Training for the second marathon

I am preparing to run my second full marathon, the Tata Mumbai Marathon in January 2025. I plan to run at least one full marathon every year, as long as my body is capable of doing it. The capability part shouldn’t be a big challenge for many years, as long as I devote enough hours to training. The challenging part is fighting laziness, finding motivation and time to train every week, and restricting distractions.

Training for the first marathon was much more difficult than how the second one is feeling, not just because it was the first, but because I was trying to do much more than I could handle. The 60-70 hours of work week in consulting and many times even more, didn’t leave much time to do anything else. So I was determined, or maybe adamant, to run long distances every weekend. But in retrospect, I don’t think it was the best thing to do, as I had less time for training due to work, I tried to isolate myself socially, and going out at the weekends became an occasional event. And I believe that impacted my mental health. I dialled up on the weekend runs as they also became an escape, escape from the thoughts of work pressure, from fear of failure, fear of being alone and not finding love, fear of not being able to be at peace.

The long runs also helped as I could process all the whirlwind of thoughts in my head, that were weighing and draining me. They made me capable to survive and strive for the next week. There is no right or wrong approach to what has happened, there are only learnings. And for what it’s worth, 2023 was the most challenging, yet the single year where I have learnt the most, and probably aged more than any other year of my life, maybe not physically, but mentally for sure.

The most important thing I learnt is that while life moves through different stages, ups and downs, episodes of chaos and calm, movement is the only way through all of it. Just as it takes months for seasons to change, the same is the case with the episodes of life; it takes time for life to evolve. Movement can be physical through various forms of workouts and sports, or artistic endeavours that grab the curiosity of the mind and keeps us away from short term distractions of the modern age, the omnipresent screens, and junk food. I try to think about my consumption and how it is impacts me, which I have covered in some of my other blogs.

Now, having run a full marathon at the start of this year, I am much more confident about pushing through long distances. I am training with a much more relaxed state of mind these days and focusing more on staying consistent and enjoying the process, than trying to push my limits in every run, which I was trying to do last year. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t push my limits of speed and distance, that I definitely will, but with lesser frequency, once in 2 weeks or a month. The more relaxed state of mind is also because of the change in my work and relationship. 2024 has been a very fortunate year, with an interesting and yet balanced work life and getting engaged to the purest of soul, a person who has brought so much happiness, peace and fortune to my life. Meeting my fiance was also a very fortunate series of events and destiny at play, which is a story to be told for another day.

With a mind at much more peace, a heart full of love, and a body that I will strive to respect with good food and training, the January 2025 marathon should be an even more enjoyable event and a journey of training. Life will keep throwing new challenges, but with love, endurance and patience, it should be a joyride