At 7:03 pm, I was out there to kick-off an ‘unplanned’ run …unplanned, because it didn’t feature in the training schedule and there was no target pace or distance for that day.
Around thirty minutes into the run, I felt that that there is something uniquely charming about unplanned actions. I thought about the way I had decided to pursue 100 Half-Marathons in 100 days about a year back. There wasn’t much thought put into the decision, but with the advantage of hindsight I know it helped me create a lifetime memory. At exactly that point in time, I considered doing something crazy that night - 100 km during the night – yes, that’s what it was going to be.
What followed was a series of arguments between the two
entities that reside within me – the logical me (that has the ability to reason
and is sensible) and the defiant ME (that loves new challenges and wants to do
its ‘own’ thing).
me: Don’t be stupid. Just six km into a run, you cannot
randomly decide to run 100 km through the night.
ME: Why not?
me: because, running 100 km through the night requires
diligent planning!
ME: like?
me: like you will need proper hydration if you must run
through the night.
ME: At around 25 km I can take a small break, go home, grab
some energy drinks / water and place them in the car. It a cyclic loop anyway.
me: given the humidity, you will sweat like crazy. You will
need at least 10 tees to run through the night.
ME: don’t worry, I will just take it off, so I don’t need it
at all.
me: what about your shoes? Soon, your shoes / socks will be
drenched with sweat and it’s a matter of time before you get blisters.
ME: I can change my shoes and socks after every 20-25 km.
me: since it was your rest day, you didn’t charge your GPS
watch battery. It will die-down shortly. Then how will you measure distance?
That seemed like the only valid argument ‘me’ had offered so
far.
After a bit of thought..
ME: so, here is the plan – every two hours or so I will take
a break to hydrate, eat, change shoes. Before I do that, I will put the
watch on charging. That would be good enough to last me for the
next 2-3 hours. No more arguments please. Its final.
..and with that started the journey of that memorable night.
0 – 25 km: The first 25 km run seemed quite comfortable - the usual evening walkers, the young kids cycling around, an odd hand-wave or two to a few friends. It all looked familiar. By around 9:30 pm, I had completed the first 25 km run. I took a short break to refuel the body and slip into a fresh pair of socks / shoes.
25 – 50 km: In about an hour’s time, I started the
next leg of the journey. At exactly 7.93 km mark, I noticed a technical glitch
in the watch. For some reason, the distance stopped increasing. I randomly
waved my wrist a few times as if ‘pleading’ my watch to catch the GPS signal,
but it didn’t work. After running around for about ten minutes thereafter, I stopped the watch and returned home. It was disappointing to
abort the run due to a technical glitch. Once at home, I sat on the floor
reflecting upon the night I had imagined and what it turned out to be. The same
‘me’ vs ‘ME’ conversation started.
me: It was never going to be easy anyway, so it’s okay.
(no response)
me: You can try again next weekend with proper arrangements.
(after a brief pause..)
ME: The deal was to run 100 km through the night, not
necessarily in four tranches of 25 km. Its worth going back – may be the watch
will work fine this time!
At around 11:50 pm, I was back again to resume from the total
32.93 km I had finished so far. I was mighty pleased to see the watch working
fine. By around 1:45 am I had completed a total of 50 km.
50 – 75 km: At exactly 2:58 am, I started the next leg
of the journey. This seemed to be the most uncomfortable phase of the
over-night journey. The odd late-night walkers had disappeared. There were no
hand-waves or smiles to derive energy from. Even the dogs on the street had finally
slipped into slumber to shape an eerie ambience. On top of it, there was still
a good distance to go, so it was tough to distract the mind by playing the
reverse count-down in the mind. I remembered one of the favorite running quotes
I once read – “…Running is nothing more than a series of arguments between the
part of your brain that wants to stop and the part that wants to keep going…”
For the next two hours, I randomly kept running around
trying my best to not think too far ahead. At around 5:00 am, I noticed the
darkness beginning to gradually fade away. The break of dawn was not far. In
another 15-20 minutes, few early morning walkers started appearing on the road.
Some of them who had seen me running the previous night wondered what was going
on..
75 – 100 km: As I was returning home after completing
75 km, the body was badly fatigued, the lack of sleep was showing up and there
was serious doubt if I was going to come back for the final 25 km. It’s the
first time the voice of “me” appeared stronger than “ME”. I wondered what laid
ahead..
I took a quick shower, gulped a few glasses of chocolate
shake and put my feet in ice cold water. Before “me” could start posing logical
questions, “ME” took over.
ME: I am not sure if I can complete another 25 km, but I am
going back for sure. We will take it from there. Period.
The last leg of the journey was difficult for a different
reason. Around 10 km into the run (i.e. at around 85th km mark),
the sun had assumed full effect and it became quite hot. But with just about
10-15 km to go, there was no way I was going to stop now!
By the time the over-night journey ended, there was sweat, soreness, exhaustion…
but what is more – there was another BEAUTIFUL LIFETIME MEMORY that I would cherish forever!
Sundeep Singh
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About the Author: By background, Sundeep Singh is a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Delhi and an MBA from IIM Kozhikode. He is a Principal Director with Accenture's Sustainability practice in India. Given his flair for mechanics and passion for running, he loves to analyze and write about the finer nuances of running techniques / strategies. Sundeep’s fastest run till date is ADHM 2017, which he completed in 1:26:29.
