2 days to go - Mumbai Marathon 2010

It is almost impossible to know what all would work for or against you going into something as important as your first marathon. I got a sprain, a freak one too. Getting a sprain out of a foot massage is rare. I managed it. On a normal day i would not worry so much about a minor sprain. It would correct itself. But this is not normal. A slight aggravation can mean end of race before it starts or mid-way into the run. I am worried. And i have been doing everything possible to recover from this. Ice, pain relievers. I even googled food that aid tissue repair. by common sense i increased proteins. The pain is almost absent, but i am not running to check if its gone for real. Not sure if i can risk that. In which case i will have to just wait till the Marathon morning (Sunday)to actually know if i am good enough to run.


I bunked the last two days of run. Would rather finish ten minutes slow in the race than not run at all. Read somewhere that last week of training is almost unnecessary and not worth risking if there is any sign of pre-marathon fatigue.

I was not expecting to write about an injury in the final days of blogging about Marathon. I wondered it would be more about the psychology and self-belief of it than another physical barrier. Guess it turned out different. The good part is that my mind has suddenly sensed a possibility of me not racing and it has decided to protest it hard. All i can feel my body saying is "just one chance". I am almost certain that without this nagging ankle i am entirely ready to run this, and run it well. I can feel the same strength and subtle confidence that i did before the 32Km i ran three weeks back. My body seems to be stacking up as much energy reserves as possible during through the rest i am taking to sooth my ankle. It is all set to have a go at it. And in spite of all i know there is a chance i would not be able to complete this run.


You can be most prepared and still not be sure about an outcome. And this i am experiencing real-time. I have to wait another day and half to know if i would realise my dream to run 42km. In the mean time i am not giving up on any chance there is to ensure that i do.


If i cross the finish line now, it will only make the achievement bigger.


I would just leave it at that.