the joy of running!

I’m almost in the last throes of my preparation for the Delhi Half Marathon to be held on the 1st of November. My original intention was to start my competitive running career with the Mumbai Marathon in January 2010. That is supposed to be my first marathon, or was but a combination of events ensured that I’m yet to register for my first full marathon, not that 21 kms will be a cakewalk...

I have managed to clock 55 kms last week and 50 kms consecutively in the previous two weeks, so mileage wise am feeling quite confident. My long runs have also been shaping up quite well with runs of 14-16 kms every Sunday for the last few Sundays, I can just hope that my body is getting tuned into a nice weekly rhythm and should peak just at the right time. My running stints when I resumed at the beginning of the year was quite random with little thought going into building mileage schedules and ensuring that the tempo is built up gradually. I just went into the gym and drove myself on the treadmill...now when I first went through this site I counted myself lucky that I didn’t pick up an injury! In fact I was surprised that there was so much to learn about running that one wouldn’t be far off the mark by terming it as learning about the ‘art’ of running! One practically learns about how the body functions, metabolizes, the foods that provide energy and does the repair work etc. Initially I started shunning rice in the belief that it would just hold me back in my quest for shedding excess baggage...imagine my surprise when I discovered that its one of the primary source of carbohydrate for people into serious running.

.As promised by numerous running ‘gurus’, once you get into a nice rhythm and habit of running, it becomes a part of you, it becomes addictive. It’s like a daily fix; you itch to get out in the morning and hit the road, crunch those miles and come back after the days run with a glow of satisfaction on your face. If for some reason you miss a day, there is almost a sense of loss (I’m not exaggerating folks but it kinda feels like that!) So once I got the initial weeks out of my way after the resumption, I seriously began to wonder how I existed without it. However its important that one keeps enjoying the very act of getting outdoors and letting oneself go; a competitive edge can very quickly nudge you into a zone where running can become a burden.