AHM 2019 My First Full Marathon

Although fitness was my passion for many years, the thought of doing long distance running was triggered by the memoir of my favorite author in English. This book showed me that running need not be only for fitness, and it could be much more - a way of life and long distance running takes us into a  meditative experience that few other activities could match. Since then, completing a marathon was firmly in the bucket list.

 So, as I crossed the finish line of my first official full marathon, I felt sense of relief, accomplishment and pride .But the overwhelming emotion was gratitude for the many that helped me realize a long time dream.

My mentors: 
 To begin with , my heartfelt thanks to 'Running Yogi' SivaSwaroop , for his excellent training plan and those wonderful strength sessions. I have not trained so meticulously for anything like this since my 10+2 board exams. And the results speak for themselves. I made great improvements in my fitness levels (RestingHR, VO2max , StridesPerMinute etc come to my mind). Thanks a lot Siva!!

  Thanks to Dinesh Mashetti, Kiranmai , Sindhuja and Prathibha garu from Anahata YogaZone for the wonderful Yoga sessions. You are the best in town for yoga and your guidance helped me with my strength  and endurance and most importantly the way I breathe .

  Special thanks to Shruthi Desai from Panacea Physiotherapy .As I was training hard, during the peak season (June 2019), got a knee injury and had almost decided to give up . But your timely help with the problem and advise helped me recover in record time!! You gave me the confidence to stay on the plan and not give-up. It really worked. Thank you very much Shruti!


Running buddies: 






















 My thanks to my running partners Suren, Veera, Hrishshitha, Hanimi, Sathish Gantireddy, Ravishankar , Leena Roy , Raju Datla. For most in this group this was a debut FM and we tagged along well learning and improving ourselves through this journey. Feeling blessed to have found this group of friends and finish my debut with this wonderful bunch of people.


Community: 
 They say that it takes a village to raise a child. I would say that it is true for running.The running child in me grew by the support of many.
  My thanks to BHEL ACE Runners, a passionate running community that trains inside the BHEL Campus of Hyderabad. This is a very focused, highly energetic (borderline crazy :)) running group. In a span of 1 year, I've made many good friends..the camaraderie that I developed with many here is so special ..a gift I would cherish for a long time. Thank you Mahender and Biswa for introducing me to this community . Would also like to thank  Sudhakar, Satish Sirimalla, who helped me get familiar with the group in those early days.
 And then of-course to HR. Hyderabad Runners. The best running community that a city can ask for. Thanks to Rajesh V , Ravi Nair and Manoj Singh sir  and all who are associated with this group continuing to inspire thousands of people into running a fit life. HR rocks!!

Family : 

I will end this post with a note of gratitude to my family. To Akka, who always believes and motivates me to achieve great things. When I had my doubts after my (minor) injury, she said 'you will do it Sujai. I have no doubts on that' and watching my splits on the live tracking site from the other side of the Atlantic !!  Akka- your belief and  good wishes keep me going wherever I am.

To my wife and son for all the support at home for the past 8 months. Training for a marathon means many long runs and tired 'rest of the day' especially the weekends. But my wife and kid were quite supportive of my goal ..

To Daddy and Mummy ..my super heroes and my superpowers. The people who come to your mind and look for strength at the 40th km. They are with me ALWAYS. Thank you Daddy and Mummy !! When you are around me anything is possible !!

Lastly , to The Almighty whose will , we all execute!!