Jeetender 0:01
At that point in time when our body and mind was trying to ask us, why are you doing this slow down, stop, sit down, relax, put your legs up. But you had somewhere a voice in you that was keeping on saying, keep going, keep going, you’re almost there. Like Preet says, a part of you is already at the finish line, you just have to meet that part. It’s the voices in your head and the one that you feed through allows you to continue. And all of us had the positive thoughts in us that kept us going.
Dhiren 0:32
Hey, everybody, welcome to a brand new episode of The Elevated Entrepreneur Podcast, I am super pumped about today’s episode, because it’s all about running. Now, you may not know this, but just this past weekend, my buddies and I completed a 42.2k marathon. It is a massive achievement for all of us, because we would never considered ourselves as runners. But we finally did it. We’ve put a pedal to the metal. And we’ve made it happen. Even more. So because this was a self hosted marathon. Now, this episode is with me and my two other running buddies, Preet and jitender, who you’re going to hear, we talk a lot about the thoughts that we had before the run during the run, and finally, post around. And not only that, some of the best lessons that we are taking away into our personal lives. So if you’re pumped as much as I am, I want you to grab your headset, grab a cup of coffee, cuz this episode is slightly longer. But I assure you, it’s an amazing episode for you to listen in to help me cue the music.
Dhiren 1:39
You’re listening to The Elevated Entrepreneur Podcast, a podcast designed to help retailers, restaurant owners and entrepreneurs simplify business operations and use modern technology to elevate their business. here’s your host, Dhiren Bhatia.
Dhiren 1:58
Welcome to the Elevated Entrepreneur Podcast. Today is a very special episode. I’ve got two phenomenal guests with me, Preet and Jeetender, aka G2, who are my running buddies. And we have recently completed a marathon and I wanted to bring the two of my best running mates on this podcast, talk about what their journey looked like and what are some of the lessons they’ve learned. So let me have them introduce themselves. Preet. Why don’t we start with you. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Preet 2:23
Hey, how are you guys? Me, I am working in Dubai as a salesperson for a company. I have a small startup for myself, and being almost all my life in Dubai, running on and off. But I think running with shih tzu and the rain since last two years consistently. If I want to introduce my journey, it’s been one of the things that I could say to myself that I am a runner. Now. I think I’ve promoted to that level promoted, indeed.
Jeetender 2:54
Hi, everyone. Jeetender here. I’ve been born and brought up in Dubai. I met the rain. You’re in high school. So we know each other for over 20 years now. Preet and I bumped into each other, I think two years ago. And it was during a run that we met. And it’s been an phenomenal journey since then, and looking forward to sharing the experiences with y’all shortly.
Dhiren 3:17
Absolutely. And I think that’s a good place to start now. We recently just completed a 42.2k marathon less than a week ago. And I want to start with asking you please How do you feel after having completed that marathon?
Preet 3:30
I feel absolutely great. I think it’s been a goal that has never seen a daylight it’s always been postponed to the next year, or next two years. And I have been running since almost eight years in consistently everything and always wanted to complete a marathon. So it’s absolutely a great achievement. All I can think of myself was like, you know, after 42 kilometers before returning 42. That was a good tick off the goals list.
Dhiren 4:00
Jeeto How do you feel having finished this marathon?
Jeetender 4:04
Oh, I think it’s amazing. It still feels surreal for me. I mean, sometimes when I close my eyes, I can still see myself running. I think that feeling doesn’t go away for some time. Because the long journey that we had preparing for the marathon to actually running it. It’s no longer something that’s on my wish list. And thanks to you guys having a structured process through it. It’s become a goal and a goal that has been ticked off. So thank you.
Dhiren 4:31
Yeah, thank you to all of us right? One of the things I wanted to talk about as a related party, some of the lessons we’ve learned, and I’ll share some of my lessons as well in how you can do something like this on your own, but we’ll leave that for later. My question here is, I guess you you were mentioning this and you were introducing yourself how we all met. And I think that’s a great place to start with. We’re not runners, we’ve become runners along the way. And as Preet said, right, we can now put runners in our bio. Actually, that’s one of the first things I did after I finished the marathon I went to my Instagram profile and I said marathoner Now I can proudly say that I run a marathon. So let’s talk about how we all met. So Judy, you mentioned that you and I are friends from high school, we go back 20 years, breathe. And I met at a business event at a group called DNI, which were both members of breed that was 2016 2017 2017. Yeah, 2017. We didn’t connect during the DNI group meetings, I think we connected much after this is back in 2018, or 2019. I think that we reconnected,
Preet 5:28
We reconnected on 2018, I think I was working on a Tinder and data cards and technology. I reached out to cloudscape to you to come and have a talk. And at same point, we were also planning to migrate to Canada. We talked about Canada experiences, and I told you listen, you know, I’ve got to get you out for dinner with your nurses. And the title was my wife to talk about Canada and what your experiences is what’s going to be like, over there. Then, we spoke about introducing you to my brother in law for some network business, because he’s also entered the industry and connected or the breakfast on 24th
Dhiren 6:06
Or 24th of December 20. I think it was 2018,
Preet 6:09
2018
Dhiren 6:11
2018 24 December, we’re having breakfast. And we hatched this plan that we’re going to run our 10k marathon The next day, which was called the Christmas run with our running group, DC advisory striders. So we ran that, and we met for breakfast. And I think that’s where we hatched another plan to run the 21k half marathon. We had breakfast in 2019. And we ran that Christmas morning run on in 2019. And then we ran the half marathon in February 20. Where did we make the plan to run the full marathon was it after the half that we decided that we should run the full.
Preet 6:43
After the half marathon, we were talking about what we’re going to do next, because we all are in our mind that we stop now. If you don’t have something to look forward to slow down our training plan. So we spoke about traveling to different places to do the half marathons that year. And 2020 followed by the Mumbai marathon, which we are planning or one of the marathon started turbomeca, whichever came first.
Dhiren 7:07
And little did we know what was coming down the pipe 2020. Right. So I know Preet and I made this plan. We hatched this plan over breakfast. And I think most of our hybrid plans come up during breakfast. How do we rope jito into this discussion, I think we had a call with him or we just call him up and he said, Listen, it’s time for us to run a full marathon. It only remember from this,
Jeetender 7:27
I just remember a casual call from you. And then suddenly you conferenced in Crete. And I wasn’t asked it was more like an instruction. saying that this is what it is we are registering we want you to register to. Like I said it wasn’t an option. It was a decision that was made and I was just made to comply.
Dhiren 7:49
That’s lesson number one, after running a marathon, let someone force you into doing something that you’re not comfortable with.
Jeetender 7:55
That is so true. I guess we all need someone to help us out of our comfort zone. And we will never push ourselves if we didn’t have someone else behind us throughout this journey. Absolutely.
Dhiren 8:05
So you said some of this as you were talking about the half marathon. So I think before the full marathon, what would you say your running experience was like how good were you as a runner,
Preet 8:14
We reached a point of consistent before the full marathon in some way we enjoyed running before the half marathon, I would think I was one of the runner. Because I will run every now and then and not have that much motivation to wake up the next day and do the same loops being part of the community or a small support group that I would call it having accountability that you know what? Somebody is going to wait at 630 in the morning at the canal, very did most of our practice runs was absolutely phenomenal. game changer. Like I kind of realized the power of accountability partner. But till that time, I wasn’t very good with being accountable to myself. And also having a goalpost to run towards. I had never signed up for half marathon. I thought that you know what, once I do 21 on my own, I will be worthy enough to sign up for a half marathon.
Dhiren 9:06
Yeah. And like you right, I don’t think I was ever a runner either. For the half marathon. Like you said it took a lot of practice it took a lot of 6am starts and just getting to the starting point and then just consistently running due to your experience was the same too. What was your experience like?
Jeetender 9:22
Unlike you guys, I actually thought I was the runner during my high school. The only difference is I used to run short distance. And I thought I was it this is what I wanted to do I love running long distance running was something that I never expected to be so different experience than what I used to do back in high school. I mean running competitions for 400 meters, 600 meters, relays and all this understandable. But long distance running is a whole new ballgame. After that 10k we realize that that requires a different set of preparation and training.
Dhiren 9:55
Absolutely right. And I want to talk about how we started prepping for the full marathon. So we jumped back forward in time, but I think at this point where we are now is, in terms of the story, we’ve completed that 21k marathon, we’ve hatched a plan to run 42. And just after COVID had struck, and we planned to do this at some point in 2021, I want all of us to go back to that time about how we started prepping for the 42 as a retreat as well, what was your experience, like when you started prepping? For the 42?
Preet 10:23
I think when we started preparing for what it was, there were no races on the agenda, right? Most of the calendars were blank, because we were in midst of pandemic, you were in Canada, I think at that time, we weren’t practicing for the 42. But we were still running consistently. Seeing you run in snow, I told you, we really have to get up our game, the rain is running. And so we can bear a little bit of heat. And we will meet up at the view. After you came back, we were meeting more consistently. And somewhere DC has also started its gatherings, I believe. That’s when we were talking about like, what next? Let’s make a travel plan. Let’s do something and then use that during if you don’t sign up for something or set a hard stop, we will not get there. You know, as you and I were very easygoing about this, probably do it after everything kind of gets a word or something.
Jeetender 11:16
I remember us talking that now that we ran the 21k. Let’s try to maintain that distance, but better pace. So we were still reluctant to get into the 42k. By drain You were the one that had that vision in mind and kept us on the track.
Dhiren 11:32
Like rizza, right? Having a date to something in life really makes it happen. Otherwise, we were all waffling back and forth. Like Yeah, we’ll sign up for the one fab in China for the one in March, I think putting a date really made a big difference for all of us. So I think in July, August 2020, that’s when we actually decided, Dan, we’re going to run a 42. And we’re gonna start prepping, like preset, we started running with our DCs group. Again, I think, because we had completed at 21. I think we had some mileage under our feet, we knew what 21 look like. But I don’t think any of us expected what a full 42 would look like, you know, what are some of your thoughts that were going through your head before we ran the 42.
Jeetender 12:07
If I could just start back while even training for the 21 we never actually ran the 21. So the maximum distance we ran was around I think 16 or 18k. And we always expected that the remaining four five came in completed during the half marathon. And till today, I remember that it was the early 18 came out that my mental memory or muscle memory told me that you know this is it, this is the maximum that you have ever ran. So pushing that extra four or 5k was a task. But coming back a couple of months later when trying to actually set a goal for the 42. So we said let’s try to structure it. And running the 21k again became easier and easier during our practice sessions. Just to think about up until a year ago, a few months ago, we never ran a half marathon and now we’re running it consistently every other week.
Preet 12:58
We’re running it to earn our breakfast, like anyone can.
Dhiren 13:02
Cuz you can make more harebrained plans at the next breakfast meeting is going to share a quick story. My wife and I Shwetha we talk about every Friday that I go running, and she says how much are you gonna go around? I’m like, you know, I’ll run maybe 15 or 20. And now that she knows you’ve run a half, you’re like, Oh, that’s it, district 21. And she makes it sound so easy. Like I was saying right, it is now after having run a half marathon. And having prepped and practice now running at 21k. marathon doesn’t sound like a big deal. But to many, many people, I think 21 is a very big number. So I want to talk about just that for a few seconds. Maybe if you could give some pieces of advice. What would that be to someone who wants to run their first half marathon? What would that be?
Jeetender 13:43
I think more than anything, the learnings that I had is we need to pace ourselves because physically during the journey, it’s a race, however, it’s a race that you need to finish. So it’s more of a distance coverage than a time coverage for your first attempt. A different, Your Honor, is that you know, go slow, understand your body understand your rhythm, no need to focus on the person ahead of you or the first person behind you. It’s your body and your pace that you need to focus on
Dhiren 14:10
100% Preet, what would your tips be for someone who wants to run their first half, not even the first half, maybe the first 10?
Preet 14:18
Actually a couple of them. First of all, I would really highly recommend to sign up for a race and work backwards. That gives you a hard deadline by when you’re going to finish the race. Second thing which I believe all of us shared when we had signed up after the Venus doses were like, you know, let’s sign up for the half marathon. We all agreed that we aren’t sure yet if we will complete or not. But we will show up at the starting line and that’s going to be a win for us. And the major game changer for me. I’m not sure which book I read it in, I think said God and he had mentioned is to build your tribe. I kind of had a mental checklist of all the friends that I have is like if you want to become a runner or an athlete, how many people in your circle are athletes or are others so that was one of the major turning point for me that building a relationship with you due to having a tribe who are looking at the same goal. Every longer run that we did. There’s a shared comfort and misery.
Dhiren 15:13
100%
Jeetender 15:15
Totally agree. I mean, at some point in time, we were eating, breathing and sleeping running throughout the last 12 to 18 months.
Dhiren 15:22
And you know, one thing that Pete mentioned that I want to highlight is he mentioned venous doser. So just a tip for everyone who’s listening, we actually used to look forward to the breakfast post every run. So we actually never got running because we wanted to run we actually wanted to get together and have breakfast, have a chat, have a coffee, and just, you know, you should, they should really. And so looking forward to those breakfast, I think that really made us consistent. And one of the tips I’ve learned from this is have a reward for each run that you do for yourself, celebrate even the smallest success and have something to look forward to poster. And so whether it’s breakfast, whether it’s movie, or if it’s a tub of popcorn, whatever it is, keep that front and center. So I think that’s one tip that I want to add to the tips that you guys are talking about. Okay, so in terms of timeline and journey, we’ve now run 21 we’re all prepped, we’ve got lots of adrenaline COVID has just happened. Now we’re talking about running a 42. And I think we started running consistently, when I was back from Toronto. So we started running, prepping for our marathon, I think July August 2020. September, even maybe, because that’s when our running group started running. And I think up until January, I don’t think we knew that we were going to run a marathon because everything was canceled. Remind me What was that like for you?
Preet 16:33
as almost running towards no goalposts versus running aimlessly, which is nice in most of the runs, it got fun that we were just running because we enjoyed running. We enjoyed the breakfast meetups with the boys after that. And I felt myself slacking a bit during the week. And the Fridays I think we were very consistent because we always had something to look forward to. Like he said, to craving reward. There was everything attached to the Friday mornings that we met up. They were friends running, had great conversations, listen to the music or podcasts and look forward to the breakfast every Friday.
Dhiren 17:13
Yeah, you do? What are your thoughts? What was your time before you knew you were gonna run a marathon?
Jeetender 17:19
I think it’s on the spot closer to near we were just saying we need to lock in a date. And that’s when we actually bend down the date of initial date of February 28. Correct. And when pushed by a week to march 5, but yes, around December is when I remember us saying that this is it. Now we’ve put in a date. And let’s work backwards and plan ourselves to get the coal.
Dhiren 17:44
Yeah, absolutely. That’s I think that’s about the right time in December, we pinned down a date and we said we will run a marathon no matter what. And taking on one of three steps from earlier right. We set a date. And we worked our way backwards from that date. What was the run setup looking like? So we decided to run along the path. We decided to run on the crescent back to back, Preet and Geeta, why don’t you tell us what did that setup look like?
Jeetender 18:05
Yeah, so initially when we had thinking about locking in a date for the marathon, the next discussion point was, so where are we going to run it. And couple of options that came across were either we run it through the canal, or we run it on Jumeirah Beach. Or the third option that came in was the croissant. And because the canal and Jumeirah Beach were not as long distance and would involve us to run through the streets. So from a safety point of view, since this being a not formally organized marathon, we decided to go for the farm option, which was running from one side of the percent all the way to the other, which was a distance of around 11 kilometers each way. So to complete a 42k, we would have to do that four times.
Dhiren 18:50
And I think also the key thing to talk about here, as we said, this whole thing of ourselves, we actually set up water brakes, food stations along the way ourselves, because this was a self hosted marathon. And that obviously was a very important thing to do. In hindsight, if you hadn’t done it, we would have broken down crying midway during the run, if you hadn’t done that set up.
Dhiren 19:09
Thank God to the friends who lent us the ice box.
Jeetender 19:15
But I guess I just wanted to add that that shows a level of commitment that we had that once we set a date irrespective who is going to run along with us whether it was a formal run or not, we are going to do it. And somewhere in our mind. We knew that we wanted to finish how we would do it like Pete said running, jogging, crawling or rolling that we would just have to find out. But yes, we all wanted to do this. It was something that we were committed to and that dedication led us to completing it.
Preet 19:41
I remember wanting to add that we were debating whether we could do it alone, ourselves. We knew we could organize the marathon. But somewhere we had become quite dependent on a group pulling us following the group as a herd, with the herd able to finish 42 so we weren’t sure if we were being able to do it on ourselves most of our friends If anyone wants to come support us do the 10k for being gentle the last day or two back before the marathon, nobody has signed up. And I kept telling myself, you know what, it would have been a better idea. If we ran with a group, we could have postponed it or Pre Owned our marathon. And part of me also said that, you know, what, if we do it on our own, I think our dependency will go, we will have so much confidence that, you know, this is what we did it all by ourselves, we went to the finish line without depending on anybody else, as a true athlete.
Dhiren 20:31
Yeah, I remember this conversation quite a lot. We actually debated this extensively to say, should we run with someone? Should we run with a bigger group? Should we run by ourselves, because we were all very intimidated by the number. I think 42 is a big number, it still is. And you can’t take that away. But like you said, I think we were very, very nervous, I think of having to do this by ourselves. Because we’ve talked a lot about how we were prepping and running consistently. I want to take us now to the starting line and the 42. I want to talk about how you will feeling as you were starting. So please, I’ll ask you to share some of your thoughts that are running through your mind at the starting line.
Preet 21:06
What are the thoughts that I had? Because it was the supported marriage by ourselves? Although there were so many hotels are out there were very few toilets accessible. We started at about 430, prepping for the marathon. And I was like, What am I going to do if I have to go to the toilet? That’s the only thing that was running in my mind. And second thing was, I knew we all will make it. The only thing that kept running in my mind is what if there was an injury? What if we run out of water? How fashionably Are we going to run or complete the marathon? Because we had the confidence that you know what, no matter what, we’re going to complete 42k even if it’s running, walking or crawling at the end of it.
Dhiren 21:50
I think breed is a lot more optimistic than two of us.
Preet 21:54
Yeah, because I had seen all of us at the finish line, remember?
Dhiren 21:58
Yes, yes, I think I manifested. I think that’s really the key word, right? You predicted the future, and you told yourself what the future looks like. And I think that’s a big secret to your success, too. I think, before I turn the mic over to you, just to layer for the audience that this was not an organized marathon. As such, we actually planned this ourselves. Because there was no other marathon happening, we decided to host a self hosted marathon, we did our own setup, we did our own route choosing, and then we started running. So I think that also is a very big lesson in getting motivated to do something. You know, you’re motivated, when you’ve got everything planned yourself, you’ve kept your things ready, you’ve done your own set up for the marathon. I think that’s a huge example of how motivated we were to run this story to come and ask you to do that. What were some of your thoughts running through your head before you started running?
Jeetender 22:42
Oh, a couple of hours before the marathon just I realized that I was getting very anxious. I mean, the adrenaline rush was in my mind running, I couldn’t rest that easily. I would always get up early in the morning thinking that it’s time yet. And I need to reach the start line. I should not be late, and leaving you guys hanging on the start line over there. 430 in the morning, after we wrapped up. I was like, let’s do this. I was optimistic. I was looking forward to it. I didn’t know how I would feel towards later. But at this type line. I was energetic. And it shows from the picture that pre Catholic then that we all has smiles on our faces. And I don’t know whether that was genuine smile. So that was a fear we were hiding. But
Dhiren 23:27
Just my a lot of nervousness, yes,
Jeetender 23:29
Possibly. But it was amazing. Yeah,
Dhiren 23:33
I share the same thoughts. We I think we were genuinely very excited. Also very nervous. I don’t think Geeta and I had seen the finish line yet like pre that we were talking about how we’re going to do this. I think for me, excitement was obviously running through our veins, there was a lot of energy. I remember pre playing, I have the tiger car before we started running. We’re going to do it now. And believe it or not, I actually played that song multiple times during the marathon to keep me going. That’s true. Now I just want to talk about what was some of the thoughts that were going through your heads towards sort of the Midway maybe more than the Midway because we’ve run 21 obviously, it didn’t really get tough till the 21. I think it got tough after that point. So where did it start to get tough for you?
Preet 24:16
For me, I think when we started, like pretty much every run, it takes time to warm up, maybe a couple of kilometers, five kilometers to six kilometers. Perhaps because we were doing it way earlier than we would normally run. I felt a bit clunky and my body. You guys are clearly more faster pace runners than me. They were pacing each other while leading. I was thinking to myself, you know what? 42 is great. Maybe we should do I should do fastest 21 at least and then figure out the next 21 how it’s going to go because I knew somewhere that we’re going to have a slower pace after 21 and there was also part of me which was talking in the night because I wanted To be different, because I thought that you know what the boredom is going to kick in. So I was sort of waiting. When is the boredom going to kick in of running the same lab, because we were doing the loops of the pump, I feel I was okay to 30 to 30, I managed to pull myself 30 or 33, I think it was the end of the third loop. And that’s when I sat down at West Point that we had, had some dates, had only one bottle of water, for some reason at that station. And all of a sudden, the sun came out, and I realized how fun it got, because it was at around 1015 in the morning. And that’s what I got, you know, I don’t think I’m going to be able to run back. I was alone at that point for the referees and NATO, they both came and supported little bit cheered up that Alright, you can do it. So mentally my breakdown point, I think came at 33.
Dhiren 25:53
What were some of the thoughts that were going through your head at that point, you said, you’re not going to be able to run it back anything else that was running through your head.
Preet 26:00
A lot of things, one of the toughest thing that I’ve done before the full marathon was going cycling up Jace with my friends. And you know, the same loop that came in my mind, there was a part of me, I knew that, okay, even if we don’t compete, one day, we are going to complete it. And there was another part of me, which was saying that you know what, it’s going to stay, just complete the 42 once, and it’s going to become so much easier, we thought we could not be able to do 21. And once we did 21, right now, at this point, be it prepared or not prepared? on a Thursday night, if you call me and tell me, let’s run 21. Tomorrow, I will confidently say yes, because I knew we have finished it. So that sense of achievement was there. And I’m here, because my son was also there. I was like, Okay, what is he going to think if I don’t finish 42. So I think there was an added pressure for me, because of Rishi more than anybody else. Because he kept on saying gabaa I think you’ve had enough rest.
Dhiren 26:59
Only 42 you could do it.
Preet 27:03
And I believe at that point, I had overrun the lab. And Gita call me is like we’re turning around. And in my mind, I’m thinking, Oh my God, if they’re going to turn around nice. I’m just going to play catch up. It’s not about playing catch up, but that I will be running the rest of the lab alone. That was what was doing in my mind.
Dhiren 27:23
Yeah. So I want to ask you to what was your breaking point in the marathon? Where did you decide to sit? This is becoming very tough for me.
Jeetender 27:31
So if I take myself to that day of March 5, we’re reaching the palm, we’ve set up our drink stations or food stations, it’s 5am, we are ready to start. There was an excitement, there was nervousness. And we all started our watches. And we ran, like Pete said, despite how much ever you ran in training every days, and you run, so you need to listen to your body. And it takes a couple of kilometers until you warm up. So the first five, seven kilometers were an effort. After that it became slightly easier for the next 15. When we completed, we came back to the to loop. So we completed the half marathon. And we started on the third loop. So somewhere around 26k is when the sun started to come out and my body was starting to give me signs of you know, are you sure you want to do this, you still have a lot to go. And at that point, I decided to slow myself down and focus on trying to get through the next kilometer at a time before I reached the five kilometer water station. And that’s when Preet was way ahead, you and me running together. And it was either one of us looking at each other as signs of support that do you want to rest Do you want to rest. And that eye contact was just enough to keep us going for some time. It was getting hot. And that is something I don’t think we practiced well enough. I mean, we ran in the rain, we ran long distance, the maximum we ran during our training was 35k. So as we approached the 30k mark, it started to hit us that you know the body exhaustion was kicking in. But thankfully, once we started the last look, then we knew it was just a home stretch. And despite the sun being out, despite our body giving up, we just decided to keep going and it was more of a mental challenge at that point in time than a physical one. I remember at that point, you decided also to remove your shoes and run barefoot for the last 10k. So why don’t you continue from there on
Dhiren 29:35
one of the stupidest decisions I’ve ever made. But hey, looking back at it, good story to tell. But I just wanted to say that. It’s funny how your body will give you every reason to stop. Because I know when Keith and I were running together at the 2627 Kima we’re looking at each other. We started talking to each other we say you know my heel is spinning. carbs are hurting. My shoe is biting. This is every imaginable Excuse me. We could come up with to not finish to not run. I think that was also my tough point that 2728 came up, I said, you know, we’re not going to be able to finish this. And yes along the way, then we got to a point where I ended up making the decision to take my shoes off. This episode of the elevated entrepreneur podcast is brought to you by the cloudscape care package. This care package is designed specifically for retail and restaurant business owners. If you’ve got a retail or restaurant business or considering open one, and talk to us at cloudscapes dot E, or drop us a line at Hello at cloudscape dot A. And we’ll show you how the care package and all of its features, including training, implementation, and support can help you set up a success. I want to just hold here for a minute, because I think this is a very important moment in the marathon is when you are facing an uphill battle. You’re tired, the sun’s up, you’re exhausted, both mentally and physically. But something kept us going. And I want to know what that is. Because I think that’s one of the key lessons that we all took from this marathon training. What was that lesson? Or what was that thing that you told yourself that made you continue?
Preet 31:09
For me, there are a few things at every point, up to 33 was sort of a breeze in some way. So it wasn’t that easy. Because we knew we had done 33 or 35, we had done a practice run. While running back when it got hot, I had to change the story in my mind. I used to joke with my son, every time when we had gone for hiking or there would be some out. There you go, I’m tired. It’s so hot, I would tell him that. Listen, the sun is the solar power. It’s giving you power and energy. And he would go like, oh, but I’m tired. I don’t feel the energy. I’m like, because he would do some workout. I’m like, you’re not spending energy, you’re producing energy. And that’s the same story I will tell myself and there was a part of me, which was having the imposter syndrome. It’s like, dude, you just started, don’t worry, sit down, take rest, you will be able to complete this. They say that the good wolf. And the bad was both were debating in my mind at that point. And then I caught up with you after a kilometer or something. We were climbing the bridge after the one lonely. As soon as we climbed the bridge, seeing the see the water, the blue sky, I started just thinking of the things that I was grateful for. I started telling myself, I don’t know if you heard it, you were also under quite tremendous pressure and fatigue, I kind of started thinking out loud, I’m grateful for the blue sky, I’m grateful for the energy people have spent to make this payment that I’m running on that I get to run here. I’m grateful for Dubai or you know Shaykh Muhammad for creating bomb island where we are running. After so many years that you get to do this, I kept on thinking of positive thoughts at 33, or 35 is when I switched to music as well, listening to some fun in the beats. that kept me going and singing out loud. So I think the positive thoughts was just grateful and thoughts that kept me going. And I kept looking at my watch. The only thing I kept looking at is like, Alright, one more kilometer, one more kilometer. That’s the incentive I was giving myself, just to the next station, I think was what his decisions I felt in hindsight that we had made is instead of having the water station every five kilometers, we made it every two and a half kilometers. So it was something to look forward to every two and a half kilometers.
Dhiren 33:23
One of the best decisions we’ve made in that marathon 100% to keep those two and a half k.
Jeetender 33:30
It really helped us towards the last loop that we had done.
Dhiren 33:34
Playing that moment back for Preet was talking about. He’s running in front of me, we are now at 3333 and a half. And he’s talking to me as well. I’m hearing him motivate me and all I see suddenly his hands go out, you know as if he’s extending his arms into a big open hug. And he’s like, because it at this point you were thanking the blue skies and you were just so excited to see the sun. And I What is this guy doing? He’s gone nuts. The sun is finally got into him.
Preet 34:00
That was my Shahrukh Khan moment for listeners.
Dhiren 34:07
And at this point is where I was also cursing myself because I decided to take the shoes off and run the last 10 12k barefoot and the payment was really hard. So for in my mind, there were a lot of things stopping me and holding me back and wanting me to not finish the run. I see Peter Hiromi putting his ads out of where does he get this energy from? I wish I had that energy source. I think it was a sun that was your energy source. The sun gives you energy right?
Preet 34:31
Is this thing that somebody had told me? It looks majestic over the water, but under the water, it’s flapping its feet. It’s one of those things when we see other runners run you feel that they are running in the zone. They’re like already having the high whereas we are struggling and when we look at each other, that’s this mutual feeling that we get from everyone.
Dhiren 34:48
Yeah, everybody’s got their own troubles during that marathon. Right.
Jeetender 34:52
I totally agree. I guess this is the learning that I would like to share is that at that point in time where our body and mind was trying to Ask us, why are you doing this slow down, stop, sit down, relax, put your legs up. But you had somewhere a voice in you that was keeping on saying keep going keep going, you’re almost there. Like Pete says, a part of you is already at the finish line, you just have to meet that part. So keep going. It’s the voices in your head, and the one that you feed through allows you to continue. And all of us have the positive thoughts in us that kept us going.
Dhiren 35:26
Yeah, and I think what I’m hearing also, as you’re talking about this, after a certain point, it wasn’t really the physical exhaustion. That kept us from completing this run, it was actually the mental exhaustion. And the story, we were telling ourselves in our heads of how easy it is to give up, how we’d be nice to put your feet back up on a couch. And we could run this at some other point. But I think overcoming that, at that point in time was, I think, the secret to finishing everything. And I think that’s true for anything in life. Whatever you’ve got ahead of you, no matter how tough it is, it’s about the story you tell yourself, and how you frame it in your mind, is what’s going to take you to the finish line. So now I want to just ask G to you to finish the run sort of some of the lessons that you could share with the listeners about doing something so big and so exceptional.
Jeetender 36:14
The lesson that I got most out of this is that you know, unless you don’t do it, you don’t realize what your body and your mind is capable of. So whatever goals you’d like, whatever passion you have, set up a structure set up a timeline, Kevin Cruz group that has similar thoughts, so that you can actually take active steps towards it. And once you do complete it, it’s just a satisfaction that you cannot get from any other experience that you will have. So taking it from your list is something that I love to do. And I’ve taken this to another level have started to work on my next goal. And that is something we’ll talk about in the next segment about how we plan to celebrate completing a marathon.
Dhiren 36:59
Yeah, because I think we had breakfast and then we came up with some other harebrained plans. We wanted to talk this plan,
Jeetender 37:05
The infamous breakfast
Dhiren 37:09
Preet, what were some of your lessons that you took away from having finished the marathon.
Preet 37:13
I didn’t want you to set mind or matter to story that you keep telling yourself. I had seen one of the podcasts or videos of Jesse Itzler on Instagram, one of the guys I will look forward to when we’re done 100 miles. And he kept on saying how he changed his story is just saying that I’m feeling tired. He kept on saying that, Oh, I’m feeling energetic, how he builds emotional attachment towards his goals. Every time he runs that goes there. And I feel that there was continuous talk in my mind that I want you to really enjoy the run, rather than just reach the finish line. So I kept on telling myself that, Okay, you know what, you are going to go to the finish line. Are they going to go miserable? Were there are you going to enjoy the process to self talk was quite interesting for me, and pushing the boundaries. So for me, the major takeaway was to enjoy the journey before we reached the destination, no matter how miserable it was. I would like to add that I know we reached the finish line part of it. But the last five kilometers for me were the toughest. Really, really, really the toughest. I think that would be the major breaking point for me during the run. For some reason. I believe all of you guys, everybody that was running with us the support crew. By the time your wife had come home, he was there for you. It was there. He was there. Cheering group was there. The story I just kept telling myself, it’s just one more kilometer. It’s going to be so much easier after 39 it’s going to be much easier after 40. Except it did become more difficult after 40 for me because at that point, the sun was so hot that my feet started feeling the burn of the ground. I’m about 40 kilometers point I stopped, called him to like get some water and come here. She came with water. And she looked at me and I drenched my shoes with water. And she’s like what are you doing? I’m like, it’s really really hot. Like my feet are burning. And at 40 kilometer what I did, which I had not done earlier in the practice run is I started running faster than our normal pace my average pace that’s where the little bit of a fear kicked in. But you know what, if I don’t spend this out, I don’t think I’m gonna make the last two kilometers and I can’t stop at 40 like we’ve not come all the way to stay here. We’ve come all this way to cross the finish line. It was that interesting experience. So definitely a group having camaraderie having friends to run with. I don’t feel the goal had to be lonely by no goals alone the attempts but having a group of people beat G to you the rain you from point A to point theta ratio Voting go Papa was really inspiring.
Dhiren 40:05
I want to set context because I think we haven’t talked about timelines. So we started running at five. And what we’re talking about at the 40 42k mark, this is just about 1145. And we’re talking about very, very hot sun, Dubai heat. Sunday afternoon, happened to be one of the hottest Fridays in record, almost 3839 degrees. So when you were talking about your shoes burning and your feet burning, I just wanted to explain why we were actually going through all of that pain and turmoil because it was actually 3839 degrees, and the sun was just beating down, there was no shade inside. to breathe. I want to recap, you mentioned some very important lessons, right? Number one is have a group have your tribe. Number two, is get people to believe in the same goal as you the same excitement and the same passion. And I think the other thing you mentioned was what you’re telling yourself at that moment in time how you change the story. So like you said, you know, it’s not the son that’s hurting you, it’s the son that gives you energy. All of these internal conversations have to be reframed, to be able to finish something so big, and something so massive, anything else you want to add.
Preet 41:10
I have a colleague of mine who keeps on talking whenever we are in the tough situation, he keeps on clapping. And it’s like, it’s so easy. You know, at times, I want to look at him and show water I just facing this is not easy. And that’s one of the things that kept on in my mind. Also, I kept on running and like so easy.
Dhiren 41:30
The conversations we have with ourselves. I was also playing mind games, just like you were doing
Preet 41:36
Korea. One thing I want to add is with the tips, if anyone wants to runnings and this is something that I had done, is I think in some way, we all had done it, we had announced to every single family member and friend that we are running on Fifth March, and come see us there. So that pressure of really finishing it was quite high, the stakes were very high, everyone was gonna ask the question, what happened? How’s your run? And we want to say, Ben tastic, we nailed it. Or we could have said that? You know what we did in the run this day, we’re going to do it next year or next month.
Dhiren 42:08
That shave itself is probably the reason why we all finished it. Because you didn’t want to go back and tell everybody we didn’t finish it. social pressure can be quite a big motivator to know.
Preet 42:17
Yes, how you change the story, right?
Jeetender 42:21
I think we brought it dollars. And once we set the date, in order for us to believe it, we wanted to spread it around. So we spread it as much as we can. And there’s somewhere during the last five key over there that also kicked in that, you know, we made a commitment to ourselves, we made a commitment to each other, but we also spread it across out in the universe. So now it is we have to finish it because it’s out there.
Dhiren 42:44
What do you do? What are some of your lessons learned? I mean, that you take back to your daily life,
Jeetender 42:51
I guess you know, we sit down on our couches, we sit down on our phones, it’s easy to make a list. And when we actually go out there and try to get it done, more than half of us quit just beginning of a new habit, especially something that is not easy. So having accomplished this, I’ve just feel right now that I’m ready to challenge myself even more, try out something new. And just test my limits. Because I’ve done it once I can do it again.
Dhiren 43:21
100%. I wanted to add that I think there’s a few lessons that we all learned as a group, right. And we said it already, but I’ll just recap it, if anybody is either interested in running a full or a half marathon. But first find your group, find someone who will run it with you. Number two, you said this during the conversation, don’t look at somebody else and look at what you’re doing. It’s only your journey, and nobody else’s. So don’t focus on the person in front of you or the person behind you. Just listen to yourself and your body and think about how you’re going to finish what you started rather than figuring out how the other person is doing what he’s doing. And the other big lesson is persistence, right consistency, I don’t think we would have run the 42 if we hadn’t done all the practice runs. And we hadn’t done all the early morning starts of the 10 and the 15. And the 20 and 35. We got here because we were doing this consistently.
Preet 44:10
And I really want to know this part of your story. I remember this jeetu and he was also running with us, one of us are the bodies. Were ahead. I met you, you could hardly walk because you had some blisters under your feet. And you know, part of me was like, how is he going to run with blisters? And this is like something physical, it’s not mental. beyond that. We started running walking slowly. And all I kept on thinking and I wanted to ask you at that moment, what was really going through your mind somewhere I think for you this was one of the biggest achievement and because I saw you threw out that last stretch. I’m extremely proud that you really made the finish line because I know you had more than excuses in your mind a lot of technical difficulties like you know, blisters issues. And when you started running barefoot, which we normally do. And it’s very comfortable. And some was really hot and you started getting blisters, and some sort of pain and you went through the physical pain more than the mental pain together. But I want to know what was going through your mind till that stretch till we reached that shaded part.
Dhiren 45:17
You’re right, we’ve run barefoot on a jogging track. And I thought this would be the same thing because I felt the boardwalk where we were running was actually rubber. But it turned out it wasn’t. And when I took off my shoes, the first five, six, were easy. But when I started running more and more, I think it became really hot. And I started developing these blisters on your heel that really caused a lot of pain. When I was running, every time I would put my heel on, I would actually end up limping one more step to make up for the pain. And I think at that point is when I said you know what is not worth it, I just give up. I’ll take it easy. I’ll run it some other time. That’s about right when you were sort of learning alongside me and you were putting your hands out like Shahrukh Khan, and you’re talking about the blue sky. And so at that point, I think I figured that I should really not focus on this, I think focusing on something else will help change the conversation. And so you were playing some sort of music on your phone. And I was listening to that. And I decided to play the same music on my phone. You mentioned this earlier, we were playing these games with ourselves and I was doing the same thing, I’d say, you know what, man up, it’s only a bit of a blister on your heel, let’s talk after 500 meters. So I finished the 500 meters that I do a check in, I think I finished up to 39 is when I caught up with you guys in that sort of area where it was a bit more shade. Getting to 40 was that I was playing mental games with myself, I said, I’d only talk to myself, if I finish this giving a reward to myself, every time I did something I finished 500 meters and another 500 meters, another five meters. That’s how I got through that process, just not focusing on that pain and changing the story in your head. Easier said than done, though, I think for all of us.
Preet 46:47
Yeah, that’s true. And you know, the point, my motivation to motivate you became I’m like, you know what, if the rain doesn’t complete for you, too, we will have to do this all over again, all of us. I want to tell you that don’t, don’t do it for yourself, do it for us. To do this whole thing again.
Dhiren 47:09
Believe me that thought crossed my mind. And I don’t think I could do this again. And maybe that was also maybe one of the reasons why I don’t think I want to see these guys ever again. I don’t want to do this ever again. I want to finish this today and get done with I feel that was also a very big motivation in helping us finish the race. And it was at that point wanted to run, do this again. But having said that, you know, would you run a 42? Again?
Jeetender 47:32
Yes, definitely yes. And I would say that without a doubt. Because the high that I feel when I run and when I’m in my zone and when I’m in my rhythm is surreal. That is something I would like to experience. And I would definitely want to run a party to again, in a more formal environment with a running crew around us.
Dhiren 47:50
Despite how you saw that you don’t want to see us again for the next few months. And the next few years.
Jeetender 47:55
Yeah, it was ironic, the feeling at that point in time is exactly how you mentioned it. But a week later, we ran again as part of our recovery runs. So it just goes to show that the love for running is genuine.
Dhiren 48:07
Yeah, I don’t know if it’s the love for running, or is this just the love for routine? We said this as we were talking right? Our breakfast, catch up turns our conversations, the sharing of podcasts and the sharing of music. I think those are really the things we look forward to. So running maybe just a means to the end. And wanting that company maybe wanting that conversation is really why we do what we do. And we look forward to it. Pre What are your thoughts? Would you do a 42? Again?
Preet 48:30
I would do a 42 on a heartbeat? Again, not in the sun? Definitely not at the end, do it. Like Jesus said, it was surreal. For me, it was also euphoric. I think the sun got to me. I started sort of not hallucinating. But I started getting that woozy feeling in my mind. And when we finish the finish line, had breakfast came home, slept, took some rest, you know, I have to actually remind myself, I’ve seen the photos that Oh my God, we just finished a full marathon. It was a bit euphoric. I think I would do it again, almost as a pinch to myself that okay, this really happened. We really did it.
Dhiren 49:11
So that leads me to my next question. What’s next? We started talking about this during the conversation about the marathon. We said we have something planned for the future. So I want both of you to tell us what are we thinking next? What are your next plans?
Jeetender 49:21
Well, we all plan this together, we all decided that we would be going beyond our limits and trying out some new skill. And we all signed up last December to get our petty scuba license. And having successfully on that in January. We plan to go and celebrate our marathon by going from the desert to the water into the sea in Maldives and spend couple of days under the water. Scuba diving.
Dhiren 49:50
Absolutely. This is how we celebrate. Pete What are some of your plans
Preet 49:54
post a marathon? me it would be you know massaging your legs while scuba Diving when you get crabs
Dhiren 50:06
if everybody could see the sign that I’m making, while we’re recording this, there’s a hand signal for cramps that you give to your friends when you’re underwater. This is exactly what I’m doing right now.
Preet 50:17
To the listeners who can’t see our faces, when we started this podcast, you know, I could see actually how much we’ve grown from the time we started running, dedicate till we finish 42. And for everybody who might have not seen during orgy, two in person, they have facial hair. Now, when we started running, they did not have any facial during sporting and Western moustache now and putting a beard. So we’ve come a long way.
Dhiren 50:41
It’s how we hide our pain.
Preet 50:44
We found as then elsewhere.
Dhiren 50:46
So one of the things that we want the both of you very conveniently forward, we’ve planned and committed to finishing a trial on next year. Preet want to talk about that a little bit?
Preet 50:56
Yeah, what we had committed. And I clearly remember that we will continue to do our longer runs our longest runs just to the breakfast with DCs and be 10k 15k and sign up for swimming classes so that we can finish our open water swimming. Because the conference for an open water I stand with him and drown beach. I’m not that very confident swimmer. And they think you’re recovering as well. But I don’t think you do the distance yet.
Dhiren 51:25
No, I can’t do this. And I can’t open what I could do pull maybe a few laps. But I don’t think I can do open water yet. So suddenly that we need to work on.
Preet 51:32
Yeah, so we’ve done the running part of a checkbox I know cycling much, much easier. So swimming has been another goal since many years that hasn’t been checked off for me.
Dhiren 51:43
So hopefully by this time next year, we’ll have another episode where we’re talking about how we finish the triathlon. Before we wrap up the episode, I want to ask you two more questions and we’ll wrap up jito if there was one mistake that you could avoid in your journey of being a runner, what would that be?
Jeetender 51:59
Not answering your call.
Dhiren 52:05
Or just getting the call when you found out that you were earning 42? Yeah, that one?
Jeetender 52:09
Yeah, that one? No, but honestly, I think like anything in life, it’s always once you accomplish it, you just feel that you wish you had done it earlier. But I’m glad that we managed to do the 42 before we turn 40. And just look forward to smashing more goals in the coming years.
Dhiren 52:25
And pray what would be a mistake that you wish you hadn’t done or someone else canavoid?
Preet 52:31
In between the runs, I could see you and Jeeto clocking in the miles, I feel I slacked off somewhere in between. And there was a bit of an overconfidence in my side, because the longer runs we were making it. But it all came down to me on the final one, where I was asking myself, why am I not that confident? Because they were few weeks, or I had missed out a few runs. Of course, a part of me kept on saying at that time that you know what, it’s okay. It’s just one day, it’s just one week, you’ll catch up. And it did all catch up during the long run for me, because that bit of that courage, although we have it on our metal spirits like journey before destination, that’s where it came from, like, you know, when it when I was sitting down, we were talking about what should be the court and what would be the most inspiring thing. And I’m like, you know, somewhere, I stopped believing in the journey and I was looking for the destination. I’d like you know what, I just want to pick this off. So for me, I would say have that. And having clear accountability partners, I think, two weeks before the run that we had done that 35 or something and we’re like, Guys, this is not working out. You guys have to hold me accountable for waking up every morning and running. And what you did, either you or Geeta would send a message on WhatsApp saying, All right, I’ve run and there have been times when I’ve seen that WhatsApp in my bed. And I’m like these guys have done it. I really have to at least send them a genuine photo of me being outside running. That helped me so much. I cannot be thankful enough.
Dhiren 53:52
Yeah, we did it across this episode, find someone who will keep you accountable. I think that’s so important because something so big in life can only be achieved when you have a partner and a confidant and someone who you believe in and someone who believes in you. Right?
Preet 54:05
Yeah, will be something for you Dhiren?
Dhiren 54:08
I think the one mistake that I made early on was self doubt. Even during the run, there was a lot of self doubt. And you will see if I don’t finish it, I won’t finish it no big deal. I think that’s a big regret that I still carry. Not that it’s a regret. But it’s more a lesson that I have to constantly remind myself, it’s very easy to self doubt. It’s very easy to throw away your accomplishments and actually doubt, like you said, we use the word imposter syndrome. Who am I to finish a 42? Or who am I to finish at 21 I’m not a big person or a big deal. So self doubt can show up in many different ways and many different times. It’s about letting it go or sort of overcoming that self doubt with something more positive. So that’s been my biggest regret as also my biggest lesson. Because even during the 42 there was only times I said fuck this shit. I don’t think this is worth it. I could very easily be sitting home in front of my TV and watching Netflix. So like I said, self doubt comes up in many different ways. And thoughts.
Preet 55:01
Next time you ask yourself who am I you should say Cheetah, Cheetah
Dhiren 55:09
Share a share, share share,
Jeetender 55:12
I think that’s exactly what it is. I mean, the story in your head, rather than asking the question, why should I be doing this? You should ask yourself, why not?
Dhiren 55:20
Yeah, if you hear self doubt, really just kill that thought in its tracks. Breathe. Because you’re on the elevated entrepreneur podcast, I want to hear from you what makes for an elevated entrepreneur or maybe even an elevated person, if you will, in the context of doing big things in life.
Preet 55:38
We all try supporting each other, and growing together, try elevate you, I am elevating myself with that, as a human connection. It’s our fundamental duty. A lot of times, we’ve moved from our hometown to the city life, we forget how important the tribe is. And you tend to lose connection with that, as we get busier with the day. So for me, definitely what’s elevated me all the time is the tribe is the five people that I hang out with. And, you know, I have to really add this to you that are there when I met you was a coincident, but investing the relationship with you. And GQ has been conscious, because I wanted to hang out with people who I wanted to model in some way. Or, you know, who would pull me forward with the conversations and actions?
Dhiren 56:30
Yeah. Likewise, thank you for sharing.
Jeetender 56:34
I think critius explained that really well. Just to add to that is for us running was as much as an individual sport as much as it was a team sport. And having that group or crew around you is what helps to develop your mindset. So having the few people that you can count, on your hand is what is important to elevate yourself and level up out of your comfort zone.
Dhiren 57:00
Yeah, absolutely 100%, the crew, the team, your group, your company, is very, very important. You said it earlier in the podcast, right? It’s who you hang out with. And that’s what you’re going to look like because if you hang out with runners, you’re going to become a runner. So if you want to become something hang out with someone who’s already been there, done that or is in the process of doing that, and you will eventually become that version of yourself. Finally, last question, you guys, you guys want to share your Instagram handles? Where can people find you?
Preet 57:27
Follow me on Instagram saga read around one more place, I want to tell the listeners where they could find me, you know would be in Maltese with G two in the rain, basking in glory, or diving underwater or diving underwater.
Jeetender 57:44
You can reach me at at Johnny underscore J. That’s GUNW A and I underscore the letter J
Dhiren 57:50
on Instagram. For anybody who’s listening in who wants to connect Guys, please feel free to reach out to Geeta and Preet or Instagram and I’m sure they’d be happy to share more stories of their runs. and gentlemen, I want to thank you both for being on the podcast and for sharing so transparently and for all that you’ve talked about. Thank you for making this happen.
Jeetender 58:08
It’s been a pleasure thanks a lot the rain for hosting this and helping us relive the memories
Preet 58:13
Dhiren, thank you very much for picking this goal off my list of being on a podcast.
Dhiren 58:22
Thank you so much for staying with me till the very end of the episode, you’ve done it. I’ve got three specific asks for you only if you think that this podcast is worthy of your support. And if you’ve enjoyed the content, my first request is for you to hit the subscribe button. Actually smash that subscribe button so that you can get notified when new episodes come your way. Or if you haven’t already, head on over to elevated entrepreneur.fm and subscribe to the podcast on the website so that new episodes are emailed to you right away. My second request is for you to help me spread the word with your friends and families and business owners that would enjoy this podcast and help elevate them too. You can do that either by leaving a review on your Apple device or just telling your friends how cool this podcast is. And finally, if there’s a question that you’ve been dying to ask me, all these pieces of feedback that you’d like to give me, head on over to elevatedentrepreneur.fm/speak where you will be able to record a voice message that I can listen to and also maybe feature here on the podcast together with my answer. I’d love to hear from you. Thank you much love and I’ll see you in the next one.
