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:-)

And then one day you find.....

.....ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but its sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again!

These lyrics from Pink Floyd' Time are appropriate for those that have yet to experience the soul and samba in running. It is also exactly 10 years since I moved to Andheri(E) and began running at Aarey. Oh! how fast time has flown. I remember Bryan as a 3+ yr old tot and how nice his tiny hands felt in mine. I remember the joy of running in the woods with its lush green ambience and a nip in the early morning air and "feeling" Robert Frost'.......the woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep and miles...........sleep. I get nostalgic about my own school years when I remember...whose woods these are I think I know. I can feel the chill and the snow and the horse flaring his nostrils in the cold air - though I'd never seen snow before then.

Oh! what a difference it has been, from running repeated loops of 600m in Lokhandwala:-); and running to Andheri station and back whenever I felt like doing a 10K. I had to ensure that I reached back well before the traffic increased and I also had to contend with people wondering as to why this guy runs so much - distance running was alien then. I love my running route now; am lucky to be blessed with it; and yes, I love running - period. Amen

And you thought you could skip recovery:-)

I had a pretty hard time in doing my weekly long run, on Saturday but I recovered enough mid-way, to finish it at my half marathon pace. I was sore all day and on Sunday, when I trained the Colpal group on body weight strength circuits I found it very taxing. Today, I woke up with the intention of doing speedwork (since I will be on business tour this week) and I had infact planned that I would try to do a harder workout than was prescribed. This effectively meant that I was ignoring the requirement to treat this week as a recovery week.

I began jogging with a limp:-) and progressed into a shuffle with a heart rate near its peak. Its not funny as to how, after all these years and with my reputation as a coach, I seem to be getting foolhardy in training myself. I reached the start point for my speed workout and set off at VO2max pace. Oh boy! the damn pain in my calves and shins told me that they don't prescribe recovery weeks for nothing. Shame on you Dan!

I finished my speedwork with my target pace ( I tend to be demanding on myself) and came away with an RPE of 9 and a sheepish grin on my face. I must have looked pretty wasted because one of the regular walkers that gives me a thums up everytime I meet him said, "You are looking very tired today. What happened?", and I answered (again sheepishly), "Too much running last week". Take it easy Dan or you'll come down with one of those colds that last 2 weeks and screw your training.