Half to Full in 35 Days

Reaping the joys of running

Sharing a Story of Strength, Courage and Determination in Her Words "Ritu Maheshwari" aka Dhakad Chhori!

 

Yoga and walks have always been a part of me along with the effort to lose weight. I was non-athletic but loved meeting and hearing fit people and getting inspired by them. They spoke about marathons, which excited me. With the hope of shedding weight I too wanted to run.
I got my first chance in September 2013, a modest 5 km in Pinkathon which was a tough! I was gasping and panting throughout. For me THIS turned out to be an eye opener; kindling a desire for fitness within. One of my Pinkathon buddies went ahead joined Reebok Running Squad (RRS) and ran her first Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM). I was in total awe of this. Fell in love with the energetic track and carried home a longing to emulate her. 
Soon; I trained by myself and ran my first 10 km in December 2013. It was tough but I RAN and that gave me a high! I was hooked and looked forward for more. The joys of running sure are contagious as my husband; a tennis freak left the courts and joined the track. We decided to run ADHM2014 and joined RRS for training.

RRS Lodhi was a huge class, and it took us a while to get the hang of it. Here, Gagan Sir the master trainer was energetic, knew his job well but there was no rapport between us. We were irregular back benchers. Anyhow we did run our first ADHM, Yay!

The race timings, fitness levels and body weight everything needed to be worked upon which bought us back to RRS with more consistency and regularity. By now we were part of a group and were noticed by the teacher as well. He advised on improvements and we soon progressed for a stronger ADHM 2015.  
We followed his running plans but not the diet routine. Gagan kept insisting for a diet check as the results weren’t showing so he followed us up on our diet logs!  I can never forget how in stern words he said... “Do you understand NO SUGAR?”  
That hit me hard and I just left sugar, thereby conquering my biggest weakness! I also left gluten and soon within months lost a considerable amount of weight. ADHM2015 I knocked off 12 minutes. 

 All this gave a huge sense of accomplishment, immense feel good factor and brought more discipline and focus within. I also realized that running was making me a happier and calmer person. There was clarity in thoughts which brought in more commitment. Comfort food cravings were all forgotten and were replaced by bottles of water. This was a huge victory and I felt TRANSFORMED.

For the first time ever my efforts were showing results and I decided to take up fitness seriously. I trained hard for the upcoming Standard Charted Mumbai Marathon 2016 and achieved a PB! This was a runner’s high which boosted my confidence big time and brought forth few strengths which I never knew I had.

September 2016 was a turning point in my equation with Gagan. I chose to run the Ladakh HM with my best friend, Gagan and few RRS runners. In Ladakh, his holistic training through the week long acclimatization period helped all of us cross one of the toughest finish line with a smile. To me Gagan always was as an intimidating no-nonsense person. Here I saw him as an attentive commander in chief with a spiritual bend that practiced his preaching. He was a master of his subject and extremely devoted to his work. He was caring,understood our fears for the frightening track and patiently sorted them. I felt he was the fitness mentor I was looking for and I could TRUST and adhere to his teachings.

With no second thoughts and a renewed sense of commitment I resumed my training and for the first time I ran with joy ; ADHM 2016 I didn’t stop, didn’t walk and easily mowed down 16 minutes from my previous record. My next goal was42km for January 2018 but Gagan’s words irked me... don’t attempt 42 till you do a 21k in 2hrs! Where running brings up your strengths it brings forth your fears too; speed psyched me up fearing injuries and imbalance; I was happy to run miles but would escape the speedy tempos. Still I WANTED to run 42km. 

 After SCMM 2017 I came back and asked Gagan for an year long training plan for 42 km. AND within few minutes a crazy decision was taken...I was running the Full marathon in the next 35 days; NDM 2017! He wanted me to experience this mileage on home ground first. It was a straight plan, focus on Sunday long runs, gym, yoga, massage, right eating and recovering. Nothing to be missed! The days were crazy like a roller coaster ride and they flew by. I did have my emotional ups and downs but the overwhelming support of my husband, friends and family held me tight. Gagan’s cheering and motivating messages after long runs were invigorating. 

The challenging plan could only be embraced with the solid support system I am blessed with. They patiently stood up ALL THE TIME pacing, cheering and this kept it going. I understood the importance of fueling and hydration during the run, also the need for rest and recover.The Race day saw me standing confidently on the start line and finishing it too with the backing of my running buddies within the target time. 

YES!!! Did something that was never done before; running a full marathon in 35 days. True, the powers of a human mind can achieve any goal provided you have a belief in yourself.

Running is my passion, my stress buster. It’s happiness at your feet.  It has made me aware of so many of my abilities and fears; helping me to accept them and work on them. It feels good to hear that I am a source of inspiration to many. It has added a feather in my cap. The moral of this story is that while there is no short cut to success surrendering to your mentor is half the battle won.