FrAmEd 4 LiFe...

DaY 22 - 28 (LaSt wEeK)

I finally had my task cut-out for the last week. I just need to get 100% fit and so I decided to give running a break and concentrated on recuperating completly from my alleged calf injury. Now for this I decided to rely on the age old practices of Yoga and Pranayam (recently comming into picture bcoz of the Ramdevji controversy). Now these techniques are not at all new to me since my mom's into Yoga for years now is just introduced to Pranayam for a year now(thnks to Ramdevji and Aastha TV). So, it was a week full of holistic healing. By the end of the week the pain in the calf had considerably subsided and it was back to normal. It was so normal by Friday that I even decided to participate in my class football match. Initiall I was a little sckeptical of this decision of mine but then it was always in my wishlist to play football for my class which I did and throughly enjoyed. It also made me feel very good.

A day before the marathon I just thought of becomming a little nostalgic and straight headed to Prabodhan Kridabhavan (Goregaon) the ground at which I practiced all these days and whcih I proudly refer to as my home-ground as it was here I played my cricket. No points for guessing that I even kiss the ground as I enter and leave it.

aNoThEr wEeK In pErSpEcTiVe...

3rd Week

Time: 57 mins
Distance: 10 km

Anyone would have been surprised and shocked by the progress of the third week considering the performances in the first two weeks. Even I was! Frankly, its not the time or the distance I covered during the week but the fear of an injury to my right calf during the 11km run which troubled me and shook me. The problem I was facing was that I was unsure of the severity of the pain and no mediacal attention or a trainer just made matters worse with constant fears of a serious injury doing rounds in my mind.

On the brighter side there were quite a few motivating thoughts...

• Once I start running even though my legs would pain for the initial period it would be fine after sometime. The important thing here is not keep questioning oneself throughout the run and not keep querying about the condition of your muscles. Now this isnt easy but not difficlut at all. Try and keep your mind busy in something like for example try revising multiplication tables. I bet this wrks and relly wrks well. I tried this during the second week and so the amazing performance that you see.
• Alread done 11 km...!
  
• After all its a mind game.. now I do keep repeating this again and again but its just for the simple reason that your legs (muscle power) would get you there but it would be your mind power that will help you get there.
• Finally I knew if I was going to be 100% fit on the day of the half marathon then I would surely mak it!!!

DaY 21

Rest Day... compulsive because of the aversion shown by me towards recovering from the jogs and going all out.

DaY 20

Time: 30 mins
Distance: 5.xx km

DaY 19

Time: 17 mins
Distance: 3.xx km

DaY 18

Time: 10 mins
Distance: 2.xx km

[Comming from 60min to a struggling 10min is really disheartenning]

DaY 17

Rest Day... again

[Still trying to recover from the 11km run... getting a little tense abt the condition of muscles and possibility of an unwelcome injury]

DaY 16

Rest Day

rEaLiTy cHeCk

1st Week
Time: 95 mins
Distance: 26km

Ran as much as I could and then walking for sometime and then again running for as long as I could. Started the week with around 10 min jogs which were followed by 5 to 7 min ones. I realised I wasted a lot of time jst walking and taking a break frm joggin which I felt I need to change.

2nd Week
Time: 190 mins
Distance: 37 km

Considerably doubled my timming but not the distance as I slowed down my pace. Also, I decided to run continuouldy rather than take breaks in between. I (and even the pros) now feel that I over-worked myslef. Should have rested my body a little more and given it time to adjust. Realized a few cool things though like 'finally its a mind game' and 'pain is just a sensation... LoL' which one can easily happen to ignore after sometime. This is what I trianed my mind to believe and this week being one of the highlights of the training schedule.

DaY 15

Time: 10 mins
Distance: 1.xx km

Couldn't run much... i guess the 11km run had a big toll on me. But still just went for a jog. Chandpreet was here after celebrating his new year in Goa and being on a world tour for around 2 months. Interestingly just happened to discuss about the half marathon with him and was pleasantly surprised after hearing of his experiences of the London Marathon 2005. He did undrgo the well-known 12 week training schedule and I also happend to learn that I just over-worked my body and I need to rest it enough to give my 100% on the race day.