Miles To Go Before I Sleep

I ran my first marathon - the 5-borough 26.2-mile tour of New York City on November 6^th. Today, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, I finally have a day off, and enough mental and emotional stability to pen my thoughts on the pre-, in-, and post-race experience.

As the saying goes - A journey of 400 miles begins with a single step. That first step came when Coach Sandy from Team In Training came to talk to folks at Bloomberg. I knew Sandy was a hurricane but little did I expect to be stirred enough to start dreaming of the impossible. Yet, that's exactly what transpired, and within a fortnight, I was running with a group of people who felt strongly about fighting blood cancers, a cause that I fortunately have no connection to.

All the excitement and the dreams did get the better of me when I began over-training and fell prey to an injury that would keep me out for 6 long weeks. Those anxious days had me at the edge of letting go, especially at a time when my idol had announced he wouldn't compete for the rest of the year. It took an anonymous e-mail, some effort, a lot of physiotherapy, and loads of inspiration and pep-talk from an absolutely brilliant coach, to get me to believe that all wasn't lost. awaiting.miracle24@gmail.com, I don't know who you are but if you are reading this, thank you for unknowingly being my miracle the day after a leading coach in the city had told me I should quit.

From then on, there was no going back. Never before have I stuck to a schedule as peRFectly as I did for 78 straight days leading up to the marathon. Never before have I monitored my diet so closely, and made sure I stayed away from anything that could dehydrate me, slow me down, or alter my body composition. Never before have I felt so optimistic, motivated and excited, yet not lost my discipline. It didn't come quick and easy but as my coaches like to say - If marathons were easy, everyone would do them.

I'll quickly fast forward to the day before the marathon, since all my training runs are well-documented online anyway (if you didn't document it on social media, did you really do it?). A few weeks ago, while watching the Spirit of the Marathon at a friend's place, I'd heard a dialogue - Marathon is the common man's Everest, and it got me thinking - I'd always dreamt of winning Wimbledon, maybe this marathon was how I would finally have my own Grand Slam trophy!

And so, the day before the big dance, I sat down to revisit the final of Wimbledon 2003 - the first in a series of 17, and hopefully more to come (#BEL18VE).

First of 17 such glorious moments - Wimbledon'03

For all the inspiration that I have always drawn from him, I then stitched his logo to be my talisman. As soon as I'd finished my crafting, I realized two things - (a) the alignment was a disaster, and it wouldn't show in most head-on pics (sorry Roger), and (b) I would be incredibly biased if I put his name on, but not that of another reservoir of positive energy that I had tapped into when I was in need. And so, my jersey looked as follows:

Best pre-race decision ever!

RACE-DAY

Contrary to most experiences I had heard, I had had a very calm week with no anxiety, and had slept well even the night before. I was soon going to realize what calm before the storm really meant. Things started off as per schedule, with the team-bus getting me to Staten Island by 7:15am, around 4 hours before I would start running. I had planned accordingly, and carried enough water, food (3 different kinds of 200-cal protein bars to choose from) and warm clothes for the pre-race part. The awe of the task at hand and the inexperience at what lay beyond 21 miles did get to my head and I consumed all 3 bars thinking my body would have enough reserves to withstand whatever came. Rookie mistake.

Before I get to the race recap, it's imperative to mention my strategy and race goals. All my post-injury runs had been a 3+1 run/walk, which had actually allowed me to maintain the same pace as running, because the intermittent recovery intervals would let me go a bit faster on the run ones. My goals were a strictly prioritized list that read - (a) finish injury-free (b) negative split (c) 4 hours. If all went well, and it looked like I would be able to get all 3 goals, the plan was to run at a 9:30 pace for the first 8 miles, then 9:20 for 5, 9:10 for the next 5, and 9 for the final 8.2

Miles 1-2:

The first mile took me 11+ minutes, which I was very happy with, since I had been told to hold back and not zig-zag among the crowds while climbing the Verrazano Narrows bridge. The descent went well too, with the advice of not hammering my quads ringing in my head.

Miles 3-4:

Brooklyn, you beauty! The first of two post-bridge energy bursts. I could feel the zeal in the air around, and it felt great to have random people cheering my name. By the end of it, I had brought my average pace up to 10:03, which was off the 9:30 goal, but I knew that with the first mile taking longer, I hadn't done too bad, and could always make it up later if I conserved energy.

Miles 5-9:

Shut up, Brooklyn! To put things into perspective, the only timed race I had done before was a little 5k the previous Sunday. My three longest training runs had involved me running ahead of and behind run-groups, but mostly not with someone, and so I was used to being in a calm and quiet zone. When the rock-bands came along, it did upset my rhythm a bit, especially with my inability to hear my interval-timer. There were multiple instances where I would feel that I'd been running for a really long stretch, then pluck my gymboss off the hydration-belt only to see that I had skipped a walk-break. The result being that these 5 miles came at an average pace of 9:21/mile, definitely faster than I should have gone.

Miles 10-13:

Remember those 3 bars I had consumed earlier in the morning. Here they come into play. A heavy stomach never makes for a good run, and that's precisely what happened. I tried maintaining a 9:40 pace, but it was turning out to be tough. One minor reason that added to the trouble was also that the course was measured along the shortest path. It threw off my mile splits by 10-15 seconds, something that kept putting me in a dilemma as to whether or not I should try recovering that lost time. I had read about it here, but didn't know the frustration until it started impacting me in person. That link, by the way, is an excellent read on what mental preparation looks like. An average pace of 10:27 over these 4 miles, and I knew that my 4-hour dream had evaporated.

Mile 14:

The course clock at the 13.1-mile mark told me I had taken roughly 2:09:45 for the first half, which I wasn't too upset about. At that point, I thought I had only made it easier for myself to negative split by going slower overall than initially targeted. Oh, the things the mind tells itself, so you can feel good. So, I re-calibrated my goal to a 4h20m marathon, and accordingly shifted to a 9:50 pace. This mile took me 9:47. BAZINGA! Amazing! Forget the first 13 miles. Run the mile you're in. You're doing great!

Mile 15:

A deliberate slow-down to gear up for the big climb coming ahead. 10:35 for a mile. Uhh, not bad. I trusted myself enough to run a 9-minute mile at the end if I could stay fit.

Mile 16:

The Queensboro! One of my favorite places to run. With the serenity around, it became so much easier for me to focus my thoughts, and plan out what I was going to do. I could still feel that my belly wasn't in an ideal condition, and remembering that my coaches had told me people generally overlooked the first port-a-johns right after the bridge, I decided I would go. In one of many e-mail correspondences, I had told my coach how I would use the quiet to think about everything we had gone through, all the runspiration, the cause that I had begun to feel so passionately for, the familiarity of what lay ahead, and how I was running towards a safe haven - home, work, friends, coaches on the course. And that's exactly what I did. And lo and behold, the big monster was out of the way. A highly experienced ultra-marathoner had advised us that this should be the slowest mile of the race. I took my 11:35 with pride. Sadly, it was to lose its title of slowest-mile in the next half hour. To my surprise, I got a strange surge of emotion during the descent when I first heard the crowds of Manhattan. Woah buddy, whatever happened to not crying outside of tennis matches. Or was this really a game of tennis?

Mile 17:

A happy mile. This was where I met my first non-TNT support crew. Thank you Mike and Ann for coming out and cheering me on. And then, I met my run/walk coach Deb, who had started in the wave preceding mine. We had agreed before-hand that if we met before the half-marathon mark, she was to grab me by the shirt and keep me from speeding away. Luckily, it hadn't come to that. 11:22 with the bathroom break, and I felt really good about my chances of getting the negative split. I had calculated that I would need an approx. 9:35 pace over the remainder, which I believed I could pace myself to, given my acquaintance with 1^st avenue and the park.

Mile 18:

10:23 for the mile, lagging behind by a bit now, but still ok. I went past my home, and chuckled at how I wanted to go another 8 miles instead of traversing the one block to my comfy bed. In the week leading up to the race, a friend at work had narrated his own experience from 2015, and advised me to hold on to the sponge that I would get around this mile. Thank you Deets!! I would go on to badly need a soothing wet sponge for my burning quads soon enough.

Mile 19:

I have a heart in my quads!!! During training, the left IT band had been my area of concern. Now that it was playing good, my right quad decided to go throbbing. I'd been warned to expect the unexpected in this part of the race. It was still scary though to feel as if my quads would spill out of my thigh if I ran further. Another slow-down, a 12-minute mile, and bye-bye negative split (see you in 2018).

Miles 20-21:

A bridge shall not descend. Are you kidding me??? The Willis Avenue Bridge didn't help at all with the quads, and I had to stop and take a stretch-break once I had climbed it. I was reduced to pace-walking by then, with little runs as soon as I saw a flat stretch without turns. It was becoming a mind-game, and I was really really glad that anytime I looked down, I could see my two big sources of inspiration right there, sewed on my shirt. I remember recalling how Roger never retires mid-match, and all the quotes I had collected thanks to Noa, from Deena Kastor, Kara Goucher, Taylor Swift, etc. Yes, a t-swizzle quote from a marathon coach. Incredulous, no? But it served a purpose - it reminded me of my reaction when I first got that e-mail, and it made me laugh. At mile 21, every positive emotion helps. This was also where I exceeded my longest run ever, and stopped for a photo. Thank you Deb for the tradition! Helps to take a break, and not have to blame it on yourself LOL. 25 minutes for the 2 miles, and done with bridges.

RUNSPIRATION

Mile 22:

Christine, you saviour! My pain was reducing but I had started erring on the side of caution, going really slow so as to make sure I finished injury-free. And then, I ran into TNT's head-coach Christine, who talked me out of my ultra-conservative mode with a few simple words - "I consider mental strength to be your main weapon. Use it now." If not for that, I would surely have dilly-dallied my way to a 5-hour marathon. I ran with her for a bit and when asked if I needed something, I replied Water, to which she sped off to the aid stations. And seeing her do that, I did too. That quick trot convinced me that I still had enough energy to finish strong, and I brought up this mile a full 2:15 faster than the previous one.

Mile 23:

I was still buoyed by those words, and covered this in 10:39, which in hindsight, was a really good one, considering how long that uphill climb on 5^th avenue is.

On 5^th Avenue

Miles 24-25:

Walking Dead. I could feel pain in both quads now, probably because of the effort that went into the previous mile. And shockingly, walking hurt more than running. I was forced to run, albeit at a very slow pace, so as not to aggravate the injury-risk. Another 25 minutes for these 2, but I was almost there now, and wasn't really thinking too much about the time. Anything I did was going to be a PR!

Mile 26:

Although in pain, I desperately did not want to finish with 12-minute miles. A little push got me an 11, not that I was looking at the course clock. I knew that I would be emotional once I had finished, but boy did the tears come out sooner. By the time I'd reached Central Park South and 7^th avenue, my eyes were flooded. I saw nothing but a 21-year old Swiss falling to his knees after winning on the hallowed lawns of the All England Tennis Club 13 years ago. And I cried, and cried, and cried.

Finish:

I'm going to be a marathoner. Run. Let go. Finish. 385 yards at an 8-minute/mile pace. It's hard to put that fleeting moment into words, but I'll try. Everything I'd gone through, everything I had chosen to give up, every single long run in unwieldy conditions, was meaningful now. I no longer call them sacrifices, thanks to this quote - One step at a time, I get to make positive choices to fulfil my dreams. For the first time in my life, I'd attained the unattainable. I'd been bruised and battered, yet emerged unbeaten, unbroken.

POST-RACE

I had cried so much, and was thinking so unclear that I exited the park, had a quick TNT interview, and re-traced my steps to the finish line, when I thought I had taken the transverse home. Duh!! Another mile to walk. A mile as a marathoner though (little saving graces). Heat sheet around, medal hanging. The struggle was real. Once I got on the subway, I didn't have enough stamina to open the protein-shake. Thank you random guy who offered help.

                               

In the weeks since, I have truly come to appreciate how this journey has been so much bigger than just me. I'm gratified to see that thanks to some very generous friends, I have raised more than 8300$ for the LLS. It's been heart-warming to see the out-pouring of support from friends, both here and back home. A co-worker told me he attempted a 4-mile walk home for the first time this week, and thought of me when it got tough. Needless to say, it melted my heart, which thankfully, isn't in my quads anymore. My biggest hope is that among the masses that follow me for my academic laurels, maybe, just maybe, someone feels kindled enough to listen to their kid who dreams of being a Wimbledon champion or Olympic marathoner someday, and not an engineer/doctor/cricketer/failure. My biggest hope is that if enough of us take up endurance sports, no future Indian Olympian will have to face neglect of the sort that Jaisha did at Rio 2016.

Anyway, lest I turn a happy recap into a rant, I'll end on a positive note with a short anecdote. The day after the marathon, I ran into someone at work. We were both walking slow. We had medals clinking against our company badges. We spoke simultaneously. We uttered the same word - Congratulations. We must have been thinking the same thing too -
                              WILL ANYTHING EVER BE IMPOSSIBLE AGAIN

Tips From My Side

Here's an article that I recently wrote for a magazine. It contains most of the things that I usually talk about in seminars and while interacting with future IITians.

                SELF-STUDY  MAKETH  A  RANK,

                   PRACTICE MAKETH PERFECT   

“Practice makes a man peRFect.” This perhaps is the one golden rule that I have followed throughout my preparations for IIT-JEE as well as all other competitive exams. So, my dear readers, here I am to share some of my experiences and to give you some advice on how to prepare for these deadly-looking exams. I hope you will definitely find something worthy in this article of mine and will be glad if this can benefit any of my dear juniors.

Writing an article on such a topic, the one dilemma I face is where to start from. So, let me begin from the beginning itself. Born on 29^th November, 1991, I was declared by doctors as a child who could possibly be mentally retarded in the future (seems weird, ain’t it?? read on…). I believe it has only been the strength of mind and the determination of my parents and one of my teachers that has brought me up to this level, sort of reversing the doctors’ prophecy. I still remember when I was in primary school, I was quite shy, but then I started participating in a lot of competitions, often emerging on top. Those gave me a lot of confidence and I slowly started rising up and opening myself to this world. People believe that these high ranks are meant for ‘born-geniuses’. But that is far from the truth. In my case at least, I was born an anti-genius. So, it’s mostly about practice, starting early, using your time to the utmost. Edison rightly said “Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.”

It was only in class VI that I got my first go at a national level science competition (the National Science Olympiad) and obtained All India Rank (AIR) 13. Then, in class VII, I finished East Zone runner-up in the India’s Child Genius quiz conducted by Siddhartha Basu, missing an opportunity to meet President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam by just 0.2 seconds in the buzzer round. I have never looked back since then, always learning from my mistakes and practising endlessly in order to attain that ever-elusive state of peRFection.

Now, having built up a sort of prologue let me come to the major issue: JEE (Joint Entrance Examination). These three letters seem to weigh so heavily on the minds of so many youngsters. Here, I will be basically discussing how to plan out your preparations so that this exam looks a bit easier. Having interacted with lots of students from all over India through live seminars, e-mail, social networking sites, etc. and most importantly, having been through that crucial stage myself, I am well aware of the questions that JEE aspirants have in mind. So, I will be going through the rest of this article in a sort of your question – my reply format.

First and foremost, the one question that always turns up is “What is the mantra of success?” I would say it's utilizing even that tiny moment for self-study which you are giving to pondering over this question. According to me, it is time-management along with self-belief. Every single moment that you are wasting in some not-so-important activity, thousands of other competitors are striving hard to get ahead of you. So, you simply cannot afford to waste time. A bit of relaxation here and there after some continuous study is a must, but you should be able to contain that “I have had enough” feeling.

People also ask me when exactly did I start my JEE preparations. Now, I am not very clear about the question itself. I started studying the JEE syllabus topics in the middle of class X, but I had started concentrating on science-maths and strengthening my basics from class VI itself. I had joined a JEE-directed correspondence course for the first time in class IX while I had my first major confidence booster at the India’s Child Genius in class VII. So, its been quite a long journey with a beginning which I myself am unable to figure out. This therefore turns out to be a question which I neither understand nor have a definite answer for.

Then, why did I join FIITJEE and not any other institute. Every student has his own capabilities and requirements. I knew that given sufficient time for self-study, I could understand concepts well on my own but I needed some good teachers for doubt clearance. That’s where FIITJEE came into the picture and they filled the void extremely well, better than I had ever imagined. Enrolled into the PINNACLE program, I used to get the entire evenings free as all classes would be over by 2:30 pm at the school campus itself. So, I had lots of time with me and I would sit down, think, solve, practise, get my doubts cleared the next day, etc.

This last point I just mentioned: Doubt Clearance is one thing I have seen missing in most aspirants’ priority lists. As a student, you ought to have faith in your teachers and approach them with your doubts. I have seen colleagues who never even asked their school teachers any doubts. You need to try them out first. If they are unable to satisfy your query, only then should you go to external tutors. They are the teachers because they know things better than you do. Many students feel that a good teacher is the one who explains things well and solves questions on the board. I would say a good teacher is one who clears your doubts well. That’s because you can do the understanding and solving part yourself too but those inevitable doubts here and there require a strong tutor.

Coming to my next point: Time Management, students keep fretting about this simple concept. I have seen students in my city who spend evenings performing stunts on bikes, eating out with friends (mostly girlfriends), watching movies, etc. and then let out a cry on the JEE day, “Why do these guys set such unsolvable papers?” As you can very well see, they haven’t been true to themselves and hence can’t expect to get into IITs, NITs, etc. in place of those who have burnt the midnight oil. I myself have given everything to it during those 2 years and am definitely reaping rich rewards. It’s better to utilize pre-JEE time and then enjoy life in IITs (I must tell you it’s a beautiful place to be in) rather than wasting it and regretting later.

I will give you an example. All of us get this 1.5 to 2 month gap after the class X exams. Instead of visiting places and enjoying yourself, you can give a week or so to refreshing yourself and then get back to studies in order to get a good head-start. This will enable you to understand concepts better when they are taught in class. Then, you can also utilize those small intervals during change of classes to solve some questions. People around you will laugh at you, try to derail you from that right track but you need to ignore them. In the end, it doesn’t even matter. I tried so hard, I got so far. Those who try to derail you are inflicting losses upon themselves.

It’s not that I gave up everything for my preparations. I used to solve sudoku everyday, read the newspaper, played (although rarely), did a bit of social networking in the last few months but I wasn’t obsessed with these things. I knew my goal and its importance in my life. You just need to prioritize your time-table.

Returning to academics, if you prepare well for JEE, you are almost done with your board exam PCM (Physics+Chemistry+Math) syllabus as well. And as I said earlier, if you choose your tutors wisely, you will also be able to find ample time for English and the 5^th subject. Many students go to particular classes just because their friends have joined them or because they have heard lots of people praising that teacher. This isn’t the right approach. You need to understand your own requirements and choose accordingly. There might be a teacher who is very good at mechanics but doesn’t teach electromagnetism well. You don’t need to continue going to him just because you feel a sense of loyalty and gratitude towards him. It’s your life, your career, you have to decide keeping in mind your own good. Then try to give more time to practising questions of different varieties and from different books. I wouldn’t recommend reading the same concept again and again from different sources/teachers as it would simply be a waste of your precious time. Instead grasp that concept from 1 or 2 books and then move on to practice.

Now I feel I should address the question on how to study in general? It’s better to finish topics one by one. Doing 3 or 4 topics all at one time will make it quite difficult for you to handle everything. Two topics from different subjects is quite okay because if you feel bored after studying one of them for 5-6 hrs., you can switch to the other one and then return. Try to prepare compendiums for each topic as it will be helpful in the later stages of preparation. If you notice some trick in some book, note it down and revise it later so that you get an idea of where it works and how to apply it. Such tricks and option elimination prove very useful in saving time for the tougher questions.  

Coming to books, here’s a list of books that I covered during my JEE preparations:

Physics : Irodov (mechanics only), H C Verma, Arihant (all topics)
Chemistry: R C Mukerjea, O P Tandon, Paula Bruice
Mathematics: Arihant (all topics except algebra), TMH (class XI^th syllabus)

In addition, I completed all NCERT books, packages of FIITJEE as well as BRILLIANT and solved FIITJEE's GrandMasterPackage and RankersTestPaperFile. The latter two are very good for practice and revision in the last few months.

In class IX and X, I used to read books by Dinesh Publications (PCMB), H C Verma (physics), R D Sharma (maths) and correspondence courses from Brilliant Tutorials and BMA. I found these books by BMA to be very good and interesting. In addition, I had covered the first few chapters of physics plus differential calculus plus bonding and hybridisation (thanks to Nitu Sinha Mam) in class Xth itself. Organic chemistry was one topic that I felt a bit tough to handle, but I feel I was fortunate enough to have another great chemistry teacher (Arun Sharma Sir) in XI^th; who advised me to gain a headstart by reading Paula Bruice and it really turned out to be a fantastic interest-arousing book.

Next comes the issue of how to prepare for all other exams that occur round the clock in these 2 years. I personally feel that NSO, IMO, NSTSE, etc., although considered easy by many, are very good exams to get an estimate of where you stand and of your strengths and weaknesses. Any national level exam, tough or easy, is competitive and as easy for you as for someone sitting in any other part of India. Then come the physics, chemistry, maths and astronomy olympiads. The math olympiad requires a bit of extra preparation on topics like number theory, combinatorics, etc. The other three olympiads (IPhO, IChO, IAO) can be cracked if you have been thorough with the JEE syllabus. If you clear the first two levels, then you go to the camp at HBCSE, Mumbai where you need some experimental skills too. It’s here that your presence (both mental and physical) in school labs plays an important role. Then you have KVPY in class XI which has no pre-defined syllabus. The paper basically tests your mental ability and clarity of concept. You need to have knowledge of topics that will be covered in class XI^th and a bit of the formulae and laws from the early days of class XII^th. The interview is meant to test your confidence and clarity of aim in life.

I would be writing an incomplete article if I didn’t talk about what to do during the last few months before JEE. I suggest you should complete all your syllabus atleast by mid-December and then begin with revision of your class-notes and of the chapter-wise summaries you must have created in the two years. Then, move on to practising question-papers of 6 hours duration. Solving questions from individual chapters is quite different from solving them when they are all thrown together at you. It might happen that you are able to solve mechanics alone very well but in exam time, the pressure created by being unable to solve optics may take you down in mechanics too. So, you need to have good practice of sitting own for 6 hours and handling that pressure. Utilize the board exams preparatory leave very well. I had given 15 days to JEE preparation and the rest to my Board exams. Then, I had an 11-day gap before my maths board exam. So, I didn’t study CBSE level maths in February and also devoted 5 days out of 11 to JEE. You need to find time and plan very well. The 14 day gap between last board exam and JEE should go into revision and practice only. Do not try to read/learn something new in that period, it will just add to the pressure.

Another extremely important question that arises is: How to cope with the pressure? I would say: Just keep practising, sit down for lots of national level tests, when you see that you are able to solve questions and getting some good ranks, you will gain confidence and it’s this much required self-confidence that will help you sail through the JEE day. If you are unable to get those ranks, look at the mistakes you committed, discuss them with your teacher, try to correct them in the next paper, get your fundamentals cleared, and dedicate more time to that topic where you are prone to mistakes. It might take some time for that change to show up, but it will certainly happen over a period of time. You know, thousands of people (and almost everyone in Kota) wish to achieve a top 100 JEE rank but only those few who have stuck to their basics, who have been regular, who have practised a lot and hence built up their speed and accuracy, achieve it. There’s always this competition. You can’t afford to give up or lose time.

I hope I have already said a lot now, so its time for me to take leave and allow you to ponder deeply over what you have read above and to see if you can gain something out of it. Thank you reader for having been so patient to have gone through my article. And finally, keeping in mind my own advice, I would suggest you not to read this article over and over again as that would be a waste of precious JEE-preparation time. Thanks again,

 Vipul Singh

(Marathoner - NYC 2016;
Machine Learning R&D, Bloomberg LP;
Master's in Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University 2014-15;
Department Rank 1, Computer Science, IIT Bombay 2010-14;
AIR 5, IIT-JEE 2010;
AIR 1, AIEEE 2010;
Silver medallist, World Rank 41 at International Physics Olmpiad 2010;
KVPY scholar;
CBSE topper of Chhattisgarh state, 2010)

For further queries, you can contact me on facebook or at vipulsingh1991@gmail.com or  www.vipulsingh1991.blogspot.com