Seema Subodh took the U-turn in her life at the age of 35. An aerobics trainer and a marathoner, she had been working as a medical transcriptionist at a firm in Kochi till that decisive moment. “It was a sedentary lifestyle. Though I could take breaks in between, I was glued to the computer most of the time, which ultimately led to health issues. That encouraged me to choose a different lifestyle,” Seema recalls the journey.
It wasn’t easy, but she tread the path confidently and realised her dream of becoming a full marathoner. “During that time, I heard about a short run happening at Marine Drive in Kochi. I participated in it along with my husband, brother and cousin. I found it good. Later, I associated with a running club ‘Soles of Cochin’ and started running more often,” says Seema. “In the course of time, I got knee pain and I didn’t know what to do about it and how to improve my running. So, I decided to gain knowledge in the area. I learned about an aerobics course by Reebok. I called up the trainer Radhakrishna Swamy and queried her if I could I take up the course as I was 35. She replied ‘I’m 60. If I can do this, you too can’.”
Seema completed 80 hours of classes on weekends and began her own classes in 2014. “After learning it, I could help myself.” Then happened her first half marathon of 21 km. “It was the Chennai Trial Run by the Chennai Trekking Club. It was followed by the Spice Coast Marathon and a lot of other half marathons.”
But, it took her a while to accomplish the full marathon. “My first full marathon (42.195 kms) was the Mumbai Marathon held in January this year,” she says. It wasn’t easy to strictly follow the preparation schedule as she had to manage household chores along with this. “The short runs and LSDs (Long Slow Distance Run) I had been doing all those years actually prepared me for the full marathon,” adds Seema, who still relishes the Mumbai Marathon experience. “Half way, I was tired. Though I switched to the ‘walking and running’ mode after a while, one of my friends came forward and told me ‘you came here to run in pain’. That was the trigger. I started picking up slowly and my energy returned in the last leg,” she says. Seema believes that everyone should do a marathon as it is a life lesson. “It teaches you that you may fall, but you can get up and restart.”
Besides marathons, Seema has done a Triathlon and a 200-km Brevet in 2017. Right now, she is prepping up for the 2 km Swimathon to be held on March 24 in Goa. She also plans to launch a programme IQ (Itness Quotient) to make everyone, especially women aware of the need for exercise. “Some time ago, I saw a billboard about a knee surgery while travelling. In fact, we can resolve knee pain with proper functional training. IQ intends to spread such knowledge,” she says.
