Early in July, I finally decided to run a full marathon. With this started the search for the perfect marathon to run, which would suite me from all perspectives. Most important among the things which had to kept in mind was the Indian weather. No matter where you run, there is a very small window in which you can practice, and most of the year here is hot or humid.
After much searching, the target narrowed down to two – The Dubai marathon (Jan 5), or the Singapore marathon (Dec 4). Both were well placed with sufficient time for training, but myself and Vivek finally decided on the Singapore marathon as our first marathon. August 1st was decided as the first of the 18 weeks comprising our training schedule, which we finalized from the much acclaimed programme from Hal Higdon, senior writer with the Runners World magazine, and a great sportsperson.