Saturday, December 27, 2008

Running with wolves

Thats exactly how I always feel when I step inside the dark and sinister looking environs of Aarey colony for my weekend long runs. It is not unlikely nor is it surprising to find a wolf or a leopard lurking in the thick foliage:-) When I woke up at 3:30am this morning, I realized that my chances of a strong "target pace" run were slim. I tried going back to sleep but kept tossing and turning with thoughts of my rotten work life occupying center stage.

At 5:30, I dragged my sleep deprived body to the kitchen for a cuppa coffee. There was even some vacillation on whether to postpone the run to tomorrow but then I know that tomorrow will have its own surprises. So off I go and can feel the "ventilatory threshold" not very far away, as I jog to the start of my measured route. I decide adhoc that I will do a certain loop at my race pace. All goes well until the 19K mark when I suddenly find my legs have gone lifeless. There it is, the effect of sleep deprivation, lackof recovery and low endurance. I hang on for another 6K and then call it a day. I resolve to come back tomorrow and do a medium long run so that the endurance does not take a back seat. I hope to meet up with two ex-IITians that promised to come to Aarey for a run on Sunday. One of them is a guy in his mid 50s who runs a mean half Marathon.

I jogged home with mounting tredipation at the prospect of not being able to hit my target pace on Jan 18. Well, I had similar apprehensions before the Lausanne Marathon and look what happened; I beat the goddamned wall!!!!!!!! So, I guess I have to analyze what I did right there. Ahem, the only thing I can remember is the one too many tippling sessions and I certainly won't allow myself to think that they helped - or would I?:-)))))

No comments: