the home stretch

I managed to get through that terribly frustrating week; I had the exams to keep myself occupied. I was looking forward to the end of this week when I’d travel back to Calcutta with the semester ending. I was hoping that the blister would dry up by then and I could the penultimate week count. I had used the inactive week in reading up further on marathon nutrition. I must say that I can claim to be some sort of an expert on what to eat while preparing for your first marathon. Some of the general misconceptions on which foods are ‘fattening’ is quite astounding!

Although the blister was not completely gone upon my arrival at Calcutta it had subsided quite a bit, sufficient for me to wrap the affected area in bandage and hit the road. I took the Sunday run a little easy doing about 8 kilometres at a trundling effort. The day after I was back in my groove and I ran from my place to the ‘Lakes’ in Calcutta. I must say that I’m glad that I took this route as its one of the most scenic running routes possible. With an early nip in the air this year in Calcutta, running next to the waterbody felt almost an out-of-body-experience for me! It can get a little crowded in the mornings but hey, after four months of dodging rogue auto and marauding bus drivers, I can manage a little bobbing and weaving!

The week turned out better than I expected; I mixed things up well with tempos, four mile stretches at a couple of notches above race pace and a fartleck. The almost week long layoff didn’t seem to have made that much of a difference as I exceeded 60 kilometres for the first time in a week. As the day of the race draws close, I’m invaded by a number of unanswered questions: how prepared I really am? Would I be able to hold my own against what most definitely would be a very competitive field? Only time will tell I guess...