He achieved a singular feat in 2019, working 100 half-marathons in 100 days and not using a break to focus on India’s poor air high quality. He chronicled this, and his working journey, on his weblog, running-sundeep.blogspot.com.

“I had not run outdoors for three months,” says the 40-year-old, who began at 8pm with a loop round his home.

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“After the first 25km I took a short break, refuelled and slipped into a fresh pair of socks and shoes,” he says. By 1.45am, he had completed 50km.

“The late-night walkers had disappeared, and the roads were eerily silent. The toughest part was to distract the mind,” says Singh.

He recalled a saying: “Running is nothing more than a series of arguments between the part of your brain that wants to stop and the part that wants to keep going.”

Singh’s spouse, Japneet, knew he was onto one thing when he didn’t return from the run till midnight.

“It turned out to be an unplanned night out for me as well,” she says, as she went to their flat balcony each hour to see if he wanted something to proceed the run.

“At 5am, the darkness began to fade, and the early morning walkers started appearing. After 85km, the body was fatigued,” says Singh, however provides that, with simply 15km left, “there was no way I was stopping”.

He completed at 8am – 12 hours after he began.

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The managing director of a worldwide consulting agency, Singh grew to become all in favour of working in 2014 whereas interviewing a candidate for a place at his work, who talked about that he ran lengthy distance.

“I was intrigued and went for a run that evening – and could barely finish a kilometre,” says Singh. That impressed him to coach.

He signed up for the Delhi Airtel half-marathon, scheduled for the top of that yr, and began working open air, centered on constructing distance. Months later, he did a observe run, ending the 21km in 2 hours 20 minutes.

“While I was able to complete the distance, I realised that I needed to lose weight,” he says. Over the next two years, he shed 22 of his 93 kilograms and has maintained a weight of 71kg since then.

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A dietitian suggested him to get rid of carbonated drinks, fried meals and sugar from his weight loss program. He stops consuming carbohydrates at 6.30pm. Breakfast – muesli, three eggs and a peanut butter sandwich – is his heaviest meal of the day.

For lunch and dinner he has chapattis – Indian flatbreads – with greens and dal, a stew made from pulses corresponding to lentils. He snacks on fruit, steamed rice muffins often called idli, and porridge, often called upma.

He began working with energy coaching coach Anubhav Rai, who runs native health club Bomiso.

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He started carrying 2kg ankle weights into the workplace to strengthen his legs.

He additionally took up yoga and skilled to change into a licensed working coach merely to change into a greater runner.

Singh ran his first half-marathon in November 2014, ending in 1 hour 43 minutes 7 seconds and chopping 37 minutes from his observe time, and accomplished his first marathon – the Standard Chartered Mumbai – in January 2015, ending in 4 hours 14 minutes 27 seconds.

Singh runs 70km per week open air over 5 days, placing in runs of 20km, 18km, 14km and 10km, and an 8km restoration run. That final one is at a leisurely tempo along with his crew whereas having a gathering in movement. He nearly all the time wears working gear, even at work.

He posted an replace on his runs on social media every week, together with some greatest practices to scale back air air pollution.

By half-marathon quantity 60, with swollen ft and tight hamstrings, he resorted to working in slippers for a couple of days.

With every run he felt extra depleted and even thought of quitting – however realised the psychological discomfort from that will be far worse than the bodily discomfort of finishing the problem he had set himself.

To get to 100, he wanted to get as a lot relaxation as he may – so he slept at each alternative, together with at his son Ekam’s chess tournaments and whereas ready for him at college, at airports, “and even at the dentist’s clinic”.

His 100 runs in 100 days drew media consideration and put India’s air-quality disaster within the highlight, “but the magnitude of change needed is so enormous that a lot more needs to be done”, he says.

Running has remodeled his way of life, from his consuming habits to his sleep cycle. It has made him respect the small issues in life and taught him to make use of his time effectively.

“Running brings you closer to your best version and this is what motivates me to keep running,” he says.

His purchasers take a look at him otherwise now, he says. “The level of trust they exude in my abilities has increased significantly.”

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Running has introduced his household nearer, too.

His spouse, herself a companion in a worldwide consulting agency, says: “I am in awe of Sundeep’s commitment to running, his mental strength, and humility. All through running 100 half-marathons, he made time for the family, played chess with our son, went for movies and even did grocery shopping.”

“Ekam often says, ‘My Dad can do anything’,” Singh says of his 13-year-old son. “He has watched me wake up early, say no to tempting food, lace up after a long day at work, and improve as a runner.

“When we are on vacation, he makes sure that any plans are made around my running schedule. He is imbued with the sportsmanship spirit in the way he trains for his own sport, chess.”

Having gained a way of goal and course in his life by means of working, Singh has his sights set on working the 2024 Boston Marathon within the United States. He certified for the race in 2023, however a projected 500-day wait to safe a visa after the Covid-19 pandemic prevented him from becoming a member of.

As his purchasers say, no problem is simply too huge for a person who can run 100 half-marathons in 100 days.