Whew!

The exclamation is for 2 reasons: one; I did a tempo run today to "squeeze" in the hard day before taking a flight for Bangalore and two; I think I have a fair idea of the reason for the near break up of my runners' group.

I woke up with pain in my shins but a fresh feeling of having slept well. As I fussed around in the kitchen preparing my "Earl' Grey" tea (I stopped my Java because it was fueling my insomnia), I mused about the tough work out I'd planned. Would I be able to do it or would it be relegated to the "junk miles" heap? I smiled as I realized that I was nervous about its outcome. So when did workouts turn out to be formidable Dan?:-) You must be going over the hill!

I reached my start point and did some "lateral shuffles" and a "Carioca step" (the Colpal runners, especially Abhishikta, like to call it the Salsa twist). I set off at my tempo pace and realized 400m into it that my RPE was 8 and I could not believe that I had another 5.4K to go - are you crazy!!! Well as I kept up the pace and bit thru' the pain, I realized that I was not hitting target pace. So, this smart coach and yours truly decided to "step on the gas"! I finished in just about my target time and an RPE of 10; though, I want to call it 9 for my own shameful reasons:-) I rushed home to prepare myself a milkshake with chocolate and "whey" - a recommendation I had made to my runners. Thank God that you are at least taking THAT advice you !@#$%^&*!!

About the near crisis: I think that goodness and kindness of a few good men and women in my runners group got sense and sensibility to prevail and, inadvertently avert, a break up of the group. I will, in the days to come, confirm the reasons why this happened. I still have a lot of brownie points in the jar of "goodness" that God has set aside for me:-)