.. Here We Go Again!!!

Mamma mia, here I go again

My, my, how can I resist you?

Mamma mia, does it show again

My, my, just how much I've missed you?

That’s exactly what goes through your head when you’re back to running in live events. Yes you’ve said you’ll not run in BKC again, (too many loops, too many twists and turn for my liking), you’ve said that you’ll do only three events a year, one of them being the Mumbai Marathon, but you yet couldn’t resist the temptation of doing another one. And no I am no running snob!!!

But the thrill of running a race, the adrenaline rush, the joy of being able to run with friends, and not to forget all those photo-ops all along the way, and before and after the race, it keeps you coming back for more. 

Plus, if COVID and all the lockdown showed us anything is that you have to make the most of what you have, you never know when it will be taken all away. 

And yes, it’s also shows how good your training is coming along. Let’s face it, for someone like me training is never as fast as actually running in a race.

So you lace up, you dress up, ensuring you are on point (and by that I mean my running gears needs to match, how else would you look good in those running pics, especially when you’re an awkward runner who constantly has the t-Rex arms when he runs). And even though you’ve missed your alarms, you try to stay calm and not go into full on panic mode.

You put on your music, switch on all your running apps, damn I’ve got three, plus my watch, to keep track of your run.

So you try to block out all the twists and turns, which seem more than any twists and turns in a Hindi film (damn I need to retire this dialogue, used it one too many times), you have sweat trickling down your face, while Mark Knofler singing in your ears, “Money for nothing, but the chicks for free!”

You constantly fight the urge to speed up every time you are passed up (and that happens often), but you fist pump every time you better your pace at the end of each kilometre.  You avoid trying to look everywhere, here and there and be focused in the moment. But for a highly distracted soul, that’s next to impossible.

Though the weather maybe horribly humid (it rained the previous day but not a drop to be seen on race day), you remind yourself, this is Mumbai, and the weather is going to be humid! This is what you train for, so suck it up and run! Before thank god there’s a breeze in this concrete maze, so the weather isn’t all that bad.

Finally when you approach that finish line you let the adrenaline surge through your vein and carry you over that line, with all the speed you can muster, hoping that you get at least one good pic to post on Instagram. Or if you are someone like me you are already composing your post while you ran. But before that you need to the most important thing… stop that damn watch and apps and what not you use to track your run.

And then comes the fun part. You get to meet and greet your fellow crazies, who like you may complain about the route and the weather, but will never shy to race again. Not to forget all the post run shenanigans which for me is the cherry on the top, no matter how good or bad your run may have been you got indulge in all the craziness and the photoops.

On a serious note, for someone who has been battling with issues related to weight, speed, loneliness, anxiety, these races really help. It gets your adrenaline pumping, it shows you how far you’ve come and teaches what to do to go even further. Those few moments, amongst your peers keeps your loneliness and anxiety at bay, letting you enjoy yourself, letting you be your crazy Runnaholic self! And even though you maybe far from your best, you always know you can do better, and slowly and steadily you are inching towards your better self. 

So even though you prefer to train rather than races, or you have a quota races you will run in a year, or you feel you are not ready to race, you will still run, you still race, cause…. “Tramps like us, baby you were born to run!!!!”