This is my fourth time running a marathon at the Tata Mumbai Marathon, ever since debuting the distance in 2023. I have also run the half marathon distance in 2019 and 2020. My marathon debut was splendid, followed by another PB in 2024, but an unfortunate shoulder-neck injury with a nerve pinch pulled me down last year. This TMM, my only plan was to get back to the original performance.
Training:
I had registered to run the half marathon race at the NMDC Hyderabad Marathon, with a goal to add hills to the schedule. While training was decent, the race was the worst to happen to me in my 7 years of running. Ever had a bad race? It does not get over at the finish line - haunts you for a long time.
But hey, life doesn’t stop at one bad run. I got back to training, and then, it was time for the Navratri festival streak run. I ran 10 days, a minimum of 10 kms until I landed in Cardiff! I ran the Cardiff Half, my third Superhalfs race, and I went there with 10 days of streak run fatigue. At the start line, the Hyderabad Half performance was bothering me for a good 3-4 kms of the race. Beyond that, I got into my zone, and aced the race, running amazing negative splits under 1:37.
The very next week I was running the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon for the Procam Slam [TCS10K 2025– TMM 2026 cycle]. I decided to pace a friend of mine, but he dropped 12th KM, so I pulled up from there, and chased the HM under 1:40.
Since I had a decent base, building on it for the ‘marathon-training block’ was easy. I generated a plan from GeeksonFeet’s RunStrong training platform, which is largely based on Pfitzinger’s Advanced Marathoning, further customized to personal goal and the [Indian] race. Some sample schedules were runs like 1K repeats, 32K longest run and at-least three marathon-paced long runs. I squeezed in some races like the WNC Navy Half and the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K to train for marathon-race-paces, and accordingly closed the HM under 1:40 and the 25K under 1:57. Between these runs, I also ran the 20 miler (32K) in Goa, as a long easy run. Yeah, so many races, and I will never recommend it.
The longest run I did was about 34kms instead of the 32KMs on the training schedule. I did this immediately the day after I ran a 16K with 10K alternators between threshold and tempo to train with some fatigue. In the following week, I did 1K speed repeats, on the new coastal road promenade to simulate running on the Sea-Link, which was tougher with strong head-winds. Didn’t know the Coastal Road would be added to the course at this point.
Race week to the start:
Race week was quite hectic with travel and festivals. I started fueling 5 days ahead of the race to compensate for my fatigue. Sweet potatoes? Yup, it took me 4 marathons to even attempt such a diet change. In the last 3 days, I took loads of Reload (Fast&Up effervescent) and one sachet of UP&Run’s salt electrolytes. I also increased overall salt content in my regular food. To be honest, everything was trial and error, with a hope that it works!
I reached the start line with my school friend, Ravikant Shettigar, in a cab. Due to some confusion, I missed carrying my electrolytes, which was upsetting. I lost a lot of time locating and barely managed to warm-up.
Race – the start (Start - 8km)
I was in Corral A, but still I felt like I was at-least behind thousands of runners. I took my first gel about 10 mins before the start time. I prayed “Ganpati Bappa Morya” and started the race. Had to do a lot of maneuvering in the first 2 kms, and somewhere through this met Sanchit Agarwal, the official 3:45 pacer. We wished each other well. Only once I reached Marine Drive was I able to settle down, but I knew I had to hold on for some more time. The plan was to stick to race pace throughout with no surging. Around the 8K mark, I met Madhukar, who was unofficially pacing 3:30 hours. Our Tilak Nagar Running Club (TNRC) had a hydration station and cheering zone between 8th and 10th KM so it was quite fun getting loud cheers from them. I missed taking my second gel at 7th KM, and that irritated me a little bit. Took it at around the 8K mark, so had to adjust the subsequent gel intakes.
Race – the climb, that felt never ending (10km-20km)
It was time for the Peddar Road climb, the segment that I have trained quite well in this season. Apart from all the long runs, I also did one hill session precisely on this segment so I carried that on my heart, and reached the top of the climb. By this time, I started losing sight of Madhukar but Bijendra Semwal, a runner friend from the Twitter (X) running community joined me, and we ran well together till the Sea Link ramp. The downhill at the Peddar towards Mahalakshmi Temple was a struggle, since the Adidas Evo SL felt a bit slippery due to water spillage on the road.
It was time for the new Coastal Road segment, and as a runner, I had mixed emotions. The decline part of the Coastal Road ramp (14th KM) was quite dark with streetlights off, and this is where I took my third gel. The Coastal Road is very wide, and drafting behind a group was getting tricky so I alternated between tucking behind and running besides.
Running ahead, I met a police officer from Trichy (Tamil Nadu). We did hold-on together for a good chunk of distance. The Bandra-Worli Sea-Link climb felt like it was never ending. I recorded a 5:04 for the 19th KM reaching the peak of the sea-link, the slowest KM so far except for the first km, and I felt I’m drifting away from the planned pacing strategy.
Race – getting into the zone (20km-30km)
I know the course by heart. I knew the Sea-Link decline was coming, so was the time to up the gear. The exit at the Sea-Link after the halfway timing mat was also quite dark. I took my fourth gel here. The half-marathon start point is where the crowd support begins. Massive respect to all the kids for the high-fives.
I was expecting a friend of mine near the Mahim Church, and glad he was there, with a coke bottle. I’ll always remember running this section with Kartik Iyer in 2023, our lad from GeeksonFeet. I clearly remember him suggesting I hold back instead of pacing, saying I might bonk later (well, I did). I love this segment because it’s my everyday work route and features the city’s favorite Siddhivinayak Temple. The crowd support at Shivaji Park is something else.
I felt slight tightness popping on my quads, so I took one salt capsule I had carried only for emergencies. Reached Prabhadevi and reunited with Madhukar. I was happy, but little did I know he would pace up again nowhere to be seen. I was gliding through this course all the way until the Worli Sea Face, i.e. about 30K segment and this is where I took my fifth gel, caffeine one.
..and the race begins.. (30km-Finish)
I took a U-turn at Worli Dairy and I looked back assuming I knew the face, and it was Ram Prakash, another runner I know from Twitter. He was struggling, probably due to chafing from his T-shirt, but joined me for about 500-600 mts. He was not able to hold on so requested me to go-ahead as we re-entered the Coastal Road. This was the most boring stretch. The group I had earlier drafted overtook me again, though a few runners started dropping off. I couldn’t find any hydration stations here. Since the roads were wide, the plan was to run the tangents, and I overtook a few runners without any surge. The 33rd KM is the new Coastal Road ramp, and this felt mentally painful. Finally managed to get a bottle of water at the exit of the Coastal Road. I was back to the familiar route, towards Peddar.
I reached the Haji Ali / Mahalakshmi segment. I stuck to my plan – look down, gear up the cadence and just get the climb done. I was at the peak, and the race feels over here. It is a home run now. I braced through the half marathon runners at the Peddar decline, but I was not able to accelerate and make up for the loss. I took my final gel here. I was not struggling, but I wasn’t able to accelerate from this point. Meeting my TNRC cheering squad again was some fun.
I’ll be honest – the Marine Drive stretch feels endless, and not much to like. It was just about crossing the finish line now. Saw the 1 km to go board and had about 4 1⁄2 minutes to finish under 3:30 again, if not a PB. I pushed hard, worried I’d be unhappy even with 3:30:01. I heard my friends cheering near the finish after their races. Just a few strides, and I knew I had my chance. The timing SMS read 3:29:28. I knew I did it.
Post Race
Some immediate pictures with friends at the finish. Collected towel, medal, the Procam Slam medal and the kit. Surprised to see breakfast at TMM, took the ready-to-eat poha. I waited for my friends and our group for hours to capture some memories. The post-race reunion is the best reunion of the community.
What is next?
Could I have done better? Yeah! It always looks easier in hindsight, but I knew I had a very strong marathon in the bank. That was motivating enough to accept some BHAGs from my mentor, Aravind Ajad, the real GeeksonFeet, who has helped me for years in this journey. I would like to thank everyone who continues to help me in the journey – family, my close-knit friends and my running group TNRC.
Next? I’m missing PBs. Let’s see if I can snatch some in 2026!
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