I drifted up from the depths of a slumber and seemed to hover just below the surface for a while. Finally, I broke thru' and was wide awake. The room was dark and quiet and I just heard the wind making a muted howl at the window. I turned to look at my watch and mouthed a silent entreaty, "God, please let it be 5am" but I had to muffle a groan as I saw it was 3:30am. Well, I would have to wait this one out:-)
At 5:30, after a stormy sesssion of thoughts and zilch sleep, the alarm beeped. I made Bryan his cup of chocolate milk and headed out the door. The rain was a steady drizzle and I did not spend too much time wondering how cold it would be, as I stepped out to get wet. The first two kms made it seem like I was doing fine and then suddenly, I felt this slowdown; as if my muscles were being restrained. I realized then that it was the lack of sleep and my HR was high because of it. I finished a loop of 11K and headed home for a hot cup of Tea and some chappatis. Today, I'm going to feel tired at work!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Thundering hooves
I rose this morning even before my alarm went off, to the pleasant pitter-patter of rain drops. A quick cuppa and I was out the door. In the lobby I met my neighbour and even as I assumed he was back from his walk, I noticed that his Tee was crisp and starched. I brooded this in my cloudy state of mind and realized that the guy was a wimp and had just turned back after deciding not to walk in the rain. I guess the newspaper and a hot chai was more attractive. I then thought that I have been a bit harsh in judging him. Afterall, not many want to walk or run in the rain and perhaps their point of view that eating hot Bhajjias and drinking chai is a better buzz, may be the view held by a saner populace.
I shook these thoughts off as I had a lot on my mind and rued their misfortune in not experiencing a buzz, by running in a forest when its raining hard. I saw a monkey that has made an appearance over the last one week. He was sitting quietly on a culvert with his eyes darting around. He watched me zip by and didn't respond with any aggression. He has seen me doing this and perhaps feels he is better off having no truck with me. I ran a bit longer than I had planned because it felt bloody good. I was able to analyse and corroborate, on the run, what I'd always believed in; in life, nothing is as it seems. With such a philososphy, you avoid "being had". I clip-clopped back to my start point and smiled at Sohanlal who was waiting for me. I'd forgotten that he wanted some money for his travel to his native. I called him over to my place, handed him the amount, turned and walked back to the elevator. The truth, even if you expect it, is always bitter.
I shook these thoughts off as I had a lot on my mind and rued their misfortune in not experiencing a buzz, by running in a forest when its raining hard. I saw a monkey that has made an appearance over the last one week. He was sitting quietly on a culvert with his eyes darting around. He watched me zip by and didn't respond with any aggression. He has seen me doing this and perhaps feels he is better off having no truck with me. I ran a bit longer than I had planned because it felt bloody good. I was able to analyse and corroborate, on the run, what I'd always believed in; in life, nothing is as it seems. With such a philososphy, you avoid "being had". I clip-clopped back to my start point and smiled at Sohanlal who was waiting for me. I'd forgotten that he wanted some money for his travel to his native. I called him over to my place, handed him the amount, turned and walked back to the elevator. The truth, even if you expect it, is always bitter.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Tough weekend
Watching world cup football and running back-2-back runs took my breath away. On Saturday morning, I met the group for a run at Aarey and with just 3 hrs of sleep, I felt even two loops was ambitious. In fact, it turned out to be so for me. I did a walk-run in the last 4K, including the hill climb. My blood sugar was extremely low and I must have looked pretty beat up because Srinivas exclaimed that I was looking pale! The post-run chit-chat was fun with jokes and anecdotes. We must have rested and talked for more than an hour.
On reaching home, I quickly ate a decent breakfast and tried to sleep. My HR was high and I felt extreme exhaustion. An hour later I woke up to hunger pangs, ate lunch and went back to sleep. I felt refreshed in the evening but then there was the meetup with Ryan and Malcolm, with family at Bandra gym. We had a fine time eating only meat from a "world cup" menu, comprising spare-ribs, beef chilly, mutton chops, lolyypops, chicken crispy, etc. The rum did a lot to prevent inflamation ( :-)) in my leg muscles. It must have worked because the next day' run was a cake-walk. I reached home at mid-night and was out like a light.
I woke up at 5am feeling like I had eaten rust; my mouth felt wooly and sour. I dragged myself off the bed and quickly made a cuppa java. I had to meet Raj at 5:45 at Goregaon. I was not sure whether I would be able to run at all. It was nice meeting a large group of runners at National Park. I started out with Apurba and soon realized that my legs had recovered enough for me to zip along. I don't know how this could be! Yesterday, I was completely beat up and there was no way I could run this fast today. Does alcohol really help recovery?? I hope not; I don't need anymore encouragement:-)
On reaching home, I quickly ate a decent breakfast and tried to sleep. My HR was high and I felt extreme exhaustion. An hour later I woke up to hunger pangs, ate lunch and went back to sleep. I felt refreshed in the evening but then there was the meetup with Ryan and Malcolm, with family at Bandra gym. We had a fine time eating only meat from a "world cup" menu, comprising spare-ribs, beef chilly, mutton chops, lolyypops, chicken crispy, etc. The rum did a lot to prevent inflamation ( :-)) in my leg muscles. It must have worked because the next day' run was a cake-walk. I reached home at mid-night and was out like a light.
I woke up at 5am feeling like I had eaten rust; my mouth felt wooly and sour. I dragged myself off the bed and quickly made a cuppa java. I had to meet Raj at 5:45 at Goregaon. I was not sure whether I would be able to run at all. It was nice meeting a large group of runners at National Park. I started out with Apurba and soon realized that my legs had recovered enough for me to zip along. I don't know how this could be! Yesterday, I was completely beat up and there was no way I could run this fast today. Does alcohol really help recovery?? I hope not; I don't need anymore encouragement:-)
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