Rawat returns to his favourite race for first time after injury during 2016 Rio Olympics in Mumbai Marathon
"Racing, competing, it's in my blood. It's part of me, it's part of my life; I have been doing it all my life and it stands out above everything else."
This post from Olympian Nitendra Singh Rawat on social media illustrates how passionate he is about running.
Returning to full marathon after suffering a hamstring injury during the 2016 Rio Olympics, the army man is excited to return to his true calling after more than a year at the 2018 Mumbai Marathon here on Sunday.
Though his actual comeback was at the Delhi Half Marathon last November, where he finished first in the Indian men's elite category, Rawat is kicked about going all out in his favourite Mumbai Marathon.
The 33-year-old has set his eyes on setting a new course record of 2 hours and 13 minutes come Sunday.
"I want to create my own new course record. I have been training in Ooty, at a height of 2300 metres for the last one month and I'm targeting the 2 hours, 13 minutes mark," he told the media on the eve of the marathon here on Saturday.
Rawat will battle with his fierce competitor and friend Gopi Thonakal, the first ever male from the country to win the Asian championship title last November in China.
"I have been training in Bengaluru for three months and my victory in the Asian marathon has given me confidence. I want to clock 2:13," said Gopi.
However, the Athletics Federation of India has set 2:12.50 as the qualification mark to be considered for the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, to be held in April.
Rawat has prepared well for the Mumbai Marathon, but has his targets set beyond that.
"There is a lot of pressure. I had prepared well for the Olympics, but suffered a hamstring injury. Now my target is to prepare for Asian Games and CWG. What I had targeted for the Olympics, I will do in these events and will try to achieve what I had aimed for," he said.
Rawat said the period after the Olympics was tough for him.
"I had got a lot of negative messages after my target to achieve for Olympics had failed. I went offline completely. It felt bad but I kept myself motivated somehow. During recovery, I worked on my strengths and trained hard before I recovered fully in March," he said.
The runner believes it will be difficult for him to get back to the standard he usually sets for himself.
"It's going to be difficult to achieve the same that I did before. After injury, an athlete loses confidence and belief. You have to start from zero. Hence, patient is needed."
It won't be as easy for the Indian elite runners, though, as they will be competing against the some serious competitors from countries like Kenya and Ethiopia.
Women too target high
Like men, women runners, too, have set their targets high. Sudha Singh, a top woman steeplechaser, said, "This is for the first time anyone has arranged a pace setter for us. My target is 2:33. I have been preparing for the race in Dharamsala and then Bengaluru," said Sudha, who had clocked 2:39.28 in 2016 before taking part in the Rio Games steeplechase event.
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