Age=distance=just
a number= 42.195
So, it was that my second full marathon happened.
With a new job, stress of traveling across the city on non-existent roads, sitting with legs cramped up for nearly 3 hours in a day and all resulting in a bad back, running took a back seat!
Though I had signed up for the city run, the training did not happen as I had hoped to do.
Stopping yoga was a heart breaker, it left me with nothing.
And I had signed up for the Mumbai trail walker a month away from the marathon! Wondered if I could do that with this kind of excruciating pain
So I stopped all running and focused on just walking! And a bit of cycling.
Gave my long run one last shot and managed a 21 km!
So it was that, I decided to run the full marathon this year with just a few long runs of which 25km was the longest!
I received comments like ”you cannot run a marathon by just walking”
My confidence did not wane!
Never walked!!
So, it was that my second full marathon happened.
With a new job, stress of traveling across the city on non-existent roads, sitting with legs cramped up for nearly 3 hours in a day and all resulting in a bad back, running took a back seat!
Though I had signed up for the city run, the training did not happen as I had hoped to do.
Stopping yoga was a heart breaker, it left me with nothing.
And I had signed up for the Mumbai trail walker a month away from the marathon! Wondered if I could do that with this kind of excruciating pain
So I stopped all running and focused on just walking! And a bit of cycling.
One month of
complete stoppage of all that I was used to did make me sluggish and lose
interest in a lot of things in life!
I did not indulge
in eating out or drinking during this time, (the Coimbatore and Goa reunion do
not count) the faint hope that I would recover enough to be able to run the
marathon kept me in check.
I asked a
friend for help, I knew it was too late to start off, but no harm trying. His
training plan was not meant for a novice runner like me who had not yet
conditioned her body to start off with a 25 km run! and he never checked my progress beyond the first week! It caused more heartache!
So I decided
to test my back and legs in September. A 42nd birthday gift to myself
was to try and run and cycle a 42 kms during the day in total.
Managed a
comfortable 17 km run and 25 km cycling on the day. Did not feel any pain,
could function normally the next day. Gained a bit of confidence to try and
increase the distance the next weekend and did manage a 25 km run!! Happiness!
But the
happy streak stopped with the pain slowly coming back as the commute worsened!
Decided to change the work route and take a longer route to avoid potholed
roads.
I was now
determined to run! With just a month to go and a run not progressing beyond 3
kms ( this was supposed to be my 30 km weekend) I was not sure if I could or
should or not!!!
I kept
walking regularly, could not let down my trailwaker team!!! Gave my long run one last shot and managed a 21 km!
So it was that, I decided to run the full marathon this year with just a few long runs of which 25km was the longest!
I received comments like ”you cannot run a marathon by just walking”
My confidence did not wane!
Signed up with
a pacer who was firm on a ‘’all run no walk’’ strategy.
Again the
doubts crept in, I had never done this before!!
You won’t
know till you try and put in your best efforts!!Never walked!!
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