Halfway up the mountain - Mumbai Marathon 2010

9 weeks, 300kms, 1900 minutes......


....And halfway into my marathon training. I am not sure how i feel. Last two weeks seemed like a battle my body waged to resist or adjust to increased training distance. It was near impossible to keep my mind off running and equally difficult to see the fun in it. Legs don't start a new day's run feeling as fresh as they did earlier. Several hours post a run and they still cramp and call out for stretches, that's what i am caught doing in meeting and my work station, stretching legs.I am barely a week or so into the power breakfast, of the most fancy cereal of all times, muesli, and however much i like it, it seems annoying that i can't get that taste out of my mouth. And i think next in line is rice. After a long run on weekends i desperately chase proteins. I seek motivation and find it too, but its not easy to come anymore, and it does not stay long enough. And had i written this sometime yesterday, it would sound more tough, for i had not recovered well enough from my weekend run. That was yesterday.

Today i have fairly recovered for the starting run of 10th week. I don't feel as lost. I can look back at training so far and see a long way behind me. The entire training program has now begun to make sense. I can see why there are those essential break between two runs, for it has become more needed now than ever before. My body continues to resist but seems to also cope and adjust.Past 9 weeks have prepared me not just physically but even mentally to handle the more crucial part that begins now. Its almost a meditative state.I have voluntarily given up alcohol.Skipping breakfast is not an option. I dont have to try hard to drink three litres of water a day. I run four days a week still, but the thursday run before the long run on saturday is much slower, so that i can condition my body but not over-burden muscles for the long run in waiting. As much as i need to think and motivate myself, i also need to let go, take a break and not stress. By now i am disciplined and the motivation i need is of a different kind, of not to stick but to control - rest, diet and recovery.


Training is not performance, but the slow preparation to enable it.

Next 9 weeks will see me experimenting with weights, stretches, hydration, heart rates, energy burning mechanisms and more, that would take me to the next level.


9 weeks, 400kms, as many minutes.........more to go till D-Day