The Day I Realized I Was Getting Faster

Something had changed

My first half marathon had taken me 2:47:17.

At that time, I didn’t really care about the timing. I was simply happy that I had managed to finish 21.1 kilometres.

But after that race, running slowly started becoming a bigger part of my life.

I started running more regularly. I started understanding my body a little better. I learned that running wasn’t just about going out and covering a distance. There was pacing, consistency, recovery and a lot of patience involved.

And then came the Apollo Half Marathon 2024.

This time, I wasn’t the same runner who had stood at the start line of my first half marathon.

I just didn’t realize how much I had changed.

Previous Half Marathon: 2:47:17
Improvement: 32:37

The run felt different

When the race started, I didn’t have the same fear I had during my first half marathon.

I knew what 21.1 kilometres felt like.

I knew that the first few kilometres could feel easy and that things could get difficult later.

I knew that there would be a point when my legs would start asking questions.

But this time, I also had something I didn’t have before:

Experience.

I kept running, trying to maintain my rhythm and not overthink things.

And somewhere during the race, I started feeling that maybe I was actually running faster than before.

Still, I wasn’t completely sure.

Then came the finish line

When I finally finished, I was exhausted.

Actually, if you look at my face in the pictures, you can probably tell.

It felt like all the air had gone out of me.

But underneath that exhaustion was a completely different feeling.

I had done it.

And then I saw the timing:

2:14:40.

I honestly couldn’t believe it.

My previous half marathon had been 2:47:17.

This time, I had finished in 2:14:40.

That’s a difference of 32 minutes and 37 seconds.

I wasn’t expecting that kind of improvement.

I remember being genuinely surprised that I could complete a half marathon that much faster than my previous attempt.

For the first time, I wasn’t just thinking, “I finished.”

I was thinking:

“Maybe I’m actually becoming a runner.”

Sometimes you don’t notice your progress while you’re making it. You only realize how far you’ve come when you look back.

More than just a number

Looking back, that 2:14:40 wasn’t just a timing for me.

It was proof that all those ordinary runs were adding up.

The runs where I didn’t feel particularly fast.

The days when going out for a run felt like work.

The kilometres that nobody saw.

They were all doing something.

I had started running in a park simply because I wanted to lose some weight.

Then I accidentally ran my first 10K in Nainital.

Then I completed my first official half marathon in Delhi.

And now, without even realizing it, I had taken more than 30 minutes off my half-marathon time.

That felt special.

Everyone was happy

What made the moment even better was seeing everyone around me happy.

I was tired, sweaty and completely drained, but there was a different kind of happiness in the atmosphere.

I had surprised myself.

And the people around me were happy for me too.

That’s something I have come to love about running.

You start a race alone.

You run your own kilometres.

You fight your own tiredness.

But when you finish, there are people around you who understand exactly what that moment means.

Looking back

Today, when I look at the pictures from that day, I don’t just see a tired face.

I see a runner who had started to change.

I still had a lot to learn.

I still had much longer distances ahead of me.

And I definitely wasn’t done struggling.

But that day gave me something important:

confidence.

My first half marathon had taught me that I could finish 21.1 kilometres.

This one taught me that I could get better at it.

And maybe that’s the real beauty of running.

You don’t always notice yourself improving.

You just keep showing up.

Then one day, you look at the clock and realize:

you’re not the same runner who started.