May 2010 Archives

Last year, since I was regular at the NRC, I had trained well. However, this year, I was neither regular nor well trained. I wanted to do atleast 200K before the actual race and atleast 4-5 10Ks but I managed about 100K with not a single race distance. However, one good thing I noticed was that my overall pace had increased and I was able to do the small distances that I was running with ease. I was thinking that I would be able to do 52-54 mins for the 10k.

I started of the race at an easy pace. For the first couple of KMs, I had to fight for the way. There were too many people. It eased out around the 2k mark and the next few kms were covered in quick time. I started feeling a bit tired around the 6K mark and started taking it easy. The 7th was even more difficult. When I was thinking of walking for a few minutes, I started to play with my mind. I was thinking what I would I be telling Vasu if she decides to quit. That made me push and I was able to complete that last couple of kms with relative ease. Overall I did the 10k in 56:36, a couple of minutes better than last time.

Once I completed, I took a few minutes break and went back looking for Vasu. She was near the Hudson circle gate and I pushed her to run the last 700 odd metres. This was her first 10K and I am glad she completed it under 1:30:00.

After the race, we went to the Nike Lounge for foot massage, photo session and a sumptuous breakfast. I also ran into Dr.Rajat at the lounge. He was cheerful and all smiles as always. When I approached him with a couple of questions, he was happy to provide me inputs on the spot. So bad that he does not consult in Bangalore anymore.

The lunch was at Ragoos, on Kanakpura road, a vegetarian place for pizzas, pastas and rice. More about it later.

--
It is a fight between your body and mind. The body says it cant go any further but the mind is trying to push. When you achieve this harmony, then you can breeze.
          -- Balaji, 2010