1-2-2 Phew 1-2-2 Phew, so goes my rhythmic breathing as I jog along on what was the first real jog of the season. After a nearly 3 year break and a weight gain of almost 7 kgs, I decided to hit the running trail again last Sunday after pondering over it for almost a month.
Despite being an extended weekend due to Good Friday, and all my resolve to go for a run on each of the three days, the heat was completely energy sapping. With temperatures of more than 35 degrees even at 7 PM in the evening, going out for a run was a tough task. But not so on Sunday. Despite getting up a little later than I would have liked (7:30), I put on my running gear and head out to the grand Atal park for my run.
I have vivid memories on how I used to run around Atal park in the Diwali week prior to my half marathon runs in Mumbai. It used to be a good run with me running at almost twice the speed at which mom would take her round during her morning walk. This time, of course it was different. Not only was it significantly hotter, I was also completely out of practice unlike the well oiled runner I used to be three years back. So instead of running along the standard walking track, I decide to take a detour and jog along the park boundary on the grass to cushion my knees from the impact of my now significantly heavier frame!!.
As I moved along the boundary of the park, I was pleasantly surprised with the cool breeze flowing along the park, not to mention that the entire path was covered by trees, some of which were flowering.
Looking at the sights and the wonderful cross breeze in the park, I found a sudden spring in my step, and before I realised, I was jumping across the park and had reached the other end of it. However, try as nature might, the legs soon started revolting against what would have looked like a return to the physical education classes of 12th - No exercise for two years, and all of sudden they were expected to compete for some good marks in the PE practicals!!.
After trudging for a round more, I realised that the legs needed rest for this to be a fruitful outing, so out came the old faithful routine of sacrificing speed for distance; And I started walking half the distance from one end to the other, while jogging the remaining half.
While doing this routine, every subsequent attempt to begin the jog from the walk became tougher, and it reminded me of the 2004 Tour De France where a young Thomas Voeckler was competing to retain the Yellow Jersey for one more day (He had already retained it for 8 days). The terrain was mountainous, and the approach he adopted was one which would harm his chances in the later stages, but all that mattered was keeping the yellow jersey for one more day. Every time he would slide behind the leading group of riders, he would step out of the saddle, pull out some more reserves of energy and push himself to ensure he was always in touch with the leading group. Eventually he retained the yellow jersey for 10 days. Though he finished the overall race at 18th position, he had already made a name for himself in French cycling history. And so I pushed on, labouring with the start stop method till I had done my 10 km for the day, with a nice sprint in the last 500 m :)
The feeling of being starved of carbohydrates and pushing the body every few minutes just reminded me of why I did the two half marathons, and why running remains such a stress reliever - You forget everything else which is on your mind, and all you can think of is the rhythmic sound of your feet against the ground. Here's to another season of long distance running!
