Hope Springs Eternal ...

I got back on the horse this week after sore shins grew les painful, fearful of a repeat of performance. I started out a workmanlike 7 k’s and kept this going for 10 mins. I paid scant attention to glances from fellow gym rats, who must have been wondering why I was attempting to run at a pace most choose to walk at.

No this isn't really me :-)    ... it's how I felt in the zone!!

No matter that I was going slow – my legs appeared to be warming to the task, and my mind was happily distracted by the shapely shapes on FTV (I find the BG treadmills are frequently tuned to this inspirational channel). I increased pace to 8.5K’s and kept going for just under an hour. This was more like it. A couple of stops and starts later, I clocked 6KM in around 50 mins, and hopped off my mount feeling pretty good about myself. 




To say I expected “We’re not worthy” type prostration from onlookers, is pushing it, but a grin of encouragement or two would’ve been nice. None was forthcoming. Nevertheless I ran a solitary victory lap in my head – I haven’t run this kind of distance since the early 90s, and so this performance was rawther impressive, to say the least.

I figured running 21 K’s shouldn’t take more than a gentle increase in speed and distance each week, and before you know it, Bob’s yer uncle and I’m breasting the tape. I was still to catch my first episode of Radiant Runner meets Rude Reality.

Burning Rubber

With a stubborn Halfer’s resolve and a lump the size of a cantaloupe in my throat I set off to conquer my Waterloo – the treadmill. A more soulless (and pointless) invention I have yet to come across.  Still, if I couldn’t best it the Half would be out of the question, and so I clambered on.

I set off burning rubber (at my weight, there’s even a little smoke) at a grand speed of 8Ks and quickly dialed it up to 11. It took a while to get into my “runner’s rhythm” but just as I started to get cocky, the wheels fell off. At the 12 min mark, my calf muscles began to lock and I went from a steady stride to a hobble in the span of a few minutes, and I climbed off the horse.

Yesterday I played squash with Kunz to test out my gimpy legs, and it reconfirmed my weak state, post the treadmill debacle. IT confirmed my biggest fears - these legs weren’t built to run, they were built to lumber into the kitchen and grab a quick bite.

A Moderately Fit , Certainly Overweight Citizen of Mumbai

Yours truly hefting Antara when she was 10 months old

I AM OVERWEIGHT. Not sure what the TallBoys achieve, but I figured I’d take a leaf out of the AA playbook, and start by making an admission of what I know to be true. I just came off a low carb diet in 09, in which I lost a few kegs, but I’ve gained most of it back. Not the stuff marathon legends are made of …

I’m what you might call a generalist sportsman. I once played ball sports reasonably well, in fact you might say I was pretty good as an engster [a nugget from my time with NRN]. But I was never exceptional at any one sport. Looking at me now, even the “reasonably well” requires a sizeable leap of faith.

Running to me has always been synonymous with getting to the ball. Running for running’s sake, or for the joy of running (I’m rolling my eyes right now just thinking of it) was never a consideration. To add to my running handicaps, I’m a smoker. I drink occasionally (although I’ve been on more than a few benders back in the day) and recently had a surgery for a breathing disorder, which had me worried for a bit.

The truly tricky bit for me is that I have a weakish right leg, which I don’t quite know how to deal with. When I’m playing, my Achilles heel is my Achilles heel. On occasion my ankle will swell up, making it impossible to put more weight on the foot, forcing me to take evasive action. The other issue I have is that my shins occasionally start to hurt like crazy mid-game, preventing further running of any kind. Both I’m told are a direct result of being overweight and shortchanging my warm-up, but I’m not so sure.

Why am I telling you all this? I guess so you’ll appreciate that running the Half is not going to be a slam dunk. But then if it was, I probably wouldn’t do it!! I did mention I don’t really love running … at least not yet.