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Category: Marathon

  • Winchester’s Southern Tennessee Plunge Marathon

    Winchester’s Southern Tennessee Plunge Marathon

    Oct 2, 2010. I was thinking about running the Stump jump 50K but decided to do the Plunge Marathon along with Diane and Kim. This was an inaugural marathon in a little town at Winchester, TN. It was a cold morning. Real cold. At least I felt it that way after enjoying a great summer for the past few months. The drive wasn’t too far and we started at 5 in the morning and made it comfortably before the start. The registration was setup at the Old ham cinema. “Legend of the Guardian” is something that I wanted to catch up but not today.

    The packet pick went smooth and the T Shirt was gorgeous. There was no orange tag or champion chip this time though. The sensor was embedded in the BIB itself. Race timings are getting very technical. Wonder how it will be down the lane. Caught up with Josh (The evil RD who put up the Blister in the Sun marathon), Chris Estes, Joshua Holmes and Kim. There were many half marathoners than marathoners. My goal was to do better than Tupelo though.
    Race started on time. The beginning of the course was winding through city roads and traffic. First 5 miles smelt gas and smoke all the way but there were cops EVERYWHERE. They regulated the traffic so good especially at the intersections. I was sick in my stomach. I was running at a good pace though but was feeling soreness in my shoulder and as usual I forgot to tape my nipple and ended up chaffing. Yeah!! I never learn from my mistakes.

    Though it was cold at the start of the race it was getting hotter by the day and humid. I reached the half marathon distance by 2:05. There were hardly any runners who took the deviation to the Marathon course. Kim who finished her half marathon in about 1:50 came down to the intersection with some ice cold water and banana. Thanks Kim, you are the best! She ran with me a while and I took off after devouring the banana.

    A long stretch of road and I could see miles ahead of me but no runner. I was there all by myself. I was skeptical whether I am on the course and was so glad when I hit the aid station. I am indeed on the course. Wish the aid stations had some electrolytes. About 18 miles into the race, my running friend Phil Min caught me. That’s the difference between experienced and amateur runners. He had an amazing pace and he passed me in no time. Slow and steady. The course ahead had some serious elevation. The elevation didn’t seem to be very tough but it was. Steep and long. My goal to finish the race under 4:30 started to fade. New goal was to get it under 5:00.
     
    It got really hot towards the end of the race. My vibrams couldn’t keep up with the hot surface and when I inspected my feet at an aid station I noticed few blood blisters on my toes. Nice!! Soon, Phyllis caught me. Another experienced runner and this was her 185th Marathon. That’s no typo, it was indeed her 185th marathon. The steep hills were killing me and I was craving for some food though I knew that I won’t have anything solid for the next one hour at least.

    The course during the last few miles was really rough. We were running on thin shoulder with the traffic just a feet away. It was a bit confusing too as the course went through some Junk yard and deserted streets but big thanks to all the volunteers for staying there out in the sun. The finish line came to sight and it was time to sprint. 4:59:16 was my finish time. Best surprise!! I placed second in my age group :). Sweet!!! While waiting for Diane, I met with Kim (Winchester is her hometown btw) and her Mom at the finish line. Soon, runners started showing up one after another.

    Josh Hite won the marathon with a great time 3:00:00. Overall a great race for an inaugural marathon. Volunteers need a special mention here and they did a great job. I can’t wait for my award which will arrive by mail soon. Above all I thank God for enabling me to finish my 8th marathon, Strong!!!
    I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me – Phil 4:13
  • Mercedes Marathon

    Mercedes Marathon

    It was a long drive but Diane’s Lexus made our travel really comfortable. Took turns driving and made a couple of stops on our way yet we made it on time to catch up with Phil, Hara and her family. Met at Rocky Pizza as planned for some carbo loading. The Power punch pizza looked very tempting and ended up getting a big one.
    Hara was running this for her BQ (Boston Qualifier). We were discussing about all the races that we have run so far and our forthcoming schedule while Sophie, Hara’s daughter, was enjoying her pasta and buffalo chicken wings. Very nice of Phil for collecting our race packet. After dinner we headed to our hotel room to catch some sleep. Diane and I headed to the gym and did a mile walk on the tread mill.
    Placed some ice packs near the ankle joints and was lying on my bed pondering that the Valentine’s Day weekend is going to be something very interesting and exciting. Mixed feelings, did I commit myself too much, maybe I should’ve listened to my friends, would it hurt, what it would be like were the questions popping on top of my head. I still remember the day when I signed up for four races and this one was unique as it would be back to back. One down and three more to go. My third Full Marathon if I get to finish it and my first one in my Vibram Five fingers. They held up pretty good for my half marathon.
    Didn’t know when I dozed off. Alarm went on at 5:00AM. Ankle pain was much better but still was a bit sore. That morning was very different. You will never do it; it’s going to be hell, Forget the finish line and thoughts as such. I have never had this feeling before. Tried hard to avoid the voices (sorry if it sounds dramatic) and resisted it harder. Pinned up my BIB and timing chip on my VFF. Found a spot close to the start line and parked the car. The ‘This is it’ moment. No turning back now.

    My first ever marathon where there were about 2000 runners, could be more. The moment the race started, it took 7 minutes to reach the start line. It was mix of both marathoners and half marathoners. A two loop course through downtown Birmingham. The weather was freezing cold, 28 def F (Yes that’s -2deg Celsius). 

    My training runs on the snow helped. Breathing was so hard and lungs were choking. It took almost 3 miles to gain the pace by squeezing through the crowd. A long way to go, with just me and the road ahead and nothing in between. Mile 8, pain started creeping in near the ankle. Oh oh, not again. Can’t afford for an ice pack on the run. Poured some ice cold water over it, gulped a glass of Gatorade and headed towards mile 9. Reached mile 13 at about 2:10 minutes. There were hundreds of half-marathoners pushing themselves to the finish line. Man, their race is over yet I have to do the whole loop once again. It’s very tempting. Shall I just cancel my entry to Full Marathon and do the Half marathon instead, just a voice inside my head, “Be a man”, that’s the voice from my heart. The heart won! It’s Valentine’s Day people! 🙂

    Hastily, I took the turn towards my second loop. Pain, legs were aching, fat cells were crying. It was around 32 deg F by now but I was sweating like hell. Stride length was getting shorter. Mile stone was showing 15miles. 11.2 more miles to go. While I was trying to gain momentum, the course headed towards a hilly road. I should have anticipated as I just did the course in my first loop. Pulled myself up till the aid station. Grabbed some bananas, oranges and some water. Was feeling better. Never felt the need for a potty break though. Reached the Mile 20. Mile 20-26 always gives me goose bumps. The part of the race that puts me to test. Earlier I could stretch myself and touch my toes without bending my knee. Now, that seemed to be an impossible and grueling task. My nerves have given up I believe. Still managed to do it in spite of the pain. Now the interesting thing in this race is there is a balloon lady, she walks/runs at a 6:00hr pace. If you fall behind her then you are out of the race. While stretching, I look behind and I see the balloon lady. Oh man, I can’t fall out of the race. I must do it. I must finish it, whatever it takes.
     Got some courage to pull myself and started running at a very good pace until I couldn’t see her. I was running like I stole something. Later I found that it was another runner with some heart shaped balloons celebrating the Valentine’s Day. Freak!! Thought would wait for her and beat her up but good I saw her else I wouldn’t have gained the pace. That running pace hurt though. Mile 24, 2.2 miles to go. This is where the theory of relativity comes into the picture. That Einstein guy was right, “When you sit with a good looking girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes but when you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it seems like two hours, that’s relativity”. The next 2.2 miles was hot stove for me and it seemed like eternity. There were couple of runners ahead of me and decided to out run as many as possible. I would take advantage when they would walk just to see them passing me in a while. 25 miles into the race and the last 1.2 miles to go. 
    I could feel the vibe already, am in the downtown area, people standing by the side cheering you. I was literally dragging myself with this new found energy. 26 miles, the final 200 yards, I could hear the music and the finish line comes into view. All pain and suffering vanished, I sprinted the last 200 yards and crossed the finish line. w00t. Nothing like the few seconds while crossing the finish line. I was soon wrapped in mylar blanket by a volunteer and was awarded my finisher medal and my finisher T-shirt. Finished it in 5:18:52

     A very special race for me indeed. I ran this for the pure joy of running, to test myself and for other reasons only known for a few. There were hundreds of them crossing the finish line each for a cause and some for themselves. One lost her brother in Haiti, the other in memory of her child who died of cancer, some for their dear ones and many more reasons. Let me tell you something, you got to be at the finish line to experience what I am saying, wish I could put my feelings in words though. My friends crossed the finish line, 10 minutes after I finished. We hugged each other and said, “We survived, we did it”. Mercedes Medal and the Finisher T-Shirt were awesome. A sweet gift for my Valentine’s Day!
     
    We were hunting for the Y! for shower but no luck. We were craving for Chick-fil-a sandwich though but found it closed and later realized it was Sunday. We had to settle for the second best and headed to Arby’s. Had my favorite Roast beef sandwich and headed to Nashville. Done with a Half and Full, next would be the 50K and then the 50Mile. Jeez!!

  • Half, Full, 50K and 50M

    After Flying Monkey I have been looking for my next marathon. That’s when one of my colleagues introduced to Diane Taylor. What a breath of fresh air she turned out to be! 75 Marathons and Ultra marathons so far. Amazing. She was there for Flying Monkey Marathon as well. Gosh, wish I had met her during that time. She managed to complete Flying marathon in spite of her stress fracture. I found her to be very humble and cheerful. It was very encouraging and inspiring talking to her. The outcome of getting inspired! I signed up for four races. Yeah Four races! Thanks Diane! You rock. 

    Right after our conversation she sent me the list of races that she has signed up for the coming months and I was lucky enough to enroll in four of those races well before the registration cut-off. As the title of the post says, the race distance is going to be in incremental order. Starts with Half Marathon and will end with an Ultra Marathon. 

    I have never done anything crazy like this before, so it’s going to be fun. Here’s my race schedule.

    Cedars Frostbite Half-Marathon : 13-Feb-10     Lebanon State Park, Lebanon, TN
    2010 Mercedes Full Marathon : 14-Feb-10    Birmingham, AL
    Black Warrior 50K : 20-Feb-10    Bankhead National Forest – AL
    Land Between the Lakes Trail run 50 Miles:13-Mar-10    Grand Rivers, KY
    Wish me luck. I’ll keep you posted on my survival rate.
  • Flying Monkey Marathon – 11/22/2009

    Flying Monkey Marathon – 11/22/2009


    “Can someone living by Hermitage give a ride to a flying monkey from India?”, I posted on Monkey Chatter couple of days before the race. It didn’t take long to get a response. John responded back right away offering me a ride. There’s always a monkey ready to help another. We met at 6:00am and off we started to Percy Warner Park. It was supposed to rain as per the weather forecast but there was no rain and the weather was just perfect for the long run. After meeting couple of other runners and making friends, I headed to collect my BIB and starter kit. Bib: 712. Starter kit was loaded with a technical full sleeve T-shirt and a half sleeve T shirt, w00t. There was even a flying monkey tattoo 🙂

    Met the RD Trent and thanked him for accommodating me in the race. Humorous guy and sounded as funny as his emails. There were lots of other folks in funny costumes surrounding the theme “flying Monkey”. After a brief overview about the race course, the race started on time and the flying monkeys flew.

     
     

    What a beautiful race course. It was gorgeous. The first 5 mile was fun and then began the elevation. My assumption about the course went wrong, elevation so steep at some point that everyone started walking but the volunteers were just amazing. Aid stations were loaded with food, GU, Water, Gatorade etc etc. They were cheering us all the way. Some of the volunteers got their kids to watch and support the flying monkeys. It was so good to look at their cheerful face clapping and encouraging us to run. I wanted to finish the race in 4:30 but that seemed to be impossible when I hit the 19th mile at that time. That’s another 7 miles to the finish line. The guy who won the race is a machine. It wasn’t even a flat course yet he completed it in under 2:30. I didn’t really train myself for this elevation. My shin splint was crawling up and at the 22nd mile; I couldn’t run a single step.  I did some stretching and walked half a mile which felt a bit better. “Eye of the tiger” was playing loud at the 24th mile, a tempo song to complete the last couple of miles, Sweet. The flying monkey medal started appearing before my eyes. I was in pain. My legs were crying.  C’mon Naresh, last 2 mile and the medal is yours. I could hear the band playing at the finish line by that time. There were lots of people and photographers cheering at the finish line, which felt very good. Pain just vanished for that one moment and there I crossed the finish line. In no time flying monkey medal was hanging on my neck. w00t. Second Marathon, COMPLETED.

    After post stretching exercise, picked up some pasta and chilled beer and relaxed for a while. One helluva race and lots of fun. Here’s my Race timing, 13th in my Age Group.

    Time    Oall  AG   SG    Last                           First               Bib  Sex Age   City               State
    5:35:55 181  13   122   Kondur Nagabhushan   Naresh Kumar  712  M    27     Nashville        TN
    Lesson learnt: Study the course especially if it’s a trail.  Carbo loading and sound sleep the day before the race.
  • Flying Monkey Marathon

    Flying Monkey Marathon


    While looking for races around Nashville, the immediate one was on the 22nd Nov 2009. But the name of the race lured me to register. Flying Monkey Marathon. 

    The pictures of the race course through Percy Warner Park was so pretty but then I was so upset when I noticed that the deadline for registration was already over. I wanted to give it a shot though, so I contacted the RD Trent, one of the funniest guys I have ever met, asking if he can accommodate an Indian Flying Monkey in the race and was just waiting…..
    October 18, there was a mail sitting in my inbox saying that I can register for the race, w00t! I was so glad looking at the email and registered for the race right away.
    I used to hang out in Monkey Chatter reading all the funny emails especially the ones sent by Trent. Hilarious! I used to have my rofl moments reading his email. My first marathon in the US and I am glad it’s going to one cool marathon race. Harpeth hills!! Here comes the flying Indian monkey!

  • My First Marathon! w00t

    My First Marathon! w00t

    And finally…I completed my first full marathon. Aug 30 2009, the day I’ll remember forever. It’s been almost three months ever since I started running and have always been dreaming to complete a marathon. I am glad I did it. Mixed feelings when I crossed the finish line. Wish I could translate my feelings into words. 42.2 Kms seemed so long and endless. 

    Ram and I left Chennai by train to Hyderabad. After a hectic week at work, it was so good and exciting to be out on a trip. I was so tired. Had an early dinner and hit the berth. All I could remember was being woken up by Ram once we reached Secunderabad. After settling down at our friend’s place, we went for a run at Necklace Road. It was very pretty. We were running by the Hussain Sagar lake for about 6kms. Later in the noon we went out for sight seeing and Charminar was the first destination, obviously. Later, Paani poori and Samosa and Gokul chat. Yummy! We then went to collect our BIB and Kit. ’21’ – that was my BIB number. It felt so good. Later we went to watch Kaminey that night along with other friends and then hit the bed.



    Got up at 4:00 in the morning and reached the race spot by 4:45. It was a very thrilling moment. To see so many people to run the race. I am not alone in this madness. After our stretching exercise, I was all set to hit the start line. Full Marathon was flagged off at 5:30AM and the race officially started. This is it. No turning back. Run Naresh Run!!


    The first few miles felt nothing. The arrangements were very good. Police were holding the city traffic everywhere. The weather was just perfect until Sun started showing up. I was expecting the race to be on a flat course but I was wrong. We also had to run through many loops which was kind of a let down. I was feeling like giving up when I crossed the Half Marathon finish line. Volunteers were suggesting that I can complete my race if I wish.  Those words were all the more tempting but I kept running. I made a promised to myself that I complete this marathon, no matter what, at any cost. The weather was killing and I was drowning in my own sweat. 



    Wish I had my Ipod with me. So lonely, so painful yet so good. I was focused on just one thing. To cross the finish line and get my finisher medal. The milestone read 40kms. 2.2 Kms to complete the race. The last stretch of the race, we had to run inside the Gachibowli stadium track. It’s almost over. Photographers were clicking shots, a huge crowd standing by to cheer, All my pain vanished at that very moment. Hit the finish line and received my Medal and Certificate. It’s over. w00t. I was glad and proud that I finished my first full marathon in 5:45. A very good beginning to my running expedition. Indeed.



  • Registered for my first Full Marathon



    I am in Maryland, US now on business. I don’t know what I was thinking when Ram asked me to register for Hyderabad marathon on 31st August 2009. A full marathon. If all goes well, it’ll be my first Marathon, a dream come true. I could imagine how great it would be to cross the finish line. I will be returning on the 17th Aug, so I have some time at hand to catch up with training. With the same excitement, I logged into the website to register and again I don’t what I was thinking when I registered myself for the Full Marathon. Though I ran two races, 12.1 miles and 7 miles race, trail running while in US, that’s no were close to 26.2 miles.

    Nevertheless I have registered myself and I want to put myself through it and finish it, NO MATTER WHAT. I so don’t want my first Marathon to be a DNF (Running terminology for Did Not Finish). I have several reasons to run this race, several…. Let me see whether I am going to reach that magic number 26.2 Miles!!