First long run-14.5km. Mumbai Marathon 2010

I run in the evenings. Morning is not the time for me, for not just the fact that i feel lazy, but also because i feel tired the rest of the day. This means that i try to leave work not too late and catch that run. And saturday is better for its a holiday. But this saturday i had some commitments, that kept me working my way around the city and co-ordinating needless details. Its appropriate for for such a day at work-outside-work that you miss meals, which did too.

However the constant worry of the distance i had to finish got me to manage one well thought meal (lots of carbohydrates, rice - simply put) and an hour of rest before i began the run. This ideally is not good enough, i had to rely heavily on my confidence, where as i prefer to rely on preperation, mostly (which inspires confidence).i was apprehensive.

And For all the apprehensions and second thoughts i had on my fitness to finish this long run with a breath left in me, i was wronged, entirely. I have possibily never ran better run before.I felt energised when i finished , i ran feeling tall (have to elaborate on that) ,and in control all the time.

Running tall - mostly while you run, one is adviced to look about 10 meters ahead of them, that is the recommended angle for your head. However in my hightened sense of running, i realised i found myself looking straight at the end of the road. For me it was a combination of running confidence (when your sure you can go that far) and familiarity with the route.The only description that fit that experience was running tall.A certain sense of running above the ground.

It proved to me that it helps when you stick to the training. And disciplined running helped too. By disciplined i mean moderating your run smartly than to give in to the need for speed, which can happen when you feel energised at the first phase of the run. For all the charge and fresh legs you have when you start, one has to make sure that you dont speed too much and tire yourself.

This training for me is also an experiment, of testing if everything Hal Higdon (virtual trainer) says is true. And he spoke of how if you start your run at a comfortable pace, you would end up running in a much better time than if you push for pace in the initial part of the run. And as i ran this 14.5km, i validated it, and can now second that...

More of what a long distance run can teach you. Or atleast what it made me realise -
1.One and half hour on road, running in your own company is no less than a form of meditation. The beauty of focussing on that one act clears your mind of needless worries, it atleast makes them needless for that while. Knwing me they come back later!

2. I am beggining to now like it when i meet so many people who just cant imagine running or relate to it. It feels good to know that my passion is rare. And i enjoy the difficulty that most have in doing it inspite of knowing that there is single form of exercise as beneficial and affordable as it. I have always been told on how running has no entertainment like other sport, the thrill, of a goal or a shot or winning. I have done my best to explain that you have to love it to like it. Probably it suits personalities that dont fancy winning, enjoy the journey and the effort, and enjoy being left alone at times (if not all the time)

my next long run is a 16km, 10miles. In the absence of measured distance i will be running a fixed time, 1hr and 45mins. Am not running on my usual road, so dont know the distance. But i am running on most of it on the actual marathon route, and covering the most difficult patch of it - the kemps corner flyover and marine drive. And this would also be my first morning run. And the longest i have ever ran in training (max i ran for half marathon trainings is 14km). I Can't say i am as nervous this time. But i don't want to do something stupid and lose the training confidence i have aquired.

For the rest, i would just let the road decide....