Taking stock - just 3 months to go

Not enough ticks

My progress thus far has been minimal, but it's just enough to allow me to see daylight on the race to come. At this point I've run 11K once, I've lost a few kegs and I'm able to sort of keep my mind from drifting back to the sorry state of my calves every 5 mins.

On the flip side, my legs are going to need to rebuild some resilience in moving my girth along, I'm going to have to start running outdoors (since the treadmill is rumored to be less tiring), and I've gotta get some running strength back. I will also need to break out the ice packs, which served me well through my pre-reg training days.

3 months doesn't seem enough to turn the corner on completing 21k, but I can either mull over it or get off my keister and start hauling ...

The universe conspires & I get a shot

After many weeks of angst, wondering if all my efforts would come to nought, the dark clouds lifted and my running dream was given a reprieve. Niki and Rhea offered to squeeze me into their corporate quotas (supporting an NGO), which would allow me to run the beast after all. I decided to go with Childline, an NGO after my own heart, and quickly turned the forms in.

Heart pounding with excitement, I picked up the reins of my tottering SC Marathon wagon, and set forth on my journey once more. All the emotions of fear, self-doubt, intimidation resurfaced, and with a pit the size of a cantaloupe in my stomach I mentally geared myself to giving it another go.



I've never crossed over to the other side



Heartbreak - Gam zeh ya'avor

This evening after waiting through 4 intolerable weeks, I checked my mail to learn that I was not among the registrants randomly selected to run the Mumbai edition of the SC Half Marathon. I should have checked sooner - would have saved me 1 wk of grief. It was a polite, yet fairly definitive email, which I re-read 5 times, in abject disbelief. Apparently only 58% of the applicants were able to find a place on the runner’s list. I am not one of them.

This is the first year the cutoff of 2500 runners has been implemented, presumably to put our great city’s best foot forward. My fate ball couldn’t find it’s way past quotas of females, past timed runners, senior citizens, etc. and came to an abrupt halt midway through the maze.

Needless to say, I’m absolutely gutted. The hardest part of this effort, well beyond the training, the largely unsuccessful weight loss program, the stop ’n start quit smoking movement has been wrapping my mind around the fact that I will be running 21 km in full public view.

And now having reached at a respectable 10K in 1 training run (albeit at a turtle's pace), having pushed fears of not completing deep down where even I can’t reach them, I find I will not be able to run. Gam zeh ya'avor!!