The Mumbai Half Marathon was planned to be a good threshold run as part of my marathon training. Thus, before the race, there was no tapering. The race week was an 88 km week, down from my usual 100 km. I was clocking around 95 to 105 km for 3 weeks before the Mumbai Half marathon, focusing on tempo and threshold runs. I was incorporating 2 quality runs with 8 to 12 km of tempo to threshold effort runs and two strength training sessions.
Previous day morning I went for a shake-out run at Marine Drive. The atmosphere was electrifying. It was a perfect start before the race. I met a lot of friends and fellow runners from across India. Some came to cheer, while a few were pacers and then the participants.
I saw the elites training and doing drills. It was a full-blast runners' party with each one playing their music as per their racing strategy. “We runners like upbeat music and have personalized lyrics”.
I had skipped going to the expo, as my friend was to collect my bib. Later in the morning, I met Aravind and Vivek. We checked on our race strategy, weather, and hydration and wished each one luck. I called it an early night.
Race day morning is a usual routine of warm-up, mobility, and pre-race meal. Once that was done, we headed to the start line at Mahim Reti Bundar. The start was very well organized, with clear directions to the baggage counter, hydration, and toilet areas so no one missed the sight.
The warm-up area was a bit cramped, however, it was inevitable as everyone was trying to figure out a time to head to their holding area. I was in corral “A” and it was very well managed. Before getting in the corral I checked on my running friends and they all were in a great mood. They had their strategy in place. It was an upbeat mood.
Let me break down the race in 5-10-6
First 5 km: Avg pace 4:51/km
I had planned to run even splits with a few faster ones to manage the overall pace goal, given slower pace at Peddar Road. I tried to manage the crowd in the first kilometer, calmed myself, and got the rhythm in place. 2/3rd of the race was run before dawn. Hydration support was excellent across the course and we could hear Mumbai cheering from the very first kilometer.
For those who don’t know me - I was a Mumbaikar before moving to Bangalore and running through the race route was very nostalgic.
I last ran here in 2019, the time when I used to struggle to breathe while running a km, so reflecting on a few moments from then would have distracted me on the way. While I assure you I stayed pretty focused post that moment on.
We crossed halfway through the sea link during this time. The first four km from the start were a gradual incline. By the 5th kilometer, I was in my zone. The hydration was on point, I took one of the Fast&Up reload bottles, and it was quite convenient to carry.
My hydration strategy was to sip electrolytes every 2nd km. I took my first gel in the 4th km.
The Next 10 km: Avg pace 4:51/km
From the 5th kilometer on there was a gradual downhill till the 8th Km. I was in cruise mode by now and enjoyed the sea link breeze, there were drones to capture all the running action and a good amount of hydration points.
I exited the sea link towards INS Trata, and cheering started in full throttle from here on… families were out with banners, encouraging ground security personnel, and people with refreshments were ready to serve us.
I saw a fellow runner from Bangalore, Keerthi, who was blazing his 10km while I was around the 8th. He cheered me from afar and I got an extra bounce. Mandar and Nirupma overtook me just around that time. We checked on and cheered along. From there we crossed Worli dairy, coming toward Nehru Planetarium. Here I took my 2nd gel.
I was reminding myself to slow down by a few seconds as the Peddar road climb was coming in sight. A few runners ahead of me were having a good time with the photographers.
At the 14th km, I braced to take on Peddar road climb. The climb was hard, but the crowd made it bearable. Once on the top I knew from here on things would get better with some fuel stored in me.
Last 6 km Avg pace - 4:51/km
The 16th km is downhill and with all the huffing and puffing from the previous km, this one seemed pretty smooth. From 17th km onwards the route is flat, you get out to Marine Drive from Babulnath temple. The vibe here was electrifying, everyone was cheering us, reminding us how far we had come and the finish was “just around the corner”. What can I say about the “Nasik Dhols”… it was a concert in itself!
I tried amping a bit to sync with the vibe, and that’s when I realized the legs were giving in a bit. A gradual fatigue had set in. After the 19th km, even the crowd wanted us to finish fast. When I saw 500 mts to go… I knew I had to speed up… Crossed the finish line with all the remaining might.
At the finish line, all my fatigue vanished when I met Aravind, Mandar, Madhu, and the rest of the runners. We all had done well… Riding on confidence, we collected the medal, took a few pics, and headed back home.
It was nostalgic, as I mentioned earlier. Mumbai is a vibe, running through some of my favorite spots. The locals cheered me on my ride home back in the local train. It was a race to remember.
Aditi Pandya is a life long athlete. She was born to run and play sports. Aditi is the co-founder of geeksonfeet.com.