Mind believes, body achieves!

Right from my school days, I loved running. Even running 22 yards between the wickets, gave me immense happiness. Winning laurels for my schoolhouse (Yellow house) by winning in the 100 -200 meters races brought me so much joy. :) :)

Though running makes me feel good, I was never consistent with it. May be a 10 km run one day then won’t run again for the next couple of days. In between, I represented my school in badminton, and later in my early 20’s I got into bodybuilding. It was a huge craze then, to make the body like Sylvester Stallone, lifting crazy weights. :D :D

Since diabetes runs in my family history, I knew if I don’t do anything now, I won’t be able to live my best life in the coming years. I thought something has to change as am not getting any younger. So, in 2018, I joined Instagram and made it my accountability partner as I committed myself to running and posting about it. Thanks to Instagram, I got in touch with like-minded people who played a big role in shaping my running graph.

I did my first HM in 2012 when the running scenario had just started picking up in the city. However, it took me a couple of years to shift my mindset from HM to FM. It was in 2019, at the age of 37 that I did register for FM. Previously too I had registered in 2017-2018, but I could not convince myself to do it.

Hence, I always believe that your mental strength is much more important than your physical strength. It is your journey and only you who is responsible to make it successful. Motivation and inspiration can get you to the starting point, but the outcome depends on you.

I completed my debut FM in 4:12 hours. That’s where it all started. Got some consistency into my training, and read all about nutrition and gels. Slowly all technical things started coming into the picture.

Within 3 months of my first FM, I ran Ultra Marathon in Matheran. Running and posting about it, and getting the medals gives me high and I enjoy those moments. I ran in multiple events and that year ran in 5 FM events but was not able to achieve Sub-4 FM timings.

Then comes 2020 and the last race I ran before the lockdown was TMM, where I got a timing of 4:01 hours. So close yet so far!

India goes under lockdown. I guess it’s the running community that must have been the most restless during lockdown. Since I had built a good aerobic base for myself, I didn’t want to bring that down, so I ran on my 10*15 feet balcony for 75 mins or so.

Once everything opened up, I learned a very important lesson. Never take any run for granted. Always remember, how desperate you were during the lockdown to go out and run. Hence, there should not be any excuse for not going for runs when you are able to. If mornings are not possible then complete your workout in the evenings. If you want to better yourself, that much commitment is needed.

I am a solo runner, and unlike other sports where you need team members, running has no such dependency. That’s the beauty of running. Hence, from 2020 onwards till 2022 I used to train, practice and run solo.

In 2021 January, I did a self-supported run, my parents supported me by giving me water every 30 mins and I completed my full marathon in 3:50 hours 😊. Finally, did it, but still, an official event was pending. Achieved that too in PIM, 2022, and again in Delhi Marathon 2022, perhaps my best race to date in terms of execution, with the timing of 3:44 hours.

Simultaneously, in 2020 I started exploring trail runs also. I thought the road running is ok, let’s also participate in trail runs. It has different demands and different challenges. I started exploring the forts and hills of Pune and ran the beautiful SRT Ultra (Sinhagad – Rajad – Torna).

In one of my Ultra runs, I met Shajan Samuel and we just bonded like old friends. He is also a kind of solo person. Before we knew it, we were running together. He suggested we run at Rohtang Epic, an 80kms of run from Manali – Rohtang pass – Sissu.

I agreed to this plan, and we started training mainly on hills around Pune. The biggest challenge for us was the temperature drop and low oxygen level. I don’t know how it feels to run at such a lower temperature and with 50% of less oxygen level as have never experienced this before. But with frozen lips and a frozen face, I finished the race in 13 hours. It was the best feeling ever!

Now 80 Km is done, so the next target is 100 km :D

We registered for the “The hell race – the Border”. The challenge here was not the elevation but the heat. We increased our mileage, trained our body to run at night, and successfully we finished this race too, with the cherry on the cake, getting 5th position in the race.

Next, is what? Well, during our Border race training, we kind of decided that next would-be Comrades.

We got in touch with Satish sir and started training in January. Since this will be an international event, I want to give my best. Doing the right thing, following the plan to the T, staying committed, and consistent, following the diet plan given by Radhika (my nutritionist), and prepping to be the best version of myself in June for Comrades.

In between, participated in TMM 2023, an event that everyone looks forward to, which was finally happening after 3 years, and I could manage to get my best timing by finishing this in 3:42 hours.

Training is one part and mentally to tell yourself that you can do comrades is another part.

Hi, I am Pranab Garad, a software developer with Oracle. Running solves all my problems. Sometimes if I am stuck on a complex problem, running helps me in solving those complexities. Plus, am a father to an 11-year daughter, whom we homeschool and I enjoy going on a walk with her.

That's my journey of seeking new challenges and meeting like-minded people along the way.

Runner - Pranab Garad