Issued in public interest: If you’ve missed the first half of this post, then please go and read it to understand the context of this one (not that it would make much of a difference)! Here’s the link: http://oh-wit.com/2013/12/17/half-marathons-the-first-half/
Welcome back after the interval. Hope you enjoyed the popcorns. Hope this bad joke doesn’t make you as giddy as those anti-smoking advertisements. Gosh, I need to stop blabbering.
So the scene was set for a dramatic second half. It was time to prepare for next year’s half marathon that was scheduled for 15th December. The goal was to run all the way and finish before the clock’s minute hand completed two rounds. Let’s see how it went.
Like most guys, I believe in Newton’s Fourth Law of Procrastination. See, the best way to deal with important things is to wait until they became urgent. That way they get their due attention and the time saved can be used for other precious stuff … like sleeping. So that’s what I did. The training that was supposed to start in July practically took off in November.
Another ‘typical guy thing’ I did was going from snoring to sprinting within a week. I was super excited to see my Nike Fuel scores shoot up as fast as the Dollar rates. But very soon the market crashed. I sprained my troublesome left ankle. Oh no!
The physiotherapist gave me the ‘You should have known better, you fool’ look. I chuckled and said with a soldier’s determination, ‘I am going to complete the race come what may’. What he, and everyone else around me, saw was a stubborn and stupid soldier adamant to shoot himself in the foot – quite literally.
I won’t even bother explaining why I HAD TO RUN. I do not have the words to do so. The more everyone told me not to run, the fussier I became. C’mon guys, you should know how appealing the forbidden fruit has always been for me. Besides, the injury and the resistance added a lot more drama to the story. And don’t I just love drama!
Who knows whether I would’ve been able to train well enough to meet my goals if the injury hadn’t happened? What I do know is that the battle was now much more mental than physical – just the way I liked it!
I did all I could to get better. In fact, I overdid the recovery measures as well. It’s funny how the early morning runs that felt like a burden suddenly became a wishful privilege. 3km … 1 km … 2 km … the short pain-free runs I managed all counted as big boosts when the D-day arrived.
I participated. I completed the run. Sounds like an anti-climax? It was.
Of course I had to walk most of the distance and couldn’t meet my ‘under 2 hours’ target. What were you expecting – a Bhag Milkha Bhag reprise?? (That would have been so cool though).
Funnily I felt stronger than last time. It makes me wonder if training and performance are actually inversely related! No killing pain in the leg. No divine intervention was needed. Alas!
Hey, wait! It’s not that like nothing was achieved. I remembered to run the last 100 meters and this time I finally have pictures of me actually ‘running’ the half marathon. Yay!!!
So what’s next?
I once saw a T-shirt that read ‘Half Marathon – because I am half crazy’. I loved it but didn’t buy it because I think it was disrespectful. I am not half crazy … I am FULL CRAZY!
I can see you going “Yes Yes, you are!’ So, its time to forget the injury once again, needlessly push the mental and physical strength to a new extreme, and sign up for the upcoming Full Marathon in April. The madness continues …
Varun 