It is a Thursday morning in
Bangalore. I will be reaching Paris by night and will have two full days before
the marathon on April 3rd. The 750 ml Decathlon bottle is my
constant companion and I “Reload” with good periodicity through the flight. I
let go of the “spirit” which used to be a nice friend some years back:-). It is bonding time in
Paris. My younger brother has come down to Paris with family from London. My
youngest brother (Anand) too has made it there after a month long, back packing
trip. All of us are to spend the next few days in an AirBnB house around La Defense.
I normally do not like those
event expos on the previous day, since you never know the effort one ends up
with. So Friday it was…Samuel Chettiar, a runner friend from Mumbai gave me
some Schneider treatment since they were the title sponsors! Along with Asics,
the shoe I have been running with since I started and Tag Heuer the timing partners, it looked
like all my favourite brands were there to make it my marathon! On Saturday,
while everyone else went to the Disneyland, I stayed put in the 800 sq ft
temporary home. I managed to do a bit of work on that day but I think I have
never ever rested my legs like that before a race.
Food in the last two days was a
bit of an issue since I was a vegetarian (eggs included) and off wheat. Pastas
and bread were always the saving grace when I travel abroad, but not this time.
Luckily since it was more like home, I was fortunate to get some home-made
food. Rice, curd, dal, boiled vegetables, milk, eggs and some gluten free bread
was what I had. A month earlier I had changed my start from the 3.15 hour
corral to the 3.00 hour one. So it was going to be a 8.47 am start and that was
just after the “Elites” start theirs at 8.45 am. I need to thank the organisers
for having accepted this change which was backed by a 3.14 hour time recorded by
me in another marathon.
Looking up at the weather
constantly, had become a routine in the last 2 weeks and now it was time to
feel the actual chill. I departed from my usual routine of the preceding two
days of any event to head out for a run on Friday and Saturday. A 5 km run around
8.30 am at an easy pace to acclimatize as well as to decide on my final attire
for the marathon. On Friday I went with an inner shirt, a tee, a head gear and
a glove. It was slightly chilly and windy at around 7 degrees. On Saturday I
tried not putting my inner shirt and just went with a normal tee, the head gear
and the gloves. It was around 10 degrees and still not too comfortable for my
liking. I knew Sunday will be a lot warmer. And to my liking…And I decided to
replicate my Saturday dressing for the race day.
Visualisation was another key
element of the last two days. Imagining every step, every kilometre and seeing
a few videos on how the path looks like! In fact I saw the entire 2015 event
recording on Saturday, although with a few fast forwards:-) The cobble stones, the turns
and the tunnels. All at a pace which will comfortably get me to a 3.10, may be
slightly better! The thing about 3.10 is to make that BQ a certainty. Just
before I went to bed at around 9.30 pm, I had the gear in place, the bib done,
the gels in place…A few more messages reached out to me, but all that can wait.
For tomorrow was the D-day – a race I was feeling more and more as my own! One
last thing before I sleep; I checked again the route by train to get to the
starting point. Good night!
