November 12 - November 17
During the week after the Bangalore Ultra run, I was on an absolute high after having soaked in the feeling of having achieved something that I would not even have dreamed about seven weeks ago. If someone had come and told me on October 24th that I would be participating in a 12.5 marathon run, I would have rolled on the ground and laughed. In fact I had even made fun of Pani, Rashmi and Anupama during their preparations for the KTM.
But, here I was, having joined the same bandwagon lock stock and barrel, I had come to realise what it was that kept them going and what motivated them to wake up at unearthly hours and go to unheard of places and run crazy distances. It was the high that you experience and the sense of achievement that you feel, as though you are right on top of the world and there since you have done this, there is nothing that you cannot do if you set your heart towards it.
We received a mail from head coach Santosh asking us to share our stories about our run and the general training program. That started an avalanche of stories written by the runners each of which was a beautiful read by itself. Stories of perseverance and endurance by some and sheer grit and determination by some. Stories of sheer enjoyment by some and of lessons learnt and personal milestones achieved. Each story, written from the heart touched a chord and have all stayed with me and have become a source of inspiration. Each story was also a piece of literature in itself to be preserved and categorized among the classics. I am sure that at any point in time if I feel low, I need to just go back them and they will provide me with the impetus to move on.
We also received a feedback form asking us to give our feedback. I felt that this was a really not needed because, hey! come on! after the adrenaline in the blood stream due to the 12.5 run and the rush in the head, what feedback can we give? Of course it was all good. But these folks are really serious about receiving their feedbacks and the form has also been designed very meticulously with each and every aspect of the training sessions covered with specific queries which we had to answer and rate. I filled it immediately and sent it even though there was a reminder after a couple of days to the entire group asking for those who did not send it to send it immediately. I told you, its not taken lightly ... these guys are serious about it :)
It was a no-brainer really whether I would register for the next season of training. I was just waiting for the mail from Santosh inviting us to the next training session for the Auroville marathon, I registered immediately. My daughter had got inspired by my run at the Bangalore Ultra and she also wanted to register. Because of her college there were some schedule issues and logistics issues. Once I chatted about it with Santosh, he was quite supportive and welcomed her into the program and also gave very simple solutions on how to go about overcoming the challenges. I also invited my friend to register and she not only registered herself, but her children also joined along.
So here I am.... on my way to another season of glorious running, Yes, finally I feel that I am runner !!!!
During the week after the Bangalore Ultra run, I was on an absolute high after having soaked in the feeling of having achieved something that I would not even have dreamed about seven weeks ago. If someone had come and told me on October 24th that I would be participating in a 12.5 marathon run, I would have rolled on the ground and laughed. In fact I had even made fun of Pani, Rashmi and Anupama during their preparations for the KTM.
But, here I was, having joined the same bandwagon lock stock and barrel, I had come to realise what it was that kept them going and what motivated them to wake up at unearthly hours and go to unheard of places and run crazy distances. It was the high that you experience and the sense of achievement that you feel, as though you are right on top of the world and there since you have done this, there is nothing that you cannot do if you set your heart towards it.
We received a mail from head coach Santosh asking us to share our stories about our run and the general training program. That started an avalanche of stories written by the runners each of which was a beautiful read by itself. Stories of perseverance and endurance by some and sheer grit and determination by some. Stories of sheer enjoyment by some and of lessons learnt and personal milestones achieved. Each story, written from the heart touched a chord and have all stayed with me and have become a source of inspiration. Each story was also a piece of literature in itself to be preserved and categorized among the classics. I am sure that at any point in time if I feel low, I need to just go back them and they will provide me with the impetus to move on.
We also received a feedback form asking us to give our feedback. I felt that this was a really not needed because, hey! come on! after the adrenaline in the blood stream due to the 12.5 run and the rush in the head, what feedback can we give? Of course it was all good. But these folks are really serious about receiving their feedbacks and the form has also been designed very meticulously with each and every aspect of the training sessions covered with specific queries which we had to answer and rate. I filled it immediately and sent it even though there was a reminder after a couple of days to the entire group asking for those who did not send it to send it immediately. I told you, its not taken lightly ... these guys are serious about it :)
It was a no-brainer really whether I would register for the next season of training. I was just waiting for the mail from Santosh inviting us to the next training session for the Auroville marathon, I registered immediately. My daughter had got inspired by my run at the Bangalore Ultra and she also wanted to register. Because of her college there were some schedule issues and logistics issues. Once I chatted about it with Santosh, he was quite supportive and welcomed her into the program and also gave very simple solutions on how to go about overcoming the challenges. I also invited my friend to register and she not only registered herself, but her children also joined along.
So here I am.... on my way to another season of glorious running, Yes, finally I feel that I am runner !!!!
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