Durban and Expo
The Evening Before
The Morning of the Run
My Gear
In the Holding Area
The RUN
If I rate my confidence level on completing the run, it was 8/10. But there was a big “if” to this….
If my foot/ankle injury that had been troubling me through the training period did not flare up again. Of late, my foot had started paining even after shorter runs, but recovery was also faster. I sent a prayer up to the heaven as Chandan and I stepped off the start mat about 7 min after the gun-shot. I had complete confidence on my training and was reasonably sure I would finish the run…but there are so many unknowns and so many things that can go wrong in such a challenging run. And then there was this target also to be achieved!
Initially it was dark and crowded so I had to run very slowly and carefully because I tend to trip and fall easily.
I had run just about 5k when I felt that my bladder was full.
The typical thing about this run is the support and cheering enroute, it is almost like a carnival that helps the runners enjoy the run.
I took the salt tablets and the gels – eight each – more or less as planned and ran as I had trained.
But then, I also remembered that someone had said that the real run starts after 60k, so I just decided to keep going steady.
When I reached the last cut-off and just 9k was left, I decided to not push myself and risk injury.
There was a feeling of complete exhilaration on entering the stadium and seeing so many people there!
After the Finish
54 year old Taru finished her BE (Instrumentaiton and Control), got married to an army officer and had a checkered career while she traveled all over India: she's been a school teacher, a college lecturer, a research assistant, and an NIE consultant before she got into IT. She was at the helm of her career as a Delivery Head when she took premature retirement last year. She i snow a freelancer pursuing her passions. Passionate about learning, she also completed BEd, MEd, PMP, CSM, and three levels of Spanish.
4 comments
My Hero, My inspiration – this little chit of a girl 🙂
Taru,
Awesome blog. This blog series will be a bible for many future to be Comradeeers. Keep Running
Thanks Jitu. See you too there soon!