner going back and forth a few times in the spray. Not a bad idea. It felt wonderfully good, but within 200 metres I was dry again! The mercury on a roadside bank display read 88, and it was just a little past 11. Still at least an hour and a half to go.

At last the 18 mile marker showed up. 3:09 - wow just a minute off my training run. Just 8 more to go I told myself.

Miles 19-20

By now my stomach was in its usual uneasy state that I figure is caused by all the Gu and gatorade, but this was nothing new. I had seen it in training, but I had never had to go too much farther after this. I gulped down the AccelGel and really hated it. But it stayed down.

To my dismay I realised I was starting to feel a little tired now. I talked myself out of it. I told myself I was strong, and it would be fine. A spectator was handing out Jolly candy, and I took one. It did feel good, but I hate chewing on anything when running - spoils my rhythm since I breathe with my mouth. But this was a welcome change from Gu, and especially to get the taste of AccelGel out. The thought of drinking any more gatorade made me nauseous and I switched to water the rest of the way.

I saw a sign that didn't make much sense - "Go Ale". I wondered if they were cheering a runner named "Ale", or maybe they were referring to the beer at the end? Only when I saw a mexican flag soon after did it hit me that it was Spanish - for "Go". We were in the Latin quarter.

I saw another Asha shirt ahead, and this was Aishwarya. I felt my heart lift a little at the thought of company. She looked a little beat down too - clearly the heat was affecting her as well. She seemed equally releived to see me and said "Let's finish the race together". I nodded, and we ran together for a while, not saying much, just looking for mile 20. We got there at 3:32 into the race by my watch - exact to the minute with my training run. It was almost eerie, but I knew I was more tired today than then. Still something had to be said for adrenaline and race day, and this incredible crowd. I willed myself to believe I could keep this up.

Miles 21-22

I remembered there should be bananas after mile 20 and started looking out for them at the aid stations. We walked through the next 2 aid stations, making them a convenient excuse, and one of them did offer bananas much to my relief. It went down very well, and I felt a little better. By now I was rapidly draining, and was slowly losing faith that I could really pull this off with a strong finish. I dropped the idea of trying to do negative splits, just hoping now to finish under 4:45 and do it running all the way.

In the distance I saw a mile marker and was thrilled at the prospect of getting to 22 in 3:50. Alas, it was a 35k marker, and I cursed the kilometer markings.

I tried to focus on the crowds, the buildings and everything else but it was getting harder to do that now. I saw some Green Bay Packer fans and hollered "Go Packers" more to pep myself up than a show of camaraderie I think. I don't think they could pick me out of the crowd of runners. Yes, the density of runners had hardly reduced since the start of the race.

Firemen had opened fire hydrants now and the race officials had put up the red alert signs. That meant, from what I could remember, that we were advised to walk or stop if needed. I didn't think for a moment of doing either if I could help it.

Mile 22 finally arrived at 3:58 - a minute more than my training run. This seemed incredible except that I had 4.2 more to go, and I was fading fast.

Miles 22-26

I wasn't optimistic at all about doing under 12 minute miles from here onwards, and that is what I would need to finish under 4:45. I had started to walk through aid stations. I picked up more bananas, and somehow pushed down one last Gu shot for the home stretch. Aishwarya and I had started to go back and forth now as we walked bits here and there. My legs were really tired and I told myself I could walk whenever I saw a mile marker, and I did that the rest of the way, but kept the walking brisk when I did. Sometimes Aishwarya would catch up and say "Run with me, Venki", and I would push a little more.

We went next to a freeway for the early part and heard a bunch of ambulances howling down the freeway. A lady running next to me said "That doesn't sound very ominous, does it?" - that was the last thing I wanted to think of right now. I had already started wondering why I was doing this ..... again! How could I have forgotten all this pain from the last time? I had been proudly telling everyone I was doing a full. I wondered if I should have said instead that I was being a fool!

We finally went past the mile 23 marker soon after we crossed what reminded me of military schools in India, and a small band playing what felt like military tunes. Most of the folks seemed to be African American and I guessed we were in South Chicago. People were holding up whiteboards and I wondered why nothing was written on them. On closer inspection they had tons of vaseline smeared on them for runners to take. I was good - the body glide was still doing its magic.

We made two quick right turns to round off the southernmost part of our course. Surprisingly there was a block somewhere around here with absolutely no spectators at all. I concluded they must not have been allowed there. It was the only part of the 26.2 where there were no spectators. We rounded the bend, and an aid station greeted us. I noticed that it was manned completey by African Americans. They had some music set up and some of the ladies were dancing to it, and doing it real well too.

The customary loudspeakers started appearing near the mile 24 marker announcing that we had "only" 2 miles to go. 2 miles seemed an eternity right now. I could barely compute how much time I had taken for the last 2 miles. I just wanted to get to that finish line now - forget finishing strong or looking good.

40k turned up after forever, and I spotted some TA Chicago vols in the crowd. I managed to shout "Go Team Asha", and one of them jumped in and tried to run with me, but I had decided to walk to the 25 mile marker now, hoping for one last burst for the last mile.2.

25.2 was also marked, and marked as 1 mile. I looked at the time. It was 4:37. Oh well, there goes 4:45 I said. At least I would finish under 5:00. I remembered someone cheering at mile 20 saying "Under 5. Under 5. You can do it." And I had thought then that most of us were on pace to do well under 5. This was much closer than I had expected. I started running, and stopped again at the 800 metre marker. Not till much later would I realise that meant 1/2 mile left. The mind was just not computing anymore. Aishwarya caught up at about 400 metres left and seemed to be running energetically. I started running with her, but stopped again at the 300 metres marker, and waved her on. We rounded a bend, and I started to run and noticed it was ever so slightly uphill, and promptly went back to walking. I mentally cursed everyone who had ever told me Chicago was all flat. What exactly did they call this? After 20 miles even a 1 degree rise is not flat I thought. We quickly rounded another bend, and I saw the finish line about a 100 metres away. I summoned up every ounce of energy left and ran for it. No, I can't really call it a sprint, but I took big strides and looked much better than I felt, I am sure. I raised my arms as I crossed the line not so much in triumph as because everyone else was doing so. I stopped my watch at 4:51:41

Aishwarya came back to the finish line to find me and we beamed at each other just extremely happy to have finally finished. We went through the finish area not really feeling like picking up any food, and just grabbing some water/gatorade. The Asha tent seemed miles away, and frankly, it was actually not very close even if we we had not just run 26.2. We hobbled our way to the tent in due course, and finally sat down, spent but relieved.

Day 0.5+

Hours later, I had talked to many folks from Team Asha who called, predictably, to congratulate us on a good race run. When people asked me how it was, I realised I was hesitating before saying it was great, and I wondered why. Had I secretly set myself a time-goal that I had not admitted, even to myself, had become more important than enjoying what I had dreamt of doing for a very long time? Sure, everyone, I think, has time goals, whether they admit it, even to themselves, or not. All season long I had convinced myself 4:45 was what I would probably finish in, based on how training went, and I had rejected any suggestions that I would hit 4:30. I succumbed, however, in the last week, to repeated such suggestions and had allowed myself to hope things might actually turn out perfect. And 4:30 was perfection to me. In the end 4:52 was quite close to my original goal, so I should have been quite happy ...... I think it was more than that. It was not just about doing a time but doing it well. Doing it strong. Doing it on my own terms. Doing it in control of things. Striding through those last few miles feeling strong and good, and smiling. None of which I was doing. Many folks said "You conquered Chicago". By no means did I conquer the Chicago marathon. On the contrary, the marathon conquered me. It took every bit of energy out of me to find that finish line. Yes, I finished the marathon. No I did not conquer it. The last 4.2 were quite brutal, and I pretty much dragged myself across that distance. The crowds were just phenomenal, especially in that stretch (and I did the math later - at 1.5 million spectators, that's an average of 35 per meter!!), but try as I might, I couldn't even use that energy to propel myself on. I had started tuning everything out and just focusing on moving forward. When I was running and someone stopped in front of me, I didn't even have the energy to step aside or stop suddenly. So limited was my focus, I didn't even recognize that I was on Michigan avenue the last 3 miles, until I saw the course map again later. I finally understood what the coaches kept saying about finishing strong. It is not as much about time or even negative splits. It is about finishing with that feeling that you were in control of your entire race. I know the next time I run, I will set a time target again - it is but human to do that, but I hope I will remember that it is not all that matters.

The first time around, 7 years ago, I was happy to just finish. I walked more than 4 miles, and I had serious lower back pain by mile 19 making it hard even to walk. I had trained by myself, and didn't do any strengthening, and it was probably showing then. This time, I had trained well, and trained consistently, missing very little and sticking by the rules. I was probably disappointed I didn't do significantly better. Nevertheless, I did do better - by 10 minutes - in worse weather conditions, and maybe most importantly, 7 years later. Having said that, I am still more proud of my first marathon - going through a formal training has made me appreciate how hard this is to do, and how many things can go wrong and I credit general fitness and a modicum of luck for that first time, but most of all I realise more now the motivation it takes to do this alone your first time. But there is one thing training with TA has done that did not happen the first time. Training for the Madison marathon made me a marathoner, but training for Chicago made me a runner. I finally find running somewhat enjoyable, and within a couple of days I found myself wavering when people asked me if I would run another, and pretty soon, I was saying "Yes, I think I will". The mind is foolish, and forgetful, and has a way of holding on to good memories and letting go of the bad ones. God bless our foolish minds. Chicago was an incredible experience in so many ways. The course was magnificent, the organization was exellent, and the Chicagoans were remarkable. And that is what will remain a lasting memory.

SF half marathon

Race Date: 2010-07-25
Race Distance: 13.1 miles
Finish Time (hh:mm:ss): 02:08:36


Beep beep beep .... Beep beep beep .... beep beep beep

Woke up with a start and rushed to find the clock. 3:10. Good, hadn't snoozed it at all. Things were going to plan.

3:15 Brushed and done. Call Shraddha. No answer.

3:20 Shower done. Call Dilip. Hmm..... he sounds sleepy. I wonder ... Quickly get dressed and ready. Readied everything the previous night as the coaches had instructed. No phone. Just DL, $20+$10+$2, keys

3:30 Shraddha calls "I am just stepping out of my place". Eat something. Ah, my favorite oatmeal. After two spoons, Balu's words came back - no milk!! Okay, abandon, and get some toast. Feeling a bit rushed now.

3:40 Dilip calls. "We are both here. Come down". I go and pull out my car. Wait, what's this other car obstructing my driveway? Oh, it's Shraddha's :) Alright, she could get towed for this.

3:45 Dilip reparks Shraddha's car in a tight parallel spot, and we are technically off!!

3:50 Nervous chatter. Dilip confirms he woke up at 3:20 when I called! Almost forgot his bottle. OH, DRAT! I forgot mine! U-turn, u-turn. Heart starts racing. Rush back home. Sprinting in, grabbing bottle, and sprinting out, was, with me, the work of an instant (Cr: PGW). Already feeling warmed up. Drive like the wind now!

3:58 At Caltrain station. Damn, I thought we were supposed to be here at 3:45 :( But there are others pulling in too. Find paybooth. Dilip goes to check out spot #. 64 .... yes. Oh, $3? Grrr.... Balu, you lil' ... (Cr: Simpsons). Borrow 1$ from Shraddha.

4:05 Run to shuttle. Jump in. Ooh, both Balu and Chandrika on our shuttle. Bharath too! Ah, finally off!! Phew! Collect snack bar and banana. Wolf down banana. Save up snack bar for later.

~5:00 Bus pulls up near the start point. Ah, the other buses also there, and lots of Asha folk milling around. Follow crowd. Ah, porta-potties. And no line at all!! We must be real early. Do 'morning business' as Balu put it. Spot Vikram in line. Good. Ah, Meena too. Manu as well.

5:15 At Embarcadero and Folsom surveying the start lines and waves. Ah, there's Mausam. Good. Not that cold actally, which is a good sign. Still have not decided what to wear when starting. Cotton shirt over tech-tee? Garbage bag? Both?

5:30 Find sweats truck. Hmm..... this is quite challenging. Finally found it at Embarcadero and Mission. Swamy was right, while most of the other folk kept pointing in the wrong direction! Hmmph! Spotted Divya, Sudhir. Okay, decision time. Going with only tech tee, and garbage bag in pocket.

5:45 Make way back. Trying to follow Chandrika to Wave 5. Seems like most Asha runners are starting here. Ah, my running buddy Anand is finally here. Can't find Mausam anymore though. Quick spot of stretching. Just waiting is getting unbearable. Thank God it is quite pleasant temperature actually! Not cold at all!

6:00 "A-Bot rocks"? What is A-Bot anyway? Oh well. Just let us go ....

6:05 WAVE 5! And we are off!! Am I running too fast? Too slow? Well, just go with other Asha runners. Oh, set watch timer ... Good. Can almost feel the nervous energy in the crowd. Oh, and there's the Mile 1 marker at ......

6:15 10 min mile. Anand says we are doing 10:30. Heavenly smell of fresh bread. Boudin bakery. Damnit. I miss my morning coffee. Wish I could take a detour. Mile 2 - quick glance at watch ....

6:25 Wow, seem to be getting the hang of this. Isn't it a bit fast though? Coaches said 11 min/mile for the first two .... Ah, Hyde street. This was the turnaround for Crissy field run. Familiar track now! Through the Aquatic park, and over Fort Mason. Our first hill ...

6:35 Mile 3. This is uncanny now .... Never mind. Oh, there are some people cheering us on. I don't know them, but I will use their cheering anyway :) "GO ASHA". Loud familiar voice. Ah, there's Balu. And Bharath. Our first Asha cheering squad! Terrific. Scream back "Balu"! Crissy field coming up. Hmmm, small detour through the field. Weird! Oh there's the marker for Mile 4 at ....

6:45 Oh well, now started expecting this .... But Anand says we are doing 9:40 pace now. Looking forward to the bridge now. Can see it in the distance. Not much fog. Yikes, people are going near the bushes now! Ah water-stop. Mmmm.... Cytomax (yes, I like it!) Anand takes his Gu shot. Should I? Didn't need any for Crissy field .... and feeling very good now .... hmm ... postpone for now.

First big hill coming up. Mile 5 marker half way up at .....

6:55 Sigh!

Q: Which is the steepest street in SF?

A: Filbert (?)

Q: Aren't you happy to be running this hill instead?

A: (My answer) - Hmmm.... not really, why are those the only 2 choices? :)

Hmm.... all the houses are exactly alike on this road. Wonder if it is a military zone of some sort.

Okay, rounding the bend to the Golden Gate now! Finally! "Venki ... venki ... venki ..." I hear shouting. Praveen!! And Sandhya and Chakri!! Terrific!! Find myself screaming everyone's names. Hi-fives all around. That was perfect timing entering the bridge. Feeling very strong now.

Oh wow, the bridge is indeed uphill as Chakri promised. But then, when is Chakri wrong anyway :)

I see the 3:40 pacer. First pacer I have seen since we started running. And there's Matt! Right behind the pacer. Girl with PINK written all over her running clothes in front of me. Wonder if that is a group of some sort. "Run for India" tees all over the place. Wonder which group that is. TA shirts are much prettier ;) 3:50 pacer. Mayank. Vineet. Venkat! Didn't realise he was such a fast runner. All on pace to go under 2. Racing down the second half of the GG now. Anand - "we are doing 9:20 pace". Should slow down.

Vista point. Ah, the mat! Careful step over it :) Take a Gu shot here. Don't want to fade out in the second half of the course. Yes, it's time. Forgot to check watch or look for mile markers since reaching the bridge. Hmm.... no idea about the mileage but the time is .....

7:21 Has to be more than half way through. Less than an hour of running left if we are to finish under 2:15. Back on the bridge.

Me: "Didn't see Dilip or Vikram yet"

Anand: "Oh they went by a minute ago"

Me: "How about the 4:15 pacer. Are we ahead of him?

Anand: "Probably. We crossed 4:00 pacer before the turnaround"

Back on the bridge. Pulling a bit faster now. Having to dodge folks a lot more. Chandrika! Still a sea of people on the bridge. Meena and Manu. And other TA runners. Can see the toll booth. Look for our cheering squad. Who's that screaming and jumping. OMG, it's Bhanu!! Can't see Madhu anywhere. Chakri taking pics of us! Ah, Sandhya and Praveen again. Fantastic! Now for the last big hill.

Q: Which famous actress born was in San Francisco and acted in Clueless?

Anand: Alicia Silverstone.

Me to myself: Wow, I had no clue

A: Alicia Silverstone.

This hill looks never-ending. Going real slow. Waterstop at top! Don't want to walk now. Focus! Right foot. Left foot. Right foot ....

Overheard: "Almost there dear - mile 10 marker at the top."

Quick scan for marker. Yes!! 10 indeed. And quick scan for time ....

7:47 Stop for water. Good excuse to stop!

Anand: "It is all downhill from here."

Me: "Really? Too many people said be careful of the rolling hills."

Ah, amazing view on the right. Beach(es). Cliffside houses. The Pacific. Woods immediately to the right. Curvy road. Crowd thinning a bit. Going real fast. Anand: "8:30 pace. Slow down!" Bobby races by!

Doesn't feel like this downslope is going to end. Not complaining :) Ooh, waterstop again. And Balu! So, just 2.1 left? Can't see any Mile 11 marker. Balu runs a little with us.

Balu: "You guys are doing great".

Anand: "Get us through in 2:05"

Balu: "That might be too hard. You will do 2:10 easily." Leaves us.

City streets. The famous rolling hills. Nice houses. Time to change target to 2:11. 10 min/mile. Can see Bobby 50 metres ahead. Start pushing harder. Try to catch Bobby and stay with him. "Anand, I will take off ...." Slowly but surely, inching up to Bobby. Still feeling strong. Losing feel for distance now. Unsure where the mile 12 marker is.

8:01 15 mins to beat target. Just keep pushing. Still feeling strong. More crowds lining streets now. Cops cheering us on too!! Didn't see that coming :) Mile 12!! Okay, its finally down to 1 mile. Yippee! Mental correction. 1.1. Watch check ....

8:03 Okay, nice and easy. Left turn. Seems like a big road. Right turn into the park. Hurray! Almost there. Don't see no finish line. Right turn. Signs for half and full marathoners. Yay! Finish must be a 100 yards away. Though, still ....

8:08 Damn, this finish line is just not coming. Satish Menon. Legs getting weary. Would love to walk a bit. Focus! Bobby is running like he has a motor on him! Can barely see him anymore. Left turn. Has to be round the bend. No :( Dragging feet now. Right turn. Another sign for half vs. full. Big crowds now. Must be here. Scan crowd for familiar faces. None :( Stop sign up front. Should I? :) OH, there's the finish line!!!!! Sudden strength welling up. Legs take over. Involuntary sprinting. Cross line with huge grin. Turn off stopwatch .... 2:08:31. Nice!

Kiron waving nearby. Pose for picture. Wait for Anand. Oh, is that Bobby coming in now? Hmm..... Bobby - "I took the full marathon lane, and some nice lady told me I was in the wrong place". No wonder. Time to walk up and collect that medal. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Legs feeling stiff. Knees in particular. Abs a little painful. Walked back down the course and ran back other TA runners - Vikram, Abhishek, Dilip, Prema, Divya, Mausam ..... More cheerers joined in - Shailesh, Parag, Madhu, and the ones who already finished. Everyone is just all smiles. A few seemed to be hurting a bit. Still smiling :) Picked up sweats, found lots more folks. Finally time to go back to start line. Samosas and biryani waiting for us there. Grabbed a few biscuits, scones, cytomax, banana, and headed to a ridiculously long line for the buses to the start. Almost ....

10:00 Was later when we got on. Fell promptly asleep till bus parked at Embarcadero. Asha tent and food!! Good. Fantastic. Chakri is back there. So is Praveen. The full marathoners are back too. Arun Sharma. Satish again. Feeling really sleepy now. Slight headache too. Just want to curl up. Closing in on ....

~12:00 Prasanna picks us up. Shraddha, Dilip and me. Promptly fall asleep again, all the way to Sunnyvale. Drop off Shraddha and join the rest of our gang at Peacock - Madhu, Bhanu, Meena, Sandhya, Chakri, Gaurav. The hot chai was priceless. And free :) Got back home around ....

2:15 One long day. One long happy day. One long fantastic day. Half way there.

Chicago, here I come.

Why blog?

I have wanted to start a blog for a long time. Only because it seems to be the thing to do. Everybody does it. And everybody thinks I should too. I was even quick to start a new page and setup all the fonts, colors and backdrop just the way I liked it. I guess that doesn't count yet as having a blog .....

So why blog? Whatever I have to say I am sure a million people have said before. There's probably even a blog out there that says exactly this same thing. I am not going to stumble upon a brilliant thought that no one else has had, am I?

Maybe we blog to keep a record of our memories, or what we saw, what we did etc. But then we could do it in private. Isn't that what diaries are for? Maybe we want to show off. Tell the world how great we are. Maybe the real world does not provide us with enough friends around us. Maybe we want to find more friends in the virtual world online. Maybe it gives us a sense of self-importance, silly but satisfying the ego just that little bit.

I have tried many times to start a blog. But I have always felt uneasy about it. I don't want to start something that I will be enthused about for a few weeks and then forget about - those things have a very unfinished feeling about them that I greatly dislike. So maybe that is what bothers me about a blog - there is no end to it. At least, no clear logical end. Maybe I fear that I am committing to a project that will eventually become either a never-ending chore or a disappointment. And yet, somewhere inside I do want to write articles. I see others' blogs and am impressed .... So, why do I want to blog? I think it is because I like to talk. I like to tell people what I feel, what I think, what I discover, what I experience ..... and by blogging I speak to no one in particular, just to the outside world in general. Even if no one reads it, I feel like I have told someone. Maybe that is indeed good enough a reason ....

Ironically, this has become a catch-22 situation. In expressing that I don't see any reason to blog, I have found a reason to do so .....