Running the First Marathon of my life – May 25, 2020

If you gave a read to this post, then, I thank you for doing that and appreciate your interest in learning more about how my first Marathon went.

Without further ado, let me start with the nitty-gritty details of the FIRST MARATHON OF MY LIFE.

Preparation on the day of the Marathon
I was so excited to run this Marathon that I didn’t need an alarm clock to wake myself up in the wee hours of Monday, May 25th, 2020. Running a Marathon is more of a mental struggle than physical, so, I was glad that I was mentally prepared to face this daemon.

I remember waking up at around 4.30 AM to get myself ready for the 5.30 AM start time. I quickly got freshen up and made lemon juice for myself and my friends, Anupam and Monika. After guzzling down a glass of lemon juice, it was time for a banana. I had also put some coffee for myself and Anupam but after the lemon juice and banana, we felt it was too much and had to skip it.

After this, it was time to “formally prepare” to begin our Marathon. I put on my Compression Socks, my knee cap, my sunglasses, my hat, and my under armor shorts. I chose not to wear T-shirt for this run to avoid nipple chafing that I have experienced in the past.

I was ready for some stretching exercise. I didn’t follow any proper stretching technique – just did whatever came to my mind at that time. I did some push-ups, some squats, leg curls, and pigeon pose. And, I was ready. I remember talking to myself while stretching – it was a mental preparation to tell myself that this can be done, all you have to do is to focus on one single step at a time and you will finish the Marathon before you know it. I know it sounds crazy but I believed it in and it worked to some extent.

Miles 1-5
What a feeling it was to officially start the Marathon. For everyone else, it might had been a normal run, but for us (myself and Anupam), we were trying to give the best shot of our lifetimes.
The start for me was less than ideal. Keeping the weather in mind, I knew I would need my sunglasses, but, in the excitement of starting the Marathon run, I forgot those in the garage, so quarter mile into the run, I had to go back to fetch them. It was a bummer for me, but one thing that I have realized over the years and especially while running is that if you need something at the start itself, then don’t delay it, you will eventually need it, so it is better to return from the 0.25 Mile mark than 1 or 2 Mile mark.
If forgetting my sunglasses was not enough, after crossing 1 mile mark, I was so focused on my run, I dropped my T-shirt which I had tucked in in my shorts. After taking almost 20-30 steps, I realized that the T-shirt was missing, so again, to my dismay, I went back to the spot to grab it.
These two things went against me during the first 5 miles of the run, and I couldn’t be more disappointed at myself.
This disappointment, though, was not long lasting. During the 3rd and 4th mile, I started focusing on my run and within no time, I was back to my usual pace and by the time I crossed the 5 mile mark, I looked at my Apple Watch and was amazed to see that I still had a few minutes to go for 1 hour. It was an awesome feeling to get back to my zone even after a couple of setbacks.

Miles 6-10
Starting mile 6 until mile 10, this is where, I think, I performed the best. The trees, no traffic, and my favorite spot in Michigan – Hines Drive, these three factors made sure that I am totally focused on my run and never let go of the amazing pace and running strategy that seemed to be working with me.
The strategy – So, if you have gone through my Marathon preparation announcement post, you would know that my dream is to run 100 Miles under 24 hours mark. It is a tremendous task and I am sure it will not be easy, but, it is not impossible too. Anyway, while thinking and preparing for this ultramarathon, I have gone through many YouTube videos. One of the YouTube video stood out, which I am having a hard time to find the link for. In that video, the YouTuber talked about all the mistakes that he did during his first 100 mile run and one of the strategies that he thought he could have used was 5-1 strategy. The 5-1 strategy is where you run for 5 minutes and walk for 1 minute. This strategy, IMHO, seemed logical and kind-of clicked with me, so, I decided to give it a shot. That might be one of the reasons why, even when I was on mile 10, I hadn’t had a single sip of water from the water bottle that I was carrying and still seemed that I could go for 10 more miles, before, you know, my feet felt tired.
I cannot stress this enough how important it was for me to go with this strategy and still be somewhat not tired at the end of 10 miles. I just kept telling myself during this segment, 6 done 20 to go, 7 done 19 to go. I won’t lie, this didn’t seem to work that much as I still had this mental stress of completing 19 more miles, but, it was something I was really looking forward to at the end of the mile and it was both gentle and harsh reminder for myself that there is still more work to be done.

Miles 11-15
What I dreaded really happened during these miles. After triumphantly finishing 10 miles, I had a couple miles more before I took the 275 Metro Trail, which is 3.43 miles long. IMO, there are two disadvantages of taking 275 Metro Trail. The first one was it was a straight trail – meaning, you could see from the beginning to almost the end of the trail, so it seemed a never ending trail to me, and the second one was that it was paved – cemented and well, adjacent to a freeway. These two factors caused a lot of distractions and I had a hard time finishing this trail. I remember my 5-1 strategy not working that efficiently during this time. I was still running for 5 minutes, but with much lesser pace and started appreciating the 1 minute when I was actually walking.
I was hoping to finish this dreadful trail as soon as possible, but, it wasn’t that easy and I found that out the hard way. During this time, I kept reminding myself that this is the hardest part of the Marathon, so, if I could finish this, the Marathon distance is no big deal, just focus on taking one more step, one more breath, and one more corner for the trail to end.
I was jubilant when the trail ended and looked at my watch, soothing myself to realize that I was done with almost 15 miles and the location where we decided to take the break was in sight – The Fresh Thyme store parking lot.
I was getting more excited with each single step as I would get to meet my friend, Monika and kids, and hopefully Anupam as I didn’t know his whereabouts.
Just 11 more miles, come on Milind, you can do it.

The Break
I was a little bit concerned when I did not see Monika and kids in the parking lot as decided, but, after taking 10-20 more steps, I saw, Aryan, waving his hand from the car in the distance, that’s when I took a deep breath and thank them for being there.
When you are targeting for a Marathon distance, more than the physical preparation, you need mental preparation and you need that mental and emotional support from family or friends.
It was until I reach the car that I realized Anupam was sitting at the passenger seat. I was glad to see him too and we tried checking with each other how the run was going. Unfortunately, we both were tired, but our spirits were up and IMO, it was the most important thing during that time.
Monika was kind enough to bring some protein bars, some bananas, and water for us. I finished it in no time and checked in with kids how their morning went. Talking to them gives me immense satisfaction and I forget all the stresses of regular life.
We spent a good 10-15 minutes taking as much rest as we could and clicking a few pictures. It was a much needed break to recharge ourselves and finish the remaining 11 miles of the race. By this time, both Anupam and I, were at mile 15 with just a few minutes over 3 hour mark. We were happy with the progress and thought the Marathon could be finished in the next couple hours or a few minutes more.

Miles 16-20
After taking break and recharging ourselves, it was time to loop through the Hines Drive and 5 Mile route. I didn’t know it was a 5 mile loop and thought it would be more so that I could finish Marathon sooner than anticipated. Boy, I was wrong.
My legs and feet were getting heavier with each passing step.
I think, it was during this stretch, I had so many instances where I wanted to give up on my Marathon dreams, but, reminding myself to focus only on the next step helped me keep things in perspective and saw myself crossing marks of mile 16, 17, and so on.

When I was at Hines Drive for the second time, I saw the vehicle from the Sheriff’s office and thought how cool it would be to stop the vehicle and request the person to drop me off home. This was my body telling me to give up, but, having Anupam by my side, running and achieving what I wanted, gave me that fire that I needed to go and capture this distance.

After finishing mile 16, I told myself I have only 10 more miles to and I should focus on bringing that number to a single digit.
Once I finished mile 17, it was only 9 miles to go. This was the first time, I realized that this could really happen and felt like this dream was within reach.
As soon as I passed mile 18 mark, my 5-1 strategy barely worked and I found myself walking more and running with less pace than I would have loved to, but, as I have learnt over the last few months, it is more important to cover the distance than to focus on pace, when you are running your first Marathon. 8 more miles to go. One more mile and I would reach my lucky number – this was me telling myself to go on for one more mile.
The moment I reached mile 19, I was about to exit Hines Drive and head to 5 mile road with the mammoth uphill. Just looking at that hill gave me shivers, so, it was a difficult task to climb that while running, so I ended up taking extended walks during this part of the Marathon. Also, I kept telling myself, reach mile 20 mark, and you will have only 6 more miles to go and once you do that, you can rest as much as you like.

Miles 20-22
After finishing 20 miles mark, I could feel the Marathon distance within my grasp and got more excited at the sweet realization. This excitement was short-lived as the fatigue started to build up. I think the watch showed 11 AM by the time I reached mile 20-21 mark. The Sun was doing his job and giving us enough sunlight. This made me more thirsty and my body needed more water. I was running out of water that I refilled during the break, so I was strategically drinking it so that I don’t run out of it soon, and have enough left for the remaining miles.
20-22 miles mark was the last stretch when I actually ran during the Marathon distance. I struggled a lot to keep the pace and was fatigued the most during this distance, so, unfortunately, I couldn’t continue running, but, that didn’t deter me from walking the remaining distance. I just kept telling myself with each passing mile, to go for one more step and one more milestone.

Miles 22-26.2
This was the last stretch of the Marathon and I mostly walked this distance. This is not the ideal way I wanted to “finish” the Marathon, but, being this is the first one that I ran, I took it as a learning lesson and took mental notes during these last few miles.
During these last miles, I finished my rest of the water, making myself more thirsty and craving for more. I realized how important water is during these miles.
Anupam and I took different routes to finish these last few miles, so we were unaware about each other’s progress. I thought he was going faster than me, so when he called me when I was at miles 24, I thought he was calling to let me know that he finished the Marathon. Unfortunately, he was on the same boat as I was and confirmed that he was walking too. I was so relived to know that he still had his spirits up and determined to finish the Marathon.
With each step, I was getting closer to the finish line, but the stress of running so many miles take a toll on your body and you start comparing your current condition with the way you started the Marathon. The first 5-10 miles didn’t bother me much and felt like a breeze, but now, after having finished 25 miles, the last 1.2 miles seemed like forever. I kept checking my watch for each 0.1 miles distance to give me some positive enforcement and encourage myself to finish the Marathon.
When I was at 25.8 miles, Anupam finally joined me and from there, we decided to cross the finish line together. Surprisingly he was also at the same mark, so it was such a sweet coincidence. By this time, the kids knew were about to finish, so they came out to cheer us up and Monika grabbed the phone to record our Marathon victorious moment; and, I was so glad she did that, as it gave us a good memento for an outstanding achievement.

Here, you have a look.

Post Marathon Recovery
I cannot express how awesome I felt after crossing the Marathon mark. It was really a dream come true for me.
After finishing the Marathon, Monika was kind enough to prepare a fruit smoothie for us. I remember finishing it in a single gulp, followed by a couple glasses of ice cold water.
Monika has also made sure that we don’t have to wait for our ice bath, so she filled the bathtub with cold water and ice cubes. By doing this, she really showed how much she cared about us and our goals and how happy she was seeing us accomplish things in life.
After the ice bath, it was time for lunch and she prepared Dal & Rice for us, which was super awesome.
The afternoon seemed short for me and I decided to take kids out for biking. We did 4 miles and I made sure that we do not go with more speed and give enough recovery and rest at the same time. Here’s the map of the bike ride.

Closing thoughts
It was an important milestone, which seemed impossible just 5 months ago. With enough hard work, and *consistent* perseverance, I proved to myself that anything is possible in life. From this point onwards, I am just going to focus on doing things *consistently* and not worry about the sweet outcome of that strenuous labour.

I will leave you with this thought – IF I CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU!