This weekend ( 30 sept 2007) I successfully completed half a marathon in 1 hour and 50 mins. I thought I will share how it felt and how it was. How were the weeks as I was drumming up to this.

Its been few weeks that friends have stared complaining that I have dropped off the social radar and was no where to be found. Whenever they called I had my usual excuse was "I am running". "Yeah you are running away from us!" they would say and ask: "And, when are you coming back ?" So few weeks back I decided to run wherever I find a trail and pair of shoes. And actually it worked very well as I was running at new place every time and folks were happy. On the week of 20th sept. I went to Connecticut to visit one of my friend Sharad from Pilani (Rajasthan, India). We grew up in same neighborhood, pretty much a stone throw away from my house. I was seeing him after 1992. ( long time no see dude!) That week I ran on the trail by his place. Not a very long trail ( just 1.5 miles ) but was good. In order to clock 12 miles I ended up running it 8 times back and forth. By the time I was done; I must have said hello quite a few times to the pretty much all the folks from his neighborhood. Next time they see me they would recognize crazy runner from Jersey. It was just too many times for me to run past them. This was very important run as I was drumming up for my Jersey Shore half a marathon. This past weekend ( 30th sept ) I ran 13.1 miles in 1 hour 50 mins.

I was runner number 1698. It was little bit hot and sunny day for a run. The morning before run; I got up 5 am to eat and get ready to drive to the place of marathon. ( Sandy Hook, NJ ) On the way I was picking up my friend Stacy, so I thought I will make it little faster. Early in the morning it I beat all the traffic and arrived at race location before 7 am ( phew ! that was fast ). Not knowing what to do there so early I reclined the car seats and took a nap for about 45 mins, until I saw my coach. Contrary to as it might seem, for some reason I had a good feeling that this will be a good run and I am still sleepy. I remember one time I was too sleepy to run and I still ran and I had awesome run that day.

Later we assembled in the south-west parking lot before we were herded to the start line. I was very excited to be there as this was my first run. The running course was pretty flat, sunny and new for me. For some reason it felt little shorter than I expected. And for this reason I didn't quite notice when I passed 10 mile mark. I was saving my energy and breath for mad dash in last 3.1 miles. I had a bittersweet feeling when water volunteers announced that you are about 300 yards away from finish line. I was too busy noticing cheering people and fellow runners around. Little disappointed, had I noticed; I would have improved my timings. But anyway there is always a next time; and I beat my target goal by 20 mins.

After the run; I went back to 500 yards mark and ran along with few fellow team members cheering them, it was wonderful to see their achieving faces running into finish line. Few of them really tired but very happy to see the finish line and familiar faces.

My boss at work is also a runner, like she said, I like marathon for the people who do it. Running a marathon with Team is a wonderful experience. Before marathon; I met my co-worker and friend from previous company, James Whittle. He is running New York Marathon this year. Despite his leg injury; he did wonderful, I passed him along couple of times and without fail he noticed me and cheered me. It was great feeling. He is a wonderful person to work and run with.

One thing I learned from this my first of kind experience it that "If you have right coach you can pretty much do anything !!". I mean, I am not saying this just because I have to, I mean it is true. It is amazing what a disciplined coaching can do to you. In May 2007 before I signed up with Coach: Tom and Joanne, I had no idea if I could do even 4 miles, Now I am cranking 30 miles per week. And also this applies to other concepts in the life ( lets talk about them sometime later). I wanted to thank Coach Tom and Joanne, without them it was not possible. Many thanks to all the Volunteers who provided with water stops, cheered me whenever I passed them. Also, thanks to all the folks who left me informing comments on my previous posts, I was able really implement the advice and stream line my schedule. In the coming weeks as I prepare for Philadelphia Marathon, I will be taking all those cheers and putting them into good use. Next long run is next Sunday (Oct. 7th 2007) and this time I will attempt 17 miles ( 27 kilometers )