Process Runner : Week 5

Oct 22 - Oct 28:

A lot of people ask me why I joined this running program. My only reason for joining is to be able to inspire my daughters to take up the healthy way of living. I wanted to motivate them by doing it and showing it and practising what I preach.

By now, after four weeks of being a part of Runner;s High, I had also become used to planning my life around the runs. I didnt want to miss a single run. The week was the week of the Navrathri festival and I had to go to Mysore to visit my father and grand mother at Mysore as both were not well. I set out to Mysore after the Sunday run at  Cubbon park. I drove down with my daughters.

 The weekly mail of Santosh arrived on Sunday afternoon detailing the weekly program. That Tuesday, as I was in Mysore I did not run in the morning as I had to drive back in the afternoon so that I do not miss the Wednesday run. The Wednesday run was at Cubbon park and it was the group fartlek. In this  runners who are of similar paces form groups and do fast sprints for a distance of 4 km . The group does a fast stretch  for 2 minutes and then stop till the last runner joins. The last runner is given just 30 seconds of rest and then the group starts again. If I though the last weeks Train workout was a killer then this was a killer that takes you directly to hell. I struggled to keep up with my group and the runners kept encouraging me all the time and kept egging me on to not give up.

We are supposed to do a short 25 minute cycling or yoga every Friday. But the past four weeks, I have not been doing the Friday workout. I hope that when the next training program starts I'll be able to be regulat with the Friday workout also tha way I have been regular with the Tuesday workout.

That Saturday was a rest day as we had a mock run on Sunday at Kingston County Annexe which is the venue for the Bangalore Ultra Marathon for which we have all been training since the past four weeks. The mock run was organised by the Runner's for Life group who are also the organisers of the Bangalore Ultra Marathon and the Kaveri Trail marathon every year. This year they had organised the Mysore marathon on the very same day as our mock run. Because of this the only runners who turned up for the mock run were from the Runner's High group and we were a good hundred strong team. As the organisers had forgotten to get the marking powder, we had about a 45 minute period when the organisers themselves were doubtful whether the run will actually take place or not as they did not want to risk runner's getting lost as the trails were not marked. But they managed to place volunteers at important points and the run commenced at 7 am.

It was a beautiful trail with a few puddles that we had to avoid and a few stretches with rocks. But all in all it was beautiful as we were running through a forest. To find this place with dense trees just about 12 kms from our house was really a surprise. It would make a very good cycling route also as the approach roads are in excellent condition.

The run itself was very good. I ran a good distance before beginning to walk. As the trail was full of rocks, I struggled a bit. The body refused to cooperate and the muscles began to scream asking me to stop. That's when I faced the inevitable question that every runner comes across at least once during their runs. Why am I doing this? And its also very amusing to see the kind of answers that the mind comes up with. I finished the run in 1 hr 45 mins to loud cheering and clappign by fellow runners.

Here is a link to the trailer released by RFL (Runner's for life) of the Bangalore Ultra Mock Run http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8rANypBiRQ&feature=plcp

After the run we shared tea and had a good chat during the stretches. Rashmi's tasty sandwiches and Anu's tasty akki rotti (rice flour roti) made the day even more memorable. With the mind empty, spirit full and the stomach even fuller up to the brim, there is nothing else that one needs .......