Silicon Valley marathon - a race report

Dated Nov 4th

After a great half marathon in San Francisco, I went on a well-earned vacation (at least it felt like it at that time). When I got back, Coach Martina and the Mt.View gang talked me into coming out for a long run that same weekend. My troubles began then with my first injury at that run. After many more weekends of long and longer runs, much rolling, doctor appointments and a few very painful sessions at SMI, the big day dawned. It was finally Nov 4th, the day we had all been training for. (at least some of us)

The day began with the promise of nice warm weather. Kiran, Gurpreet ( + roommate) Martina (the coach) and I carpooled to San Jose downtown to get to the start point. For more on the mechanics of how we got there, read Bharath's blog ( http://0to262.blogspot.com). After the warmup run and stretches, it was time for ..the line to the porta potties. After standing in line for what seemed an eternity, I got in just to hear the announcer go "3, 2,1". So much for starting with the crowd :). I obviously missed leaving with all the other Asha folks who were a bit wiser than me.

But considering that 10 % of the marathoners were from Asha, it was not hard to find a bunch of Asha folks to run with. Running through the streets of downtown San Jose is pretty cool. Familiar streets went by and before we knew it, it was time for the first water step manned by the awesome TA folks in costume. Of course, Chakri was there with his trusty camera capturing the run of everyone. It was so much fun watching the different costumes and the enthusiasm that I didnt hydrate very well at this water stop :)

Soon after this I caught up with Gurpreet and Kiran. After we met up around mile 2, it was a steady 6:(0.30-1:00) run walk till mile 13. Along the way we were entertained by Gurpreet and his PJs. It was fun to enter campbell park and run along the familiar Los Gatos trail. We were watching for all the landmarks noted during the earlier runs - the apartments on the way, the water cascading in the creek, the lake on the right, the familiar uphills and downhills. So far so good. Smooth sailing. Just around mile 9 we started seeing the fast ones returning including Coach Tony and Sandip.

After this was the 2nd TA waterstop with more costumes and Coach Rajeev and his headgear. We could hear them from at least 1 minute away. When we heard yelling and shouting, we knew we were near the next waterstop. Its no wonder TeamAsha won the spirit award. After this, it was smooth sailing to mile 13 - the midpoint.

Right around mile 13, my nemesis struck, the damn ITB. It was time to start walking. Fortunately, I had ample experience doing this over the past few months during my long runs. After walking and trying to run for a few miles without much success, I decided to just stick to walking as the running wasnt getting me very far. At Campbell park, my wife was waiting to cheer me on with bagels and other foods.
The high points of my return trip were definitely the Asha water stops. A bunch of people encouraging me to keep going and checking if I was ok. The toughest aspect of the run after mile 15 or so was the heat. It was getting really hot and it was really hard to run or even walk too fast.

Around mile 22 or so, I managed to catch up with a few other TeamAsha and other people who were also walking due to ITB issues (one can see the classic ITB walk from a mile) . After the 25th mile Asha water stop and a much needed sugar boost from the jalebis, it was time for the last mile.

This is when I hit the last mile problem. Three of us who were walking together got to the corner of Vine St and Woz Way. Since it was pretty late (61/2 hrs), the cops had cleared away the cones used to show us where to go. We were standing at the street corner wondering where to go. Then we saw some other runners getting into their cars and they waved us on to the finish line. The same thing happened at the entrance to the park. Since there was a bend, we didnt know where to go. A BIG thanks to Reena for showing us the path and running those final 300 feet to the finish line. After all, if there's one thing every Asha runner does, it is to finish strong.

It felt great to hear the announcer read out my bib number and name and actually run under the SV marathon banner. I felt really good about finishing the marathon inspite of my ITB injury halfway through the run. Then it was time for hugs from my wife, the coaches and other running buddies from the Asha gang. Some samosas, pongal and sweets provided the much needed sugar and energy to recover and smile during all the pics.

Overall, it was an awesome experience and something I will remember for the rest of my life. A million thanks to the Asha coaches, mentors, coords, volunteers and everyone else have been with us for the past 7 months. From 1 mile on the first day to 26.2 - what a journey its been.